Greenwashing Debunked in 11 FortisBC Gas Claims (The Tyee)
The article appropriately rejects the 100-year impact horizon for fossil gas, using the
20-year GWP number instead. However, even this is not sufficient. The typical lifetime of
methane in the atmosphere is about 10 years. We have less than 10 years left - per the IPCC -
to drastically reduce our fossil fuel use to avoid completely catastrophic climate change.
[The GWP number for the 10 year horizon for methane is 104, again per the IPCC. (page 39 of the PDF file,
Table 8.SM.17, the second row - CH4 is methane or fossil gas - and the first data column is the GWP10 number: 104.2.]
That is, for each molecule of methane we release into the atmosphere, it will produce 104 times the
warming impact of a molecule of carbon dioxide for the time it remains in the atmosphere. 104 times!
2022.10.19 This is where you hit fossil-fuel extraction for impact - in their wallet.
Next, stop buying their products.
Insurers withdraw from high-risk oil, gas, coal projects (National Observer)
2022.10.19 A restaurant chain in the United Arab Emirates - an oil exporter - have been running
their trucks on 100% biodiesel from used cooking oil (zero net GHGs) since 2011.
But, in North America, we still haven't read the memo. This is true 'waste-to-energy' in action.
McDonald’s UAE vehicles hit biodiesel landmark (biofuels international)
2022.10.18 The rate of ocean warming in the top 2km has doubled from levels in the 1960s, review finds
Amount of ocean heat found to be accelerating and fuelling extreme weather events (The Guardian)
2022.10.16 Despite record profits this year, and even after the $7.1 billion tax credit announced in the last federal budget,
so they can chase their pie in the sky carbon capture dream.
Oilsands Alliance Demands Federal Backing for $24.1B CCS Project (The Energy Mix)
2022.10.16 As climate change is accelerating and producing larger consequences, we need more
good data and information and guidance, not less.
CSIRO abruptly scraps globally recognised climate forecast program (The Guardian)
2022.10.15 If rainfall and drainage patterns are changing (rapidly), and this has negative
consequences for hydro dams, nuclear plants and fossil fuel generating stations that need a lot of
cooling water, we should be shifting away from such centralized large plants as a resilience measure.
Climate graphic of the week: World weather agency sounds alarm on dams, power and nuclear plants (Big Indy News)
Fortunately, solar and wind lend themselves to small installations, and continue to improve.
Rooftop wind energy innovation claims 50% more energy than solar at same cost
2022.10.11 The only way that increased use of fossil methane (natural gas) and paying for the supporting
infrastructure (not a short-term investment), is if the migration path includes a massive
shift to bio-methane.
Sadly and predictably, that is not the Ontario Ford government's plan, but
rather to make taxpayers pay for the big spend for a short-term problem and then toss it away when they eventually
shift to battery storage, 'emissions-free generation' (because the Ontaro Conservatives can't
say 'renewables' out loud after wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on scrapping the climate
change plan they inherited and was working). For less money up-front and greater long-term value,
Ontario could just agree to buy hydro electricity from Quebec and be prepared to reduce
exports, which would give the Ontario grid plenty of headroom.
Ontario doubles down on gas-fired electricity generation, admits emissions will rise (National Observer)
2022.10.10 Greece installed renewables during forced austerity times to reduce electricity costs.
And they're not finished yet.
Greece runs entirely on renewables for the first time in its history (PV Tech)
2022.10.09 Thirty-three of these wind turbines could replace a Pickering class nuclear reactor.
Probably at a lower construction cost, no fuel cost, no spent fuel problem, no
radioactivity problem and likely with better uptime. If we put them in Lake Ontario, close to
the existing generating station, they could 'plug-in' to the exsiting transmission infrastructure.
Intermittent wind could be managed with a large power-conditioning battery (e.g. Tesla Megapack).
Record energy haul: Offshore prototype operates over capacity for 24 hrs (Business Insider)
2022.10.09 Some years ago I said: "EVs are the killer app for the Smart Grid."
I know a fair bit about
EVs (made my first in 1978-79, and have had a succession ever since). I know a bit about the electrical
generation, transmission and storage system. So, just 15 years or so later, it's nice to see some media
are also figuring this out. EVs are not a threat to the grid, they are a golden opportunity. They are a
threat to the fossil fuel industry, and an opportunity to massively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
EVs won't overload the power grid — and they could even help modernize our aging infrastructure (Business Insider)
2022.10.08 'The climate is not just changing. It is destabilising. It is breaking down.'
Greta Thunberg on the climate delusion: ‘We’ve been greenwashed out of our senses. It’s time to stand our ground’ (The Guardian)
2022.10.02 Reducing landfilling and embedded energy used in replacements helps slow climate change.
The fix is in: how Repair Café and other organizations are changing the way we reuse things (Toronto Star)
2022.10.02 One way to mitigate climate change is to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Every reduction helps.
Giant supertanker uses 9.8% less fuel thanks to 130-foot sails (New Atlas)
2022.10.01 There is no idea so beneficial or benign that it can't be screwed up.
Contractors devastated by N.B. program offering free heat pumps (Global News)
2022.09.28 There are a couple of problems with Enbridge's story on the 'hydrogen hub' reducing GHG emissions
such as:
1) The project doesn't actually use green hydrogen.
