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Canada’s emerging renewable energy power needs a national focus

Clean energy also needs political focus, Montreal Gazette, By TIM WEIS, Financial Post February 10, 2012 Whether it is the Keystone XL pipeline, the Northern Gateway pipeline or securing an export market in China, the oil sands have dominated
much of the recent energy discussions in Canada.

What might surprise many is that Canada is quietly emerging as a renewable energy leader, but it will take the same political focus
currently being put toward oil sands to ensure we retain and grow the jobs that are being created in the country’s emerging clean energy sector.

In 2011 Canada was sixth in the world in wind energy installations, and as recently as November 2011, Ernst & Young ranked Canada as the eighth most attractive country in the world for renewable energy investment, ahead of some traditional leaders including Denmark, Spain and Japan.

Despite having fewer than 35 million people, Canada has the sixth-largest electricity system on the planet, behind only China, the
United States, Russia, Japan and Germany. Given the size of our electricity system, perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that
Canada ought to be one of the leading markets for renewable electricity.

Much of this growth was kicked off a decade ago when the Chrétien
government adopted Canada’s first wind power incentive, a policy that
had been supported by both environmental organizations and major
energy companies. The Harper government extended and expanded this
initiative in 2006. While the federal government is now scaling back
its support for renewable energy and energy efficiency, many provinces
have picked up the pace.Ontario and Quebec have the largest absolute
renewable energy targets in Canada, while Prince Edward Island has
some of the best wind energy targets per capita in the world.
Historically a coal-fired province, Nova Scotia has committed to
reduce its coalfired power by almost half in the next 10 years and to
get 40% of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

On the other hand, Alberta and Saskatchewan – two provinces that burn
coal for the majority of their electricity – currently have no
framework for replacing coalfired power with renewable sources.

The varying degrees of ambition and the long-term stability of
provincial policies leaves Canada and potential investors without a
clear national strategy for clean energy development.

While electricity is a provincial jurisdiction, Canada needs a more
co-ordinated approach to clean energy development nationally. Some
provinces have made great strides alone, but they can accomplish far
more by working together……
Like our neighbours to the south, Canada has the resources and
expertise to become a serious player in the growing clean energy
market – but that transformation will not happen by accident.

Given Canada’s vast and diverse renewable energy sources, one of the
world’s largest electricity systems could be the first to be 100%
clean and renewable. The size of the economic prize is huge and would
have lasting benefits, should Canada choose to embrace this
opportunity.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Clean+energy+also+needs+political+focus/6130685/story.html#ixzz1m7BgnYeU

February 11, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, renewable