O’Regan’s Net-Zero ‘Moon Shot’ Emphasizes CCS, Hydrogen, Small Modular Reactors

Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan is calling for a “moon shot” to hit the federal government’s net-zero emissions target, but he may not be thinking of the technologies that are actually ready to get the job done by 2050.

“In a wide-ranging online conversation with Peter Tertzakian and Jackie Forrest of Calgary’s ARC Energy Research Institute, O’Regan compared the net zero ambition to former U.S. president John F. Kennedy’s vow in May 1961 to put a man on the moon,” The Canadian Press reports. “O’Regan says the Canadian government is looking at all potential solutions to reduce carbon emissions, including using carbon capture and storage and employing hydrogen, geothermal, and small modular nuclear reactors as alternative sources of energy.”

“Net zero is a moon shot, and a moon shot is not the same as just throwing ideas out there and seeing what sticks,” the minister said. “A moon shot is a very specific goal—Kennedy said we’re going to get to the moon. And then afterwards the teams at NASA had to figure out how to do it.”

The short news report makes no mention of mass, deep energy retrofits, electric vehicle charging networks, electric bus procurement, a wider green infrastructure program, or various other options that are ready for prime time as elements of a just, green recovery.