2) The hydrogen hub in Markham appears to use grid electricity to produce hydrogen, so it's only as clean as
Ontario's increasingly dirty generation mix (as more and more natural gas capacity is being added).
3) Enbridge thinks that steam reforming natural gas to make blue hydrogen (lots of GHG emissions) somehow magically becomes green if
there is carbon capture and STORAGE (CCS) capacity attached. Saskatachewan has proved that carbon dioxide
STORAGE (not sequestration) means the pressurized gas will just be used to produce more fossil fuels.
The euphemism of choice is Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), but it can also be used for natural gas production. (Enbridge)
2022.09.27 "One thing Garcia often suggests to clients is not banking with institutions that still invest in the
fossil fuel industry. It's something she says individuals rarely consider in the broader journey to net zero emissions.
This hairdresser gives lessons on how to discuss climate change with clients (CBC)
2022.09.27 Another way climate change can impact our food chain. If you want to harvest the sea,
the sea needs stability, too.
Hurricane Fiona changed ocean temperatures, tore up marine life habitats (CBC)
2022.09.27 "The paper gives the appearance of being specifically written to make the case that there is no climate crisis,
rather than presenting an objective, comprehensive, up-to-date assessment," said Richard Betts,
Head of Climate Impacts Research at Britain's Met Office.
Scientists urge top publisher to withdraw faulty climate study (Phys.org)
2022.09.24 Biofuels aren't a complete solution, but done well, they could help mitigate climate
change a bit in the short term because they are drop-in; they work with existing engines.
Odd to see Mercedes F1 team as a champion for biofuels. If they get it ...
Mercedes' F1 team used biofuel to cut freight carbon emissions by 89 percent
Trucks used fuel derived from vegetable oils, waste oils and fats to move F1 cars
2022.09.22 No worries, this government is always looking to build a new redundant highway (cough, 413, cough)
Climate change will cost Ontario billions for transportation infrastructure by 2030, watchdog says (CBC)
In case you glazed over in the long headline, that's in the next 8 years.
2022.09.21 The best indicator of future performance is past perfornmance. Hello Coastal GasLink.
Coastal GasLink warned more than 50 times over environmental violations during pipeline construction (CBC)
2022.09.19 The 'Canadian' oil and gas industry is mostly foreign-owned and funded, but they
drive the Canadian political agenda in spite of the wishes of most Canadians.
A ‘grassroots’ group ran Facebook ads against the oil and gas emissions cap. Canada’s most powerful oil lobby paid for them (CBC)
2022.09.17 More disaster weather records - this time in Alaska
'Never this severe': Alaska residents flee from flooding as powerful storm slams state (CBC)
2022.09.16 For the oil industry, profits trump human survival - greenwashing doesn't change this
Criticism intensifies after big oil admits ‘gaslighting’ public over green aims (The Guardian)
2022.09.16 Shifting homes from oil heat to heat pumps - I hope deep conservation retrofits come first
Ottawa announces $250M for home heating program, with focus on Atlantic provinces (CBC)
2022.09.12 “What is still missing with the federal government is a lack of a sense of the need to act with urgency.”
Climate adaptation coalition says Canada needs hard targets on disaster resilience (Globe and Mail)
2022.09.11 2 of the tipping points at highest risk are in Canada
Climate adaptation coalition says Canada needs hard targets on disaster resilience (CBC)
2022.09.07 Oil industry executives must snicker incessantly, or is it guffaw, at Stephen Harper's
2009 pledge at the G8 and G20 to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, especcially as they count their
bonuses from windfall profits in 2022.
Fossil fuel subsidies almost doubled worldwide in 2021, analysis finds (National Observer)
Canadian taxpayers and fossil fuel purchasers, you have been played. Again. And they don't care if
you get angry, so long as you keep paying for gasoline, diesel, heating oil, natural gas ...
So keep on whining and buying, but just don't do anything concrete to get off your oil addiction.
2022.09.06 Imagine, burning more fossil fuels isn't the best path to reducing GHG emissions. Hunh?
Carbon capture is not the key to net-zero emissions plans, report says (National Observer)
2022.09.02 Let me repeat: methane is THE greenhouse gas of concern now with a GWP10 number of 104, and
a life of roughly 10 years in the atmosphere.
Yes, you read that right, methane (aka natural gas) is over 100 times more potent as
a climate-changing, global warming gas than carbon dioxide on a molecule for molecule basis. So, items like
this one should give you the shivers.
Exclusive: Scientists detect second 'vast' methane leak at Pemex oil field in Mexico (Reuters)
If we captured and burned these fugitive emissions, that would reduce the climate change impact by 99%!!
Even better if we used the captured methane for beneficial purposes like electricity generation (until
we get to full renewables) and space heating (while making more energy efficient buildings ahd shifting
to heat pumps).
But just letting it vent into the atmosphere is accelerating catastrophic climate change.
2022.07.26 Shifting to renewables is smart and cost-effective; the dumb grid is a barrier to using them well
Wasted energies – why we’re getting renewables wrong and how to fix it
2022.06.15 Subsidized fossil natural gas was never justification enough for the methane and CO2 emissions
Cheap Gas Fired Power Begins to Unravel
2022.06.15 Most Canadian homes are not built to deal with extreme heat (which is coming)
Building code changes could take decades to 'future-proof' homes for extreme heat that's here now
2022.06.09 No lack of contenders for the lamest 'zero-emisisons' energy system these days.
But the common denominators appear to be hydrogen is part of some multi-step process that involves
massive, multiple conversion losses, and some mention that 'green energy' can be the primary
energy source, if we just spend millions on this new 'greatest idea ever' to make it real.
