THIS WEEK

Mazda zooms zooms forward with electric cars, the Lego set of your renewable energy dreams, and Manitoba just... ugh.

NATURAL GAS

What does LNG mean for B.C.?

This week's Clean Energy Review begins with news you've no doubt already heard: LNG Canada, the biggest project ever in B.C., was given the green light by Shell Monday night following speculation over the weekend that the thumbs-up was coming. The $40-billion terminal will certainly create jobs in Northern B.C., but it will also create emissions.

In fact, by Clean Energy Canada's calculations—provided to the Vancouver Sun—it would take more than 900,000 EVs replacing gas cars to offset the pollution impact of LNG on B.C. (Of course, that's a measuring stick; a number of policies could together accomplish those reductions.)

But wait, Dan: Won't LNG replace coal in China and thus actually lower global carbon pollution? Maybe, but not necessarily—here's a great explainer from C.D. Howe's Blake Shaffer. As we said in our response to Monday's news, "the fact is the only pollution we can reliably cut—and be held accountable for—is the pollution created in our own backyard."

A message from Mazda

Mazda announced last week that all of its vehicles will be at least partly electric by 2030. The company expects 95% of its cars to be hybrids of some sort and the remaining 5% to be fully electric. Zoom zoom.

Something is ripe in the state of Denmark

Following in the footsteps of a number of other European nations, Denmark has proposed banning the sale of fossil-fuel-powered cars. Northern European nations have been leading the world on EV adoption, with Norway leaving everyone in the dust (sans fumes).

High oil prices = high EV demand?

“The higher the price of oil, the more tailwind we’re going to have behind electric cars.” So said Carlos Ghosn, chair of Renault and Nissan, last week. That's good news for EV makers as oil inches toward $100 a barrel—a four-year high.

Co-drivers

GM and California are teaming up on a campaign to promote electric cars—an interesting pairing considering the company had previously sparred with the state over its emissions standards. California currently has 450,000 EVs on its roads.

Manitoba flip-flops on carbon pricing

Manitoba announced last week that it's not going to follow through on its own "made in Manitoba" plan to introduce carbon pricing in the province. It's an unfortunate display of, well, the opposite of leadership and problem-solving. The federal carbon pricing backstop will apply to provinces without a plan on January 1.

Power from the people

More news from the Prairies: The Saskatchewan government has plans to make it simpler to sell power to SaskPower. The Power Generation Partner Program lets customers develop "power generation projects" and sell electricity to the province's energy utility. Meanwhile, a Saskatchewan First Nation just installed 56 solar panels on its buildings.

Bonds, green bonds

Vancouver area transit authority TransLink is looking to issue green bonds to investors that would help fund transit infrastructure improvements. TransLink also recently committed to cutting its emissions by 80% by 2050. See, Manitoba: leadership.

The kids aren't all right (but they are right)

Twenty-one young Americans are going to trial arguing they have a constitutional right to a safe climate: "The laws that we really turn to in this effort are foundational laws; they're laws that explain why we have government in the first place and what our basic human rights are."

And it actually spins

Lego has joined forces (or should I say bricks?) with Vestas to create this wind turbine model, which not only actually works but is made of plant-based bricks. I'm docking marks on gender representation, though.

Clean Energy Review is sponsored in part by Genus Capital Management, a leading provider of fossil-fuel-free investments.

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IMAGE & MEDIA CREDITS

Turbine photo: Lego

Clean Energy Review is a weekly digest of climate and clean energy news and insight from across Canada and around the world.

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