Dear Editor:
Not everybody knows what is in the Copenhagen and Paris agreements and how much needs to be done.
Prior to the Paris conference it was shown that we have to come to zero emissions in 2100. The G7 agreement signed by then-prime minster Stephen Harper makes it mandatory for Canada. One hundred and ninety-five countries showed in Paris how they proposed to cut emissions.
Eighty-eight countries including Canada ratified the accord by confirming their nationally determined contribution. Most contributions are, like Canada’s, till 2030 and badly needed to reach zero.
Canada’s commitment is to cut the present 720 mega tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to 524 Mtpa. The government admits that without drastic action we will only cut 20 Mtpa, mainly due to Alberta’s oil industries’ insistence to add 30 Mtpa by increasing from four million to 5.5 million barrels per day.
According to six major financial institutions, this will not happen. They show that most fossil fuel worldwide has to be left in the ground. Oil sand reserves will become stranded assets. With worthless reserves, companies can’t borrow money and some have pulled out.
Canada can use its expertise capturing carbon, generating hydrogen and building new electric railways.
For example, Inventys Inc., a Burnaby-based clean energy company, is supplying the technology for a carbon-capture pilot plant in Saskatchewan. It is charcoal based and much cheaper than the 1.4 Mtpa ammonia-based SaskPower plant operating there.
Another clean energy company, Carbon Engineering, has captured carbon dioxide from the air and expects to produce biofuel at its pilot plant in Squamish. Yet another company, Nova Scotia-based Carbon Sense Solutions, uses captured CO2 to cure concrete.
Ontario-based Hydrogenics has built a wind-operated clean hydrogen gas plant in Germany. They also won a sizable contract to develop hydrogen-powered commuter trains in Europe. In Korea they are helping to build more hydrogen/fuel cell power plants.
Burnaby-based Ballard is manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells for zero-emission buses and trucks in China.
I foresee that we can electrify all our railroads using the wind/hydrogen combination. The well-studied G7G to Alaska is a prime candidate. With eight trains per day it can transport the equivalent of 1.5 million barrels per day of oil as raw bitumen (neatbit) which is perfectly safe.
Extensive reports in 1970 show the feasibility of a railway for minerals and forest product through the mid-Canada corridor. It would benefit First Nations. By 2025 their population in the corridor will rise to 667,900 people. At eight trains per day the corridor railway could replace the proposed Energy East pipeline.
Neil Heesterman
Lynn Valley
What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below.