Quebec mistaken about fracking and natural gas

Policy undermines a key contributor to emissions cuts,

Regulations proposed by the Quebec government earlier this month to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and severely limit development of natural gas are evidence of a troubling form of economic and environmental self-sabotage increasingly evident in Canadian energy policy.

Technically, the government has left open the possibility for new natural gas projects, but the message to industry is loud and clear: Quebec’s priority is to import foreign natural gas instead of developing its own resources.

Yet the very industry the province is currently seeking to ban is, in fact, the key to that evolution and to meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

There is no defensible reason to forgo the benefits of developing Quebec’s natural gas industry.

Few organized activists acknowledge the central role natural gas plays in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while meeting the growing energy needs of Quebec, Canada and the world. Natural gas is the key to displacing coal-fired power generation in Canada and in emerging economies such as China and India, regions that will account for the bulk of growth in future energy demand and GHG emissions.

It is 40 per cent cleaner than coal when used in electricity generation.

Quebec’s existing role as a clean-energy exporter can and should be expanded beyond the United States to these global markets, generating significant environmental benefits.

Imagine Quebec as a clean exporter of products like methanol and fertilizer based on a local natural gas industry. It’s an example of economic and environmental interests working hand-inhand.

It is fracking technology and its use of a high-pressure water mixture to liberate gas trapped in dense rock that unlocks the valuable resources found in Quebec.

Much of the natural gas used to heat homes and power industry in Quebec comes from fracking operations in the United States, displacing markets for western Canadian gas traditionally shipped east to fellow Canadians.

Fracking has safely and responsibly produced natural gas and oil in Canada for more than 60 years. The science-based evidence shows that more than 175,000 wells have been safely developed in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta during that period.

Despite that strong record of safety and environmental responsibility, we’ve heard the concerns of residents in regions with both burgeoning and long-standing natural gas development. We continue to use industry expertise and innovative technologies to improve operations. Quebec has the potential to play a leading role in the next generation of natural gas development.

All credible projections from the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), Canadian Energy Research Institute, and our own work at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, show growth in both supply and demand for natural gas.

Even with growth of renewable energy, oil and natural gas will be needed to meet the bulk of the world’s energy needs in the next two decades.

Demand for natural gas is expected to increase by more than 45 per cent during this period, making it the world’s second-largest energy source by 2040, according to the IEA.

With vast natural gas resources in the St. Lawrence Lowlands and other areas, Quebec could supply its own natural gas for the next century rather than import it from regions with weaker environmental regulations.

Keeping the resource in the ground has real economic consequences for Quebec: the loss of well-paying jobs, tax revenue, royalties and other indirect benefits associated with development of a natural gas industry.

The role of natural gas in meeting the world’s climatechange mitigation goals is an inconvenient truth for many of those who seek to eliminate the use of oil and natural gas at all costs.

Quebec has the resources and the technology to join Canada’s world-class natural gas industry populated by Canadian companies that meet and exceed some of the highest environmental standards in the world.

To miss the opportunity is bad for Quebec’s economy and bad for the environment.