Canada’s main oil-producing province Alberta will reveal no later than October a strategy to use “blue hydrogen” to expand oil production without increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Alberta oil sands producers have been using natural gas to extract crude oil, and their operations are capped by the provincial carbon emission limit of 100 megatons/year.
Replacing natural gas with blue hydrogen will allow the producers to increase output without emitting more carbon that exceeds the limit, according to Alberta’s Associate Minister of Natural Gas Dale Nally. He also added that Alberta and Ottawa would synchronise their respective hydrogen plans. Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas while applying Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is due to launch Canada’s green agenda in September. The strategy will likely include hydrogen as “net-zero moon shot” for the oil and gas sector, Reuters reported, citing a government source familiar with the plan. Some environmental groups have flagged the proposed strategy, saying that it would eliminate no fossil fuels while subsidising them.
