Energy Of Canada Research Articles

Hello From the Other Side: External Stakeholder Paradoxes Matter for Organizational Ambidexterity

Organizational ambidexterity (OA)—the simultaneous pursuit of explorative and exploitative innovations—engenders nested (paradoxes manifesting across organizational levels) and knotted paradoxes (intertwined co-occurring paradoxes at the same or across organizational levels). Both nested and knotted paradoxes are managed by internal stakeholders using approaches that are socially constructed by influences emanating from within and beyond an organization. External stakeholders also help shape organizational innovations but their influence on the management of paradoxes has largely been overlooked. In this study, we collected and analyzed data from internal ( n = 19) and external stakeholders ( n = 18) in organizations pursuing explorative and exploitative clean energy transitions at nine Canadian energy utilities. We find that the external stakeholders engage with knotted inclusivity–efficiency and existing–emerging needs paradoxes. Our findings add to OA and business and society literature by revealing how the approaches that internal and external stakeholders adopt for paradox management have implications for each other, and thus OA. We also provide practical insight into how external stakeholder paradoxes can be managed through stakeholder inclusivity and enhanced transparency of innovation plans, with positive implications for OA.

A Comprehensive Integration and Synthesis of Methane Emissions from Canada's Oil and Gas Value Chain.

Methane emissions from the global oil and gas value chain are a major contributor to climate change, and their mitigation could avoid 0.1 °C of warming by 2050. Here, we synthesize nearly a decade of research encompassing thousands of multiscale methane measurements along the oil and gas value chain (production to end use) to better constrain estimates of methane emissions from Canada's energy sector and to identify research gaps contributing to uncertainty in current estimates. We find that total value chain methane emissions are 2,600 (2,100-3,700) kt, which broadly agrees with Canada's latest official inventory that now includes atmospheric measurement data in some of their oil and gas methane estimates. Accurate understanding of emission magnitudes is critical because Canada committed to a 75% reduction of oil and gas methane emissions by 2030. We also identify and discuss information gaps in both emissions and activity data, namely, from the midstream, downstream, and end-use sectors. While they make up a smaller portion of the total inventory, accurate quantification of these emissions is still important and could point to more cost-effective mitigation solutions. This work emphasizes the need for frequent, comprehensive measurements to better constrain the climate impacts of the oil and gas sector and to validate reductions and commitments pledged by industry and governments.

Sustainable Development and Underexplored Topics in Canada’s Energy Transition

Canada’s energy system is undergoing a fundamental shift, which will change how Canadians produce and consume energy. The success of Canada’s energy transition will be influenced by the ability of energy practitioners to manage the tensions and trade-offs in a variety of topics. The purpose of this research was to identify topics that are relevant to Canada’s energy transition and to identify the concepts that energy practitioners are using to manage the tensions and trade-offs in these topics. According to in-depth interviews with Canadian energy practitioners in 2021, the two most important topics in Canada’s energy transition are climate change and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. In addition, according to a 2021 focus group with Canadian energy practitioners, three relevant and underexplored topics in Canada’s energy transition are environmental rights, a systemic reduction in energy consumption, and learning from the energy transition in other countries, notably, Germany. These three underexplored topics were studied by completing additional in-depth interviews in 2022 and 2023, and a causal loop analysis in 2023. This research suggests that the concepts of sustainable development and multi-level perspective are complementary, can increase understanding of important and underexplored energy transition topics, and can generate solutions to complex sustainability challenges.

Climate-Related Disclosure for Canadian Energy Companies - Getting Ready for the Mandatory Regime: Voluntary Guidelines, Rule Proposals, Governance Implications, and Best Practices to Avoid Greenwashing Allegations

Canadian energy companies are increasingly releasing corporate statistics, metrics, and strategy on climate-related matters to the public. These disclosures, offered both independently and in response to investor and stakeholder demand, detail strategic management of risks and opportunities related to a company’s present and future environmental impact. The Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TFCD) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) have helped to standardize voluntary disclosure frameworks and standards, influencing recent proposals for mandatory disclosure rules issued by securities regulators in Canada and the United States. This article presents a comprehensive review of this fast-shifting landscape, outlining governance implications and best practices to help organizations navigate these complex regulatory developments. In this context, it also presents noted trends and international perspectives to help Canadian companies manage legal exposure to civil and regulatory “greenwashing” allegations stemming from voluntary and mandatory public disclosures.

