When it comes to decarbonizing the economy, it’s the stuff of modern life – steel, cement, fertilizer, plastics, chemicals – that will prove hardest to clean up.
Fortunately for Canadian industries, many of these products produced in Canada already have a comparatively low carbon profile compared to many other countries, thanks to its clean power grid (hydro and nuclear power).
Canada already can boast that it produces some of the lowest carbon aluminum in the world, thanks to hydro power in B.C. and Quebec.
“Canada’s low-carbon advantage means it’s ideally positioned to grow these industries alongside new ones,” Clean Energy Canada says in a new report on decarboniing Canada’s heavy industries.
But the demand for certain metals and materials like cobalt, lithium and graphite is expected to grow by 500%, and steel by 55%, over the next three decades, driven by largely the energy transition to more renewables and electric vehicles. With increased production of these materials, associated emissions will also increase.
For the rest of this article: https://biv.com/article/2021/03/heavy-industries-could-build-canadas-low-carbon-advantage