Tag Archives: Clean Energy Canada

Energy

Busting myths about BC’s coming electrification

According to some estimates, BC would have to double its electrical output if everyone switched to electric vehicles by 2035. Others talk about blackouts and rolling brownouts if we don’t back renewables up with LNG or nuclear power. Clean Energy Canada has just released a report that claims this is not true, the province’s electricity grid can handle the increased demand from EVs, heat pumps and extreme weather events, while electricity trading keeps energy bills low.

“Over the last year or two, we’ve been seeing quite a bit of incorrect information on BC’s electricity system.  It’s being circulated and reiterated in the media. The purpose of this report was to do some myth busting and do some deep dives into the actual data to figure out what trends are actually happening,” explained Mark Zacharias, Executive Director of Clean Energy Canada. 

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Energy, Indigenous Nations, Industry

Trump tariff threat a Trojan horse for B.C.’s fossil fuels

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Trump’s tariff threat provides convenient cover to accelerate the expansion of fossil fuels and raises alarm bells about First Nations rights tied to mining, say critics.

The B.C. government announced it is fast-tracking an “initial” mix of 18 energy, mining and fossil fuel projects, valued at $20 billion, that have business cases still needing government permits or approval.

It’s a bid to diversify trade markets so B.C. is never again exposed “to the whims of one person in the White House,” Premier David Eby said this week.

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Politics, Transportation

Canada’s New Electric Vehicle Availability Standard

On Tuesday, December 19, The Government of Canada announced a gradual phasing out of gas powered light vehicle sales until 2035, after which all new vehicles must be 100% emissions free.

“Transportation is the most polluting  sector in Canada after oil and gas, a lot of that comes from road transportation. So from the vehicles we drive that are on the road, from sitting in traffic. This regulation is aiming  to ensure that we’re putting forward technologies like zero emission vehicles, that includes electric vehicles, that will drastically reduce emissions within that sector and this regulation says that it will have emissions reductions of 360 million tons. That’s the equivalent of 62,000 Olympic swimming pools full of gas that have been burned,” explained Meena Bibra, Senior Policy Analyst with Clean Energy Canada. 

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Transportation

Clean Energy Canada responds to misconceptions about EVs

According to the BC Government, more than 18% of the light duty passenger vehicles sold in the province last year were electric vehicles (EVs). There has been a sixfold increase in the number of annual registrations since 2016 and there are currently more than 100,000 EVS on the roads. Some of them are in remote communities like Cortes Island. As the prospect of a transition to electric vehicles becomes more likely, some are asking if this is really a viable option. 

Last week Clean Energy Canada, a think tank based in Simon Fraser University, responded with media brief addressing common myths about electric vehicles. Rachel Doran, Director of Policy and Strategy at Clean Energy Canada, subsequently agreed to an Q & A interview. 

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Energy

An invisible climate killer is lurking behind B.C.’s LNG boom

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Invisible to the naked eye, undetectable by smell and 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide for its  short-term warming impact on the climate, methane is explosive, toxic  and can make helicopters fall out of the sky. It’s like something out of a superhero movie — or a bad dream.

About half of Canada’s reported methane emissions  are produced by the oil and gas industry, both from regular operations  and leaks. But much of the climate damage caused by the sector’s methane  pollution goes undetected due to weak regulations.

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