Canadian gas group offers path to net zero

The Canadian Gas Association (CGA), which represents the country’s natural gas delivery sector, launched a digital hub November 29 dedicated to sharing the industry’s ongoing work to meet the federal government’s net-zero by 2050 aspirations.

The Net-Zero Hub offers insights into the opportunities and challenges associated with decarbonisation and the work the gas delivery sector is doing to position Canada as a global leader in affordable, reliable and low-emission gaseous energy.

“Central to ensuring Canada’s long-term well-being is leveraging the country’s incredible gas energy resources and its world-class network of underground infrastructure,” CGA CEO Timothy Egan said. “CGA’s members have a suite of energy solutions, including emission management technologies and other cleantech, renewable gases, and energy efficiency, that will act as a foundation for a lower-emission energy system, while maintaining energy affordability and reliability for Canadians.”

To guide the gas delivery sector to net zero, the CGA commissioned a report detailing three distinct pathways to deliver on emission reduction targets: gas energy efficiency, hybrid gas-electric heating systems and carbon-neutral fuels such as renewable natural gas.

Taken together, they could reduce emissions from Canada’s building envelope by as much as 31mn mt/yr of CO₂-equivalent.

“Canada’s natural gas utilities are committed to maximizing the benefits that can come from gaseous energy and the infrastructure it flows through,” CGA chair Cynthia Hansen said. “However, to play a role in this important energy transformation, we cannot do it alone.”

To ensure a collaborative approach to net-zero, the CGA is calling on governments – national and provincial – to:

• Launch a task force aimed at modernising the energy utility legislative structure, which currently presents numerous barriers to investments in projects that would lower emissions;
• Co-fund solutions that would drive the most efficient use of natural gas in Canada’s residential and commercial buildings, such as heat pumps, hybrid heating and deep energy efficiency, and;
• Support programs and policies that underpin the work being done by utilities to incorporate more renewable natural gas and hydrogen into the existing gas delivery infrastructure.