Fueling divisions: a multimodal analysis of Canadian petro-nationalism in the social media discourse of “oil sands strong”

ABSTRACT This research conducts a multimodal critical discourse analysis of social media posts by Oil Sands Strong (OSS), examining their role in advocating for resource extraction through the use of “petro-nationalism” discourse. The analysis uncovers three key aspects: First, the posts employ multimodal semiotic resources to create dichotomies and blend nationalist and xenophobic discourses with energy discourse. Second, they integrate diverse multimodal symbolic elements from various discursive frameworks to forge a collective identity for the local Canadian community. Lastly, the posts stigmatize foreign oil producers, new energy industries, and environmentalists, employing multimodal symbols to obfuscate the argument's focal point and generate a hybrid discourse. Through visual symbols, assertive text, and argumentation of topoi, the posts present an exaggerated and distorted image of petro-nationalism. The study concludes that these multimodal posts aim to reshape Canadian energy politics, promote biased sentiments, exploit cultural prejudices, and formulate petro-nationalism narratives for resource extraction advocacy.

Finite element modeling of wellbore stability in a fractured formation for the geothermal development in northern Quebec, Canada

Previous studies showed that deep geothermal energy can be a promising solution to support Canada's energy transition, which is particularly valuable for remote northern communities. Geological formations containing natural fractures in fault zones of the Canadian Shield prove advantageous for geothermal development from the perspective of permeability enhancement. However, it is crucial to ensure wellbore stabilities throughout the drilling and energy production processes. In remote communities, there is a lack of research investigating the overall performance of boreholes embedded in fractured formations under non-isothermal conditions. Both the sliding along fracture surfaces and yielding of rock matrix can contribute to a borehole failure, but there is limited research covering both in a borehole stability analysis with the consideration of thermal disturbance. In this study, a thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled finite element modeling is conducted to carry out poromechanical analysis of boreholes in fractured rock formations of a potential deep geothermal engineering site in northern Canada. Both plastic yielding in the rock matrix and sliding potential along specific fractures are quantified with the consideration of non-isothermal impacts. The simulation results indicate that the cooling effect should be given attention when drilling through rock formations containing natural fractures as excess pore pressure can be built up due to the enhanced flows through fractures. Even though the fractures are not intersecting with the borehole wall surface, sliding tends to be triggered along tilted fractures. In addition, it is also concluded that more plastic zones tend to be generated due to the cooling effect of drilling fluid. Findings from the present research are also closely relevant to deep geoenergy engineering projects in other studying areas with fractured geological formations.

Defending “Canadian Energy”: Connective Leadership and Extractive Populism on Canadian Facebook

ABSTRACT This paper provides a content and discourse analysis of the Facebook activity of pro-fossil fuel advocates in Canada, including industry-funded and independent groups. It explores how the fossil fuel industry and its allies have reacted to growing public demand for climate action by adopting a “subsidised public strategy,” in which elites provide stakeholders with resources to participate in an organized campaign. We argue that pro-oil advocacy groups utilize their Facebook pages to exercise “connective leadership,” in which key social media accounts strategically shape internet-enabled social movements by promoting mobilization opportunities, connecting supporters with diverse content, and reframing that content to communicate a coherent “extractive populist” storyline positioning “Canadian Energy” as a national public good under attack by foreigners and elites. We thereby provide insight into how industry and its allies leverage platform affordances to promote populist politics on Facebook to defend industry in the face of the climate crisis.

