| CARBON DIOXIDE |
| METHANE |
| NATURAL GAS |
| WATER VAPOR |
| COAL |
| NUCLEAR |
| OFF-SHORE DRILLING |
| ETHANOL |
| ECOSYSTEMS |
| LOCAL - NORTH CAROLINA |
Solutions
| WIND POWER |
| SOLAR POWER |
| WAVE POWER |
| GEOTHERMAL |
| CONSERVATION |
| ELECTRIC VEHICLES |
| WHAT CAN YOU DO? |
International
 | AUSTRALIA |
 | BRITAIN |
 | CANADA |
 | DENMARK |
 | SPAIN |
 | CHINA |
| CONTACT US |
|
CANADA Canada
is currently a paradox: the eastern province on Ontario is phasing out
reliance on coal plants and nuclear while energetically moving towards
carbon free sources, while out west oil companies invest billions of
dollars in tar sand oil production at enormous costs to the
environment. Hydropower
generates 62.9% of Canada’s electricity (2010) while coal and natural gas
supply 20.3% and nuclear 15.2%. Of the remainder, renewables, wind leads with
1.3%.
Recent news:
Below:
Carbon emissions rose 24% between 1990 and 2008. link December 2011: Canada replaces USA as climate change villain. link June 2012: Canada not on track to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. Prime Minister Stephen
Harper said that under his government, emissions of greenhouse gases have
actually begun to decline. However a report entitled Reality Check from the
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, which was established
in 1988 as an independent policy advisory agency
that advises the Government of Canada on sustainable
development solutions, provided a warning that to meet targets would be costly.
PM Harper pledged, under an international climate change agreement
reached in 2009 in Copenhagen, to reduce Canada`s annual greenhouse gas
emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, but the report suggested Canada
would be less than halfway there, based on existing federal and provincial
policies that are failing to stop overall pollution growth. Quebec and Ontario
are the best performing provinces as regards emissions per capita, while
Saskatchewan and Alberta are the worst emitters. (Analysis per province included
in this link.) June 2012: Canada’s new budget ‘guts’ environmental protections. Canada's House of Commons passed Bill C-38, the budget of the majority Conservative government, ignoring thousands of Canadians who spoke up for nature and democracy. The budget bill includes sweeping changes to environmental protection laws and paves the way for industrial development that opposition parties and conservationists warn risks the future of Canada's land, water, fish stocks and climate. The legislation repeals the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act so that Canada is no longer responsible for meeting its obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the treaty. At the same time, the legislation gives final say over pipeline projects to Conservative cabinet ministers, regardless of environmental impacts. link April 2012: How Canada's green credentials fell apart. The Harper government has abandoned Canada's climate commitments, cut back on science spending and muzzled government scientists who might stray from the official line. That is a big change for a country with a proud history in science and environmental policy. In the 1980s, under conservative PM Brian Mulroney, Canada led the way in international policies to control acid rain and chlorofluorocarbons: the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is the most successful piece of international environmental legislation ever enacted. Those days are gone. link June 2012: Harper government proposes more extreme measures to secure oil sands development. The Canadian government is threatening to revoke the charitable status of environmental groups opposed to pipeline projects. And Public Safety Canada, the equivalent of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has classified environmentalists as a potential source of domestic terrorism, adding them to a list that includes white supremacists. link
Climate Action Network Canada is the only organization in the country, composed of over 75 member organizations, with a mandate to promote the climate movement as a whole, rather than the interests and programs of any one organization. April 2012: "All Over the Map 2012: A Comparison of Provincial Climate Change Plans", by the David Suzuki Foundation. The report doesn't rank any province as "Best" for its climate initiatives, but Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia rank as "Very Good", while Alberta and Saskatchewan rank as "Worst". In an October 2011 review by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, the Environment Commissioner reported that the federal government's strategy is "disjointed, confused and non transparent" and that, overall, the government's policies are now projected to be 90% weaker than they were in 2007. link September 2011: New report - failure to tackle climate change will cost billions. Canada can expect to pay between $21 billion and $43 billion each year by 2050 if it fails to come up with a domestic plan within a global agreement to tackle climate change, according to a comprehensive study, titled Paying the Price: The Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada. link September 2011: Geothermal could supply all Canada's energy needs. A
report, from seasoned government scientists working within Natural Resources
Canada, shows that Canada’s in-place geothermal power exceeds one million times
Canada’s current electrical consumption, though it does acknowledge that only a small fraction of
this resource is close enough to transmission lines and population centres to
be economically tapped, at least in the near term. The opportunity,
particularly in British Columbia, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, but
potentially across all of Canada, can’t be overstated. Calculations suggest as
few as 100 projects could meet Canada’s energy needs. link
Launching May 2013 in Canada, Europe and the U.S.,
TarSandsRealityCheck.com presents up to date, accurate facts about Alberta's
tar sands to counter the high-level pro-oil sands lobbying ongoing in Canada,
the U.S. and Europe around the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and Europe on
the Fuel Quality Directive.  distances is a relatively new and untested venture. February 2013: Oil sands mining uses up almost as much energy as it produces. The average "energy returned on investment," or EROI, for conventional oil is roughly 25:1. In other words, 25 units of oil-based energy are obtained for every one unit of other energy that is invested to extract it. But tar sands oil is in a category all its own. Tar sands retrieved by surface mining has an EROI of only about 5:1, according to research scheduled to be released. Tar sands retrieved from deeper beneath the earth, through steam injection, fares even worse, with a maximum average ratio of just 2.9 to 1. That means one unit of natural gas is needed to create less than three units of oil-based energy. The latest EROI values for tar sands were calculated by David Hughes, a fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, a non-profit devoted to issues such as climate change and energy scarcity. Hughes' figures include the energy it takes to mine bitumen as well as to upgrade it to synthetic oil that can be put into a refinery. It also includes the liquefied natural gas used to turn it into diluted bitumen (dilbit) so it can flow through pipelines. The EROI for oil sands would fall closer to 1:1 if the tar sands' full life cycle, including transportation, refinement into higher quality products, end use efficiency and environmental costs, was taken into account. link The
concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen from 280 parts per
million to 399 ppm over the last 150 years. The tar sands contain enough carbon - 230 gigatons - to add 120 ppm.
