The Tilbury Phase 2 LNG expansion in Delta, British Columbia will expand an existing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility allowing FortisBC to help meet the growing global demand for LNG with some of the world’s cleanest natural gas. This hasn’t stopped the opposition group Stand.earth from campaigning against the project.
Issues raised by these opposition groups aren’t based in truth though. We are seeing opposition organization with offices in America, in this case Stand.earth, interfering in Canadian opportunities with no regard for Canadian jobs. Activists have spent the economic crisis actively trying to drive projects and investment away from Canada. Now is not the time to say no to shovel-ready and shovel-worthy projects. Especially those projects already reducing global emissions.
Recently a panel of economists has highlighted how LNG projects are actually putting British Columbia in better position to weather the economic storm as a result. The previous Tilbury expansion provided jobs and economic benefits to Delta and surrounding communities and included more than $60 million in local spending. In a time where jobs and opportunity aren’t certain and the need for government revenue is important, this is a project that we can’t let pass by.
The Tilbury facility is already in operation and has been producing gas for export to Asia, helping reduce global emissions. In fact, the Tilbury facility has been in operation for nearly 50 years providing natural gas to British Columbians for cooking and heating, including 30,000 homes and businesses in Delta. They have also been liquefying and exporting natural gas for a number of years and operating safely within marine waterways.
The project could produce up to 3.5 million tonnes of LNG per year and has two goals:
- To increase LNG storage capacity ensuring that customers continue to receive the energy they need, even in the unlikely event of a supply disruption.
- To increase LNG production capacity to meet demand from marine customers or overseas customers.
LNG has been shown to reduce global emissions when replacing coal fired power plants and diesel as a marine bunkering fuel. In fact, when LNG replaces diesel it can have up to a 15-25 per cent decrease in GHG emissions and even more significant impacts on air quality by reducing sulphur oxides (SOx) to almost zero; nitrogen oxides (NOx) by up to 95 per cent; and particulate matter (PM) by up to 99 per cent.
BC Ferries has already converted several of their fleet to LNG reducing overall emissions and has more vessels on order. The opportunity to reduce emissions is advanced by the access to clean BC hydropower which will further reduce emissions ensuring that BC produces some of the lowest emissions LNG in the world.
Please take a moment to submit a comment to the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) public comment period, which closes July 16th. You might not know this, but submitting a comment about how important this project is, is one of the most important things you can do to support a project.
So often, resource supporters think that just supporting a project will get it across the line, while activist organizations push forward campaigns to fill up the government’s inbox with chain letters filled with misinformation.
Please click here and submit a comment to the EAO to make sure this project can move forward.
