Housing prices in Canada are heating up again, and so are carbon taxes. In a price war, home energy efficiency may not be top-of-mind for buyers, but with rising carbon taxes maybe it should be.

This week Jackie and Peter talk energy efficiency, including: How important is energy efficiency for achieving a low carbon future? What are the government incentives for energy efficiency?  Will higher carbon taxes reduce the historic barriers for investing in energy efficiency? What is a heat pump?  Are new business opportunities emerging for deploying efficiency?

See Peter’s recent commentary “Location, Location, Inefficiency.”

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In the past week, Canada and the United States committed to more ambitious GHG emission reduction targets, the Canadian government announced a historic budget, and the Bank of Canada provided an economic outlook.

This week, John Stackhouse, Senior Vice President, Office of the RBC CEO, joined the podcast to discuss the recent announcements. Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie asked John:  What is RBC’s outlook for the Canadian economy? What is your reaction to the Canadian budget?   Should Canadians be concerned by the federal debt and the potential for inflation? What is your outlook for Canadian oil and gas considering these aggressive GHG emission reduction goals? How will all these reductions be financed? How is ESG being used in corporate lending decisions? What is the definition of green finance, are reductions in oil and gas emissions included?

Check out John Stackhouse’s recent book “Planet Canada: How Our Expats are Shaping the Future”

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President Biden’s climate plans are starting to come into focus. The Whitehouse released “The American Jobs Plan” a few weeks ago, which included about $1 trillion of spending for clean energy and climate initiatives. The Whitehouse is also hosting a virtual Climate Summit this week with dozens of world leaders, and the United States is expected to announce an ambitious emissions reduction target for 2030.

This week, our guest is Samantha Gross, Director of Energy Security and Climate Initiatives at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Here are some of the questions Jackie and Peter asked: What is the significance of this week’s Whitehouse Climate Summit? What are the top areas of clean energy spending in President Biden’s “American Jobs Plan”? What other policies may still be forthcoming – carbon tax, clean fuel standards, border adjustment taxes?  What should the US oil and gas industry expect?

To connect with Samantha Gross at the Brooking Institution, and to read her recent blogs and research, visit:  https://www.brookings.edu/experts/samantha-gross/

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This week Jackie and Peter take on listener EV questions and comments. Here are some of the questions they tackled: Are EVs impacting oil demand and markets? Is degrading battery life a risk of EV ownership? How much range is lost due to cold weather? How do the economics of leasing vs buying compare? What about people without the luxury of a garage with adequate electrical capacity? And, if the energy for manufacturing the cars is factored in, are EVs still the lower GHG emissions option?

Link to the IEA study that compares lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions over ten year lifetime, comparing EVs to ICE, as well as other technologies.

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LNG Canada’s $40 billion megaproject is taking shape. The project is the largest private sector investment ever made in Canada, and marks the birth of a new export industry. This week, the CEO of LNG Canada, Peter Zebedee joins the podcast to provide an update on the construction underway in Kitimat, British Columbia.

Here are some of the questions we asked Peter Zebedee: What is the current long-term outlook for LNG demand? Is it possible for an LNG facility to be net-zero emissions? How would you describe support from Indigenous peoples impacted by the project? What is the state of the construction now, and how has COVID impacted progress?

View current pictures of LNG Canada's construction site: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/pictures-from-lng-canada/
See LNG Canada’s website: https://www.lngcanada.ca/Link to Shell LNG Outlook 2021.

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Stock prices of companies in the clean energy space have rocketed-up over the past year. Even considering the recent pullback, most stocks are still up significantly. Clean energy investing is not new. There have been a few cycles in the past that have generally not ended well for investors. This week, Peter and Jackie discuss today’s market dynamics and what may have changed compared with the past.

The mentioned article on direct air capture, including the estimated price for removing carbon dioxide at $US 250/tonne can be found here: “The Potential for Carbon Capture Tech is Captivating.”

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What is the effort required to respond to investor ESG disclosure requirements? Should oil sands companies have access to “green financing” to fund emissions reduction projects?  How do Suncor’s GHG emission reduction goals compare to other oil producers? What types of new energy technologies and projects is Suncor investing in? What is your perspective on Canadian federal climate policy, including $170/tonne carbon price by 2030 and the Clean Fuel Standard? These are just some of the questions we asked Martha Hall Findlay, Chief Sustainability Officer at Suncor Energy.

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This week our guest is Simon Moores, Managing Director of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence offers price reporting and market intelligence for the supply chains of lithium ion batteries, electric vehicles and energy storage.

Here are some of the questions Jackie and Peter asked Simon: What is driving the increase in lithium, cobalt, and nickel prices today? Are there new mineral mines coming? Are auto manufactures considering the battery supply chain in their ambitious growth plans? What about the geopolitics of battery production and minerals?

To learn more about Benchmark Mineral Intelligence research and events visit: https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/

For access to the Energyphile Book Clubs, and other Energyphile content, signup here.

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This week marks a year since the oil price war started and COVID-19 reached North America. While pandemic restrictions still remain, the oil markets have roared back. In this episode, Jackie and Peter discuss the recent ARC commentary “A 60-to-0 Round Trip: Nine Oily Lessons from the Pandemic.”  For the energy industry, the events of the past 12 months have been a thought experiment turned reality. What have we learned?

See the IEA’s “Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050” to view the assumptions around the impact of behaviour on GHG emissions.

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Millions of Texans were left in the freezing cold when the electrical system fell short during a historic winter chill. The deadly event caused the electric system operator to cut about 35% of forecasted demand with blackouts. This week, our guests – Joshua Rhodes, Research Associate at the University of Texas at Austin and Founding Partner at IdeaSmiths LLC and Blake Shaffer, Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary – help us understand what happened and the lessons that can be applied to other jurisdictions, including in Alberta. Joshua and Blake recently wrote an op-ed titled “Lessons for Alberta from the Texas power blackout.”

Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie asked this week’s guests:  Why did demand rocket up so fast? What sources of power generation (wind, solar, natural gas, coal and nuclear) fell short? What happened to power prices?  What could have improved the situation (capacity markets, transmission interconnects with other jurisdictions, demand-side changes)? What are the lessons for Alberta? And critically, what does this event mean for the way we think about decarbonizing electrical grids?

The power generation by fuel type in the first few weeks of February 2021 by the IEA:  “Severe Power Cuts in Texas Highlight Energy Security Risks Related to Extreme Weather Events.”

Blake’s tweet that shows the actual generation of different power sources vs expectations: https://twitter.com/bcshaffer/status/1364635620706971651

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