January 2013: 'Idle No More' takes center stage in North America against tar sands oil. In an urgent pursuit for environmental justice and basic human rights, First Nations gather across North America under the banner of Idle No More. link Pipeline problems. What would normally have been routine has proven problematic: moving the tarsands oil out of Alberta. The difficulties first arose with the Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf Coast. Surprising to Canadian authorities cxame the opposition in British Columbia to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. An alternative rouits north and an eastern route are now under consideration . September 2012: Landlocked tarsands dilemma – northern route alternative. With all routes under challenge for exporting Alberta’s tar sands oil, Northwest Territories premier Bob McLeod is advocating a rerouting of the pipeline through the Mackenzie Valley, where the territory has been trying to construct a natural gas pipeline for decades. "If we can't go south, if we can't go to the United States, if we can't go to Asia, and if we can't go east, then we have to look at other options, which could include a northern route." linkMore problems Other problems are fueling opposition to pipeline saftey in general; spills and environmental detsruction among them. The First Nations in particular have become a significant force for Enbridge to confront. The more liberal province of British Columbia is increasingly reluctant to host pipelimes considered to be unsafe, and shipping off their coastline a threat to pristine shorelines. September 2012: Shell admits to environment damage inevitable in oilsands. Shell analyzed the environmental impact of looming oil sands construction, concluding that if the industry continues on its current course, it will run past annual limits on sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the area studied. Those substances contribute to acid rain, and the projection suggests Alberta will be forced to confront whether it is willing to act in the name of the environment, or move the yardsticks to preserve its bedrock industry. The company found that the combination of existing and coming projects threatens to wipe out caribou, acidify nearly two dozen lakes and produce some air emissions higher than regional standards enacted by the government of Alberta on September 2012. link August
2012: Enbridge admits inadequate plans for potential spill. link December 2010: December 2008: Europe rejects tar sands oil as unacceptable. Tar
sands and oil shale, has been dealt a blow by the European Union. Last month,
representatives of the European Parliament and member states hammered out a
deal on a revised 'fuel quality directive' that includes a legally-binding
target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuel production. The CO2 target
has the potential to cut demand in Europe for the most carbon-intensive oil
production methods such as extraction of oil from tar sands and oil shale.
California has adopted similar legislation. link April 2011: Setback for tar sand oil firms. Alberta's government has produced new environmental rules that that would revoke a number of oil sands leases, including those which already have active projects, in an effort to protect sensitive habitat, wildlife and forest land in the most industrialized area of the province. The consultation process is scheduled to wrap up in 60 days, and the minister said he wants to have the final draft of legislation before Cabinet in 90 days. link February 2011: Tar sands more polluting than other fuels. A
leaked study for the European Commission says average greenhouse gas emissions
from tar sands are 23% higher than oil from other fossil fuels. EU directives require
oil companies operating in the EU to reduce emissions by 6% by 2020, and Canada
fears these rules will be copied by other countries. link August 2010: Carcinogen levels in oil sands waste water increase.
Levels of cadmium, lead and nickel in giant 'tailings' lakes have
increased as much as 30% in four year according to new government data.
The country's five active oil sands mines released around 50,000 tons
of potentially harmful pollutants in waste lakes between 2006 and 2009. link (Note - tar sands are also referred to as oilsands).
