The Canadian Electricity Association has recently published a practical and educational handbook on the various generation options available in Canada. Power Generation in Canada: A Guide is aimed at a broad audience and is an important step in stimulating a society-wide discussion on Canada’s electricity future. Only with a good grasp of the technologies and their range of implications can stakeholders work effectively together to meet the significant supply challenges, and create the right conditions to foster a sustainable electricity future for all Canadians.
A Focus on Environmental Sustainability
A key consideration in the Guide is the environmental implication of electricity generation, as Canadians expect their increasing electricity needs to be met in an environmentally-friendly fashion. One of the key components in a prosperous economy is low-cost, reliable electricity that does not unduly burden the environment.
Governments are implementing a growing number of environmental demands on the sector through legislative regimes and international commitments. In response to these trends, the industry’s environmental performance continues to improve: electricity intensity is declining, air emissions from fossil generation (coal, oil and gas) are declining; waste and hazardous materials are being reduced or more effectively managed; and species and habitat management is a bigger and bigger part of decision-making on new and existing projects.
Measuring and documenting this performance is often a challenge. To meet it, CEA, representing a majority of the country’s generation, transmission and distribution assets, has undertaken a number of initiatives. CEA’s Environmental Commitment and Responsibility Program, its work on climate change, mercury, and fisheries issues, and most recently its pilot studies on measuring environmental performance, are all examples.
However, a necessary precursor to measuring and documenting the performance of the industry is ensuring that the public understand just what electricity generation entails. To that end, CEA has published Power Generation in Canada: A Guide. The publication is designed to explain the relative financial, technological, social and environmental issues for all sources of electricity – conventional and emerging. The Guide offers an overview of the issues related to each technology and an assessment of the potential of each technology to be a contributor to the 20-year generation outlook in Canada.
Decisions as to which energy options will be developed in the future are influenced by a series of criteria, some of which are examined in the Guide: future resource potential, resource distribution, technology development, environmental footprint, ability to adapt to changes in demand, and generation cost.
Canada has a large reserve of diverse, indigenous energy resources that can be used to produce electricity. These resources vary in terms of geographical and seasonal availability and development potential across Canada’s regions. The use of each resource to produce electricity results in different life-cycle environmental impacts, costs and operating characteristics. Each of these factors needs to be carefully considered and balanced in developing future electricity projects in Canada.
Technological changes and development practices will have a significant impact on the continued use of conventional sources and the feasibility of using emerging technologies.
To supply a dynamic and growing electricity demand over the coming decades and to adapt to changing regulatory, customer and societal expectations, Canada will need to draw upon a combination of electricity generation technologies, as well as demand-side management, to ensure a sustainable energy future for all Canadians.
Power Generation in Canada: A Guide provides an unbiased view of electricity generation options without choosing winners or losers while focusing on the electricity industry’s ultimate goal: ensuring that supplies of affordable, reliable power are delivered to Canadians in an environmentally responsible way.
An electronic copy of Power Generation in Canada: A Guide as well as further information on generation options in Canada are available on the CEA Web site at www.canelect.ca.
A Focus on Environmental Sustainability
A key consideration in the Guide is the environmental implication of electricity generation, as Canadians expect their increasing electricity needs to be met in an environmentally-friendly fashion. One of the key components in a prosperous economy is low-cost, reliable electricity that does not unduly burden the environment.
Governments are implementing a growing number of environmental demands on the sector through legislative regimes and international commitments. In response to these trends, the industry’s environmental performance continues to improve: electricity intensity is declining, air emissions from fossil generation (coal, oil and gas) are declining; waste and hazardous materials are being reduced or more effectively managed; and species and habitat management is a bigger and bigger part of decision-making on new and existing projects.
Measuring and documenting this performance is often a challenge. To meet it, CEA, representing a majority of the country’s generation, transmission and distribution assets, has undertaken a number of initiatives. CEA’s Environmental Commitment and Responsibility Program, its work on climate change, mercury, and fisheries issues, and most recently its pilot studies on measuring environmental performance, are all examples.
However, a necessary precursor to measuring and documenting the performance of the industry is ensuring that the public understand just what electricity generation entails. To that end, CEA has published Power Generation in Canada: A Guide. The publication is designed to explain the relative financial, technological, social and environmental issues for all sources of electricity – conventional and emerging. The Guide offers an overview of the issues related to each technology and an assessment of the potential of each technology to be a contributor to the 20-year generation outlook in Canada.
Decisions as to which energy options will be developed in the future are influenced by a series of criteria, some of which are examined in the Guide: future resource potential, resource distribution, technology development, environmental footprint, ability to adapt to changes in demand, and generation cost.
Canada has a large reserve of diverse, indigenous energy resources that can be used to produce electricity. These resources vary in terms of geographical and seasonal availability and development potential across Canada’s regions. The use of each resource to produce electricity results in different life-cycle environmental impacts, costs and operating characteristics. Each of these factors needs to be carefully considered and balanced in developing future electricity projects in Canada.
Technological changes and development practices will have a significant impact on the continued use of conventional sources and the feasibility of using emerging technologies.
To supply a dynamic and growing electricity demand over the coming decades and to adapt to changing regulatory, customer and societal expectations, Canada will need to draw upon a combination of electricity generation technologies, as well as demand-side management, to ensure a sustainable energy future for all Canadians.
Power Generation in Canada: A Guide provides an unbiased view of electricity generation options without choosing winners or losers while focusing on the electricity industry’s ultimate goal: ensuring that supplies of affordable, reliable power are delivered to Canadians in an environmentally responsible way.
An electronic copy of Power Generation in Canada: A Guide as well as further information on generation options in Canada are available on the CEA Web site at www.canelect.ca.
