Industry Spin

Future renewable diesel plant will turn food crops into fuel

06/09/22

Author:

Natasha Bulowski

Link:

Parkland Corporation wants to build a facility in Burnaby, B.C., to turn canola oil into renewable diesel. Photo by Bernard Spragg / Flickr (CC BY 1.0)

"A big concern in climate circles is that the ripple effect of converting food crops to fuel makes it hard to calculate the true greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels. Increased demand for food crops for fuel can cause deforestation in other parts of the world, which, in turn, creates more emissions, John Reilly, former co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, told Canada’s National Observer."

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Category:

'Alternative' energy and less energy

The audacious PR plot that seeded doubt about climate change

28/07/22

Author:

Jane McMullen

Link:

BBC

July 23, 2022

Thirty years ago, a bold plan was cooked up to spread doubt and persuade the public that climate change was not a problem. The little-known meeting - between some of America's biggest industrial players and a PR genius - forged a devastatingly successful strategy that endured for years, and the consequences of which are all around us.

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'Fossils' Greenwash Blue Hydrogen for Profit

14/07/22

Author:

Danielle Paradis

Link:

DeSmog

Jason Kenney's Alberta government promotes hydrogen in Edmonton in October 2020. Credit: Alberta Newsroom (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

July 5, 2022

Critics say the best argument for blue hydrogen is to “keep the fossil fuel industry in business.”

Talk to fossil fuel execs, government ministers, and industry reps these days and they’ll all tell a similar story: Blue hydrogen is the clean fuel of the future that will help Canada and the world get to net-zero emissions. It’ll power everything from airplanes to long-haul trucks and will even heat our homes.

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Category:

'Alternative' energy and less energy

Climate Change

Industry Spin

LNG - Fracking

‘Carbon Capture’ Is No Fix. Big Oil’s Known for Decades

09/07/22

Author:

Geoff Dembicki

Link:

The Tyee

Imperial Oil’s refinery in Nanticoke, Ontario. The Exxon subsidiary first examined carbon sequestration in the 1980s.

July 7, 2022

The touted tech is still scarce and pricey, and even oilsands allies counsel caution.

In late June, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney flew to Washington, D.C., with the heads of major oilsands producers to make the case that Canada’s most carbon polluting industry cares deeply about fixing climate change.

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Why planting trees won’t solve climate change

29/06/22

Author:

Tess Harold

Link:

Ecojustice

Jun. 17, 2022

Standing in a vast clearcut in British Columbia feels strangely dystopian. It’s quiet. There are no leaves to rustle, no bushes for animals to hide behind. The sun beats down and, you soon discover, there are no trees for shade.

Slash piles are your landmarks now — those mountains of branches leftover from logging. Come winter they’ll get burned. Bonfires against the snow, like a scene from Game of Thrones.

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Big Tobacco's 'Devastating' Environmental Impact

01/06/22

Author:

Nina Larson

Link:

phys.org/news

The WHO accused the tobacco industry of various means of environmental damage, from widespread deforestation to spewing out plastic and chemical waste.

May 31, 2022

The tobacco industry is a far greater threat than many realise as it is one of the world's biggest polluters, from leaving mountains of waste to driving global warming, the WHO said Tuesday.

The World Health Organization accused the industry of causing widespread deforestation, diverting badly needed land and water in poor countries away from food production, spewing out plastic and chemical waste as well as emitting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide.

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Category:

FortisBC doubles down on nefarious efforts to block electrification

27/01/22

Author:

Seth Klein

Link:

National Observer

The pledge to provide new buildings with 100 per cent renewable gas is a pipe dream, writes columnist Seth Klein. Photo by Niklas Eichler / Pexels

Jan. 26, 2022

Across North America, jurisdictions are starting to ban gas from new buildings as part of plans to tackle the climate emergency. And that has fossil fuel gas companies very nervous and pushing back. FortisBC, the primary provider of “natural” gas to British Columbia homes and businesses, sensing an impending existential threat to their business plan has a counter-plan.

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Category:

'Alternative' energy and less energy

An explosive report on one of the largest carbon capture and storage facilities in Alberta is challenging the wisdom of Canada’s hydrogen strategy

27/01/22

Author:

John Woodside

Link:

National Observer

Shell's Quest carbon capture plant captures less than it emits. Photo via NRCan

Jan. 26, 2022

An explosive report on one of the largest carbon capture and storage facilities in Alberta is challenging the wisdom of Canada’s hydrogen strategy.

The Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility operated by Shell near Edmonton is emitting more greenhouse gases than it captures, according to a report published last week by international NGO Global Witness.

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Shell’s ‘Milestone’ CCS Plant Emits More Carbon Than It Captures, Independent Analysis Finds

24/01/22

Author:

Primary Author: Mitchell Beer

Link:

The Energy Mix

Jan. 24, 2022

The federal government is looking into independent analysis claiming that carbon capture at a highly-touted Shell Canada demonstration project in Alberta is producing more greenhouse gas emissions than it prevents, The Energy Mix has learned.

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Category:

Are Canada’s carbon capture plans a ‘pipe dream’?

20/01/22

Author:

John Woodside

Link:

National Observer

The official launch of the Boundary Dam carbon capture and storage facility in Estevan in 2014. Photo via SaskPower / Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Jan. 20, 2022

Leading climate scientists and academics are calling on the federal government to abandon a proposed tax credit that gives big polluters a break for investing in carbon capture technology.

The experts say the planned carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) tax credit will lock in fossil fuel use and risk ruining Canada’s chances of meeting emission reduction goals.

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Industry Spin

Critics say the best argument for blue hydrogen is to “keep the fossil fuel industry in business.”

The touted tech is still scarce and pricey, and even oilsands allies counsel caution.

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