ECA Review - 2022-09-08

10 S eptember 8'22 HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB. ECA REVIEW
10 S eptember 8'22 HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB. WHEEL OF A DEAL ECA REVIEW
Canada must begin to
export green energy
natural gas to Europe
by Olivier Rancourt
Troy Media
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
recently completed a trip to Canada to
discuss, among other things, Europe
importing Canadian natural gas. With
the invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions
that followed, Germany, which
imported 55 per cent of its natural gas
from Russia in 2021, has had to reopen
some coal plants and has started
looking for other sources to meet its
natural gas needs.
As difficult as this situation is for
the German population, this transfer
of consumption toward natural gas
from other countries is part and parcel
of the Western response to the first
conventional conflict Europe has seen
in decades.
Despite everything, this is an exceptional
opportunity for Canada to help
both its own economy and that of its
allies. Quebec alone has estimated natural
gas reserves of between 2.8
trillion m3 and 8.5 trillion m3.
According to the Canadian Energy
Research Institute, the development of
these reserves could bring in close to
$15 billion in tax revenues and royalties
for the province over a period of 25
years.
Despite these substantial economic
benefits, the governments of Quebec
and Canada refuse to green-light the
development of natural gas or the construction
of the energy infrastructure
needed to export the gas already
produced.
Citing a lack of usable infrastructure
in the short term and using the
pretext that the consumption of natural
gas emits GHGs, the Canadian
and Quebec governments block every
measure that could facilitate export.
The absence of pre-existing infrastructure
is not a valid reason to
justify these governmental refusals.
Indeed, considering how quickly
Germany expects to complete the construction
of its LNG terminal and have
it up and running in just a little over a
year, it’s clear that Canada could act
within a similar timeframe. There’s no
reason Canada could not build a terminal
just as quickly – and the longer
we wait, the worse things will be for
our European allies.
The environmental
argument
doesn’t hold
water either.
Natural gas is a
transition energy.
Since it is less polluting
than coal,
the transformation
of coal power
plants into natural
gas plants
led to the reduction
of 500 million
tonnes of CO2 in
the world
between 2010 and
2018, the equivalent
of replacing
200 million gaspowered
vehicles
with electric vehicles
powered by
electricity generating
no GHGs.
Moreover, the
European Union
recently classified
natural gas
VIEWPOINT
as a green energy source. As for
Énergie Saguenay’s natural gas liquefaction
plant project, it was expected to
reduce global emissions by 28 million
tonnes a year, with lower GHG emissions
during liquefaction than
comparable plants in the United States
and Qatar. In addition to the project’s
environmental benefits, the plant is
expected to generate over $800 million
a year in economic benefits and $110
million in tax revenues for the federal
and provincial governments.
Despite the substantial economic
and environmental benefits of projects
to develop and liquefy Canadian natural
gas, governments continue to
refuse to let these projects go forward.
Canada is not only shooting itself in
the foot; it is also hurting its European
allies which are attempting to present
a united front against Russia. And on
top of that, Canada is refusing to
reduce global GHGs by further developing
an energy source the European
Union considers to be green. Clearly,
Canada can and must do better.
Olivier Rancourt is an Economist at
the Montreal Economic Institute.
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