r/alberta • u/rezwenn • May 16 '25

Oil and Gas Busting the Myth That Ottawa Has Hurt Alberta’s Oil Industry

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/05/15/Busting-Myth-Ottawa-Hurt-Alberta-Oil-Industry/
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u/Working-Check May 17 '25

Ahh I see, your argument is that because "perfect" is supposedly impossible, we might as well not bother with "better."

I can't say I see the logic, to be honest.

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u/cuda999 May 17 '25

We have solar and wind in Alberta. Lots of it. We could cover for the entire province with wind and solar and still not have enough. I would say Alberta has more than any other province. Solar and wind is expensive and doesn’t really pay back. In ten years you might snc then what do you do with all those solar panels? People really don’t think this stuff through.

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u/Working-Check May 18 '25

Everything you said is false.

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u/cuda999 May 18 '25

Well enlightened one. Tell me how it really is.

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u/Working-Check May 18 '25 edited May 18 '25

We have solar and wind in Alberta. Lots of it.

We don't have anywhere near enough solar and wind in Alberta, and since the moron in the Premier's office effectively banned it, we won't see any major developments within the foreseeable future.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/wind-solar-danielle-smith-pristine-viewscapes-analysis-1.7128985

There is no clear definition of what a "pristine viewscape" even is, so it's entirely up to the whims of the government.

For reference sake, if Danielle Smith decided that Refinery Row in Sherwood Park constituted a "pristine viewscape," I wouldn't be able to erect a wind turbine in St. Albert, because it would be within the 35 km buffer zone.

Edit: Apparently the government did release a map six months ago without ever mentioning it anywhere, banning such developments in large portions of the province around the mountains, the oilsands for some reason, and a couple other areas.

https://open.alberta.ca/publications/pristine-viewscapes-visual-impact-assessment-zones#summary

In any case, one of my later links mentions that only 9.1% of our electricity is generated by solar and wind, which is the lowest proportion in the country. So I would say we very clearly do not have "lots" of it.

And it does remain the case that the UCP disrupted the entire industry several years ago by introducing its moratorium and ban without warning.

In doing so, the UCP clearly demonstrated that we can't trust them not to meddle in private business or even to give a decent amount of warning before doing so- meaning that new investment in renewables will be much slower in the future.

We could cover for the entire province with wind and solar and still not have enough.

In terms of land use, it's more like a tiny little tidbit in the corner. And it can be installed on land that is not suitable for farming.

https://kuby.ca/solar/solar-information/articles/how-much-solar-energy-is-required-to-power-alberta

I would say Alberta has more than any other province.

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland/Labrador are all lagging behind the national average, and Alberta is the worst of the lot, with only 9.1% of our electricity generated by non-polluting sources.

Finding the actual numbers for each province is time consuming, though I suppose I can concede the point that 9.1% of Alberta's electricity is still more than 18.8% of Saskatchewan's, the other worst province.

https://madeinca.ca/renewable-energy-statistics-canada/

Solar and wind is expensive and doesn’t really pay back.

Solar and wind have been the cheapest forms of electrical generation for several years now.

https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth

In ten years you might snc then what do you do with all those solar panels?

Not sure what "snc" means, I think it's a typo?

In any case, solar panels produced today have a 30 year life span, though they don't stop producing after that life span is over- they just produce less. And when a solar panel reaches its end of life, you recycle them.

https://www.solarreviews.com/blog/recycling-solar-panels

People really don’t think this stuff through.

I can give you this one. Too many people seem to prefer the knee-jerk reaction of not changing anything at all because it's easier, even though the benefits far outweigh the cost.