Tag Archives: LNG

Energy

An invisible climate killer is lurking behind B.C.’s LNG boom

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Invisible to the naked eye, undetectable by smell and 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide for its  short-term warming impact on the climate, methane is explosive, toxic  and can make helicopters fall out of the sky. It’s like something out of a superhero movie — or a bad dream.

About half of Canada’s reported methane emissions  are produced by the oil and gas industry, both from regular operations  and leaks. But much of the climate damage caused by the sector’s methane  pollution goes undetected due to weak regulations.

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Cost of Climate Change, Energy

B.C. will soon decide the fate of four projects with big climate and biodiversity impacts

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

B.C. Premier David Eby’s newly appointed cabinet is about to decide the fate of a handful of proposed projects,  each of which comes with a slew of implications to biodiversity and  climate. 

While provincial ministers wrestle with the decisions, delegates from across the country and around the world are gathered at COP15,  the United Nations biodiversity conference in Montreal. The aim of the  conference is to secure government commitments to slow the global  biodiversity crisis underway — the crisis is sometimes referred to as  the sixth mass extinction and is the first to be human-caused.

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Energy, Indigenous Nations

Northeast B.C. geothermal project enters testing phase

By Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A second round of water testing for Fort Nelson First Nation’s geothermal power plan is expected by next week, ensuring groundwater in the region is commercially viable for geothermal electricity and heat production facilities.  

Owned by the Fort Nelson First Nation, the Tu Deh-Kah power plant will be B.C.’s first geothermal electricity plant once completed, using 120-degree water sitting 2,000 to 2,500 metres below the earth’s surface to generate power and heat year-round greenhouses.  

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Energy, Indigenous Nations

Heiltsuk Nation’s clean energy conversion efforts ahead of curve in B.C.

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A remote coastal First Nation has weaned a third of its homes off fossil fuels, making climate gains communities in the rest of B.C. can only aspire to.

To further its clean energy transition, Heiltsuk Nation has lined up another $5 million in funding to provide an additional 250 homes in Bella Bella with energy-efficient heat pumps over the next year. Once they are in, 90 per cent of the community’s households will have dramatically reduced their carbon footprint. 

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Energy, Politics

BC Gas and Oil Lobbyists: Behind Victoria’s closed doors

The Wilderness Committee has just finished a survey that shows gas and oil company lobbyists are contacting the BC provincial Government two or three times a day. This is not new, they were also making overtures to the previous BC Liberal regime, but it does raise the question of whether they are shaping the policies that determine the future of all British Columbians. 

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