(Pro tip: the minimum threshold is set by off-the-shelf battery storage technology and electric
drive where the system losses starting from green energy (like wind or solar) can be less than 15%.)
Another recent contestent is ammonia as a hydrogen carrier. Ignoring the health hazard of being
around a lot of ammonia, the energy efficiency is a horror. Here's a piece that examines the numbers.
Immaculate Combustion (Doomberg)
2022.06.08 More LNG means more NG production, more NG use and more fugitive methane emissions.
Bad Plan. This is about long-term infrastructure, not about being a 'bridge fuel'. But the great part about this
for the fossil fuels industry is that Canadian taxpayers will pay the bills, shoulder the liabilities,
suffer the climate change impacts and give all the profits to foreign multi-nationals.
Climate Action Tracker issues warning over global ‘gold rush’ for LNG (National Observer)
2022.06.07 No Geo-engineering (or Atmosphere-engineering) without an OFF switch. Period.
Besides, the big issue for the next decade is reducing methane emissions dramatically. CO2 is a
modest GHG by comparison, with a much longer pay-off (because it lasts a long time in the atmosphere).
By contrast, the impact of a methane molecule is over 100 times that of a CO2 molecule, but it's life
in the atmosphere is only a decade. Dropping methane emissions in the near-term gives a chance.
Continuing to focus on CO2 today guarantees we'll cook before the solution takes effect.
The ethics of tinkering with the Earth's atmosphere to tackle climate change (National Observer)
2022.06.02 Despite industry intransigence and government inertia, habitat can be retored
Campbell River estuary is a restoration showcase to save salmon habitat from climate change (National Observer)
2022.06.02 If wetlands are submerged by sea level rise, that's a methane bomb.
Our wetlands are drowning (National Observer)
2022.05.31 Actually, it's Canadian taxpayers taking the risk here, because the banks have a 100%
federal government guarantee they will be compensated if TMX fails to repay the financing.
Canada’s biggest banks quietly prop up TMX (National Observer)
2022.05.29 Oil companies will need to release emissions data because of new U.S. regulation
The officially disclosed carbon footprints of Canada’s largest oil companies could balloon in size
if tough new climate rules proposed earlier this year by a U.S. regulator come into effect. (Verve)
2022.05.28 Will climate change start new resource wars for lands cool enough for us to survive on?
Scientists warn future temperatures will test humans' ability to survive (CBC)
Remember, climate change is only a problem if you want to survive.
2022.05.19 BC Cancelling Major Fossil Fuel Subsidy, to Collect Royalties
B.C. overhauls oil and gas royalty system by changing 'broken system' of subsidies (CBC)
2022.05.19 Ford government's climate policies cost taxpayers more than $10 billion: report
Putting off addressing climate change is costing taxpayers now, as well as much more later. (National Observer)
The "Hot Hot Air" report referenced in the article
2022.05.17 Shut down fossil fuel production sites early to avoid climate chaos, says study
Exclusive: Nearly half existing facilities will need to close prematurely to limit heating to 1.5C, scientists
say (The Guardian)
2022.05.16 Climate change is now on the menu at seafood restaurants
Restaurant menus across the West Coast of Canada will soon see an influx of squid and sardine dishes,
while the popular sockeye salmon makes a slow exit. As it turns out, climate change may have something
to do with this. (The Conversation)
2022.05.09 Note that RBC is one the world's largest financers of fossil fuel production
EV batteries already deliver long range and quick charging times, and new silicon-lithium
technology will bump those performance markers up to the next level. (Cleam Technica)
2022.04.26 Note that RBC is one the world's largest financers of fossil fuel production
Oil and gas will be around a lot longer than some think, despite climate change goals: RBC (CBC)
2022.04.25 Hunh? Making hydro power to make hydrogen to make electricity for the grid?
I had to read this bit three times to make sure I was understanding their fundamental plan.
"The proposed project would include an offsite wind farm that would pump water to an upper reservoir
on Tent Mountain with the hydro-electric power that is generated used to create green hydrogen in
the lower reservoir. Any excess power would be sold to the electricity grid."
I have done the math on making green hydrogen from electricity. To oversimplify, the round-trip
conversion losses (from green electricity from hydro to hydrogen; from hydrogen back to electricity)
end up throwing away over 75% of the original high-quality energy to the conversion losses, and
having less than 25% returned back as high-quality electric energy. In today's world, it makes
no economic sense to turn 75% of quality energy into low-grade waste heat.
Montem Resources exploration of renewable energy project in southwestern Alberta raises questions (CBC)
2022.04.25 China plans to boost coal production by 300 million tonnes this year
“Insurance companies actually are recognizing that fossil fuel infrastructure is much riskier and either becoming
uninsurable or much more expensive … and that is the reality of our world today,” said Kung. (National Observer)
2022.04.25 Trans Mountain pipeline insurers dropping like flies
Not the happy times like
2014 when the U.S.-China agreement on climate change mitigation was a ray of
sunlight where many industrial nations were in stall and deny mode. (CNN)
2022.04.21 Some light in all the climate change darkness, Katharine Hayhoe is solid
Opinion: I Helped Pen the UN Climate Report. Here’s Why It Gives Me Hope. (Undark)
2022.04.18 Punching another hole in the green hydrogen economy mirage
This headline comes from a pro-hydrogen publication:
Japan - its Hydrogen Economy Runs The Risk of Being Powered by Coal (Fuel Cell Works)
So, Japan's emissions reduction plan seems to hinge burning coal to produce electricity to run
electrolysis to make hydrogen. That's not green hydrogen, or even blue hydrogen. That's black hydrogen,
even if Japan can invent and industrialize an effective flue gas carbon dioxide capture and SEQUESTRATION
(not mentioned in the technology plan) system.
