Renewable energy is a priority for climate protection

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, CA, 2004-06-16 Refocus Weekly The government of Canada must advance renewable energies by “integrating economic instruments and voluntary measures around core smart regulations and standards,” says a national environmental group.

Canada’s uptake of renewables is “one of the slowest in the G-8" and, while Canada once was a pioneer in advancing low-impact renewables, “today programs, policies and deployment are more advanced in much of the industrial world and some of the developing world,” says the David Suzuki Foundation. The current support from government is “inadequate to reap the benefit of increased investment” and job creation.

“The litmus test for assessing performance on climate protection and sustainable energy are emission and energy trends,” it says in ‘Planning for the Next Generation: Ten Principles for Climate Protection & Innovation.’ Canada’s GHG emissions are growing faster than any leading industrial country, including the United States.

Canada must “reduce fossil fuel subsidies, tie existing subsidies to performance-based improvements in efficiency, and support, through market signals, an industrial transition towards renewable energy and efficiency,” it says. “Because Canada has one of the world’s most inefficient and energy-intensive economies, and most under-exploited low-impact renewable energy resources, the opportunities for deep emission reductions are immense,” and developing a “meaningful sustainable energy agenda is part of an industrial vision that can strengthen Canadian competitiveness, protect human health and renew our cities.”

The group calls for the establishment of a central implementation agency to promote renewables, noting the “tensions and conflicting mandates” between the federal environment and energy departments. Natural Resources Canada is so “preoccupied with advancing the fossil fuel and nuclear agendas” that it sidelines renewables and energy efficiency, the report says.

“It is not beyond the federal mandate to establish renewable energy targets,” similar to the European goal of 12% from renewables by 2010 and 20% by 2020. “Canada should establish a similar target.”

It is imperative to increase the support of the Wind Power Producer Incentive of Cdn$0.01/kWh for generation from new turbines, and to extend a similar incentive to other renewables through fiscal incentives such as tax rebates or credits on capital investments. The federal government can lever provincial Renewable Portfolio Standards and guaranteed prices for renewables, and the rapid growth of wind power “clearly illustrates how timely and well-designed policy and fiscal incentives can result in the quick development and adoption of renewable energy technologies.”

Other technologies with an “important role to play in an innovative, sustainable economy” include solar thermal, earth energy, solar photovoltaics, micro-hydro, biomass and geothermal.

“As the bulk of energy investment and subsidies in Canada continues to be absorbed by the fossil fuel and nuclear sectors, renewable energy developers face a constant uphill struggle,” and the playing field needs to be tipped in favour of renewables to support an energy future that increases economic innovation, energy security, job creation and climate protection, it explains.

“Canada enjoys an incredible comparative advantage over most other nations in both its amount and variety of renewable energy sources, its highly versatile workforce, and research and development capability,” but the “inadequate, slow implementation process (for climate change) is increasing mitigation costs, putting Canada at a disadvantage in key emerging sustainable energy markets, and threatening to position Canada as the ultimate free-rider in global climate protection.”


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