Low-Carbon Industrial Strategy Announced by Trudeau’s Energy Chief

Hydrogen production, essential mining infrastructure, and other low-carbon initiatives are expected to be at the core of Canada’s new industrial strategy for natural resources.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will work with each province to “identify, prioritize, and pursue opportunities” as part of the Regional Energy and Resource Tables strategy.

Beginning this month in the western provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba, along with the eastern one of Newfoundland and Labrador, the plan will be implemented across the country by early 2023.

“It’s being a little bit more thoughtful about economic strategy,” said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson when describing the effort as an industrial strategy. “It’s about actually pulling together the kinds of resources, and looking at the kinds of processes that typically prohibit rapid movement towards securing those opportunities.”

A video conference with Wilkinson on Monday revealed that the key objective is to speed the energy transition away from fossil fuels in each region and to involve Indigenous groups and industrial players on how to best achieve rapid outcomes.

He also stated the plans for each province. For example, in Newfoundland “we probably have at least six or seven large-scale hydrogen production projects using electrolysis, using wind, a number of which have been proposed by pretty credible counterparties and have relationships in Europe that would actually take the hydrogen.”

Wilkinson said that in British Columbia, representatives are specifically interested in hydrogen, critical minerals, and converting heavy industry into an electric one. In Quebec, it’s the making of batteries and how the critical mineral supply chain can help it. Electric vehicle production is likely to get attention in Ontario. And in oil-rich Alberta, carbon capture projects will be the main focus.

“Part of the job of this table will be prioritizing those, looking at where they’re at, are they ready, and looking at the tools that we could bring to the table,” said Wilkinson

Original source material for this article taken from here