More money going to oil and gas

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This article was published 18/07/2020 (1906 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New research from the University of Alberta’s Parkland Institute highlights incongruencies between Canadian climate goals and money being sunk into post-secondary research that favours continued investment in the oil and gas industry.

The report, titled, Knowledge for an Ecologically Sustainable Future? Innovation Policy and Alberta Universities, took years to compile and traced funding over two decades from various agencies and research grants from all levels of government, as well as corporate investment in research.

What the data gathered demonstrated was how post-secondary institutions in Alberta have oriented research work toward attracting funding for fossil fuel industry research, with the biggest influence seen in engineering faculties.

“Universities have a huge role to play in helping society to develop the kinds of knowledge and technologies that we need to make that transition (to a post-carbon economy),” said Laurie Adkin, a professor of political science at the University of Alberta, and lead author of the report.

“So there’s a big question: is that what we’re doing? Or are we doing the kinds of research, are we creating the educational programs, and prioritizing research, that goes towards deeper entrenchment of the oil and gas industry?”

Investment in fossil fuel industry research has been prioritized over other areas, such as renewable energies, energy efficiency and conservation, social planning, and sustainable agriculture, the report reads: “This pattern is found in relation not only to grant funding, but also in the establishment of research chairs and institutes.”

Adkin says it is not surprising in an economy focused on the fossil fuel industry this kind of prioritization has taken place, and similar orientation towards the local industry would likely be seen in other provinces. However, she says it is alarming there’s been no effort to shift the talents and expertise in Alberta to tackle problems the country will face due to climate change.

“I was really surprised that agriculture, for these agencies, was just not on the radar. And I just find that particularly shocking in the context of the climate crisis, because what the modelling shows us is that Alberta, and Canada, will be a part of the world that is able to continue to produce food… whereas other parts of the world are losing that capacity because of desertification, extreme weather and heat,” Adkin said.

“So, you would think we would be seeking to learn a lot more about how to increase food production in an ecologically sustainable way. And also, as Albertans, we should be asking: what are we going to build an economy on if nobody wants our bitumen?”

Adkin found $6.4 billion landed at corporations, innovation agencies, and universities from the Alberta government through various mechanisms since 1997, but all of it tied to fossil-fuel related research and development. Meanwhile, $241 million was allotted for research and development in the areas of renewable energies, energy efficiency and conservation, fuel cells, and biofuels research; and $190 million on environmental and sustainable development.

In addition to Alberta research funds flowing to the oil and gas sector, funds from the federal government also imitated the same patterns.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council provides research grants for energy, environment, and sustainable development domains. The study found, when looking at where that funding has gone at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary since 1999, 63 per cent has was invested in fossil fuels-related research. Meanwhile, only 11 per cent went to alternative energies, and less than three per cent to sustainable development research.

The study considers a historical overview of research funding, but there is little likelihood patterns will change any time soon.

In late 2019, when Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson visited Alberta, he reiterated the federal Liberal government would be continuing to invest in research that would lower the emissions associated with the extraction of oil from oilsands in northern Alberta.

“I’m very interested in the discussions around how technology can enable us not simply to address emissions-intensity-related issues, but to help us think about how we might extract energy without pollution,” Wilkinson said at a news conference in Calgary in December.

“Pathways to doing that, I think, are enormously important in the context of the conversation we will be having going forward.”

This type of thinking is exactly what Adkin fears.

“This somehow all gets seized upon to say, ‘We can continue to extract and export these fossil fuels and we can make that environmentally sustainable.’ Well, we can’t.”

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca