Approximately 10 years after the B.C. carbon tax was introduced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and politicians were jetting around the world to receive accolades for work they didn’t do, we now have the sequel in the form of CleanBC.
For those in the business community who think action should be taken to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there are sighs of relief; for those who don’t, it’s time to repel the barbarians at the gate.
As can be expected, the plan is long on objectives and short on details. A work in progress, but at least progress is being made.
CleanBC has the familiar check-the-box list of button up houses and buildings, buy electric vehicles and heat pumps, clean up greenhouse gas emissions from industry and carbon capture and storage.
But there are innovative twists.
There is a change in the low-carbon fuel standard to 20% from 10% by 2030. Fossil-fuelled vehicles that are still on the road will produce fewer GHG emissions because their fuel blend will produce fewer GHG emissions. More ethanol, methanol or used french fry oil. Now we have to start thinking about where the cleaner part of this blend will come from and where it will be produced.
The other significant twist is that a minimum of 15% of the natural gas that is used in B.C. homes and businesses will come from renewable sources. Natural gas or methane is dinosaur compost that is extracted from the ground. It or similar products can also be produced from organic material, including wood waste, compost and sewage and mixed together with extracted compost. It is a matter of supply, which is limited, and cost.
Essentially the same result can be achieved by producing renewable hydrogen by electrolyzing water using renewable electricity. It can be added to the natural gas supply in limited quantities. In B.C., we have low-cost wind and solar generating sites that can be used for this purpose. Where will the necessary plants be built and what will their product cost?
The rogue elephant that lurks within CleanBC is the emissions from liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, gas pipelines and gas fields.
In broad terms, if B.C. gas production is 4.5 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day, the corresponding annual GHG emissions from the gas fields will be roughly 12 megatonnes or about 20% of B.C.’s annual emissions.
At full build-out, LNG Canada’s Kitimat facility will need about 3.8 bcf per day. If it is business as usual in the gas fields, and assuming all the gas is from new production in B.C., the additional GHG emissions will be in the order of 10 megatonnes. If renewable electricity is used to electrify the gas fields there will be a 60% to 70% reduction in these GHG emissions. Similarly for the gas pipelines and LNG plants.
But all of this will require a lot of electricity. If the second phase of LNG Canada’s plant is electrified, about 5,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity will be required – the equivalent output of Site C or 10% of BC Hydro’s current electricity supply. If Phase 2 isn’t electrified the chances of meeting CleanBC’s GHG reductions goals will be close to zero. At least as much electricity will be required to run the pumps that push the gas through the pipeline from the interior to the coast and to electrify the gas fields. No electrification: almost zero chance of meeting the goals.
However, CleanBC says that only 4,000 GWh of additional electricity will be required for all the electrification needed by 2030. Meaning heat pumps, transportation, LNG pipelines and gas fields.
Somewhere there is a disconnect in the numbers that needs to be examined. The road to progress will be bumpy, but give the provincial government credit for trying to build the road. •
David Austin is a Stirling LLP lawyer who specializes in energy.
