Refining the bitumen just might be the way out
Joseph Maloney is international vice-president for Canada of the Boilermakers Union, a major skilled trade in the construction and maintenance of processing and refining facilities in the energy industry.
Could Premier John Horgan have extended an olive branch to solve the increasingly bitter dispute between B.C., Alberta and the federal government over twinning the Trans Mountain pipeline?
While Horgan’s proposal is only the barest of starts, it at least allows us to see a ray of light at the end of the pipeline.
Over the last couple of weeks Horgan has reached into the past to revive a policy plank that has traditionally been central to the NDP’s economic philosophy: processing more of our natural resources here before exporting them, thus boosting Canadian industry and creating more jobs.
Horgan’s idea is to refine the bitumen from the oilsands so that it’s shipped out of B.C. as finished product, whether gasoline, diesel or aviation fuel, light crude or what have you. The logic behind this idea would solve the major objection B.C. has to the transport of diluted bitumen through its coastal waters.
Where diluted bitumen (dilbit) is heavy, refined products are much lighter. In the event of an ocean spill, refined products are a lot easier to clean up because they’re lighter and float on the surface. Dilbit sinks to the bottom, causing much more damage to the marine ecosystem.
The private sector has already started to promote this alternative. Alberta’s Sturgeon Refinery, now under construction, will process bitumen from the oilsands to make diesel fuel that is among the cleanest in the world. The carbon footprint of the fuel will be much reduced because a huge carbon-capture facility is being built as an integral part of the refinery.
Business in B.C. itself has proposed two new refineries that would produce cleaner oil than can be found practically anywhere else. Pacific Future Energy promises “near-zero, net-carbon emissions” from its proposed new refinery in Kitimat, using a combination of carbon capture and new technology. Kitimat Clean Ltd. says its new refinery will be “the cleanest upgrading and refining site in the world.”
Together, these three projects would represent investment of nearly $50 billion and create an estimated 20,000 jobs in B.C. and Alberta. Their completion would allow Canada to embark on a new course in supplying cleaner energy, opening new markets in Asia and reducing our dependence on an increasingly erratic American trading partner.
The B.C. government has demonstrated that, despite its opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline, it isn’t opposed to the development of energy resources. The government is doing its best to keep the $6-billion Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project alive, despite the cancellation of the Northwest LNG project. Horgan has made no secret of the fact that B.C. wants liquefied natural gas facilities, and the 900-kilometre pipeline to the coast will feed them.
Let’s also not forget that coal is one of B.C.’s biggest exports, with more than 36 million tonnes shipped out — most of it through coastal waterways — from Vancouver in 2017. Westshore Terminals in Delta is North America’s biggest coal-export facility.
As a major fossil-fuels exporter, Canada has an important role to play in mitigating the environmental damage that these products cause. With the U.S. abrogating its climate-change responsibilities, it’s even more important that Canada take action. But effective action doesn’t mean leaving the oil in the ground.
As much as electric vehicles can help reduce atmospheric pollution, it will be a long time before they replace gasoline-powered engines. Even then, we will still need pavement to drive them on, lubricants to keep them running and plastic parts to build them. All of these require oil, and a lot more of it than most people realize. Oil will be part of our energy future for decades, as much as we might try to wean ourselves off of it.
In that context, it behooves Canada to assume a mantle of leadership in mitigating the amount of carbon released in fossil-fuel production. If we don’t, we leave the field to the players who don’t give a fig for such considerations.
Horgan’s hint of a long-term solution to the pipeline controversy offers a ray of hope in ending the bitter and destructive controversy around the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Let’s hope our political leaders seize it and pave the way to a more sustainable energy future.