The year 2020 was a trying time for the gas industry with many disruptions, but Shell’s latest outlook report is not bad news. Their research shows global LNG demand grew last year and they expect this trend to continue into 2040 with Asian economies reducing reliance on coal leading up until 2030. With a global rise in demand for this new energy source, we may continue to see an uptick in new power plants in Canada as LNG produced in B.C. is expected to be cleaner than other sources. With an emissions intensity that is less than half of the global average, Canada is once again a leader in developing innovative industry technologies.

On home grounds

“Regulators in Washington state recently required a new U.S. LNG project to use natural gas supplied from Alberta or B.C. to reduce the project’s environmental impacts.” – energynow.ca

LNG Canada has ambitious plans to achieve a low-GHG footprint by working with other organizations on sustainable energy projects. For example, using B.C.’s hydroelectric grid for power and transitioning upstream operations towards the electrification of drilling and processing to reduce transportation emissions from gas plants that produce it.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline that connects B.C. natural gas with LNG Canada has the support of all 20 elected Indigenous bands along its route. The project is 48 percent complete and has spent $825 million with Indigenous and local companies so far. LNG Canada, now in its third year of construction, has spent more than $2 billion with Indigenous and local businesses to date.

In a scenario based on relatively conservative expansion, the Conference Board estimated that Canadian LNG could support 96,550 direct, indirect and induced jobs annually across the country between 2020 and 2064.

Projects such as these demonstrate Canada’s exceptional ability to strive to reduce environmental emissions in a way that benefits the local economy, Indigenous interests, and lives of Canadians.