Maple syrup cans are seen at a sugar shack in Oka, Quebec. GLOBE AND MAIL/RYAN REMIORZ/THE CANADIAN PRESS
SO MUCH FOR THE “GREEN”, ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE, ECONOMY!
Mike Priaro, P.Eng.
First uploaded March 30, 2017. Last updated March 31, 2017.
I love maple syrup as much as anyone - and we have a bottle in our fridge.
But the author of "Canada in a can: Maple syrup endures as a national symbol", Globe and Mail, Mar. 20, 2017 writes, "A barrel in Quebec currently is worth $1,800, about 25 times more than crude oil." See: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-150/canada-in-a-can-maple-syrup-endures-as-a-nationalsymbol/article34343711/
That is a totally uninformed comparison on all counts and implies some kind of economic and environmental superiority of maple syrup production over oil production.
In 2015, Canada produced only 8.9 million gallons of maple syrup for an average of 700 bbl/d compared to an average of 3,870,000 bbl/d of oil.
Production of one barrel of oil from the oil sands releases 330 lb of CO2 per barrel from well-to-tank before it is combusted in a vehicle.
However, the necessary two-and-a-third cords of dry wood burned to make just one barrel of maple syrup from sap releases 10,000 lb of CO2 per bbl of maple syrup.
Even burning cleaner natural gas to make maple syrup would release about 5,000 lb of CO2 per barrel of maple syrup.
And burning trees is not "carbon neutral". See http://www.pfpi.net/carbon-emissions
So much for the “green”, environmentally-sustainable, economy!
And by the way, Trudeau’s proposed minimum $50/tonne carbon tax, if applied to maple syrup, a $400 million dollar/year industry in Quebec, a province more opposed than any other to the oil sands and pipelines, would add $58 million annually in costs to the industry, or $227 to each barrel of maple syrup, or about $1.43 to each one-liter bottle.
How about it Mr. Trudeau? Will you ensure an equal carbon tax is levied on Quebec – and on Ontario?
The current cap-and-trade emissions systems in Ontario and Quebec will result in them paying half the penalties on emissions that provinces on a strict carbon tax system like Alberta will pay. See: http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/why-quebec-and-ontario-will-get-an-unfair-break-on-trudeaus-carbon-tax-while-other-provinces-pay-double
Mike Priaro, P.Eng.
Calgary
403-281-2156
References
Carbon emissions from burning biomass for energy, http://www.pfpi.net/carbon-emissions
-Wood releases 213 lb CO2 per mmBTU.
Energy Use in Maple Operations, University of Vermont, https://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/wilmot_energy.pdf
-One cord dry wood is 20 mmBTU.
-2 and 1/3 cords is 47 mmBTU which releases 10,011 lb CO2.
Canada’s Oil Sands GHG Emissions, http://www.canadasoilsands.ca/en/explore-topics/ghg-emissions
-One barrel oil sands crude releases 150 kg CO2 or 330 lb CO2 per barrel from well-to- tank
Canadian oil production in 2015, NEB, https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/nrg/sttstc/crdlndptrlmprdct/stt/archive/stmtdprdctnrchv-eng.html
If burning biomass emits carbon dioxide, how can it be “carbon neutral”?, Partnership for Public policy Integrity, http://www.pfpi.net/carbon-emissions
