This week as the LNG2023 conference kicks off in Vancouver, an ad and letter campaign being run by the David Suzuki Foundation is attempting to vilify natural gas and LNG in B.C.
What they claim:
Canadian natural gas production and LNG exports are not a solution for emissions reduction.
The facts:
The ads targeting the LNG2023 conference and other parts of B.C. make claims against Canada’s emerging LNG industry that distort emissions reduction efforts and misrepresent science.
The reality is studies have found Canadian LNG to have a lower emissions intensity than the global average. It has also been shown that if exported to Asia and used to replace coal-fired power, Canadian LNG can reduce net emissions.
The global average LNG emissions intensity is 0.35% CO2 per tonne, according to Oxford Energy Institute. LNG Canada is expected to have less than half that, at 0.15%. Proposed Indigenous-led Cedar LNG would be even lower, at 0.08%, and Woodfibre LNG at 0.05%.
Natural gas- fired power generates about half the emissions of coal, according to the International Energy Agency. Because of its lower emissions intensity, LNG from Canada can do even better, reducing emissions by up to 62% compared to coal, according to a study published in the Journal for Cleaner Production.
A review by global consultancy Wood Mackenzie found that Canadian LNG exports to Asia could reduce net emissions by 188 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year – the equivalent of removing all of Canada’s 41 million cars from the road or reducing world emissions by the equivalent of nearly three times B.C.’s total 2020 emissions.
As the world turns increasingly back to coal – global coal use in 2022 was the highest ever in history – with 195 coal plants under construction and a further 320 in “pre-construction,” or planned for the near future, it is crucial that practical solutions to emissions like fuel switching to natural gas are used. And Canada should be the supplier of choice.
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