What if pursuing carbon-free electricity does more harm than good? |
Wind turbines near Pincher Creek, Alta. The province has achieved 60-per-cent decarbonization with natural gas replacing coal.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Bruce Lourie, C.M., is president of the Ivey Foundation and a professor of practice at the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design, McGill University.
What if our pursuit of a perfectly clean electricity grid undermines the broader electrification revolution we need? The answer lies in understanding the economics of that final push toward 100-per-cent renewable electricity, and nowhere is this tension more visible than in Canada.
That’s because Canada’s electricity system stands as one of the cleanest in the industrialized world, already 84-per-cent decarbonized. This is an impressive achievement, built largely on the foundation of hydroelectric power in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia, complemented by nuclear generation in Ontario.
For most of the past two decades, Canadian policymakers have celebrated this advantage, viewing it as a springboard for climate action. But the calculus becomes more challenging with a push toward 100-per-cent decarbonization.
Sometimes called “the last mile problem,” the challenge is straightforward but profound. The first 84-per-cent of decarbonization in Canada came relatively easily. Natural geography and historical public investments........