Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 1211 FlareNet Climate Research Gets $5.5-Million Boost In a world that still derives more than 80 percent of its energy through burning fossil fuels, the need to better understand non-renewable energy production has never been greater. Despite a shift towards renewable sources such as solar and wind power, existing practices at oil refineries and drilling sites continue to release alarming amounts of carbon dioxide and other harmful toxins into our atmosphere. With investment in clean and renewable energy on the rise, Canada Research Professor Matthew Johnson recognizes that we must look at our present infrastructure if we are to transition to a greener future. “It’s unreasonable to think we can flick a switch and all start using solar power tomorrow,” explains Johnson, professor in the research-intensive Faculty of Engineering and Design and former Canada Research Chair in Energy and Combustion Generated Pollutant Emissions. “We have to make changes within the fossil fuel industry and manage the emissions in the system we have.” With that in mind, Science Minister Kirsty Duncan, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) President B. Mario Pinto visited Carleton University on October 19 to announce $5.5 million in funding for an all-new NSERC FlareNet Strategic Network. “Canada spends a lot of time trying to figure out how to reduce emissions across the board,” said McKenna during the announcement, where FlareNet was introduced alongside three other research networks supported by NSERC at a total of nearly $22 million. “This network demonstrates how Canada can be a leader in clean energy and can innovate in our effort to achieve our climate change targets.” Led by Carleton University and headed by Professor Johnson, FlareNet will study the impact of pollutants on air quality and climate change in order to develop responsible methods of extracting fossil fuels. The network will also help guide regulation and mitigation throughout the industry. “Good environmental policy needs to be based on strong research to measure pollutants and to determine their effects,” said Carleton President and Vice- Chancellor Roseann O’Reilly Runte upon FlareNet’s announcement. “Carleton University is proud to lead this work with colleagues, governments and industry across Canada.” Flaring serves a method used to burn off unwanted gas at refineries and drilling sites. While the practice has been identified as a significant source of carbon dioxide emissions and has been implicated as a critical source of other toxic air pollutants, it currently remains standard procedure at thousands of oil and gas sites in Canada and tens of thousands throughout the world. Natural gas, as an example, is burned at oil wells because collecting it is often deemed too expensive. While seen as a low cost solution, flaring can release harmful toxins into the air including sulfur dioxide and black carbon, which is formed by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and is a potent agent in global warming. Its effects are especially significant in the Arctic, where it settles on snow and ice and accelerates melting. Despite the fact that flaring has been recognized as a source of several pollutants, there currently aren’t accurate techniques that exist to measure flare emissions in the field, meaning we cannot accurately predict all of the emissions the process releases. According to Johnson, this creates a major obstacle in the effort to move towards cleaner fossil fuels. “You can’t mitigate or regulate what you can’t quantify,” he says. “Right now, there’s no viable technology to walk up to a flare and measure its various emissions. You need a scientific basis to make informed decisions and offer regulatory support and you need to understand the range of emissions and their environmental impact.” Johnson believes the network’s research will be instrumental in providing decision-makers with the vital knowledge and models they require to create effective, science-based regulations. He also hopes his findings will help to guide industry in setting operating procedures that will improve environmental performance.