Canada's clean energy hype long on hype, short on clean energy

In 2022 a different Canadian PM and German Chancellor spawned acres of headlines with the wildly over-hyped ‘Hydrogen Alliance.’ Clean Canadian hydrogen would start shipping by 2025 (checks calendar…) oh! That’s this year! And how is that going, pray tell? Here’s a telling quote from the trade journal Fuel Cell Works. Just months before the end of 2024, no green hydrogen facilities in Atlantic Canada have been completed, financial terms with German companies remain elusive and infrastructure in Europe is far from ready. Hmm… hundreds of billions in loans and subsidies and there’s nothing going on! How is such a thing even possible? Clearly, the loans and subsidies are insufficient! So, no hydrogen on the horizon, but have no fear; we’re not only gonna be a leader in clean hydrogen, maybe, someday, if we ever get the loans and subsidies right, but we’re gonna be the next rare earths and critical minerals powerhouse too! And this time around we’ve got serious men in charge; Goldman Sachs alum Carney, and BlackRock veteran Mertz! We have reason to believe that heavy hitters like that will get the handouts right from the get-go! I’m not the only one feeling the good vibes. Check out this headline from the Globe & Mail today: Canada can, and should, be the worlds elder statesmen in critical minerals. Yowza!! Take that, Chinese commies! All we need to do is finish that access road into the Ring of Fire motherlode up there in Treaty 9 country. Of course, to finish it, we would have to start it first. I did a little digging and found some hopeful news. If all goes according to plan, the studies and assessments phase of the project should be complete by 2028. That’s not the road – just the studies… and then the serious work of applying for construction permits begins, so things are looking good to have that 300 kilometres of road in by the mid 2030s. A road is not a mine, of course. That will require more studies and assessments. I figure that should take another ten years, and then another ten to actually develop the mine, and by golly, we should be well on our way to untold riches around 2060 or so! Of course, bear in mind the aforementioned Treaty 9 folks will have de facto veto power every step of the way, and those people have wised up quite a bit since we rammed a railroad across the country in a mere ten years. They won’t be bought with some shiny baubles and a barrel of firewater like in the good old days. Yup, we’re destined to be a world leader in clean energy for sure!