Prime Minister Justice Trudeau is hinting that an energy pact planned between Canada and Germany will focus more on Canada’s aim to be a long-term clean energy supplier to the world. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany take a stroll at the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau on Monday, June 27, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
An energy pact between Canada and Germany expected to be signed next week in Newfoundland and Labrador will set aggressive timelines and targets for exporting hydrogen to Germany, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Friday.
While Germany’s preference is for “green” hydrogen produced from water with renewable power sources that has a very low carbon footprint, Wilkinson is not ruling out involving “blue” hydrogen made from natural gas using carbon capture and storage to trap emissions.
Canadians should also expect announcements related to the role Canada can play exporting critical minerals that are needed in the technology that produces hydrogen, he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will arrive in Canada for a three-day visit Sunday, his first since he took over from longtime chancellor Angela Merkel last December.
His trip will take him first to Montreal and then Toronto before he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau take off for the western Newfoundland port town of Stephenville.
It is home to a planned “green hydrogen” production facility, and it is there the two leaders will formally sign a Canada-German energy agreement that has been months in the making.
“The agreement will be, as you will see, something that essentially sets the framework for collaboration going forward,” Wilkinson said in an interview Friday.
“But it will set some targets in terms of timelines around when we would like to see actual product moving from Canada to Germany, and both will be pretty aggressive.”
He said both countries will pledge to to work with the private sector to meet those targets.
Canada was initiating talks with many countries, including Germany, about clean energy exports before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
That invasion “has changed everything for Europe and further energy security,” Trudeau said Friday, during a news conference in Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Que.
Canada has been looking at what it can do quickly to ease Germany’s reliance on Russian oil and gas.
Trudeau said realistically the short-term possibilities are limited, and the talks with Germany are playing a longer game to cut reliance on Russia and fossil fuels in general.
“How can we make sure that this illegal Russian invasion and the unreliability of Russia as an energy partner, actually incites and allows us all to pivot, not just off Russian oil and gas more quickly, but to pivot off oil and gas as something we rely on so much,” he said.
Canada’s hydrogen strategy, developed in 2020, seeks to be one of the world’s top-three hydrogen exporters within 30 years. At the moment, the International Renewable Energy Agency doesn’t include Canada on its list of the six places most likely to become hydrogen superpowers.
That distinction goes to China, Europe, Japan, South Korea, the United States and India.
Wilkinson said getting on that list will require being focused and fast on doing everything it takes to help industry ramp up. And he said it’s not only about exports.
“I would say that one has to start by thinking about domestic uses of hydrogen,” he said.
Constantin Zerger, head of energy and climate protection at Environmental Action Germany, said in a panel discussion Thursday that Germany is also ramping up its own hydrogen production but it will need significant imports to meet the needs of its climate strategy, particularly after 2030.
German research firm Fraunhofer said in a recent report that demand will almost double by 2030, more than triple by 2040, and by 2050, the country’s need could be seven to 14 times bigger than its current production.
But Zerger and other climate activists don’t want this agreement to allow room for hydrogen produced from natural gas, even if carbon capture and storage technology is used to trap the accompanying greenhouse gas emissions.
Zerger said Germany needs to be clear that it only wants green hydrogen, the kind that comes from using electrolysis to split apart water molecules.
The German government is also more interested in green hydrogen, though it isn’t closing the door to blue.
Wilkinson said the colour labels are a “pet peeve,” and what matters is the total carbon intensity.
“So Germany has had a preference, an express preference for hydrogen that comes from renewable,” he said.
“My argument with the Germans and with everybody else is, let’s change the nature of the conversation to one that focuses on the carbon intensity of the hydrogen. And it may well be that some countries have a preference for hydrogen that’s derived from one pathway or another but at the end of the day, if you can produce hydrogen that has zero or virtually zero carbon emissions, I mean, from my perspective, who cares where it comes from?”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2022.
- 0069 Sask Oil Show 2024 banquet tickets0069 Sask Oil Show 2024 banquet tickets
- 0071 Pride Upkeep 2024 Packages0071 Pride Upkeep 2024 Packages
- 0070 Sask Oil Show 2024 pre-register0070 Sask Oil Show 2024 pre-register
- 0068 Sask Oil Show 2024 booth0068 Sask Oil Show 2024 booth
- 0067 PFM SaskWorks Payroll Investment Plan0067 PFM SaskWorks Payroll Investment Plan
- 0066 WBPC Promo video 30 seconds0066 WBPC Promo video 30 seconds
- 0065 Anova Resources field operator Oxbow0065 Anova Resources field operator Oxbow
- 0064 Estevan OTS0064 Estevan OTS
- 0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher
- 0062 TED_EPAC_Technology_300062 TED_EPAC_Technology_30
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0060 Arizona Lithium Lease building0060 Arizona Lithium Lease building
- 0059 Southeast College Heavy Equipment Operator0059 Southeast College Heavy Equipment Operator
- 0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click Before You Dig large text0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click Before You Dig large text
- 0052 Predator Inspections0052 Predator Inspections
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0015 Latus Viro0015 Latus Viro
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001