Tag: natural gas

Clean Electricity Regulations are actually a bait and switch; Weyburn Wind Part 2

Baiting the Right Climate Cult You Might Be A Liberal 10 Comments
Great Plains Power Station, Moose Jaw, on Dec. 17, its grand opening. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Here’s the story on Guilbeault’s updated Clean Electricity Regulations, and it includes an at-length discussion with SaskPower Minister Jeremy Harrison explaining why Saskatchewan is rejecting it.

Here’s the key thing: Other media are acting like this is a win – that the deadline has simply been punted to 2050. Well, I actually read through the regulations and realized it’s a bait and switch. In fact, the regulations include an impossible to meet emissions standard for anything that burns anything by 2035. Even if you put carbon capture on every single natural gas and coal power plant in Saskatchewan and Alberta, if the CCS behaves anything like Boundary Dam 3, you won’t get anywhere close to the new standard of 65 tonnes CO2 per gigawatt-hour. So the federal government slyly let people think they’ve punted, when really they haven’t punted at all. Like Lucy, they’re pulling the football away in 10 years and 12 days. (That’s the amount of time we have to build carbon capture on everything. And even if we do, it won’t be good enough. Good luck with that.)

Enbridge’s Weyburn wind project open house, Part 2: Enbridge’s opening statements

It’s as if I should change the name of the website to SaskPowerOnline.ca. Jeepers – this week is almost all power related.

Pushed to the limit

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 48 Comments

“They pushed us to the limit,” Danielle Smith says in fighting oil and gas emissions cap. Saskatchewan has already started on this path.

Expect similar action from Saskatchewan in the next 10 days. If you remember back in September, Saskatchewan issued its Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal take on this emissions cap, calling it a production cap.

Trent Wotherspoon

Sask NDP gas tax motion runs out of gas

Why the Sask Party lost the cities

Climate Cult 25 Comments

Bronwyn Eyre: Saskatchewan election post-mortem: Why the Sask Party lost the cities

A former Energy and Resources Minister for four years, Eyre is joining Pipeline Online as a regular contributor, both as a columnist and co-host in an upcoming regular podcast that is rapidly coming together. Watch for Eyre’s continuing contributions on Pipeline Online in the weeks and months ahead. 

Also:

Alberta wind power generation falls to less than one per cent capacity, once again (Last Friday, it fell to zero. You read that right. Zero.)

TC Energy CEO sees opportunity in Trump win as company refocuses on natural gas

And, what’s this Bluesky Social all about? In the interest of staking territory, Pipeline Online is now on this new social media at @pipelineonline.bsky.social. If you’re on there, be the first to follow, I guess?

Oil and gas emissions cap and reaction, plus feds want to control radio news now, too

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 20 Comments

I was on the road all Monday, so I wasn’t able to dig into this as much as I’d like. Hopefully I’ll be able to do more in the coming days.

Guilbeault’s oil and gas emissions cap press release, verbatim

Reaction to Guilbeault’s emissions cap on oil and gas industry, Part 1

Reaction to Guilbeault’s emissions cap on oil and gas industry, Part 2

Canadian Press

Oil, gas companies told to cut emissions by one-third under planned cap

Oh, and here’s a bonus: the federal government wants to now subsidize radio news as well. Why do I hear the Emperor from the Return of the Jedi cackling in my head?

Federal government’s control of media to grow, now seeking to subsidize radio news

If the world needs it, why not use Canada’s?

Drill, Baby, Drill 8 Comments

Jim Warren: Could maximizing Canadian oil production and exports over the medium-term help reduce CO2 emissions for the long-term?

 “There is a chasm of disagreement separating climate-concerned policy makers in Ottawa and supporters of the oil and gas sector on the prairies. Each side behaves like they’re playing a zero sum game.”

Also: Investing in oil and gas still important, IEA deputy head tells Calgary crowd

What’s a cut of half? Who will notice?

Drill, Baby, Drill 31 Comments
Bronwyn Eyre

Emissions cap on oil and gas production could lead to 52% reduction in production by 2050, says tribunal

So yesterday I put over 800 km on my truck to attend a press conference in Saskatoon regarding the report of Saskatchewan’s Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal on the planned greenhouse gas emissions cap on oil and gas production, as well as “Methane 75.” That proposes cutting methane emissions by 75% by 2030.

This is the opening story in what will literally be dozens of pieces on this, as I will be publishing most of the submissions to the tribunal.

The key thing is the Saskatchewan government says an emissions cap is a de facto production cap, and this report bears that out. And for the record, oil and gas, principally oil, is the largest portion of Saskatchewan’s GDP, exceeding even agriculture and potash.

mud

Also, I looked down at my tripod while at the press conference and noticed it’s covered with grey specs of drilling mud from visiting various rigs over the summer. And then I looked around at the other media’s tripods – CTV, Global, CBC, CBC French, some I don’t know. No mud. I wonder why? Go figure.

no mud.