From the article:
"By doing so, Japan's hydrogen technique is basically simply protecting coal energy alive and,
and if pursued at the price of shifting to renewable power, Japan will probably be locked into the long-term
use of fossil fueels and CO2 emissions."
Looks like Japan is going to join Canada, Russia, China, Brazil and India in the club of climate change
mitigation rogue states.
2022.04.18 Small Modular Reactors - Still not a right answer to climate change
Part of what I do here is call out the false idol 'solutions' being foisted on us by the
vested interests in fossil fuels and their government lackeys. The top three being 'new nuclear',
hydrogen as fuel and carbon capture from fossil fuel combustion. Today, a couple of items on
'new nuclear'. (It is my personal opinion, based on years of research, that we should not be
doing big nuclear new-builds, because they can't be constructed in time to make a positive
difference, on top of their legacy of baggage.)
We should not be funding 'new nuclear' (effectively synonymous with small modular reactors - SMR)
because we still don't have the fundamental technology working, and haven't had since the 1989
TGTR 300
failure, radiation release and attempted government cover-up saying the release was not from this
plant but from Chernobyl. The facility had been plagued by 'incidents' sufficiently serious they
had to be reported to the regulatory authority.
Fast forward to 2022, and while Canadian provincial governments and the feds keep tossing taxpayer
money at SMRs, the reality check keeps showing it's a boondoggle in the making.
NuScale: Not new, not needed
And even if you can stomach all that and still think SMRs have a contribution to make by 2030,
consider this current complication. SMRs may not be able to get fuel.
The Nuclear Reactors of the Future Have a Russia Problem
Next-generation nuclear plants could be safer and more efficient, but first the US has to figure
out how to fuel them up—without relying on Russia.
2022.04.17 shhh! Doug Ford bails on climate change, again. But it's a secret.
Province 'coasting' on federal initiatives to cut carbon emissions, says Greenpeace
Ontario quietly revises its plan for hitting climate change targets (CBC)
Information release on the Ontario government website Government of Ontario
2022.04.17 Story from U.S., but same oil industry double-dipping likely happens in Canada, too.
Process to tap inaccessible deposits employs captured carbon and was therefore eligible to generate offsets
Firms used carbon credits created in oil extraction initiativess (WSS News UK)
2022.04.16 Did an 'independent' Ontario Crown agency fudge the numbers to fit a government political agenda?
Clearly, Canada - being the biggest producer of the world's dirtiest 'oil' - bitumen, just can't
bring itself to walk the talk. Oil money shouts; other voices are muted.
Documents raise questions about costs to retire Ontario’s natural gas power plants (Globe & Mail)
2022.04.14 Canada is a rogue super-emitter
Canadians emit 20 tCO2 per person. That's twice as much as the Germans and three times as much as the British. (National Observer)
2022.04.14 Are Canadians smart enough to reduce GHG emissions without a pandemic?
Canada's greenhouse gas emissions declined for the second year in a row in 2020.
Canada saw a drop in greenhouse gas emissions during the first year of the pandemic: report (CBC)
2022.04.13 Is CNOOC pulling out of Canada really a bad thing?
Or is this another piece of evidence that the world really doesn't want the garbage 'oil' called bitumen.
Fearful over sanctions amid Ukraine war, Chinese energy giant CNOOC may pull out of Canada (CBC)
Remember, CNOOC's 2015 leak from their 3-year-old, 'state-of-the-art' pipeline was not even
detected by pipeline operations team (Nexen).
World Oil article
AER says 60,000 litres,
and the operator did not provide a number because Nexen couldn't measure the spill from pipeline operations data.
Nexen charged in 2015 pipeline spill at Long Lake facility near Fort McMurray
"In July 2016, one year after the spill, Nexen reported that its own investigation had found the pipeline buckled
and ruptured because its design was incompatible with the muskeg ground conditions."
2022.04.08 Methane is climate change enemy number 1. If only there was a solution to this problem.
Funny story, there is a solution to this problem, which will also restore the quality of the water
in our rivers, lakes and oceans. But, I'm not ready to tell you about it yet. You'll have to wait.
Methane in Earth’s atmosphere rose by record amount last year, US government data shows (The Guardian)
2022.04.07 For the second year in a row, NOAA scientists observed a record annual increase in atmospheric levels of methane
Increase in atmospheric methane set another record during 2021 (NOAA)
2022.04.07 The headline is the story: Oil industry calls Bay du Nord approval triumph, climate advocates condemn it
The Canadian federal government chose climate chaos. The oil industry got everything they wanted.
It dosesn't matter what climate change mitigation this government claims it will support, the amount
of money will pale in comparison to the property damage and lives ruined caused by climate change
arising from this and other support for the oil and gas industry in Canada, financial and non-financial.
