An ad campaign asks the provocative question: if oil and gas came with a label, what would it say?

The Canadian Energy Center (CEC), a government-owned corporation, is tasked with promoting Canada as a supplier of choice for responsibly produced energy. The country’s energy industry (oil, gas, power) prides itself on its ability to meet the highest regulatory standards, its track record on environmental performance, and the general transparency of its operations, but lacks a means to give voice to these accomplishments without sounding self-serving. The CEC helps solve for this gap, and to counter the many voices keen to sway public and political opinion to oppose the energy industry in all aspects of its business.

Fortunately, the wave of digital innovations that have transformed many other markets (financial services, telecoms, entertainment), is about to have the same positive impacts on energy. The building blocks that enable democratic choice for energy products enabled by labelling energy are falling into place. These components—internet of things, cloud computing, blockchain—allow for the tracking and tracing of energy products completely throughout their independent and increasingly interconnected value chains.

I ask why energy doesn’t come with a label, and how to give it one.