To my embarrassment, a workplace solution at the bottom of a web page generated an unseen problem at the top. The Federal Minister of Natural Resources has stated that liquid natural gas (LNG) is part of the solution to climate instability. Like my workplace solution, he is looking only at the bottom.
Yes, LNG burns cleaner in an electrical power plant than coal. But this is the bottom of the LNG process. Looking to the top and middle, there are significant fugitive emissions of methane. When you extract natural gas, methane leaks. When you transport natural gas, methane leaks. Compared to carbon dioxide, methane has a harm factor of 28 times over 100 years. Environment Canada recently found methane emissions in Canada’s oilpatch are twice as high as estimated.
Consideration of alternatives is critical to finding true solutions. One alternative to burning natural gas for electricity is using it to produce hydrogen. Methane pyrolysis does not produce greenhouse gases and hydrogen can replace gasoline and diesel in our vehicles.
Another alternative frees us from the many risks of emissions and fracking. Canadian oil technology could be adapted to exploit deep heat reservoirs like those near Estevan. The earth’s heat there is hot enough to run turbines. This renewable energy provides not intermittent but baseload power.
Let’s hold our elected officials accountable before they invest taxpayer money. Solutions need to consider the top, middle, bottom, and all alternatives to ensure they avoid generating 28 times the problem.
-- Nancy Carswell,
Shellbrook, Saskatchewan
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
