Fueling Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy

‘Strong energy sector’ is essential to the shift, says Conference Board of Canada

How should Canada fuel this transition?

With a strong, engaged and innovative energy industry.

The Conference Board of Canada recently released a timely discussion paper called Shaping the Canadian Low-Carbon Economy.

It’s a key piece of the CBOC’s ongoing campaign to inform and influence government policy and the private sector’s approach to a low-carbon growth economy. The energy industry plays a foundational role in that long-term change.

“Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy should aim for steady, progressive change over time, building on a strategy including a strong energy sector,” says Glen Hodgson, a CBOC senior fellow.

The CBOC, an Ottawa-based, non-profit think tank, researches and analyzes economic trends, public policy and business performance in Canada.

The COBC says the energy production sector is fundamental to Canada’s shift—not only because global demand for oil and gas will continue to rise for decades, but also because Canadian hydrocarbon producers are working to save energy while they produce energy.

“It is really the centrepiece of finding the smartest way possible to ‘fuel’ a transition,” Hodgson recently told the Daily Oil Bulletin. “We want to see the right kind of framework created to allow the transition to happen. The energy sector is right at the centre of the discussion.”

Canada has the wherewithal to become a global leader in energy research and development, environmentally friendly extraction technology, and diversified production. Some have pointed out that the technology involved in SAGD oilsands projects—cogeneration, or combined heat and power—can be part of the solution to a climate-change challenge.

“If we can become a world leader in lower carbon extraction technology, for example, if we look at how the in situ plants operate in northern Alberta, can we reduce the energy required to actually heat the oil and extract if from the oilsands?” Hodgson asked the DOB.

“Can we become world leaders in all phases, including selling advice to the rest of the world?”

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