Opportunities are in the air for B.C. But they’re also there for any region with the enterprise to tackle one of the world’s top threats to human health.
As pointed out in the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) recently released Energy and Air Pollution report, air pollution is responsible for approximately 6.5 million deaths per year, making it Earth’s fourth most serious threat to human health.
Energy production generates the lion’s share of that pollution in the form of sulphur and nitrogen oxides. Much of that particulate matter results from the inefficient burning of wood and other solid fuels for cooking and lighting in fast-growing Asian and sub-Saharan Africa regions and poorly regulated power generation from coal and oil in areas of rapid urbanization.
On the bright side, things are improving. However, they’re not improving fast enough.
In the IEA’s Clean Air Scenario, the global energy research organization estimates that annual premature deaths from air pollution could be approximately 3.3 million lower by 2040 than they are today.
That, however, is contingent upon another US$2.3 trillion being invested in advanced pollution control technologies. Add in higher energy efficiency standards and wider support for renewable energy, better public transportation and urban planning.
Substituting liquefied natural gas for coal and other more carbon-intensive fuels would also play a part in that air-quality improvement.
B.C. is well positioned to tap into that multitrillion-dollar opportunity.
Much of Asia is hungry to harness renewable sources of energy to reduce air pollution and to develop power security through domestic sources of energy.
B.C. has much expertise in run-of-river, fuel cells and other renewable energy generation technologies.
It needs to take them to market. Now.
The global energy game favours the bold. B.C. has the raw materials to compete with any other region, but it has yet to consistently exhibit the rest of the right stuff needed to establish itself as a major player in that game.
