CALGARY, Alberta – Questerre Energy Corporation (“Questerre” or the “Company”) has commissioned a report by the International Reference Centre for Life Cycle Products, Services and Systems (“CIRAIG”) on producing hydrogen, including blue hydrogen, using its zero-emissions natural gas in Quebec.
Michael Binnion, President and Chief Executive Officer of Questerre, commented, “With the emissions from production virtually eliminated with our Clean Gas engineering, we are now targeting emissions from consumption that accounts for nearly 80% of the total emissions. One of the most promising approaches, both from an environmental and economic perspective, is producing blue hydrogen.”
He added, “Several Norwegian companies are at the forefront of blue hydrogen production. Hydrogen from our Clean Gas combined with carbon capture has the best of both worlds – the cost and energy benefits of hydrogen from natural gas with the emission benefits of hydrogen from water. We see it as the most practical and economic way to manufacture hydrogen on a large scale. We are pleased to see that several large European energy companies such as Engie, one of the largest French utilities, and Equinor, the second largest gas supplier to Europe, recently announced they too are looking at blue hydrogen supply as an essential way to transition to a carbon neutral economy.”
The Quebec Energy Association (formerly the Quebec Oil & Gas Association) previously engaged CIRAIG to prepare a study on the environmental profile of Questerre’s Clean Gas in Quebec. A copy of the report is available on the Company’s website: https://www.questerre.com/operations/quebec/.
Commenting on this report, he noted, “The peer-reviewed report has confirmed that the GHG emissions from our project would be approximately 75% lower than the other current sources of natural gas in Quebec. This would be a game-changer. It would be a world first and establish Quebec as a leader in global energy transition.”
The report was prepared on behalf of the Quebec Energy Association (formerly the Quebec Oil & Gas Association) to establish and compare the potential environmental life cycle impacts of different supply chains for natural gas used in Quebec, including Questerre’s Clean Gas initiative. The life cycle assessment (“LCA”) was completed in compliance with the ISO 14 040:44 standard and used the LCA IMPACT World+ method.
It compared four different supply chains for natural gas including from the Marcellus in the United States, Alberta, Quebec using conventional methods and Quebec using the Clean Gas Initiative. The report concluded that from a human health and ecosystem quality perspective, Clean Gas had less than one third of the environmental impacts compared to natural gas from the Marcellus and Alberta. The report also studied the impact of using Clean Gas in Quebec to provide industrial heat, as a transportation fuel and to produce products such as methanol and fertilizer. It concluded that the Quebec Clean Gas system presented the lowest environmental indicator results for all impact categories.
Mr. Binnion further added, “Life cycle assessments are becoming increasingly important in Canada with the introduction of the Clean Fuel Standard by the Federal Government. With near-zero emissions from production, our Clean Gas used to manufacture other products will greatly reduce their emissions footprint.”
CIRAIG is a research group and internationally acclaimed center of expertise on sustainability and life cycle thinking. Through leading-edge research, expert services on sustainability, and education, CIRAIG aims to shape and implement metrics focused on life cycle thinking. CIRAIG brings together the expertise of two universities in Montreal, Canada, Polytechnique Montreal and UQÀM, as well as two universities in Sion, Switzerland, HES-SO and EPFL.
Questerre is an energy technology and innovation company. It is leveraging its expertise gained through early exposure to low permeability reservoirs to acquire significant high-quality resources. We believe we can successfully transition our energy portfolio. With new clean technologies and innovation to responsibly produce and use energy, we can sustain both human progress and our natural environment.
Questerre is a believer that the future success of the oil and gas industry depends on a balance of economics, environment, and society. We are committed to being transparent and are respectful that the public must be part of making the important choices for our energy future.
Questerre’s common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada and Oslo Stock Exchange in Norway under the symbol QEC.