Mackenzie Gas Project Greenhouse Gas Analysis – A Consolidated Report by the Pembina Institute
Research Report
Mackenzie Gas Project Greenhouse Gas Analysis – A Consolidated Report by the Pembina Institute
Matthew McCulloch
Rich Wong
Greg Powell
Jeremy Moorhouse
Copyright Date: Aug. 1, 2007
Published by: Pembina Institute
Pages: 75
OPEN ACCESS
https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep00236
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-ii)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. 1-2)
  3. Executive Summary
    Executive Summary (pp. II-IV)
  4. 1. Introduction
    1. Introduction (pp. 1-3)

    This report was prepared on behalf of the Sierra Club of Canada for presentation to the joint review panel conducting the review of the Mackenzie Gas Project. The report estimates the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions anticipated to be associated with the Mackenzie Gas Project . This report is a consolidation of the following previous reports written by the Pembina Institute:

    Matthew McCulloch, Derek Neabel, and Ellen Francis. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculations for the Mackenzie Gas Project: The Pembina Institute, May 2005.

    Matthew McCulloch, Jeremy Moorhouse, Greg Powell, and Ellen Francis. Mackenzie Gas Project Greenhouse Gas Analysis - An Update: The...

  5. 2. Mackenzie Gas Project GHG Emissions Scenarios
    2. Mackenzie Gas Project GHG Emissions Scenarios (pp. 4-14)

    This section provides estimates of annual GHG emissions and cumulative emissions over the next 50 years that are directly related to the Mackenzie Gas Project based upon information from the GLJ report⁷, the MGP Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)⁸, the intervenor request for information responses⁹, and the Sproule Report10. New information provided by intervenor request for information responses have been incorporated into each of the scenarios.

    This section presents ghg emissions from ‘upstream’ (those associated with the gas pipeline) then from ‘downstream’ (those associated with end-use of the gas), and then estimates the total them. For each, both annual emissions are...

  6. 3. Comparison with Projected Upstream GHG Emissions
    3. Comparison with Projected Upstream GHG Emissions (pp. 15-18)

    To put the numbers from the previous section for upstream and downstream GHG emissions into context, Section 3 compares them with total emissions from the NWT and from Canada.

    Excluding potential emissions from the Mackenzie Gas Project, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) expects the Northwest Territories’ GHG emissions to increase incrementally from 1,708 kt CO2eq/yr in 2005 to 2,041 kt CO2eq/yr in 202020. This is shown in Figure 2 below as NRCan’s ‘business as usual’ (BaU) (i.e. excluding the MGP). The projected ‘business as usual’ GHG emissions from NRCan extend until year 2020; with the emissions estimated (by Pembina) to increase...

  7. 4. The MGP in Context with Canada’s Oil Sands
    4. The MGP in Context with Canada’s Oil Sands (pp. 19-27)

    This section compares the volume of gas supplied with the projected gas demands at the Oil Sands to the gas supplied from the MGP for the different scenarios considered in this report. A life-cycle perspective for the oil sands is also taken to understand the full GHG implications of gas supplied to it.

    Operations in Alberta’s oil sands have been identified as a potential end use of the natural gas conveyed by the MGP. This section compares the demand for natural gas in the oil sands to the projected supply via the MGP in this section.

    Figure 3 compares the...

  8. 5. Contextualizing the Mackenzie Gas Project Greenhouse Gas Emissions
    5. Contextualizing the Mackenzie Gas Project Greenhouse Gas Emissions (pp. 28-29)

    This chapter presents some more familiar activities to give the reader a sense of the magnitude of the GHG emissions associated with the MGP.

    The GHG emissions associated with operating the MGP for one year at peak conditions under the EIS, Maximum Capacity, Onshore Only, Onshore & Offshore, and NEB P5o scenarios are compared to the emissions from operating light vehicles in order to provide a scale and context. The emissions generated by operating the pipeline (i.e. upstream) are considered along with the end-use emissions (i.e. downstream). The results are provided in Table 10 below. For example, under the EIS scenario,...

  9. 6. GHG Emissions Reduction and Offset Options
    6. GHG Emissions Reduction and Offset Options (pp. 30-32)

    This section considers ways that upstream GHG emissions might be reduced. It is beyond the scope of this report to consider how downstream emissions might be reduced, outside of general solutions such as energy efficiency and CCS for large point sources.

    Owners and operators of the MGP should explore all potential GHG reduction opportunities associated with pipeline operations. This would include eliminating all fugitive (unintentional) GHG emissions) and engineered (intentional) methane emissions, improving energy efficiency performance, and fuel switching where possible (e.g. using ethanol blended gasoline in vehicle fleets). Table 11 below identifies some GHG reduction opportunities for the MGP...

  10. 7. Conclusions
    7. Conclusions (pp. 33-35)

    Key conclusions for each of the specific objectives are listed below. The estimates provided in this report may be over estimated by 10%, based on one less compressor used and incorporation of waste heat recovery since the writing of the original June 2006 Pembina Institute report update.

    Estimate the annual and total lifetime-of-the-project (cumulative) greenhouse gas emissions for the different MGP production scenarios– for both the operation of the pipeline (upstream) and combustion of the gas (downstream).

    This report considers six different MGP development scenarios.

    Other plausible development scenarios contribute to much higher, up to four times, the GHG emissions...

  11. Appendix A: Emissions Estimates, Methodologies, and Assumptions
    Appendix A: Emissions Estimates, Methodologies, and Assumptions (pp. 36-50)
  12. Appendix B: Oil Sands Related Calculations
    Appendix B: Oil Sands Related Calculations (pp. 51-58)
  13. Appendix C: Assumptions for Estimating Downstream Emissions
    Appendix C: Assumptions for Estimating Downstream Emissions (pp. 59-59)
  14. Appendix D: Assumptions and Methodology Used to Contextualize Emissions
    Appendix D: Assumptions and Methodology Used to Contextualize Emissions (pp. 60-61)
  15. Appendix E: Assumptions and Methodology for Offset Options
    Appendix E: Assumptions and Methodology for Offset Options (pp. 62-63)
  16. Appendix F: Assumptions and Methodology for Natural Gas End Use
    Appendix F: Assumptions and Methodology for Natural Gas End Use (pp. 64-67)