walleyes
Well-Known Member
Facts on Canadian Energy Production, Efficiency, and Initiatives
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Canada is a world leader in the production of low and zero emissions energy.
Electricity
Canada already boasts one of the cleanest electricity systems in the world, with 79 per cent of our electricity supply from non-greenhouse gas emitting sources.
Canada is the world’s third largest producer of hydroelectricity, making up more than 10 per cent of the world’s total hydropower generation. Hydroelectricity generation makes up 61 per cent of Canada’s domestic electricity supply.
Nuclear electricity generation supplies 14.5 per cent of Canada’s total electricity supply, which avoids about 90 megatonnes of greenhouse gases per year compared to coal-fired electricity generation.
Renewable Energy Sources
Canada is a world leader in the production and use of renewable energy.
Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass and geothermal currently provide 18 per cent of Canada’s total primary energy supply.
Wind energy in Canada accounts for about 1.8 per cent of total electricity generation; ninth in the world in terms of installed capacity. The National Energy Board forecasted in 2013 that wind capacity would grow to 13,200 megawatts by 2020, which could supply approximately 4 per cent of Canada’s electricity demand.
In 2012, bioenergy (energy from plants or plant material, animal waste or any product made of these) represented 4.8 per cent of Canada’s total primary energy supply. Biomass also accounts for about 1.4 per cent of Canada’s total electricity generation.
As of December 31, 2010, there were over 95,000 ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), a source of geothermal energy, in operation in Canada. These pumps produce an estimated 1420 GWh of thermal energy annually.
As of December 31, 2013, Canada’s solar PV (photovoltaics) capacity was estimated at 1,210 MW—over 36 times the solar PV capacity in 2008. In fact, solar PV, along with wind power, is the fastest growing source of electricity in Canada.
Carbon Capture and Storage
Since 2008, the Government of Canada has committed over $580 million to carbon capture and storage technology research, development, and demonstration initiatives. This has contributed to Canada’s global leadership on CCS, which includes 4 large scale projects that are now in operation or under construction:
$240 million to the Boundary Dam project – the world’s first commercial post-combustions CCS project for coal-fired electricity;
$120 million to the Quest project;
$63 million to the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line Project; and
$15 million to the Weyburn-Midale CO2 monitoring and storage project.
The first 3 projects will reduce CO2 emissions by 3.8 megatonnes per year. Currently, 2.9 megatonnes of CO2 is transported from North Dakota and stored at the Weybun-Midale fields. Future CO2 volumes will come from SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Project.
Innovation
The Government’s investments, in collaboration with partners, have helped create viable clean energy industries by helping to advance ideas from R&D to demonstration and then toward market deployment.
The ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative, a $268-million investment over five years, is supporting a comprehensive suite of research, development and demonstration projects to produce and use energy in a cleaner and more efficient way.
The program is designed to promote collaboration among industry, Canada’s colleges and universities, and government, which is critical in realizing technological solutions to important energy challenges.
As part of Economic Action Plan 2013, the Government of Canada has committed an additional $325 million over eight years to Sustainable Development Technology Canada to support the development and demonstration of clean technology projects. This brings the Government’s total investment to date in Sustainable Development Technology Canada to $1.4 billion.
Energy Use and Energy Efficiency
Nationally, Canada realized a 23 per cent improvement in energy efficiency between 1990 and 2011, saving Canadians over $34 billion in 2011.
Energy efficiency measures are helping Canadian consumers and businesses reduce energy consumption and save money on their energy costs while contributing to Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions. For example:
The ecoENERGY Efficiency program is on track to reduce the energy bills of Canadian consumers and businesses by $1 billion in 2016 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4 megatonnes (equivalent to the emissions of approximately 1 million cars).
Minimum energy performance standards established for more than 40 products including major household appliances, heating and air-conditioning equipment and electric motors deliver lower energy costs and emissions for Canadians.
88 per cent of consumers use the blue ENERGY STAR label to find the most efficient products for over 65 categories.
Vehicle fuel consumption labels, Auto$mart Driver education material and the SmartWay Transport Partnership provide Canadians and commercial fleets with decision-making tools for buying and operating their vehicles to reduce fuel consumption and save money.
