I'm really under the gun. I don't have a prepared text like these guys.
I represent the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership, which is a public-private sector partnership to advance the Sarnia-Lambton economy.
Sarnia-Lambton has been a significant refining and chemicals complex in Canada. Oil was discovered in the 1800s. From about 1940 to 1970 was when most of the investment happened in the complex. However, presently, we're in the best position that we've been at in 30 years in terms of future potential.
We basically say we have three platforms. Platform one is oil and natural gas from Alberta. Platform two is shale gas that's coming from Marcellus and Utica into our area. Platform three is biomass that's being sourced from Ontario and from across the Great Lakes region. Of course, our location is right at the centre of the North American marketplace.
People talk about oil and gas and bio as one here and one over here. We've adopted a different view. We're building what we call a hybrid chemistry complex. Because of all the downsizing that happened in traditional hydrocarbon in our area, we had to find other ways to compete. For the last 10 years, we've poured a lot of effort into positioning our labour force, our infrastructure, to accommodate more bio-based chemicals and bio-based fuels, and we're getting a lot of traction there. The bio companies can save about 20% on capex by taking advantage of the existing infrastructure and using the distribution system. The first products are the ethanol like Suncor has. We have the largest biodiesel plant in Canada, and we're seeing drop-in chemicals go right on the chemical site to take advantage of the chemical industry distribution.
There's a lot of discussion across the country about pipelines, and trying to reach end markets. We have pipelines coming to our community now that have capacity that can bring oil. We have a group of retired senior executives from Suncor, from Shell, from Bayer, and other companies who have been working diligently to build a case for a new upgrader in our area. Again, we have the shale gas, which provides very cost-effective feedstock for making hydrogen. We have a lot of pipeline infrastructure that's available locally in terms of moving product around the area. We believe that our models show that we can displace U.S. gulf coast product moving into PADD 2 and be competitive. The netbacks show $2.5 billion per year in positive return.
The other thing I would say is we have a 5,000 labour workforce. There's about 30% employment among skilled trades. We also believe we can get the social licence to make it happen so we get time to market faster than other locations.
We have 100 industrial service companies in our area. They have organized themselves into something called the Sarnia-Lambton Industrial Alliance. They are looking at global markets. Historically, they service the Sarnia-Lambton market. They can do scale-up, they can build a full-scale plant, and are experts in terms of plant maintenance and turnarounds. They're looking at projects in eastern Canada, in western Canada, and globally. Our MP has been very good at bringing groups from the In Situ Oil Sands Alliance throughout Canada.
Our guys are out in Alberta on a regular basis now marketing. We're starting to see some success, but as a Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters study that was released in November showed, there's still a lot of opportunity to improve the supply chain to enable a lot more Canadian content.
One of the issues is still transportation. The modules in Alberta are being designed 24 by 24 by 120. We can move 13 by 13 by 120 easily, but there's still some work required on the larger modules in terms of transportation. That needs to be addressed and that doesn't have to cost the country a lot of money.
On shale gas investment, NOVA Chemicals has spent and is spending about $500 million. They're converting their plants in Sarnia from naphtha to run on ethane. They're also doing ongoing evaluation for a world-scale polyethylene plant.
Union Gas, a division of Spectra Energy, is bringing more shale gas into the area. Sunoco Logistics, which is a provider for NOVA, has additional capacity, so we are also starting to get more interest from other users that can take advantage of the shale gas.
The plants in Sarnia, to my knowledge, are the first plants in North America that are actually going to be using shale as part of their operations.
I'll end it there.