Oil industry calls Bay du Nord approval triumph, climate advocates condemn it (CBC)
2022.04.07 Burning natural gas generates high levels of nitrogen oxides, linked to asthma in children
And that doesn't include the climate change impacts of fugitive emssions associated with the
fracking and drilling and distribution leaks of using natural gas. For the good of your health,
get off gas in your homes.
After seeing how gas stoves pollute homes, these researchers are ditching theirs (CBC)
2022.04.06 Trudeau-Singh first test on climate change is a fail; Bay du Nord approved.
Federal government approves controversial Bay du Nord oil project (CBC)
Well, the test came quickly for the Trudeau-Singh alliance. Which is more important? Profits for
foreign-owned oil companies or survival of species? Unsurprisingly, Trudeau and Singh chose oil
industry profits and more taxpayer subsidies. We'll worry about climate change in 2030 or later,
it's a political strategy that has worked so far, and leaves the oil-loving Conservatives with
no policy space further to the right - all they can attack is platitdues for 8 years from now.
2022.04.06 Putin's looting, pillaging and war crimes in Ukraine have unleashed a long string
of unintended consquences. Europeans may even be prepared to put up with some discomfort and
really embrace non-fossil fuel solutions for their energy needs.
Russian gas exodus will lower European carbon emissions, analysis suggests (IET)
"The research from DNV Energy estimates that 34 per cent of the energy mix in Europe will come
from non-fossil fuel sources in 2024, two percentage points more than the pre-war forecast."
That's a big shift given the direction in 2023 was increased fossil fuel use.
2022.04.05 Canada SHOULD be facing a tough fossil fuel choice, but in reality it is punting the
ball down the field of time with a climate change 'plan' which gives the Canadian fossil fuel sector
a pass and ignores the contribution of Canada's big banks profiteering off taxpayer funded bitumen boondoggles.
Caught between climate warnings and economic realities, Canada and the world face tough fossil fuel choices (CBC)
Canada ponders oil project off Newfoundland as latest IPCC report warns climate goals slipping away
2022.04.04 Be careful what you believe in the headline.
This is not 'green hydrogen', it comes from cracking natural gas, so it's not a climate solution at all.
The 'renewable fuels' is greenwashing taxpayer-funded carbon capture and use, with some work on recovering
energy from solid waste. For climate change mitigation, this is a step backwards and is doubling down on
climate destruction by Suncor.
Suncor to ditch solar and wind assets, focus on hydrogen and renewable fuels (Globe & Mail)
2022.03.28 One of the big problems in stopping climate change is that tax dollars are used to accelerate it
B.C.’s largest fossil fuel subsidy cost the province over $1B last year (National Observer)
That's over $1 Billion from a single loophole in a single province which essentially produces no oil.
2022.03.28 Canada's 'new' GHG emissions plan doesn't just miss the mark, it's going in the wrong direction.
Why Canada's oilpatch can't solve the energy crisis (CBC)
2022.03.30 In case you still think experts are not sounding alarms about catastrophic climate change happening now
More oil and gas production, carbon capture tax credits raise questions about climate plan’s credibility (National Observer)
2022.03.20 In case you still think experts are not sounding alarms about catastrophic climate change happening now
Stonewalled: Alberta ignored warnings about oil and gas cleanup, ex-government scientist says (The Narwhal)
2022.03.20 95 per cent of Alberta oil and gas sites certified as reclaimed have never been inspected by provincial officials
Heat waves at both of the Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists (The Guardian)
2022.03.15 Disaster Capitalism - using Ukraine to justify the unsustainable, which will arrive too late anyway
Sadly, but unsurprisingly, the oil industry and head bitumen cheerleader Jason Kenney - the accidental
Premier of Alberta - have spumed that the solution to Europe's short-term fossil fuel inconvenience
should be solved by ramping up the production of Alberta's bitumen, natural gas and coal production and
delivery infrastructure, dubbing it 'ethical oil'. This is the wrong answer, for a few reasons.
a) Until Alberta and Canada get their house in order on truth and reconciliation with Canada's indigenous
nations and cultures, they have no business using the word 'ethical'.
b) Europe will only need more fossil fuels for a short period, likely less than 2 years, as they source
replacement energy from renewables first, and reduced fossil fuel demand from closer and more reliable
sources, like oil and gas producers in the middle east.
c) Canadian oil is expensive by world standards, and heavy oil requiring more refining energy than light
and medium crudes available closer to Europe today. Canadian oil can't compete on price without massive
subsidies from Canadian taxpayers (already part of 'business as usual').
d) Alberta can't deliver in time. Alberta is landlocked. It doesn't have the refining capacity required
to make the gasoline, oil, and diesel fuel customers want. It will take 10-20 years to build more
refining capacity, and the past 3 decades show Alberta has no interest in that. So they have to ship to
refineries, mostly in the U.S. which can actually refine the heavy bitumen crude mixed with diluents.
