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LNG from B.C. will be the cleanest in the world due to the province’s world-leading GHG emissions policies and rules. These include:

• An economywide carbon tax of $30/tonne, which will increase by $5/tonne per year to $50/tonne;

• Regulations that require LNG facilities to limit carbon emissions to 0.16 tonnes CO2e for each tonne of LNG produced or pay an additional $25/tonne carbon fee; and

• The requirement to reduce methane emissions from upstream natural-gas production by 45 per cent by 2025.

This means B.C.’s proposed LNG facilities will have about 50-per-cent fewer greenhouse-gas emissions than the average of all LNG facilities operating around the world today, making B.C.’s facilities the lowest-emitting in the world.

As an example, a large LNG plant in Louisiana on the U.S. Gulf Coast that runs on highly efficient gas turbines still runs less efficiently than a similar plant in B.C. due to warmer Gulf Coast temperatures. Gulf Coast facilities also don’t have access to renewable hydroelectric power. These relatively new facilities operate at a GHG intensity of 0.25 tonnes CO2/tonne LNG, roughly 60-per-cent higher than the LNG Canada and Woodfibre LNG facilities proposed for Kitimat and Squamish.

Upstream emissions — from producing the natural gas to supply the LNG facilities — are set to decrease significantly under policies already underway to reduce methane emissions. In addition, the increase to B.C.’s carbon tax provides incentives for electrification. The use of B.C.’s renewable electricity for upstream gas-processing facilities and anticipated technology advancement in drilling, completion and gas processing will contribute to further reductions in emissions from natural-gas production.