SUNCOR ENERGY SEES ROOM FOR BOTH FOSSIL AND ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Speaking at the Second Australasian Emissions Trading Industry Forum in Sydney, Australia, last March, P. Hopkins of Suncor Energy Australia summarized the company’s plan for sustainable development. "Some would advocate ending the development of hydrocarbon energy and adopting renewable resources to generate energy," Hopkins said. "But Suncor favors pursuing a parallel path approach for managing change--promoting the development of alternative energy sources while continuing to develop hydrocarbon resources responsibly to meet the growing global need for energy."

Over the long term, renewable and alternative sources of energy offer important potential as alternatives to traditional hydrocarbon energy. Some industry experts even predict that the contribution of renewable energy sources globally could become significant over the next 20 to 30 years, as they become more competitive.

Suncor is participating in the Stuart Project, an oil shale development project in Queensland that could lead to a new industry in Australia. At the same time, the company is actively developing opportunities in alternative and renewable energy. As examples, Hopkins cited the following:

• In Ontario, Canada, the company is offering ethanol-enhanced gasoline, a grain-based renewable fuel, to its customers at no extra cost.
• In Alberta, Canada’s major oil producing province, Suncor is expanding its conventional oil and natural gas operations at the same time as it is funding the generation of 350,000 kilowatt-hours of wind-generated electricity for the provincial grid. In addition, a special management team at Suncor is continuing to pursue other potential opportunities including, wind power, solar energy, biomass and fuel cell technology.
• In its efforts to address greenhouse gas emissions, Suncor has also pioneered emissions reduction trading, as well as undertaken a $3.5-million, 4-year project to plant 180,000 native trees in Central Coastal Queensland with its joint venture partners in the Stuart Project.

Hopkins concludes by saying, "As an energy producer, we are vital contributors to the economic and social well-being of Canada and North America. With the Stuart Project, Suncor’s goal is to play a valuable role in the economic future of Australia. Fossil fuels and Australia’s oil shale resources are a fundamental element of our society’s economic strength now, and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future--especially if we pursue their development from the context of sustainable development."

Hopkins notes that Suncor has learned a lot in a short period of time. The principles for action, which Suncor believes are fundamental to the path forward on sustainable development, include:

• Forge new public alliances. In the journey toward sustainable development, business must be economically and environmentally efficient and look for opportunities to optimize projects and to minimize impacts on the environment.
• Learn by doing. Building a path toward sustainable development requires society to test what works and does not work, and what fits Australia’s circumstances as a country. Business must be prepared to step up to the plate as participants in offset projects and early emission reduction trading pilot programs.
• Better education. Business leaders need to encourage a wider understanding of sustainable development, encouraging thinking that evaluates energy development, such as oil shale, not merely in the context of climate change but in the context of today’s economic, social and environmental needs and expectations.
• Shape the future--not react to it. Through a sustainable approach to environmental issues like climate change, business has an opportunity to take an important leadership position in society.