They don't have the delivery capacity. Alberta and Canada's previous Prime Minister have soured relations
with the U.S., which has slowed the approvals and building of Keystone XL. They have similarly pissed
off Quebec, which along with shaky financials, forced proponents to withdraw their Energy East proposed
pipeline. Trans Mountain XL is such a financial fiasco that even the Canadian government - the world oil
industry's subsidizer-in-chief - wants to wash
their hands of it - if $21 billion dollars too late. No private sector investor has appeared to pick up
the project and carry on. Even if any of those actually moves forward, it is certainly five years before
any of them could deliver any fossil fuel to Europe from increased production, and probably more than a
decade.
e) There is a way Canada could deliver more fossil fuel to Europe within a few months. By dramatically
reducing demand for those fuels in Canada and sending the saved fuel to Europe. Somehow, that doesn't
appear as part of the Alberta plan. Which tells me that the Canadian oil industry isn't really concerned
about Ukraine and applying pressure to Russia, but only in increasing overall demand for their product
on a global scale. Exactly what humans can't afford if we hope to survive as a species beyond the end
of this century.
We have the solutions we need at hand, we just can't bring ourselves to use them. In Europe, wind turbines and
photovoltaic projects could be built and delivering electricity within a year. That additional electricity
could be used to power heat pumps for heating and cooling buildings, mass transit and electric cars and
trucks, displacing fossil fuels and their emissions.
What we really have a shortage of is rational thinking by elected leaders and a lack of resolve to
actually solve the problem at hand, even though it would reduce costs and improve the environment
and our health, and bring climate change acceleration to a halt.
Russia’s war on Ukraine renewed talk about Canada’s ‘ethical oil.’ Here’s what experts say about that push (Toronto Star)
2022.03.28 One of the big problems in stopping climate change is that our tax dollars are used to accelerate it
B.C.’s largest fossil fuel subsidy cost the province over $1B last year (National Observer)
That's over $1 Billion from a single loophole in a single province which essentially produces no oil.
2022.03.17 Ottawa pours more money into next-gen nuclear tech
The most optimistic forecasts for SMRs is that they COULD be ready for construction in the
early 2030s. (National Observer) They won't be. Even if they were, it's too late for
significant actions on climate change - we need to have implemented the changes by 2030 per
the IPCC's latest reports, not just be hoping to start them. I have been following SMRs since - ready for it? - 1980 - when the
SLOWPOKE was already a real thing. I wrote about them in 2005-6 in my award-winning book,
The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy. They're a distraction, and they don't solve any
of the existing problems of nuclear energy (dealing with spent fuel, high costs for construction,
fuel production, operations, possible ionizing radiation releases,creation of feedstock for
nuclear weapons ...)
If the objective is to provide remote communities with reliable, zero-emissions energy
sources, PV panels, wind turbines and batteries are available off-the-shelf today and will
cost a lot less per community than SMRs. SMRs are a distraction and delaying tactic intended
to delay action on moving away from fossil fuels in the short term.
2022.03.05 The fossil fuel sector is always quick to point out the cost of combatting climate change
but since the UK's Stern Report, very few get the spotlight to point out the costs of not combatting climate change.
What the new IPCC report says climate change could — and is — costing Canadians (CBC)
(the report - again)
2022.03.04 Toyota subsidiary Hino admits use of fraudulent emissions data
The use of fraudulent data has been ongoing since at least 2016, with the company having sold at
least 115,526 vehicles with engines certified by the government based on rigged data (Market Screener)
2022.03.03 Before we get excited about shipping CNG to Europe, how about some reality?
Yes, Canadian Conservative politicians and their puppet masters in the international oil and gas
industry will hate this. Thinking is hard for them; wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on new
oil and gas infrastructure and more subsidies is easy. There is a current war in Ukraine, started
by the oil-enriched kleptocrats in Russia, led by Vladimir Putin. Putin wants to use gas supplies
at the end of winter as leverage to force Europe to let him have Ukraine. The democracies in
Europe, to their credit and my surprise, appear to be willing to undergo some possible hardship to
assist Ukraine in a war imposed on them and where they are outnumbered and outgunned.
The fossil fuel sector has an easy answer, just get more gas from another source. Bring it in
using CNG ships which are filled at loading terminals in the U.S. and Canada, and off-load it at
receiving terminals in Europe, starting next week. Easy-peasy - problem solved.
There might be a couple of small issues to be addressed before we open the valves on this 'solution'.
Those ships don't exist, or at least not enough of them. The loading terminals don't exist in quantity,
and those on the drawing board are mostly on the west coast of North America, that is, on the wrong ocean.
The receiving terminals don't exist in the right places. The existing pipelines are backwards to what will
be required. Currently, the fat end of the pipe is in Russia and branches into smaller and smaller pipes
as they move west. The CNG tankers will arrive at the west end, at the small pipes, and need to pump east.
Building that infrastructure (ships, pipelines on the producer side, compression and loading terminals,
unloading terminals, rebuild of the pipelines on the consumer side) will not happen next week; possibly
next decade. Europe needs a solution long before that.
There are solutions that can be implemented in a much shorter time scale for producing heat and
electricity. Renewables, conservation, energy efficiency, battery storage and in the short term,
ramping up old coal and nuclear which was being ramped down and mothballed.
Here's the International Energy Agency's (IEA) take. Europe doesn't need a longer supply line or
to simply switch puppet-masters. They need to establish energy independence to protect their
political independence.
And there's still that pesky issue of climate change which demands that we move away from fossil
fuels within this decade if we're planning to survive the looming crisis of catastrophic climate change.
