Canadian Energy - Solutions for the industry
A great new talk from Chris Slubicki, CEO of Modern Resources. Nationwide discussions regarding energy and the environment in Canada have become increasingly heated and divisive.
In this talk, Chris explores some of the serious unintended consequences of our current regulatory environment. He then outlines some solutions and a new path forward to economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and a more cohesive Canada.
We Have Met the Carbon Enemy and He is Us
Your smartphone has enabled enormous hydrocarbon-based energy demand growth – and will continue to. The virtual world has shown a funny way of triggering real-world activity, nearly all of which requires energy – and in turn, causes CO2 emissions.
Decreasing oil and gas investment amid growing global energy demand driven by population growth, coincidental with increasing disposable income enabled by technology and industrialization in developing countries, has a real shot at spiking medium-term oil and natural gas prices to previously unseen levels. Sadly for Canada, our collective response to this astounding global opportunity appears to be self-flagellation, continuous delay and an ever-increasing regulatory burden, rather than building great, well-thought-out projects, of which Canada could have many.
How best to help save the world from carbon while being honest with yourself? Begin by putting down your phone. Travel locally and walk or bike when you can. Deny yourself the instant gratification of online ordering. Grow more unfertilized food yourself. Sounds a bit rough, doesn’t it?
For your remaining energy use, recognize that Canada is a global leader in environmental stewardship and support the energy companies of this country. They are competing internationally under significantly more stringent domestic rules and practices while ranking 2nd (behind Norway) on environmental and social performance against other energy-rich nations. The world is moving ahead on energy demand of all types, with or without Canada. We shouldn’t impoverish ourselves to no purpose.
How about some unity?
The world is making the transition to cleaner energy, so why not be a leader? Why not develop Canadian expertise, deploy these technologies and share them with the rest of the world? We believe cleantech will be a $2.5-trillion global market by 2022.
Many Canadian energy companies have already made great progress in prioritizing the environment. Some of us in the industry are committed to bold steps – to being not just cleaner, but to be clean. Net-zero emitters. If the Canadian industry is going to brand itself as an ethical alternative, that’s a must.
Hypocrisy
South Africa, India, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan and China, all signatories to the Paris climate accord, are building a combined 1,800 new coal-fired power plants. Coal plants emit twice as much CO2 as natural gas plants. Meanwhile, international environmental groups campaign against sending Canadian LNG to those countries.
Exporting our cleaner natural gas to global markets would benefit global emissions