All provinces and two territories are adopting the new 2011 National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings or its equivalent which is 25 per cent more efficient that the previous code.
More than 7,000 buildings are registered with the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool to track their energy use. The tool is helping 30 per cent of Toronto’s office space to achieve a 9 per cent reduction in energy use.
Canada was the first country in the world to adopt the ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems standard to accelerate energy-saving investments in industrial sector facilities.
Since 2011, more than 25,000 efficient new homes have been built, saving their owners 20 per cent to 50 per cent on their energy costs. The EnerGuide Rating System is currently used in more than 50 programs and regulations delivered by provinces, territories, municipalities and utilities across Canada.
United States – Canada Clean Energy Dialogue
The United States–Canada Clean Energy Dialogue (CED) was launched by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in February, 2009, to enhance collaboration on the development of clean energy technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and combat climate change.
Canada and the U.S. share the closest energy relationship in the world. The joint pursuit of clean energy solutions with the U.S. is consistent with our highly integrated economies and energy markets, and our shared commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Our governments’ commitment to collaborate on clean energy research, development, and deployment initiatives strengthens our respective climate change policies, enhances our energy security, and advances our collective progress towards a clean energy future.
More than 50 initiatives have been conducted under the CED, which have resulted in four collaborative arrangements, 22 workshops and conferences, 21 reports, and five web products. This has improved Canada and the United States’ clean energy collaboration in terms of the CED’s three priority areas:
Advancing carbon capture and storage technologies;
Building a more efficient electricity grid based on clean and renewable energy; and
Clean energy research and development (R&D) and energy efficiency.
International support
Internationally, Canada supports a broad portfolio of clean energy projects in developing countries. Key investments include:
$351 million to the International Finance Corporation for innovative private sector climate change projects, notably in the clean energy sector;
$250 million to the Inter-American Development Bank, to support projects across Latin America and the Caribbean that focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and climate resilience;
$82 million to the Asian Development Bank to establish a fund which encourages private investment in climate change projects in low, low-middle income and small island developing states in Asia related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation and infrastructure, and climate resilience;
$200 million to the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), which provides middle income countries with resources to scale up the demonstration, deployment, and transfer of low-carbon, clean technologies.
PDF: (193 KB)
Canada is a world leader in the production of low and zero emissions energy.
Electricity
Canada already boasts one of the cleanest electricity systems in the world, with 79 per cent of our electricity supply from non-greenhouse gas emitting sources.
Canada is the world’s third largest producer of hydroelectricity, making up more than 10 per cent of the world’s total hydropower generation. Hydroelectricity generation makes up 61 per cent of Canada’s domestic electricity supply.
Nuclear electricity generation supplies 14.5 per cent of Canada’s total electricity supply, which avoids about 90 megatonnes of greenhouse gases per year compared to coal-fired electricity generation.
Renewable Energy Sources
Canada is a world leader in the production and use of renewable energy.
Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass and geothermal currently provide 18 per cent of Canada’s total primary energy supply.
Wind energy in Canada accounts for about 1.8 per cent of total electricity generation; ninth in the world in terms of installed capacity. The National Energy Board forecasted in 2013 that wind capacity would grow to 13,200 megawatts by 2020, which could supply approximately 4 per cent of Canada’s electricity demand.
In 2012, bioenergy (energy from plants or plant material, animal waste or any product made of these) represented 4.8 per cent of Canada’s total primary energy supply. Biomass also accounts for about 1.4 per cent of Canada’s total electricity generation.
As of December 31, 2010, there were over 95,000 ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), a source of geothermal energy, in operation in Canada. These pumps produce an estimated 1420 GWh of thermal energy annually.
As of December 31, 2013, Canada’s solar PV (photovoltaics) capacity was estimated at 1,210 MW—over 36 times the solar PV capacity in 2008. In fact, solar PV, along with wind power, is the fastest growing source of electricity in Canada.
Carbon Capture and Storage
Since 2008, the Government of Canada has committed over $580 million to carbon capture and storage technology research, development, and demonstration initiatives. This has contributed to Canada’s global leadership on CCS, which includes 4 large scale projects that are now in operation or under construction:
$240 million to the Boundary Dam project – the world’s first commercial post-combustions CCS project for coal-fired electricity;
$120 million to the Quest project;
$63 million to the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line Project; and
$15 million to the Weyburn-Midale CO2 monitoring and storage project.