2022.03.02 Fossil fuels are killing the planet. So why don’t we stop using them?
Because our taxes are used to massively subsidize oil in Canada, so alternatives can't compete in a fair market. (National Observer)
2022.02.28 Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
The UN IPCC Sixth Assessment Report 3,675 pages Two summaries also available. (United Nations)
2022.02.25 Doug Ford threw Ontario under the bus when he killed cap and trade
Ontario will remain a rogue state on environment and climate change so long as Doug Ford and the OPC are in power. (National Observer)
2022.02.24 Global methane emissions 70% higher than countries report, IEA says
It's long past time for Canada (and the world) to get serious about methane emissions,
because they are 104 times more potent than carbon dioxide. And so far, we can't
even measure them in a credible way. (National Observer)
2022.02.23 Wildfires likely to increase by a third by 2050, warns UN
Even previously unaffected countries likely to see uncontrollable blazes, says study, which calls for shift to spending on prevention (The Guardian)
The Report "Spreading Like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires"
2022.02.22 Climate resolution forces RBC to reckon with greenwashing
Oil industry and big Canadian banks - two sides, same coin (and it's all about the coin) (National Observer)
2022.02.22 New study paints oil firms’ climate claims as greenwashing
The oil industry misleading us on climate change claims? I'm shocked, shocked I say. Sadly, not. (National Observer)
2022.02.18 Carbon capture tech is advancing in the wrong direction
It’s increasingly being paired with fossil fuel power plants (The Verge)
2022.02.18 STOP PRESS!! Canada reverses course on Trans Mountain Pipeline Carbon Bomb
Chrystia Freeland closes the door on new funding for Trans Mountain as project costs surge (Financial Post)
2022.02.16 Thawing permafrost can expose northerners to cancer-causing gas, study says
Radon is a risk to people's health when it accumulates in enclosed spaces (CBC)
2022.02.16 NOAA estimates average sea level rise of about 1 foot in less than 30 years.
You can dive (figuratively) into the full report, executive summary, and takeaways at the link below.
2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report (NOAA National Ocean Service)
2022.02.15 Climate plans should set out clear targets for all types of greenhouse gases because of how potent they are,
but still not ready to face up to GWP10.
The Case Against Methane Emissions Keeps Getting Stronger (Bloomberg)
2022.02.15 Provincial subsidies amounts now rival federal subsidies to fossil fuel industries.
Canada’s Provinces Provided at Least CAD 2.5 Billion in Fossil Fuel Subsidies Last Year, Undermining Climate Action (IISD)
2022.02.14 From the 'no solution is so pure it can't be screwed up' files
How Corn Ethanol for Biofuel Fed Climate Change (Civil Eats)
The referenced study can be foound at:
https://www.pnas.org/content/119/9/e2101084119.
Note this text in the acknowledgements of the study. Not all the parties listed are biofuel fans.
"This material is based upon work supported by grants from the National Wildlife Federation;
the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center; US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office
of Biological and Environmental Research (award DE-SC0018409); the NSF Innovations at the
Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems program (award 1855996); and the NSF Graduate Research
Fellowship Program (grant DGE-174750). We have presented preliminary results from this work at
meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Global Land Programme,
the American Geophysical Union, and the America’s Grasslands Conference."
2022.02.14 Yet again, the Ford government (Ontario) plays do as I say, not as I do.
Ontario’s landfills are filling up while the biggest polluters backslide (National Observer)
2022.02.14 A new micro-hydroelectric project at the Klahoose Wilderness Resort on B.C.’s isolated Central Coast
will eliminate diesel fuel use at the off-grid, eco-tourist destination, removing 38 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Small coastal First Nation fuels economic growth with clean energy (National Observer)
2022.02.11 CCS appears to be possible, but not economically plausible...and because it does nothing to
eliminate carbon pollution as coal and gas are extracted, processed and transported, it fails the desirability test
Time to move on from carbon capture (The Hill)
2022.02.10 Quebec has missed its climate targets for 2020
Quebec on track to miss its climate targets for 2030 (Nizh Times)
2022.02.10 We're all frustrated, by COVID, by oil industry obstructionism, government inaction ...
The ‘freedom convoy’ shows why we need a long-term climate plan (National Observer)
2022.02.08 As global methane concentrations soar over 1,900 parts per billion, some researchers fear
that global warming itself is behind the rapid rise.
Scientists raise alarm over ‘dangerously fast’ growth in atmospheric methane (Nature)
2022.02.08 Amazon would mislead us on their climate change actions scope? What next, forcing
workers to stay at work when a tornado is headed their way?
Big companies' climate pledges aren't as green as they look, report finds (CBC)
2022.02.04 The plan is wait until extinction is unavoidable - extinction of us. It's working.
Look up! Why Canada needs to accelerate its climate adaptation agenda (National Observer)
2022.01.28 The way to the oil industry's "heart" is through its wallet.
Historically, misdleading advertising about the environmental benefits of a product
have been dismissed as fluff, and not punished. This represents a change. Still, it is left to
consumers to do the research on the truth of green branding, and call out the liars.
Alberta oilpatch may face lending crunch as financial regulators worry about the risks of climate change (National Observer)
2022.01.28 Finally, a greenwash campaign called out and punished.
Historically, misdleading advertising about the environmental benefits of a product
have been dismissed as fluff, and not punished. This represents a change. Still, it is left to
consumers to do the research on the truth of green branding, and call out the liars.
