Hydrogen technology key to reaching net-zero emissions targets: U of C report
Hydrogen will play a critical role in Canada's goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, according to two reports from the University of Calgary released on Thursday.
The reports explore how energy produced from hydrogen can be used to help bridge today's fossil fuels-based systems and complement renewable power sources like wind and solar.
"We know now that energy efficiency is a key strategy, clean electrification is a key strategy, but they're not enough together," Chris Bataille, an industrial decarbonization specialist and one of the reports' authors, told CTV News Edmonton.
"We know we need to switch to other fuels and biofuels and a couple of other things," he said. "But hydrogen is a key strategy as well."
Bataille said hydrogen can do a lot of the same things natural gas can, but can be made using two clean methods.
"You can make it from methane and bury the CO2 underground, or you can make it from clean electricity using electrolysis."
The Simon Fraser University adjunct professor said Alberta industries like chemical production, fertilizer production and upgrading of crude oil would be the first practical applications for hydrogen technology.
"But eventually you want to start thinking about taking it into the electricity sector," said Bataille. "Blending it with natural gas in the combustion turbines that are used to make electricity and eventually completely switching them."
ALBERTA ADVANTAGES
One of the two reports that were co-authored by Bataille states that "Alberta has many advantages that make hydrogen feasible as a pathway to decarbonizing its power grid."
"First, the steam and combustion turbines that are powered by natural gas today to produce electricity in Alberta can be adapted to use hydrogen. Second, Alberta has vast amounts of natural gas that can be used to produce hydrogen, and ample geology for underground carbon capture and storage for the greenhouse gases emitted in producing hydrogen," the report reads in part.
"And third, in periods where the province’s renewable energy sources produce excess electricity, that power can be used to produce hydrogen, which can be stored for later use when renewable energy is less available."
In June, a major hydrogen production company, Air Products Inc., signed a memorandum of understanding with all three levels of government to invest $1.3 billion to build a net-zero hydrogen energy complex just east of Edmonton.
The site would produce hydrogen-fueled electricity and liquid hydrogen for international markets.
According to Air Products Inc., if all goes to plan, the "landmark" site would be operational by 2024.
PROVINCIAL PROJECTS
Last year, the Alberta government released its plan "to become a global supplier of clean, responsibly sourced natural gas," with its Natural Gas Vision Strategy.
The province's strategy includes the goal of exporting hydrogen globally by 2040.
"Absolutely critical in my mind to a clean and stable transition for Alberta and Saskatchewan is get your fugitives under control," said Bataille.
"It's the methane that's leaking at the well, that's leaking from the pipelines, that's being flared and incompletely combusted."
Bataille pointed out that methane that is not combusted is a 30 to 100 times more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2.
He said the process of reducing methane emissions is labour intensive but technically speaking easily done.
"One of the key things the Alberta government could get into right away, probably fairly uncontroversially, is to dramatically reduce those fugitives."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Police arrest 3 Indian nationals in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Human remains found in rural Sask. possibly a decade old, RCMP say
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
2 charged after police find 'concerning and diverse' explosives at Manitoba home
Winnipeg police say they have arrested two people in their 20s after a large amount of explosives were found in a home outside of Winnipeg, Man.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Spain abolishes national bullfighting award in cultural shift
Spain scrapped an annual bullfighting award on Friday, prompting a rebuke from conservatives over a backlash against a centuries-old tradition they see as an art form but which has run into growing concern for animal welfare.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.