ARC ENERGY IDEAS

Solar is starting to shine in Canada. Five utility scale solar projects have been announced in Alberta so far this year. Residential solar should benefit from newly announced federal government incentives. This week Nicholas Gall, the Director of Distributed Energy Resources at the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) joins the podcast. Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie ask...

This past week, Shell, Exxon and Chevron were all in the headlines as these three supermajors are being pushed, in the boardroom and courtroom, to transition more quickly towards a low carbon future. Adding to the pressure, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released their much-anticipated Net Zero 2050 Scenario, stating that no new oil and gas fields beyond those committed in 2021 are needed....

Canada is a global leader in Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS), with four large-scale operating  projects. However, compared to the United States, new investment in Canada is not keeping pace. This week our guest is Beth (Hardy) Valiaho, Vice President, Strategy & Stakeholder Relations at the International CCS Knowledge Centre. Beth tells us about the state of CCUS in Canada and ou...

The Canadian Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) will come into force next year with the objective of lowering the carbon intensity of fuels, such as gasoline and diesel. This week David Schick, Western Canadian Vice President from the Canadian Fuels Association joins the podcast to talk about the future, including learnings from British Columbia’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that has been in place for...

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 ca...

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 Joh...

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...

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 e...

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-...

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 pas...

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, includin...

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 n...

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 realit...

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...

Are electric vehicles the new family car? Jackie’s family recently purchased an EV to find out.  In this episode, Peter and Jackie discuss the economics and utility of EV ownership, including the barriers of limited high-speed charging infrastructure and the need for standardized plugs. Next is an update on Canada’s Clean Fuel Standard (CFS). The draft legislation was released in the Canada Gazett...

Last week the IEA described the oil markets as ‘fragile.’ In contrast, the price of oil has soared back from all time lows (and negative pricing) to its pre-COVID levels. This week Peter and Jackie discuss the arguments of the bulls and the bears. The bears are focused on weak oil demand, slow vaccine roll outs and prolonged lockdowns. The bulls see beyond this near-term fragility to the demand re...

The UN reported that net zero pledges from local governments and business have roughly doubled in less than a year. Canada has introduced a bill that would legally bind the government to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. But what do the people of Alberta think? This week, our guests – Linda Coady, the executive director of the Pembina Institute, and Janet Brown, a pollster and political commen...

Oil and gas stocks can hardly compete for news headlines with the wild volatility of GameStop and the soaring price of Tesla. Yet there is good news to report. Year-to-date oil and gas equities have outperformed the overall market. Relative to March 2020 - when the stocks were crushed - some public oil and gas names are now up 3 or 4 times. This week, our guest Trent Boehm, Vice Chairman and Head...

This week our guest is Dale Swampy, President of the National Coalition of Chiefs (NCC). Dale recently wrote an op-ed titled “UNDRIP will slow, not hasten Indigenous development.”   UNDRIP (the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) was drafted by the United Nations in 2007 with the goal of recognizing basic human rights of Indigenous people and their right to self-determi...

This week our guest is Diane Cameron, Director of the Nuclear Energy Division at Natural Resources Canada. Canada is already a global leader in nuclear energy and safety. Canada is the second largest producer of uranium and home to the world’s largest fully operational nuclear power generation facility in Ontario. The next chapter in Canadian leadership is well underway with the development of Sma...

The news flow has started off 2021 with a bang! Saudi Arabia surprised the oil markets announcing a voluntary 1 MMB/d cut to their production for February and March. The Democrats gained two seats in the Georgia election, granting them greater power in the US Senate. The stock markets saw the change as a positive signal for clean energy companies. Bitcoin is attracting attention, but are digital c...

On this week’s podcast we look back on the events that shaped the challenging year that was 2020.  Early in January, tensions between the United States and Iran briefly pushed oil prices over $60/B.  But when Coronavirus spread from China to the rest of the world, oil price plunged. The darkest days of the pandemic were in April, when oil demand dropped over 20% and price momentarily fell to negat...

The Canadian federal government is developing a Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) policy.  The draft rule for liquid fuel (including gasoline and diesel) is expected later this month.  Subsequently, rules for gaseous and solid fuels will be developed. This week’s episode is a primer on clean fuel standards. What is CFS? What jurisdictions have CFS policies already in place?  What is the policy’s objective...

This week our guest is Doug Hooper, Director of Policy and Regulations at Advanced Biofuels Canada. Advanced Biofuels Canada is a national industry association established to promote the production and use of advanced biofuels In Canada. Here are some of the questions that Peter and Jackie asked Doug: Why is there a push to increase the use of biofuels in Canada? What feedstocks and processes are...

On this week’s episode, we discuss the Canadian federal government’s plans to legislate net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. What is the reaction from the oil and gas industry? Next up, we consider the importance of energy efficiency for achieving low carbon goals.  History has shown that energy demand growth is difficult to curb. Yet, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a th...