As of early 2013, about 2,700MW of wind and solar power are
currently feeding electricity into Ontario’s grid system, 75% of it wind. That
amount is set to more than triple by January, 2016. link April 2013: Ontario puts an end to coal-burning
power plants. After
a decade of work by the Liberal Party government, Ontario at the end of 2013 is
scheduled to close the last of its big coal-fired generators, and leave a
single small coal-fired unit available during periods of peak electrical demand
until it closes next year. In shutting down the province’s 19 boilers fueled by
coal, Ontario will become the first industrial region on the continent to
eliminate coal-fired generation. link February 2011: Ontario targets 10.7GW renewables by 2018. October 2010: Solar and Wind farms to add 300MW of renewable energy. Ontario
welcomes the official opening of the world's largest solar photovoltaic (PV)
farm and milestones for two new wind projects in South-West Ontario. The
province has attracted over $1 billion in private sector investment and created
more than 1,400 construction jobs through three renewable energy projects that
will produce enough electricity to power about 83,000 homes each year,
replacing dirty, smog-producing coal with clean, renewable energy. These
projects will add almost 300 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity to the
more than 8,000 MW of new cleaner power that has been created since 2003. link April 2010: 95GW of potential solar energy in southeastern Ontario.
Southeastern Ontario is capable of producing solar energy almost
equal to the amount of power generated by all nuclear reactors in the
United States, according to studies conducted by the Applied
Sustainability Research Group at Queen’s University. The studies are
the first to investigate the region’s solar energy potential and
yielded unexpected results. “We came up with enormous numbers and we
were being conservative. There about 95 gigawatts of potential power
just in southeastern Ontario - that shows there is massive
potential,” said Joshua Pearce, a mechanical engineering professor at
the university and leader of the research group. link
June 2012: British Columbia set to boost its controversial carbon tax by $5 a tonne on July 1, further driving up the price of gasoline and other petroleum products as the province attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 33% below 2007 levels by 2020. link September 2011: Banner year for Canada's wind energy. By the end of 2011 Canada's total wind capacity will surpass 5,300 MW, enough to power 1.5 million homes a year. In 2001, total installed wind capacity was only 198 MW. Another 6,000 MW of wind projects are in the pipeline for the next five years. link
February 2012: China option will be tough for PM Harper. Prime Minister Stephen Harper may find the China option could prove to be even tougher than Keystone. Though it appears a classic supply-demand match on the surface, the plan faces hurdles that range from how long it will take to build the pipeline to environmental dangers and questions about China's human rights record. China imports no oil from Canada at present, and the infrastructure is not in place in Canada to get the crude from the massive tar sands of Alberta to the Pacific coast, forcing a long-term view of a partnership. A myriad of legal and regulatory issues play a big role in the delay. Also the Chinese are in the process of investing in Canadian assets. A major poll last year showed 76% of Canadians opposed the idea of a state-owned Chinese firm trying to buy a controlling stake in a Canadian company. It also said more Canadians saw China's growing strength as a threat than as an opportunity. link See page on Keystone project as it affects the USA here There are three proposed pipeline projects slated to move oil sands crude out of northern Alberta to other markets: the $7-billion Keystone XL, which would shuttle 700,000 barrels of oil a day to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico; Enbridge Inc.’s $6.6-billion proposed Northern Gateway, designed to carry 525,000 barrels a day to a port in Kitimat, B.C., so tankers can take oil to Asia; and Kinder Morgan’s planned expansion of its existing Trans Mountain system, which would cost around $4.3-billion to take an added 400,000 barrels a day to Burnaby, B.C. link [The Northern Gateway is opposed by at least 50 first nations along the pipeline corridor and on the B.C. coast and it is also the next target for the North American environmental movement that so successfully delayed the Keystone pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The earliest it could possibly open is estimated for 2017] The proposed 728-mile Northern Gateway pipeline underground pipeline would cross more than 785 streams and rivers in a region that is prone to landslides and forest fires. It would be even more vulnerable to ruptures than ordinary pipelines, because bitumen is highly corrosive. Bitumen is also much harder to clean up in the event of a spill, campaigners warned. "If bitumen sinks, conventional equipment like booms and skimmers do not work," said Katie Terhune, the energy campaigner for the Living Oceans Society. And transporting crude in supertankers was even riskier than moving it through pipelines. "One mistake in navigation and we could have a catastrophe," Terhune said. link
August 2011: Canada proposes crackdown on coal-fired power. The Canadian government has proposed long-awaited rules that
could result in the phasing out of coal-fired power plants that do not
incorporate carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Arguments that
tar sands expansion can go forward on the basis that CCS
will "fix" its carbon footprint are not defensible. CCS would likely
only reduce 10-20% of the overall greenhouse gases associated with its
total
lifecycle emissions making it still dirtier than conventional fuel, and
it is
fraught with technical challenges. A 2008 Canadian government CCS task
force
found that "only a small portion of the CO2 streams are currently
amenable
for CCS." This is because facilities in the tar sands are diverse and
geographically dispersed requiring the construction of a massive
infrastructure.
There are also substantial transportation emissions associated with
production,
many of the carbon streams are not pure enough to capture adequately,
and we
are only starting to understand the greenhouse gas emissions from tar
sands
that are associated with land use change. CCS also does not address the
myriad
of other environmental challenges in the tar sands nor does it address
the
issue of downstream combustion emissions. link (Check here for more on CCS - carbon capture sequestration.) |
||||||||||
Copyright © 2008 thinkglobalgreen.org All Rights Reserved
website hosting powered by Charlotte Internet