But politicians are fiddling while Canada combusts Have you heard about Canada’s unjust energy transition? Better pay attention: it’s unfolding before your very eyes. The unjust transition will cost people jobs, create new and more insidious types of energy poverty, and accelerate negative environmental impact – the very opposite effects of what the putative notion…
The invisible hand of Adam Smith punched the world in the nose It seems like just the other day that the wrath of the world was coming down on oil sands and coal. To protect the atmosphere, Canada has been reducing coal-fired power generation for years. It started in Ontario, then moved to Alberta. Saskatchewan…
“Western Canada is going to be one of the biggest jurisdictions for lithium on the planet” Canada’s post-pandemic economy is like a cross-country horse race. Out front, galloping through the canyons of inflation, geopolitical instability, and supply chain problems are oil and gas, retail, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and tourism, to name a few industries. Gaining…
New IEA scenarios show that oil and gas will remain critical long into the future The latest outlook for energy demand to 2050 underscores Canada’s opportunity to supply responsibly produced oil and gas as the world works to reduce emissions. In all three scenarios published on Oct. 27 by the International Energy Agency (IEA), oil…
But getting a green industrial policy right is no simple task Canada has legislated a commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Getting there is essential for tackling climate-related extreme weather events like floods, storms and wildfires that already cost us hundreds of lives and billions of dollars every year. But reaching net-zero…
The transition to a renewables future is not as simple as some people would like
A leading architect of Germany’s “Energiewende” push towards wind and solar over coal, oil, gas and nuclear admits that renewable energy alone is insufficient to maintain reliable supply. The comments by Peter Altmaier, who served as federal minister for economic affairs and energy from 2018 to 2021, come as Germany remains under a natural gas…
Not to do so hurts us, our allies and the environment
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently completed a trip to Canada to discuss, among other things, Europe importing Canadian natural gas. With the invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions that followed, Germany, which imported 55 per cent of its natural gas from Russia in 2021, has had to reopen some coal plants and has started looking…
The bad: they still satisfy only seven per cent of the world’s energy demand
By Jock Finlayson and Denise Mullen We are living through an extraordinary period in the evolution of international energy markets. Amid the turmoil and trade disruptions caused by Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, energy reliability and security concerns have suddenly re-emerged with a vengeance. And the higher energy costs linked to the war are hitting…
Maybe it is time to revive the forgotten concept of reduce, reuse, recycle
It’s not even Calgary Stampede time yet – it looks like it will be a good old-fashioned free-for-all – and I’ve already encountered a fascinating drunken goofball at the top of his game. Nothing unusual there, I suppose, except that this encounter actually had an interesting and thoughtful punchline. It happened on the train to…
Oil and gas tech will do more to reduce emissions than disinvesting from the sector
The business leader responsible for nearly $540 billion of Canadian pension investment has no plan to sell off interest in companies just because they’re involved in oil and gas. The critical task of reducing global emissions will require the skills of people inside these companies, according to John Graham, CEO of Canada Pension Plan (CPP)…