Residents' participation in energy performance certification for collective action on climate change: the case of EnerGuide.

Although governments have launched energy performance certification (EPC) programs to increase residential energy efficiency, residents' perception and acceptance of these programs have been little studied. This study contextualizes residents' intentions to participate in EPC programs in terms of their attributions to and attitudes toward climate change to find mediating factors and effects to help trigger collective action to reduce residential sector energy demand. This study employed a partial least squares structural equation modeling approach to empirically analyze a survey conducted on 400 residents of Edmonton, Canada, who participated in the Canadian energy efficiency rating and labeling program, EnerGuide. Using EnerGuide, a Canadian energy efficiency rating and labeling program, as an example, this study establishes a framework to explain that local residents' internal and external attributions to climate change elicit positive attitudes (need to take action), increasing their recognition of energy efficiency program benefits, which further promotes their EnerGuide program acceptance and participation intentions. This study also reveals the mediating effects between variables. Residents' attitudes toward climate change mediate the relationship between internal/external attributions and EnerGuide program acceptance, and they indirectly impact residents' program acceptance and participation intentions, with this effect moderated by energy efficiency program benefits. Residents' program acceptance also mediates the relationship between climate change attitudes/energy efficiency program benefits and the intention outcome. The study provides an example of the use of climate change discourse to motivate residents' energy efficiency program participation.

Mapping the portrayal of small modular reactors in Canadian Energy Solutions

ABSTRACTThe Arctic region exhibits socio-economic disparities and diverse development strategies among Arctic states. Energy solutions in the Arctic necessitate industrialisation and ground infrastructure, with many off-grid Arctic communities relying on diesel power due to limited accessibility and high transportation costs. Moreover, there is growing interest in renewable and low carbon energy, followed by the consideration of nuclear solutions as part of the transition to achieving net-zero emissions. Local perspectives are crucial in formulating sustainable energy policies tailored to specific needs. Canada, with its established nuclear supply chain and technical capabilities, provides a pertinent case study for incorporating Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as part of its energy transition. Within the context of transitions in Arctic communities, this paper’s primary focus is on mapping the portrayal of SMRs within Canada’s energy solutions. This investigation relies on publicly available sources to analyse how SMRs are depicted and integrated into Canada’s energy landscape. This paper analyzes publicly available discourse to examine various perspectives on SMRs, emphasising the most prominent viewpoints, including Indigenous perspectives. The results provide an exploration of the intricate difficulties and potential benefits associated with SMRs in the context of Canada's shift towards cleaner energy sources. Indigenous viewpoints add a wide range of perspectives, both endorsing and opposing SMRs, highlighting the complexity of SMRs employment and the need for future research on this emerging topic.

Comovement and spillover among energy markets: A Comparison across different crisis periods

We compare the comovement and spillover between returns of six developed energy markets during different crisis periods using wavelet multiple correlation and wavelet multiple cross-correlation. The considered countries include Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US for a period from July 5, 1999 to July 3, 2021. The results reveal strong correlations between the markets of France, Italy, the US, and the UK across different scales. More specifically, the energy markets of France and Italy show pronounced correlation across lower frequencies, while the energy market of Canada is a prominent net transmitter, with it having the most influence on the connectedness of all other markets. However, the Japanese and Canadian energy markets can provide diversification benefits when combined with other markets. These findings have significant implications for policymakers and investors in terms of how best to invest during various crisis periods.

The rise and fall of the Synthetic: The mediatization of Canada's oil sands.

The concept of the Synthetic is developed to trace and trouble the prevailing popular mythology of Alberta's oil sands and place the omnipresence of petro-hegemony into focus in a time of crisis and transition. The Synthetic is theorized as a period of petroculture beginning in the late 1960s with the rise of Alberta's oil sands industry together with a rise in oil sands narratives, docudrama, and the emergence of mediated or synthetic politics reliant upon processed images. Attention focuses on three mediated moments within the Synthetic beginning with the banned 1977 CBC docudrama The Tar Sands and the reaction of Premier Peter Lougheed. This signals the power and grip of oil's hegemony. Second, the short film Synergy produced for Expo 86 captures the thickening of synthetic culture and oil's saturation of the public imagination. Finally, the controversy manufactured by Alberta's Canadian Energy Centre over the animated film Bigfoot Family suggests petro-hegemony's loosening grip.

