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Total E&P Canada Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the global oil and gas company Total SA. The nature of Total SA’s activities worldwide requires the company to deal with a wide array of specific responsibilities. Industrial safety, supporting local development, securing the future of energy, environmental stewardship and combating climate change are all critical challenges that Total is committed to meeting.
Total SA’s corporate social responsibility is built on transparency, stakeholder dialogue, and integrity in the conduct of our business. Total E&P Canada conducts our business with the same corporate social responsibility values as our parent company.
Biofuels
Made up of organic matter from living organisms, biomass is the world's leading renewable energy source. It not only has heat and power applications, but is also used for biofuels and bioproducts. Because it is renewable, it helps to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Total is a European leader in biofuels, and has supported their development since 1992. We are active in the two main first-generation biofuels:
- Ethanol is used directly or converted into ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) for gasoline-fueled vehicles.
- Vegetable oils are processed into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) for diesel-powered vehicles.
Total is devoting considerable R&D resources to developing new biofuel technologies, based on partnerships with recognized operators in the field. We aim to identify and develop second-generation biofuels to supplement the existing offering.
Read Total's Biomass-to-Energy roadmap.
Biodiversity
All over the world, people are now expressing their concern about the degradation that human activity has inflicted on the richness of nature and biological diversity.
As a developer of energy from the planet’s natural reserves, Total has learned to protect and manage the environment over many years. It has taken great care when developing energy projects in sensitive areas and evolved a keen understanding of the importance of biodiversity. As early as 1992, Total created the Foundation for Biodiversity and the Sea.
The global attention now given to biodiversity makes this a good occasion to bring together Total’s thinking on the subject. While recognizing the important influence on biodiversity and climate change, this report addresses the more direct impacts of activities over which the Group has control. It explains a number of themes related to Total’s policy on biodiversity and sums up what Total is currently doing to manage and protect biodiversity in all the countries where the Group works.
Read Total's Biodiversity roadmap.
Capture and Storage of CO2
The world’s primary energy consumption is currently estimated at 10.5 Gtoe, of which about 80% is in the form of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal). Whether issued by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the World Energy Council (WEC), the European Commission or the United States Department of Energy (DOE), most forward-looking scenarios agree that energy consumption will rise to between 16 and 18 Gtoe by 2030, with fossil fuels continuing to dominate the energy mix.
However, even though the combustion of fossil fuels contributes to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), mankind cannot do without energy to support its development.
In response to this paradox—and until alternative energy solutions reach full maturity—one possible means of climate change mitigation consists of storing the CO2 generated by large point sources of emissions. This measure must also be accompanied by efforts to improve energy efficiency and diversify energy sources in order to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases.
Read Total's Capture and Storage of CO2 roadmap.
Climate Change
Scientists warn that human activities such as manufacturing, transportation and urban pollution are causing the global warming observed over the past few decades, linked to a higher concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Since 2001, in line with its concern for prevention, Total has undertaken to manage its greenhouse gas emissions. The group’s main efforts to keep its commitment include enhancing energy efficiency, cutting back on gas flaring, developing renewable energy solutions, and making contributions to R&D work, such as CO2 capture and storage.
Read Total's Greenhouse Gases roadmap.
Environmental Protection
Waste
More and more waste production is constantly increasing: 650 million tonnes of waste were produced in France in 2002. This waste endangers our health, soil, water and air resources, and makes excessive use of the world’s raw materials and energy sources.
Reducing waste production and providing better waste treatment processes is essential. Everyone must get involved: public authorities, local bodies, citizens—and above all—industry players. This is why Total is committed to reducing the amount of final waste generated by its activity, and recycling as much inevitable waste as possible.
Soil
Soil is fragile, complex and poorly understood. It is also an interface zone that is essential to life and too often threatened by human activity.
At Total, soil protection is above all a matter of prevention. It also includes rehabilitating industrial sites. When a site reaches the end of its lifespan, its potential environmental impact must be evaluated and, if necessary, the site is rehabilitated using the best adapted clean-up techniques.
Freshwater
Overexploitation, pollution, and droughts due to heat waves have dealt hard blows to the world’s potable water reserves. The United Nations Environment Programme talks about a “world’s water crisis” and “increasing pressures on the inland water system”.
Total’s operations consume considerable amounts of this natural resource and are sometimes located in environments where this resource is scarce. Optimizing consumption and releases is therefore a priority for Total.
Read Total's Environmental Protection roadmap.
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