Canada’s Hydrogen Strategy Is Typical For The Fantasy Genre
$25 billion up for grabs in Canada’s edition of the hydrogen hype and hope plan
Over the past few years I’ve published assessments of the hydrogen strategies of multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, the EU, and the Canadian province of Ontario, among others. News of the German chancellor coming, cap in hand, begging for liquid natural gas and hydrogen from Canadian politicians as part of his energy crisis world tour a couple of years ago crossed my screen, and when asked I’ve given my opinion of the Maritimes’ hopes of a hydrogen export success story.
But I’ve avoided looking at Canada’s hydrogen strategy. And it has been avoidance. Canada is still wrapped around the axle by the legacy fossil energy industry. Canada’s government, especially since the Liberals took charge again in 2015, has diversified radically, dropping oil, coal, and gas percentages of GDP to only 0.9% combined as of 2020, with a brief upward blip due to the European energy crisis since. That’s down from 8.3% in the early 1980s, indicative of Canada’s growth of the non-fossil segments of its economy.
Despite that, all politicians still pander to the oil and gas industry, not just conservative ones. For no good…