Carbon Province, Hydro Province: The Challenge of Canadian Energy and Climate Federalism. Douglas Macdonald.

<i>Carbon Province, Hydro Province: The Challenge of Canadian Energy and Climate Federalism</i>. Douglas Macdonald.

CANADIAN ENERGY SECURITY

On November 21, 2022, Jackie Forrest, Vice President of Energy Research at ARC Financial Corp., presented on Canadian Energy Security. The key issues were the worrying mismatch between common, ambitious expectations of global and Canadian energy transition and the most likely current trajectories given lacking investment; the security implications of this discrepancy and the energy transition generally; threats from adversarial states; the enduring cheap energy versus secure energy challenge; and Canada’s slow and precarious project approval apparatus. Received: 2022-12-20Revised: 2022-12-30

Global energy markets connectedness: evidence from time-frequency domain.

We examine the presence of dependence across 51 energy markets classified into different regions from Jan 2007 to June 2021. In order to examine the presence of dependence across different energy markets, we apply standard and threshold dependence measures proposed by Diebold and Yilmaz, Int J Forecast 28:57-66, (2012) and Baruník and Křehlík, J Financ Econ 16(2):271-296, (2018). We highlight the presence of strong dependence between the energy markets at both regional level and across other regions. European and American energy markets are highly connected within the region over the long-run whereas Asia-Pacific and the African energy markets offer optimal diversification opportunities. Both short- and long-run dependence exists between Chinese and the Hong Kong energy markets and between the US and Canadian energy markets. We also witness substantial increase dependence across all the energy markets during different crisis periods.

Recent Legislative and Regulatory Developments of Interest to Energy Lawyers

This article provides an overview of recent regulatory and legislative developments of interest to Canadian energy lawyers from April 2021 to March 2022. It includes discussions of recent regulatory decisions and related judicial decisions, as well as changes to regulatory and legislative regimes impacting energy law. This article also discusses and comments on a number of ongoing regulatory and legislative developments to watch in the coming year. Topics discussed include the opportunities and challenges posed by decarbonization efforts, Aboriginal law, standard of review, and other natural resource and power developments.

Recent Judicial Decisions of Interest to Energy Lawyers

The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the Canadian economy, commercial activity, and the legal system in general. Courts, tribunals, legislatures, law firms, corporations, and workers all learned to adapt to remote working, remote hearings, and new ways of living. Within the crisis came opportunities to modernize systems and think about new ways of accessing justice. This article summarizes a number of recent judicial decisions of interest to energy lawyers. The authors review key case law from several broad areas, including: Indigenous and First Nations law; contractual interpretation; environmental law; tax law; corporate and securities law; bankruptcy and insolvency; and constitutional law. In each area of law, the authors will provide insight on the significance and potential implications of these decisions on the Canadian energy industry. The authors also canvas more specific topics, such as: economic interests and the Crown’s duty to consult; the Canada Revenue Agency’s priority ranking in the restructuring process; the ability of receivers to disclaim an agreement in the bankruptcy process and unilaterally impose go-forward terms on a secured party; the priority of builders’ liens in the face of abandonment and reclamation obligations; the evolution of the “reverse vesting order”; and provincial control over resources.

Canada's Energy Security in the Context of Global Instability

On August 18, 2022, the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS)-Vancouver hosted a Digital Roundtable titled Canada's Energy Security in the Context of Global Instability. This event was conducted by Peter Tertzakian, Deputy Director of the ARC Energy Research Institute. Mr. Tertzakian’s presentation was followed by a moderated question-and-answer period in which the audience was able to deepen their understanding of the topic. The discussion centred around the dependency that societies have on energy, how countries have managed to cover their energy demands, and its effects on the geopolitical landscape.

