Renewable energy in Canada
[5] A variety of techniques and equipment in the environmental and clean technologies (ECT) sector have been developed and used to harness renewable resources for energy production.
[5] The Daily reported in 2017, that the strong sales in renewable energy technologies and equipment reflected transitions made by Canada's towards a low-carbon economy.
Companies engaged in these power generating projects including wind, solar, and hydro, reported revenues of $1.3 billion which represented 38% of total ECT sales.
[7] In June 2021, the federal government invested $964-million program in ECT in the form of "wind, solar, storage, hydro, geothermal, tidal" and other renewable energy projects to lower emissions.
[11][12] Examples include designing and building structures that are energy-efficient and manufacturing solar panels,[11] and Quebec's "municipal waste-to-energy industry".
[14] Some examples of this include stagnation of water, fish migration issues, uprooting of communities, habitat loss and possible extinction of species.
[18] Solar PV potential varies across Canada, with the highest insolation in the southernmost portion of the prairies and the lowest in the north and coastal regions.
The reliance on sunlight to generate electricity is difficult in northern areas due to shorter daytime hours and cloud cover in the winter.
Photovoltaic (PV) cells are increasingly used as standalone units, mostly as off-grid distributed electricity generation to power remote homes, telecommunications equipment, oil, and pipeline monitoring stations and navigational devices.
[13] Furthermore, after the steep decline in the paper and pulp industry over the past 20 years, bio-energy has become an integral part of Canada's renewable energy sector.
[38] In 2014, Canada amassed a total of 70 bio-energy power plants with a capacity of 2,043 megawatts (as seen in the table below), with a central focus on wood biomass.
[13] Moreover, a total of 8.7 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of current was created by using wood, organic municipal solid wastes and landfill gas; this was most prominently seen where forestry industries are still prevalent: British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and New Brunswick.
[40] Agriculture Canada has provided funding for the sector as well, totalling CAD $10 million through the Biofuel Opportunities for Producers Initiative (BOPI).
This station was a flow control barrier, capable of producing 20 MW[50] but was shut down in 2019 after a crucial component failure and was further prevented from re-entering service due to the heavy toll it took on local wildlife, such as much as a quarter of all American Shad that passed through the turbines being killed.
One proposed solution that is seeing success along the North-East coast of Europe is Marine Spatial Planning, where instead of the free for all that naturally developed as humans increased their use of the ocean through fishing, transportation and industry, the government steps in to assign distinguished areas for each of these activities.
In an area as small and densely trafficked, Marine Spatial Planning could be a great tool in the development and testing of ocean energy technologies in Canada.
[57] From 2008 to 2014, the city with considerable supply of natural gas reserves had invested about $4 million in renewable energy in a program called "Hat Smart".
[34] Amazon, which had also entered into large contracts for solar energy with the Calgary-based Greengate Power, benefits from the flexibility of Alberta's unique electricity system—which is not a monopoly or government owned—according to a University of Calgary economics professor, Blake Shaffer.
This C$6 billion investment not only boosts British Columbia's renewable energy output but also strengthens partnerships with First Nations, who hold a 51% ownership in most of these projects, aligning economic development with environmental sustainability.
[citation needed] Most electricity is generated by hydro but province also relies on diesel and Liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet demand.
[13] Accordingly, section 92(a) of the Constitution Act and its amendments from 1982 entails that provinces have total control over the forestry, electricity and other non-renewable energy sources.
[70] Moreover, provinces also obtained the authority to explore and develop both renewable and non-renewable sources of energy as well as manage facilities (and sites) responsible for generating electricity.
Moreover, it is tasked to create and enact laws to raise money and taxes of any sort, and as well as manage land resources owned by the Federal Government.
Hypothetically, the Federal Government can neither interfere nor act on any territories owned or operated by the province but can indirectly influence them by setting the national agenda.
As federal and provincial laws are required to be administered within the respective territories of Canada, it is a municipal government that is responsible for implementing such legislation.
As a democracy it is uncommon for a policy to pass without some form of public participation, typically attended by active individual citizens and various interest groups.
These groups can also consist of industries that have a stake in an issue area and might lobby on behalf of their private interests whether it is political, financial, or social.
[72] The CFRA regularly works with Federal and Provincial governments in Canada to help achieve GHG reduction targets as well as to attract investment towards the Renewable energy industry.
[75] These communities face many challenges, such as blackouts, diesel spills, and the volatile costs of transporting fuel (often by means of ice roads or by air).
believe indigenous communities play a significant role within the energy market, and they need to be consulted to ensure a good relationship is created between private corporations and the government.
