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I think in light of repeated Twitter conversations about #BCLNG, #bitumen in BC. I think it is time for a thread explaining some basic information that may not be understood in the general about the use of coal in China #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin @keithbaldrey 1/
China has a massive need for fossil fuels for energy use as well as in their chemical and production chains. Because China does not have large reserves of nat. gas or oil they end up using coal as a generic replacement #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin @keithbaldrey 2/
We all know that China uses a lot of coal to generate electricity. They o this even though they are also installing a tremendous amount of renewables. This is because renewables need back-up and coal serves that role #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin @keithbaldrey 3/
The role of back-up for renewables can be handled by nuclear, hydro or natural gas but China's rivers are very silty and thus not great for hydro and they have virtually no natural gas, so the back-up is nuclear or coal #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin @keithbaldrey 4
But that is not coal's only use. As I noted China doesn't have ready access to lots of heavy oil, so they use a process called coal-to-liquids to supply them with the heavy oil they need as inputs for their massive chemical industry #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin 5/
The process of liquifying coal produces massive amounts of excess GHGs so by supplying China with heavy oil (like dilbit) which can be used as a direct input in their heavy chemical industry was can greatly reduce those emissions #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin 6/
Similarly, China doesn't have the natural gas it needs as inputs into its plastics industry. So it uses coal for that as well. That process is called coal-to-gas and produces even more GHGs than coal-to-liquids #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin @keithbaldrey 7/
By supplying LNG to China, even if they never use a single mole of it to generate electricity, we can still massively reduce their GHG production in the coal-to-gas cycles. #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin @keithbaldrey 8/
I hope this thread explains why someone with serious concerns about climate change can still want to export heavy oil and LNG to China. Because every drop we send them reduces their GHG emissions and GHGs don't respect borders #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin 9/
As for the suggestion that we should fight our battles here and let the Chinese fight theirs, I would simply say again that GHGs don't respect borders. As the research shows Canadian LNG can significantly reduce global emissions #bcpoli #cdnpoli @nbennett_biv @TerryGlavin 10/