Technology Development Framework: Moving from Qualitative toward Quantitative Decision-Making

Summary Technology development in the energy sector typically suffers from an ad hoc approach to making decisions about the key questions of “What is the next derisking step?” and “At what scale?” This lack of structure in decision-making occurs despite the technology development process usually being within a stage-gated protocol. This often leads to significant waste of time and resources and plenty of “surprises” about the extent of additional testing required. The approach proposed in this paper is relatively simple to use, scalable, and transferable across industry sectors. Consistent application of the methodology has the potential to bring a quantitative rigor that can lead to more effective and efficient technology development and improve both intellectual and monetary capital allocation. Additionally, the framework provided facilitates a more structured and faster learning curve for people moving into technology development roles. Starting with a high-level understanding of the technology and business case, the methodology identifies possible commercial deployments and associates key technical and commercial risks that can be barriers to commercialization. Then, using a “risk burndown” approach based around an initial assessment of probability of success (POS), different paths to deployment (PTDs) are developed. A value of information (VOI) approach is used to evaluate key metrics. This leads to a diverse set of derisking options with associated trade-offs for informed decision-making. The methodology has been developed and deployed since 2017 across a portfolio of both incremental improvement and game-changing subsurface technologies at Suncor Energy, a large integrated Canadian energy company. More than 25 technologies have been progressed using elements of this workflow with 7 of the more complex and expensive projects using the full quantitative VOI approach. These analyses have been used to inform decision-making on more than $400 million1 of proposed derisking activity spend.

The effect of bitumen molecular fractions on diffusivity and rheology of bitumen under high‐temperature conditions: Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation study

AbstractHeavy oil and bitumen play an incredible role in Canada's energy resources. The main processes that have already been applied to produce heavy oil and bitumen are in‐situ thermal methods. The primary mechanism of production in these reservoirs is a reduction in heavy oil and bitumen viscosities via heat transfer. Having deep knowledge about the rheological behaviour of heavy oil and bitumen is crucial to designing a more accurate and efficient in‐situ thermal recovery method. In this work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was used to model the rheological behaviour of bitumen under different temperatures. According to MD outputs, the highest diffusion coefficient between bitumen fractions belongs to saturate fractions. On the other hand, the lowest diffusion coefficient belongs to asphaltene fractions. The size of asphaltene, its polarity, and the polarity of a resin fraction affect the diffusion coefficient of asphaltene in a bitumen sample and its rheological behaviour. The MD simulation aims to provide molecular insights and essential information about the rheological trend of bitumen under different thermodynamic conditions. The results of the current work provide essential information about the effect of bitumen fractions on its rheological behaviour.

Economic cooperation of Canada with the Asia-Pacific countries in the energy sector

The article is devoted to an urgent problem of our time - the integration of Canadian energy markets into the energy markets of the Asia-Pacific region. Canada's economy is currently the 16th largest in the world in terms of GDP and is heavily dependent on international trade, whose prosperity is inextricably linked to external markets and the ability to access those markets. In turn, China, Japan, and South Korea are the world's largest importers of crude oil and liquefied natural gas. The study considers not only the reasons for the need of Canada's energy markets to enter the Asia-Pacific region, but also analyzes the dependence of the Canadian economy on the economy of the United States of America. The main conclusions of the study are the ways of integrating the energy markets of Canada and the Asia-Pacific countries. The built economic model of interaction should not only exist within the framework of the created legal acts but also should determine the importance of the formation of this economic institution for subsequent development. The work has increased relevance since joint development within the economic area creates a stable relationship, which can later be used for external use, within the framework of building a new type of economic model. Thus, the information acquires statistical value and can be used in further research. I believe that the purpose of this study was achieved by considering the economic cooperation of Canada with the ATP countries in the energy sector.