The Canadian oil and gas industry operates in a regulatory environment that some witnesses have categorized as one of the strongest regimes in the world.[26] The Committee heard that Canada has world-class safety and security regulations, and that the government is building partnerships, both domestically and internationally, to maximize benefits to Canadians from resource development.[27] Terrence Hubbard, Director General at Natural Resources Canada, expanded that this regime “was put in place to manage the risk associated with resource development activities, both at the federal level and at the provincial level.” According to him, government-imposed environmental requirements “create obligations on industry to be able to manage and study environmental impacts and obligations that create employment directly in environmental monitoring-type activities to study and manage the risks associated with development.”[28] These environmental requirements ensure that resource development proceeds in a responsible manner, and that it generates long-term benefits for Canadians. Furthermore, Bill Streeper, Mayor of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) in northern British Columbia, said that:

The energy industry has created many technological advancements that have aided the environment in all other aspects, besides the oil and gas industry. I personally have seen a lot of changes in my life in the oil patch, and right now I would go forward on the record saying that the oil companies have become one of the highest environmental industries in Canada.[29]

The government has also invested in energy efficiency programs across the country, contributing to Canada’s world leadership in this field. For example, Mr. Khosla and Carol Buckley, Director General at the Office of Energy Efficiency, noted that “the International Energy Agency ranked Canada second for energy efficiency improvements between 1990 and 2010,” as a result of investments made by all Canadians over the two decades.[30]

The oil and gas industry has provided Canada and the world with environmental, social and economic benefits through its innovation and contribution to modern standards of living. “Canada’s carbon fuel abundance is an economic and environmental blessing…” and “the development of coal, crude oil, and natural gas-powered technologies gave humanity the capacity to do a lot more work more efficiently, conveniently, and affordably than before,” Pierre Desrochers, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, noted in his presentation.[31] “As a direct result, every indicator of human well-being (from life expectancy, income per capita, hunger, and infant mortality to child labour and education) improved dramatically as soon as the use of carbon fuels became widespread.” He concluded that “Canada should continue to develop ever more efficiently and cleanly its vast deposits of crude oil and natural gas and share them (profitably) with the rest of the world.”[32]

A. Benefits to Air Quality

Moving to the use of natural gas is improving air quality. Natural gas is a lower carbon emitting and cleaner burning engine fuel that “contributes significantly to improved local air quality” because it “produces 20% to 30% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and almost zero particulate emissions,”[33] Blaire Lancaster, Director at Ferus Natural Gas Fuels, informed the Committee. According to her, “if every gallon of [liquefied natural gas] LNG produced at our first LNG production facility replaced an energy equivalent amount of diesel, and given that natural gas emits 30% less greenhouse gas emissions than diesel does, then our 50,000 gallon-per-day facility would translate to a reduction of 43,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.”[34] Mr. Desrochers also noted that “air pollution in Toronto a century ago was worse than in Beijing today,” and that the past indicates that “there will be progress” in Chinese cities that are currently experiencing pollution.[35]

B. Benefits to Forestry

The Committee also heard that the use of oil and gas has led to reforestation not only in Canada, but also around the world. According to Mr. Desrochers, “our planet is today much greener because of fossil fuels” because we use natural resources from underground, and not from the surface, as our ancestors used to do.[36] To elaborate on this point, he noted that between 1920 and 1992 “the forest has made a huge comeback in all advanced economies” and that “we produced a lot more food on a lot less land than before.” Mr. Desrochers added that “something people don’t realize is that we’re actually gaining forest in places like Ontario and Quebec, despite urban sprawl.”[37]

C. Benefits to Water Quality

Mr. Streeper spoke about the oil and gas industry’s contribution to local water quality. He explained that:

Our water system in Fort Nelson is largely supported by the oil and gas industry as they purchase water in large amounts for use in their camps. This is strictly potable water that is purchased from the community, and with the amount paid by the oil industry, the community was able to increase the service and quality of water supplied, and it isn't completely done by taxation. It's done through contributions by the oil companies as they pay for the water they use.[38]

D. Environmental Benefits from Innovation

The Committee also heard from several witnesses about multiple environmental benefits derived from innovative technologies that are either developed or financed by the oil and gas industry. According to Martin Aubé, Director General at Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s oil and gas industry has invested approximately $1 billion in research and development (R&D), most of which aims to address environmental issues.[39] According to him “these investments have had a positive impact”; for example, the underground in situ approach, which is used by the majority of oil sands projects, allows for “90% of the water used for oil sands projects to be recycled.” In addition, “we have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 26%.”[40]

The oil and gas industry plays an important role in supporting the development of Canada’s clean energy technologies. For example, Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) is a world-leading partnership that was created to generate environmental benefits. COSIA is comprised of 14 oil and gas companies that joined their efforts to create innovative solutions to environmental challenges in oil sands development. To this end, COSIA member companies share their innovative projects, resources, and intellectual property.[41] According to Ms. Kennedy, since its inception in 2012, COSIA members have shared 560 technologies that are worth nearly $1 billion.[42] Ms. Kenny highlighted another institution that focuses on environmental technology innovation, the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation (CCEMC), “where $1.3 billion worth of innovation projects [funded by the provincial levy program] are underway.”[43]

On this subject, Céline Bak, Co-Founder of the Canadian Clean Technology Coalition, told the Committee that a multitude of clean technology companies, specializing in areas such as water and waste water treatment, soil remediation, and carbon sequestration, are benefiting from R&D investments made by the CCEMC and the oil and gas companies.[44] For example, Inventys, CO2 Solutions, and Carbon Engineering, are all clean technology companies that are part of the CCEMC investment portfolio.[45]

Pond Biofuels is another clean technology company that has benefited from funding provided by the oil and gas companies. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, David Holm, explained that Pond Biofuels has developed a technology that converts raw smokestack gas (i.e., carbon dioxide, the NO_x, SO_x) into organic biomass. He told the Committee that there is a market for this technology, and that it can help domestic and international oil and gas companies reduce GHG emissions, and meet their investors’ expectations.[46] According to him, commercial development of his company will allow it to create more high-skilled jobs, and generate economic activity in construction and manufacturing industries.[47] In order to accelerate this development, Mr. Holm raised the importance of a strong government policy regarding GHG emissions, and Canadian innovation.[48]

Speaking about innovative solutions offered by Ferus Natural Gas, Ms. Lancaster highlighted how injecting nitrogen (N₂) and/or carbon dioxide (CO₂) into conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells generates better production and lowers environmental impacts. She noted that “in addition to improving well results, using N₂ and CO₂ benefits the environment through reduced water use, reduced disposal of recovered water, reduced well-pad size, reduced chemical usage and reduced CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere.” Ms. Lancaster further elaborated that the company has designed emissions processing facilities that recover CO₂ waste from natural gas processing plants. These facilities have the capacity to process over 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year that would have otherwise been vented into the atmosphere.[49]