What the International Energy Agency’s path to net-zero means for Canada’s oil and gas industry
Looking at different policy scenarios around climate change, agency report lays out path for holding...
Historically Canada has been a significant producer and consumer of coal. That’s changed over the last decade; production peaked in 1997 at about 78 million tonnes.
The vast majority — about 85 per cent — of Canada’s coal is mined in B.C. and Alberta.
The number one use of coal in Canada is for electricity. However, in 2016 the federal government announced a plan to phase out the use of coal-powered electricity by 2030. In 2003 Ontario announced a plan to eliminate coal-fired power plants by 2014.
In 2015 Alberta announced a plan to phase out coal-fired power plants by 2030 to keep in line with federal targets.
As countries around the world look to reduce greenhouse gas emission and air pollution, worldwide demand for thermal coal — used in power plants — is diminishing. However the demand for metallurgical coal — used to make steel and cement — has remained steady. That’s feeding growth at some of B.C.’s largest mines, such as those in the Elk Valley. Canada is the world’s third-largest exporter of metallurgical coal after the U.S. and Australia.
In the spring of 2020, the Alberta government rolled back protections that had prevented open-pit coal mining across parts of the Rocky Mountains and Foothills since 1976. In March 2022, the province reversed course and announced a ban on new coal projects in the eastern slopes of the Rockies — but there are still plenty of things that haven’t changed since that March announcement.
Looking at different policy scenarios around climate change, agency report lays out path for holding...
Observers worry a sale or spinoff of sprawling coal mines in the southeastern corner of...
When asked about new scientific research showing much of the country’s oil, gas and coal...
Locals and advocates worry the myriad industrial pressures facing the eastern slopes put the area...
As Coalspur — the company behind the Vista coal mine near Hinton, Alta. — declares...
As Alberta and B.C. mull expanding metallurgical coal mining in the Rockies, some steel manufacturers...
Teck’s coal mines in B.C.’s Elk Valley are poised to be exempt from more stringent...
The Tent Mountain project, currently pegged for provincial review, narrowly skirts the production threshold that...
Four proposed projects are undergoing environmental review in the Kootenay Rockies, where open-pit coal mining...
Susan Rosebrugh rose from sleep when she heard the sound of fire trucks, and turned to her partner in frustration. “Not again, Glenn,” she said....
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