The first 3 projects will reduce CO2 emissions by 3.8 megatonnes per year. Currently, 2.9 megatonnes of CO2 is transported from North Dakota and stored at the Weybun-Midale fields. Future CO2 volumes will come from SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Project.
Innovation
The Government’s investments, in collaboration with partners, have helped create viable clean energy industries by helping to advance ideas from R&D to demonstration and then toward market deployment.
The ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative, a $268-million investment over five years, is supporting a comprehensive suite of research, development and demonstration projects to produce and use energy in a cleaner and more efficient way.
The program is designed to promote collaboration among industry, Canada’s colleges and universities, and government, which is critical in realizing technological solutions to important energy challenges.
As part of Economic Action Plan 2013, the Government of Canada has committed an additional $325 million over eight years to Sustainable Development Technology Canada to support the development and demonstration of clean technology projects. This brings the Government’s total investment to date in Sustainable Development Technology Canada to $1.4 billion.
Energy Use and Energy Efficiency
Nationally, Canada realized a 23 per cent improvement in energy efficiency between 1990 and 2011, saving Canadians over $34 billion in 2011.
Energy efficiency measures are helping Canadian consumers and businesses reduce energy consumption and save money on their energy costs while contributing to Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions. For example:
The ecoENERGY Efficiency program is on track to reduce the energy bills of Canadian consumers and businesses by $1 billion in 2016 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4 megatonnes (equivalent to the emissions of approximately 1 million cars).
Minimum energy performance standards established for more than 40 products including major household appliances, heating and air-conditioning equipment and electric motors deliver lower energy costs and emissions for Canadians.
88 per cent of consumers use the blue ENERGY STAR label to find the most efficient products for over 65 categories.
Vehicle fuel consumption labels, Auto$mart Driver education material and the SmartWay Transport Partnership provide Canadians and commercial fleets with decision-making tools for buying and operating their vehicles to reduce fuel consumption and save money.
All provinces and two territories are adopting the new 2011 National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings or its equivalent which is 25 per cent more efficient that the previous code.
More than 7,000 buildings are registered with the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool to track their energy use. The tool is helping 30 per cent of Toronto’s office space to achieve a 9 per cent reduction in energy use.
Canada was the first country in the world to adopt the ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems standard to accelerate energy-saving investments in industrial sector facilities.
Since 2011, more than 25,000 efficient new homes have been built, saving their owners 20 per cent to 50 per cent on their energy costs. The EnerGuide Rating System is currently used in more than 50 programs and regulations delivered by provinces, territories, municipalities and utilities across Canada.
United States – Canada Clean Energy Dialogue
The United States–Canada Clean Energy Dialogue (CED) was launched by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in February, 2009, to enhance collaboration on the development of clean energy technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and combat climate change.
Canada and the U.S. share the closest energy relationship in the world. The joint pursuit of clean energy solutions with the U.S. is consistent with our highly integrated economies and energy markets, and our shared commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Our governments’ commitment to collaborate on clean energy research, development, and deployment initiatives strengthens our respective climate change policies, enhances our energy security, and advances our collective progress towards a clean energy future.
More than 50 initiatives have been conducted under the CED, which have resulted in four collaborative arrangements, 22 workshops and conferences, 21 reports, and five web products. This has improved Canada and the United States’ clean energy collaboration in terms of the CED’s three priority areas:
Advancing carbon capture and storage technologies;
Building a more efficient electricity grid based on clean and renewable energy; and
Clean energy research and development (R&D) and energy efficiency.
International support
Internationally, Canada supports a broad portfolio of clean energy projects in developing countries. Key investments include:
$351 million to the International Finance Corporation for innovative private sector climate change projects, notably in the clean energy sector;
$250 million to the Inter-American Development Bank, to support projects across Latin America and the Caribbean that focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and climate resilience;
$82 million to the Asian Development Bank to establish a fund which encourages private investment in climate change projects in low, low-middle income and small island developing states in Asia related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation and infrastructure, and climate resilience;
$200 million to the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), which provides middle income countries with resources to scale up the demonstration, deployment, and transfer of low-carbon, clean technologies.
