Clean energy strategies and pathways to meet British Columbia's decarbonization targets

Abstract

British Columbia (BC) recently released the CleanBC policy framework to promote clean energy and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, CleanBC lacks concrete measures to reverse the growth of energy demand. Although BC has rich biomass and hydroelectric resources, it remains unclear whether these renewable resources will be enough to meet future energy demand. In this work, the potential in BC for increasing production and use of bioenergy, renewable electricity, and low-carbon hydrogen was assessed, and the most efficient measures were identified. Energy scenarios were constructed to explore BC's future renewable energy demands for meeting GHG mitigation targets. The results show that CleanBC will drastically raise renewable energy demands but fail to achieve the 2030 target without radical demand reduction.Seen as the core strategy in CleanBC, electrification will require at least 60 PJ of additional electricity supply for 2030 and 160 PJ for carbon neutrality in 2050. This implies implementing wind and solar generation in capacities comparable to massive hydroelectric projects. Alternative to electrification is the bioenergy-centred strategy. Existing waste biomass must be fully exploited; even then, roughly 250 and 460 PJ of additional primary bioenergy will be needed for 2030 and 2050, respectively, well beyond any foreseeable waste supply within BC. Hence, it is essential to utilize all the available biomass and renewable electricity resources and promote a diversified renewable energy portfolio. Hydrogen used as an energy carrier must be produced from natural gas with carbon capture to avoid competition for the limited renewable energy resources.

Chemical engineering for the Anthropocene

“…Furthermore, the initial conditions differ between different economies, and communication is not always easy among sectors with distinct interests, thinking habits, vocabularies, and cultures. Both Utagawa and Horio [ 65 ] (an analysis of a zero‐carbon scenario for the Kansai area of Japan, which includes heavy industry regions) and Wang et al [ 66 ] (an analysis for the Canadian province of British Columbia) highlight the need for collaboration between sectors with which chemical engineers are familiar and also relevant but less familiar sectors such as agriculture and forestry, to develop bioenergy, agrovoltaics (i.e., agricultural photovoltaics), and micro‐hydro generation. Progress depends on finding technological solutions that are accepted by the non‐technical public.…”

Remote Temperature Control Strategy of Multi-energy Heat Collection Based on the Internet of Things

“…In the tense global energy situation today, countries around the world are seeking new energy alternative strategies, and clean energy has become the focus of attention due to its advantages of continuous supply and security. However, clean energy has low energy density and is easily affected by objective factors, such as climate and location, which limits its effective use [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. However, with the continuous development of the IoT and new energy utilization technology, the comprehensive utilization of clean energy has been brought into full play, and the energy management and monitoring mode has also undergone fundamental changes [9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Preface to the special issue section in memory of John R. Grace

“…This special issue includes 18 papers spanning John's main interests in clean energy, [4][5][6][7][8] fluidization and fluidparticle systems, [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and chemical engineering perspectives [19][20][21] but cannot fully capture his significance. Listing someone's professional work rarely reveals why they leave a unique hole or why those who had the good fortune to regard them as a colleague feel a strong sense of loss.…”