The mission statement of the International Energy Agency is that it works with governments and industry to shape a secure and sustainable energy future for all.
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| Coal and oil replacement? |
A statement by Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, points to possibilities of growth but cautions about price competitiveness and methane emissions.
Natural gas can contribute to a cleaner global energy system. But it faces its own challenges, including remaining price competitive in emerging markets and reducing methane emissions along the natural gas supply chain.1
Glenn Wanamaker of CBC News reports on the question of how green is natural gas? In presenting the case for and against Quebec's Énergie Saguenay project promoters face tough questions over claims the $14B pipeline and LNG plant will cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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| https://i.cbc.ca/1.5316681.1570733043!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/pat-fiore-energie-saguenay.JPG |
In June, a group of 160 Quebec scientists signed an open letter calling on the federal and Quebec governments to reject the projects because they are "incompatible with the idea of energy transition."
"It is essential to reduce the number of infrastructures linked to fossil fuels and not build more," they wrote, in order to meet the 2050 goal of carbon neutrality.
"The total emissions connected to the project in Canada would be comparable to the total of Quebec's GHG reductions since 1990," concluded the two principal authors of the letter, Université Laval chemistry Prof. Jesse Greener and Université du Québec à Montréal environmental science Prof. Lucie Sauvé.
Proposal to pipe fracked natural gas from Alberta to Saguenay, Que., under scrutinyThat total, the scientists said, doesn't take into account leakage, known as fugitive emissions, along the way.
"Since natural gas is essentially made up of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 84 times more powerful than CO2 over a 20-year period, the contribution of these leaks to planetary warming is enormous," they wrote.
"So it is possible that the total GHG emissions associated with the project will be considerably higher than the best available estimates."2
CBC News reports that Warren Buffett's company is bailing on the Saguenay LNG project. Stéphanie Fortin, head of communications for the company behind the project, GNL Québec, did say, however, that the company lost the investor because of the "current Canadian political context."
She said with "instability" in the last few weeks, such as ongoing rail blockades, foreign investors are getting nervous.3
Sylvain Gaudreault, the Parti Québécois MNA for the borough of Jonquière in the city of Saguenay, said that he's skeptical of the purported reasons for the investment company's withdrawal. Gaudreault said he thinks it has more to do with economic and environmental concerns, and the unpopularity of what he calls "20th-century" development compared with renewable energy projects.
Gaudreault has never been a supporter of the project and said, if anything, this news "sends a message that these types of projects are more and more difficult to finance."
He described the loss of a potential investor for GNL Quebec as one that will be hard to replace.
"Financing is a bit like a house of cards. If you take one away, the house collapses," he said. "The house of cards is in the process of falling."3
Responsible funding of energy projects by government includes assessment of the length of time the product will be marketable. Otherwise, justice and hope are destroyed when the jobs so much in need fail to materialize.
References
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