Rigs, pipelines, lost opportunity and some hardware

Drill, Baby, Drill 14 Comments

The hollowing out of Canada’s industrial base continues. A few people said there’s been some new rigs built, but I’ve been told by the industry association those were retrofits.

Are more drilling rigs going to be decommissioned? And have we forgotten how to build new ones?

Jet turbines used to make pipelines work in UK (here, too, but the video is about the UK)

Weekend Watch: Jet engines that power a nation

Canada really has two significant competitors when it comes to providing heavy oil to the US Gulf Coast refinery complex – Venezuela and Mexico. Venezuela’s been driving its self off a cliff in its socialist paradise. And it looks like Mexico’s exports are likely going to collapse, too, according to Peter Zeihan. Gee, if only Keystone XL had been built to supply our heavy oil to their refineries built for that product…

Peter Zeihan: The self-inflicted downfall of Mexican energy

And, well, I guess I’ll include this, too. Vi Day is very important. The other guy wasn’t sure why he was included, but was honoured to be.

Vi Day, Brian Zinchuk among King Charles III Coronation Medal recipients

No business case

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 12 Comments

Irish company planning to produce jet fuel in Goldboro, N.S., at former LNG site

Note: Goldboro was one the leading candidates for a Canadian East Coast liquefied natural gas export facility, the type German Chancellor Olaf Scholz basically begged Canada for. However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was “no business case,” for Canadian LNG in this context.

But apparently cutting trees to make “sustainable aviation fuel” is quite alright.

Also:

Patchwork Podcast: Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show Part 1 – Energy Minister Jim Reiter, Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers

Weekend Watch: Why all eyes are on Arkansas Lithium. There are numerous parallels to what’s happening in Saskatchewan lithium

Drill, baby, drill?

Drill, Baby, Drill 52 Comments

Drill, baby, drill: Trump promises energy dominance, but lower energy prices

The last time, that didn’t work out so well for Saskatchewan oil and gas. The depths of the seven year oil downturn which devastated the Saskatchewan oil and gas industry included all four of the Trump years the last time around. While oil low prices benefited consumers and large portions of the economy, they also had a significant impact on Saskatchewan oil companies and particularly oilfield service companies. Activity levels, vendor rates, employment and employee remuneration were all deeply affected by the low energy price policies.

This is NOT an endorsement of Biden by any means, but simply a reflection on what did happen during the last Trump presidency.

First implementation of the Sask First Act – Saskatchewan won’t follow Clean Electricity Regulations

Climate Cult 16 Comments
Jim Reiter, Bronwyn Eyre, Michael Milani. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

For a long time, Premier Scott Moe has been saying it’s impossible to comply with federal regulations regarding getting rid of our fossil-fueled power generation, in the timeline the federal Liberal government wants.

It’s coming to a head.

This is the first action of this type thus far under the Saskatchewan First Act. This is what it was meant for.

If implemented in their current form, the Clean Electricity Regulations mean to all but eliminate the burning of fossil fuels for power generation in 10 years, six months and three days from now. Saskatchewan relies on natural gas and coal to produce the vast majority of its power, up to 88 per cent on some days. And if implemented, these regulations will fundamentally alter Canada and its economy, and affect all of its people in one form or another. It’s one of the most important policy pieces in generations, seeking to remake Canada.

Saskatchewan won’t follow Clean Electricity Regulation, citing Economic Assessment Tribunal report.

Executive summary of the report

The government released all the submissions to the tribunal. I will be reprinting many of them over the coming days, maybe weeks. There’s a lot. And there’s a lot to be said.

Carbon capture strikes out in Alberta

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 11 Comments

If carbon capture is supposed to be the future, why does it keep striking out? Last week, Capital Power in Alberta cancelled the $2.4 billion carbon capture project for the Genesee Power Station, which is currently being converted from coal to natural gas. It’s the last thermal coal power plant in Canada west of Coronach, Sask.

Also last week, TransAlta canceled a wind project not far from Waterton Lakes National Park.

And Saskatchewan and Alberta are deepening nuclear ties.

TC Energy’s making bank on natural gas deliveries.

We’re going to do our own thing, thank you

Climate Cult 15 Comments

The proposed federal Clean Electricity Regulations say in 10 years, seven months and 15 days we won’t be able to use natural gas-fired power generation without carbon capture except for very short periods of time over a whole year.

Or in Saskatchewan, we just say to hell with that and turn sod on our newest big natural gas-fired power station.

Also, Biden hates oil so much, he wants more of their money.

To hell with it is “definitely on the table”

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 23 Comments
Jim Reiter, Bronwyn Eyre, Michael Milani. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Saskatchewan fights back on federal oil and gas emissions cap, Methane 75. Saying “to hell with it” is “definitely on the table,” says minister when asked.

Province invokes Saskatchewan First Act, again, building its case against the federal government’s never-ending smothering greenhouse gas emissions rules, regulations and legislation.

I was up in Saskatoon Monday to cover this important announcement. Saskatchewan’s not going to take it, anymore. Kinda like Twisted Sister. For some reason, I keep referencing that song.

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