Anything can be eco with a coat of greenwash! (National Observer)
2022.01.27 Yes, methane. Again. And again.
Study: Gas stoves worse for climate than previously thought (AP News)
"Even when they are not running, U.S. gas stoves are putting 2.6 million tons (2.4 million metric
tons) of methane — in carbon dioxide equivalent units — into the air each year, a team of California
researchers found in a study published in Thursday’s journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s equivalent to the annual amount of greenhouse gases from 500,000 cars or what the United
States puts into the air every three-and-a-half hours. "
Methane and NOx Emissions from Natural Gas Stoves, Cooktops, and Ovens in Residential Homes (2022)
Now, what about natural gas water heaters?
Greenhouse gas emissions from domestic hot water: heat pumps compared to most commonly used systems (2016)
"The model of Shindell et al. indicates it is even more critical to control CH4 emissions than CO2 emissions
if we are to slow the rate of global warming over the coming few decades: reducing CO2 emissions has little
effect on warming over this time period due to lags in the climate system, whereas reductions in CH4 emissions
have an immediate influence."
"Our analysis indicates that if the natural gas from shale is used for heating water in homes, the accumulated
radiative forcing from using a natural gas water heater can be as much as six times higher than from using a
heat pump water heater within the first year of their installations, and still more than five times higher
after 20 years."
2022.01.27 Another story on the carbon capture scam, different source.
Global Witness Exposes The Lie Behind The Carbon Capture Scam (CleanTechnica)
2022.01.26 Another story on the carbon capture scam, different source - and hydrogen - a twofer.
An explosive report on one of the largest carbon capture and storage facilities in Alberta is challenging
the wisdom of Canada’s hydrogen strategy (National Observer)
2022.01.25 The nerve, briging reality to the climate crisis "debate"
The climate crisis demands courage not optimism (The Conversation)
2022.01.24 Carbon Capture and Storage (not Sequestration) is not a climate change solution.
It is another way for taxpayer money to be shoveled at the fossil fuel sector while serving as
government-sanctioned greenwashing. Somebody else has now figured that out.
Governments are investing billions into carbon capture in the Prairies. Here’s what you need to know (The Narwhal)
2022.01.20 Another day, another massive Canadian taxpayer subsidy to the oil and gas sector.
Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage is NOT carbon sequestration. So this is a bait-and-switch
on taxpayers who think this is paying for carbon sequestration (good thing), but instead is paying the oil and
gas industry to do Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), which they will do anyway, and allows half or more of the
carbon dioxide captured to escaped with produced oil, gas and water, and produce even more GHGs (bad thing,
in case anybody is keeping score anymore).
Are Canada’s carbon capture plans a ‘pipe dream’? (National Observer)
2022.01.17 Divesting from fossil fuels - someday.
On Nov. 1, Abby Herd helped lead a group of Simon Fraser University students over the finish line as they
won an eight-year campaign to persuade the administration to divest from fossil fuels by 2025.
Now that the problem is about banks' money instead of just lives and personal property,
can we finally take catastrophic climate change seriously?
How to get a university to divest (National Observer)
2022.01.14 Bank of Canada warns of costly risks if climate action is delayed
Now that the problem is about banks' money instead of just lives and personal property,
can we finally take catastrophic climate change seriously?
Bank of Canada warns of costly risks if climate action is delayed (National Observer)
2022.01.14 IEA reports CO2 emissions in electricity sector ROSE 7% in 2021
Another example of how we're going in the wrong direction.
IEA: Electricity markets – surging demand, strained supply chains, renewables lagging
From the article:
"According to the report, around half of the global growth took place in China, where demand increased
by an estimated 10%, and more than half of it was met by coal-fired generation, which grew by 9% again
principally in China as well as India.
"This increase in coal generation also was the main driver of the increase in CO2 emissions, which amounted
to almost 7% in 2021."
We need renewables and conservation to change the direction on GHG emissions levels.
2022.01.08 "Large–scale electric vehicle adoption can greatly reduce emissions
...from vehicle tailpipes. However, analysts have cautioned that it can come with increased indirect
emissions from electricity and battery production that are not commonly regulated by transport policies.
We combine integrated energy modeling and life cycle assessment to compare optimal policy scenarios that
price emissions at the tailpipe only, versus both tailpipe and indirect emissions. Surprisingly, scenarios
that also price indirect emissions exhibit higher, rather than reduced, sales of electric vehicles, while
yielding lower cumulative tailpipe and indirect emissions."
"While pricing only direct tailpipe emissions already leads to a nearly complete phase?–out of ICEVs
(Fig. 2a), the transition is accelerated under full emissions pricing (Fig. 2b). In addition, HFCEVs are
avoided entirely under full pricing due to the high emissions penalty of producing hydrogen from natural gas."
Pricing indirect emissions accelerates low—carbon transition of US light vehicle sector (nature communications)
Past blog pages: May 2019 June 2019
July 2019 August 2019
September 2019 October 2019
November 2019 December 2019
January 2020 February 2020
March 2020 April 2020
May 2020 June 2020
July 2020 [COVID gap] Oct-Dec 2021
You can find many earlier postings (going back to year 2000) related to climate change at:
Keith's List Archive and
the Sustainable Biofuel List Mail Archive.
I present a lot of information in this blog and on this website. If you need some help sorting through the
noise level and getting a forward-looking, proactive approach to climate change for your business, I can do
that work for you via my consulting business. Contact