Canadian energy to the rescue: How Canada’s resources can reduce China’s emissions

Canadians pride ourselves on being positive contributors to global affairs. You want to do our part.

The Trudeau government has embraced this national self-image. The prime minister has stated that “Canada will take on a new leadership role internationally” and it has pledged $2.65 billion to assist developing countries tackle global warming included in this vision of global leadership.

Yet Canada’s real contribution to global global warming isn’t financial pledges. And because the source of under two percent of global emissions, neither will major domestic emissions reductions.

It might seem counterintuitive, but our biggest contribution may be to build up our energy resources then sell these to developing countries that depend on dirtier powers. A pro-resource development agenda might not simply be good for the Canadian economy, it can be good for the planet.

Let’s use China like a example. China has become the earth’s largest energy consumer and largest supply of energy-related carbon emissions. Two-thirds of China’s energy consumption derives from coal. Coal has the highest carbon content of any fossil fuel. Projections show that China’s energy consumption continues to increase, albeit at a slower pace than we have witnessed. Chinese policy would be to shift its dependency from coal to cleaner energy sources within the coming decades.  

Develop our resources and sell these to developing countries that rely on dirtier energy sources

Here’s where Canada’s energy resources come into play.

Canada has already been the fifth-largest gas producer and it has enough natural gas reserves to satisfy current national energy interest in 300 years. We’ve plenty of supply to export. Which matters because gas is a far cleaner alternative to coal. Natural gas combustion generates 50 per cent fewer emissions than coal. Gas-fired generating stations are also more energy-efficient than coal-fired plants.

Oilsands development is another cleaner alternative for countries like China which are balancing rising consumption demands and environmental goals. Consider, for example, the oilsands are the third-largest supply of proven crude oil reserves in the world and projections reveal that, notwithstanding the sector’s current challenges, production is likely to grow for years to come.

Related

Lawrence Solomon: It’s ‘game over’ for climatic change activistsJoe Oliver: Canadians should beware the consequences of global warming – policies

As for its environmental footprint, analysis shows that the emissions concentration of oilsands development is not from whack relative to other comparable energy sources. Based on a 2013 report from the Department of Natural Resources: “Recent independent studies have shown that oilsands emissions act like a number of crudes, both heavy and light.” This accords with work by respected climate scientist and B.C. Green MLA Andrew Weaver, not even close to a proponent of oilsands development, which finds that burning the world’s coal reserves will contribute 40 times just as much to global warming as exploiting all oilsands reserves. And also the authorities reports that oilsands development is actually becoming more efficient – between 1990 and 2011, oilsands greenhouse gas emissions per barrel were reduced by a lot more than one-quarter and therefore are likely to decline within the coming years.

The point would be that the oilsands, too, can offer a cleaner alternative energy source for developing countries.

Remember, the goal would be to contribute to addressing global global warming. The issue, then, is when can Canada make a meaningful contribution?

We can do our part with respect to curbing domestic emissions, but we should be also aware of the constraints in our effort. Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions represent roughly 1.6 percent of worldwide emissions and the oilsands are 0.15 per cent in our overall share. Because the International Energy Agency’s chief economist has put it: “Compared towards the major emitting countries, this is not peanuts, it’s a small fraction of peanuts.”

Canada’s new government is right to wish to play a leading role. The first step would be to keep in mind that it’s a global issue and different countries will need to contribute diversely. Canada is uniquely positioned to assist developing countries reduce their reliance on carbon-intensive powers. However this will mean more – not less – resource development in Canada.

Ian Lee is definitely an assistant professor in the Sprott School of economic at Carleton University and Sean Speer is a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.