British Columbia's much-maligned Premier, Christy Clark, is spending some time in Japan this week to talk about energy exports. According to the Globe and Mail, prior to her departure, she acknowledged that BC's strict climate change emissions targets might have to be bent a little in the coming years.
Why would BC - the land of drum-circling hippies, organic co-ops and majestic natural lands - have to alter its goals? Are they too lofty? Maybe, but probably not. By 2020, the province is supposed to decrease its emissions by 33% at 2007 levels. This doesn't seem outrageous, and BC has an arsenal of emissions-curbing policies in place, including Canada's only carbon tax and a carbon trust program.
The reason is natural gas. Alberta has long been known as a natural gas giant, but BC is not that far behind, particularly in the northern part of the province. Reserves are ramping up as producers have started exploiting shale gas, the natural gas locked inside shale rock formations. Shale gas is the type associated with fracking, a highly controversial process that breaks up the rock and can have serious detrimental effects on water and other natural resources. At the same time, shale gas reserves are being exploited all over the United States at exceptional rates.
The sudden glut of natural gas on the North American market has driven down prices to the lowest they have been in a decade. This is great for Canadian consumers of the stuff, but terrible for the producers. In an effort to get better prices for the gas, producers and governments are seeking buyers in Asia - that's why Clark is making the rounds in Japan. The Indian and Chinese economies are booming and need as much energy as they can get their hands on, particularly something that isn't as harmful as coal. Japan is desperate for natural gas after having moved away from nuclear energy following the devastating tsunami of 2011. These countries will pay a lot more for gas than we will in Canada.
Transporting it is a relatively simple idea. The gas is sent via pipeline to a plant on the west coast where it is liquefied and stored in big tankers, which then ship the gas across the Pacific Ocean. At the moment, BC has several of these LNG (liquid natural gas) plants proposed up the northern coast, with the government hoping three will be set up and running by 2020.
The trouble is three-fold.
First, the liquefication of natural gas takes an extraordinary amount of electricity. The government is talking about building big clusters of small hydro-electric projects to help power the LNG plants. But given the opposition that exists to small hydro (some of my summer research is related to this) and the amount of electricity needed, natural gas will probably be used to create electricity. Effectively, burning natural gas to turn more natural gas into liquid natural gas. And of course, this in turn creates a significant amount of emissions.
Second, building a pipeline is not an easy thing in northern BC - just ask Enbridge, the energy giant trying to build the uber-controversial Northern Gateway oil pipeline. A similar pipeline would be required to transport natural gas from Alberta and BC and it is expected much of it would end up in Kitimat, the small coastal town also intended to be the destination for the Northern Gateway project. But unlike the Northern Gateway, natural gas doesn't stir up the same level of opposition as oil might, particularly important in area that is quick to conjure up memories of the Exxon-Valdez spill. While first nations groups have been some of the loudest opponents to Northern Gateway, many groups have been quietly supporting the LNG plans, which will bring jobs and royalties to the communities without the same level of risk that comes with oil. Even local politicians have offered support, including NDP MP Nathan Cullen.
Third, this is a huge and expensive gamble for the BC government. China and India want this gas as soon as possible, Japan even more so, and those countries aren't shy to find other suitors. The middle east is full of natural gas, and Japan is already in talks with Australia. Canada has the advantage that transport across the Pacific Ocean is relatively simple and direct. But the race is on and long-term contracts are in everyone's sights. If BC can't get the pipeline or plants built in time, it could prove a terribly expensive mistake.
In any case, however this goes, it won't be good for the climate.
No comments:
Post a Comment