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DIVERSIFYING
AND INNOVATING
IN ENERGY
THE ENERGY SECTOR IS WORKING TOWARDS THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S EMISSIONS REDUCTION
TARGETS THROUGH RENEWABLE ENERGY AND NEW
METHODS OF DECARBONIZING
Feature
the oil and gas industry is 42 percent below
2019 emissions levels.
e energy sector is pursuing various types
of renewable energy and looking to innovate
and expand methods of decarbonizing its
processes, with help from the government.
"at's a very aggressive target," says Sander
Duncanson, a partner at Osler Hoskin &
Harcourt LLP in Calgary, who advises natural
resource developers on environmental, regula-
tory, and Indigenous law issues.
Duncanson acknowledges that Russia's
invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanc-
tions have le a gap in the world market
that Canada may want to fill with its energy
resources. He says the only feasible way
to reduce emissions while maintaining
that production growth is through carbon
capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).
"ere's not really any other large-scale
technology that oil and gas operators could
use to materially reduce their own emissions."
CCUS involves capturing carbon from
industrial processes, compressing it, storing it
underground, or using it in another way. In
2021, the federal government announced it
CANADA MUST diversify its energy mix
and lower the carbon output in its oil and
gas industries to compete in a future of
declining oil and gas demand, according to
Environment and Climate Change Canada's
2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. On the
emissions reduction front, Ottawa's goal for
