'Bridge fuel' or climate villain? Natural gas in the spotlight as COP27 continues
BNN Bloomberg
After long enjoying a reputation as a "bridge fuel" capable of helping the world achieve its climate goals, natural gas is losing some of its environmental lustre — and that has implications for Canada's energy sector.
Canada is the fourth-largest global producer and sixth-largest exporter of natural gas. And with the war in Ukraine driving a global energy crisis, companies like Enbridge Inc. and TC Energy say they expect demand to grow for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from Canada in the coming years.
But natural gas — once seen as a low-emitting fuel able to act as a stopgap until more renewable sources of energy could be developed — has been taking heat at this year's U.N. COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
“It’s the right time to clear the air on natural gas," said Binnu Jeyakumar, clean electricity director for clean energy think-tank the Pembina Institute, in an interview from the COP27 climate summit, which she is attending this week.
