Digging Into Oil Sands Divestment

Have some oil sands firms made important growth on decreasing carbon emissions, as Alberta’s executive has stated?

It is dependent the way you outline ‘important.’ Joule Bergerson, a professor within the chemical and petroleum engineering division on the College of Calgary, informed me that she’s observed discounts in carbon depth — the volume of greenhouse gasoline emitted in keeping with unit of power extracted — within the vary of 15 p.c to 20 p.c.

The corporations themselves document having made important discounts. Cenovus informed me in a commentary that its greenhouse gasoline depth had fallen 30 p.c in 15 years. Suncor stated in a commentary that emissions depth at its oil sands base plant used to be down greater than 60 p.c since 1990.

However Dr. Bergerson added that discounts at the scale we’ve observed to this point aren’t essentially going to switch buyers’ minds about quitting the oil sands as a result of they nonetheless go away maximum of the ones tasks smartly above the worldwide reasonable for carbon depth. As she put it, the ones firms “are truly attempting, and placing their cash the place their mouth is when it comes to growing new applied sciences.” Nonetheless, she stated, it stays unclear whether or not they’ll have the ability to reduce emissions sufficient to steer different buyers to not go away.

How prepared had been other folks within the business and the Canadian monetary group to talk with you?

I used to be shocked by way of how tough it used to be to get Canadian buyers and oil sands firms to speak to me. Except the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, not one of the huge pension budget agreed to my requests for interviews. The most important oil sands firms likewise declined my requests for interviews, even though some agreed to reply to written questions.

After I discussed that to the folk I spoke with, lots of whom requested to not be known, the rationale used to be that no person desires to be the following one to get focused by way of the premier’s place of work. I’d have requested Mr. Kenney about that, however his place of work declined my request for an interview.