ARC ENERGY IDEAS

This week our guest is Duncan Van Bergen, Vice President of Nature Based Solutions for Royal Dutch Shell. What exactly are nature-based solutions?  Duncan explains how Shell is harnessing nature to help achieve Shell’s ambitious GHG emission reduction targets. We learned that nature is a powerful weapon in the flight against climate change. Here are some of the questions that Peter and Jackie asked Duncan: What are some examples of nature carbon storage projects? Do the economics and scale compare with other carbon storage options? How do you respond to the greenwashing criticism?  Will consumers pay more to offset their emissions with nature? What is the opportunity in Canada for these solutions?Yale 360 Feb 2019 blog reported that "Planting 1.2 Trillion Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions, Scientists Find."Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ 

A recently published Transition Accelerator report suggests that hydrogen could represent a $C 100 billion per year economic opportunity for Canada. This week our guests are Dan Wicklum, President and CEO of the Transition Accelerator and David Layzell, Research Director at the Transition Accelerator, Professor and Director, Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR), University of Calgary. Dan Wicklum and David Layzell explain why Canada has a cost advantage for producing blue and green hydrogen. However, successfully building a new hydrogen economy in Canada is complex. It requires the simultaneous build out of new production and consumption systems, and government policy will be critically important.Download the Transition Accelerator report “Towards Net-Zero Energy Systems in Canada: A Key Role for Hydrogen.”See Peter’s latest Energyphile Vinette “Hijacking Infrastructure.” Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ 

This week we have a special guest,  Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA.  Dr. Birol provides his global energy perspectives, both on the current situation with the pandemic and how the future may unfold. Here are some of the questions that Peter and Jackie asked him:  Has oil demand peaked?  Does the pandemic speed up or slow down the transition to cleaner energy?  Are you optimistic that that the world can achieve the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) and decarbonisation by 2050?  What is the potential for emerging zero emission technologies, including hydrogen, small nuclear reactors and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)? What about natural gas demand? How can Canada improve its stature in the energy world? Check out the IEA’s website, including the recent Sustainable Recovery report (that suggests global spending of $1 trillion annually is needed for three years to support economic recovery and to accelerate the energy transition). The Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) assumes the world delivers on holding the average long term temperature increase to less than 2 degrees C. Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/  

Saskatchewan has an abundance of natural resources. The province is already well known for the production of oil, natural gas and uranium. It soon could be known for extracting hydrogen, helium, lithium and other elements across the periodic table. On this week’s episode, the Honourable Bronwyn Eyre gives us an update on Saskatchewan’s established and emerging resource sectors. Peter and Jackie cover many topics with the Minister including: resource development; acceleration of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs); leadership with Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS); and policy matters, including Saskatchewan’s concerns about the proposed Federal Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) and incentives for CCUS projects.Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ 

North American pipelines are being canceled, delayed and threatened to shut down. Producers are announcing tens of billions of dollars in asset write-downs, and supermajor BP has declared they will reduce oil and gas production and become an integrated low carbon energy company. This week’s episode we discuss: Does the recent news bolster the oil and gas divestment movement’s stranded asset argument?  What are the implications of these changes on North American energy supply and GHG emissions? How material are the reserve write-downs? Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/  

A pandemic can accelerate change. Take for instance the rapid adoption of video meetings like Zoom.  Could COVID-19 also change the trajectory for oil demand? On this week’s episode, we consider the potential for an oil price spike caused by a lack of new capital investment. What if this occurred, just as electric cars were entering a more mature phase for consumer adoption?  Could governments around the world accelerate the trend by choosing to support EVs with stimulus spending? We also discuss Canadian energy security considering the potential shut down of the Enbridge Mainline Line 5, a critical pipeline for supplying oil to Ontario and Quebec. See IEA Clean Energy Innovation Report – July 2020, including a link to a database of more than 400 net-zero technologies.  To learn more about Energyphile, visit the website https://energyphile.org/ Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/  

This week’s podcast is a recording of a live stream conversation that Peter and Jackie hosted on June 22, 2020 with the Honourable Seamus O'Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. Here are some of the questions they asked Minister O’Regan during the one hour interactive session. How can the regionalism and antagonism in the debate around Canadian energy be improved? Why has the uptake been weak for the federal government’s COVID-19 loan programs? How can Canada’s natural resources sector aid in Indigenous reconciliation? And, what emerging technologies look promising for achieving net zero emissions from oil and gas?The session was jointly sponsored by the ARC Energy Research Institute and Energyphile.org.Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/

David Keith is a Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School and also of Applied Physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is also a board member at Carbon Engineering. Dr. Keith works at the interface between climate science, energy technology, and public policy. He is best known for his work on solar geoengineering. Here are some of the questions we asked David. How uncertain are climate models in predicting the implications from rising carbon dioxide levels? Does the modeling uncertainty impede climate action? Is the world on track to reduce emissions? What is geoengineering, and how could it cool the planet? What are the prospects for carbon removal technologies, like direct air capture?Register for our conversation with the Honourable Seamus O'Regan on June 22, 2020: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JRjYTodlRaymtO317P9xvQSee the Energyphile Vignette of the Ford car plant “A Top Tourist Attraction?”Visit to purchase David Keith’s book “A Case for Climate Engineering.” Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/

North American natural gas producers have had a tough few years and COVID-19 related demand destruction has only made things worse. But could the situation turn around this winter? On this week’s episode we discuss the current state of North American gas markets, including the significant share of continental gas that is a by-product of oil wells. With US oil production set to decline, natural gas supply will also shrink. To fill the void, growth from major gas plays, including the Marcellus, Utica and Haynesville will be needed. But, after living through some tough years, what will it take for these plays to grow? See the Energyphile Vignette "Piercing the Earth’s Resources."See ARC Commentary “Green Shoots in the Natural Gas Market.” Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/  

In 2006, President George W. Bush said America was “addicted to oil” and set a goal to reduce Middle Eastern imports. Over the next decade, technology (not policy) caused a surge of North American oil production. Consequently, the dependence on foreign oil was diminished. But now North American production is set to decline.  On this week’s episode, we consider what actions US policy makers could take to avoid a relapse in their addiction to foreign oil.  What policies were used in the past? Could these ideas work now? Will new transportation options, like e-bikes, contribute to reducing oil demand? See the Energyphile Geopolitical Memoranda; https://energyphile.org/vignettes/?vid=V0143 See ARC Commentary “If the US Slapped Tariffs on Oil Imports, Consumers and Refiners Would Feel the Sting.” Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/