Canada releases 2006 Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Significant wind uptake could achieve substantial annual GHG reductions

16 May 2008
Canada submitted today its annual national greenhouse gas inventory for 2006 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Total greenhouse gas emissions in Canada in 2006 were about 721 mega-tonnes (Mt), which is a decrease of 1.9 per cent from 2005 levels. Greenhouse gas emissions in 2006 were 22 per cent above the revised 1990 total and almost 30 per cent above Canada's Kyoto target of 558 mega-tonnes.

The decrease in emissions is due primarily to a reduction in emissions from electricity production (reduced coal and increased hydro and nuclear generation) and from fossil fuel production (as a result of fuel switching and less oil being refined), as well as reduced demand for heating fuels because of warmer winters in 2004, 2005 and 2006. While noting that the decline in annual GHG emissions is due in large part to warmer winters, the Environment Canada (EC) report nonetheless notes that the "the drop is a result of....to some extent, wind power sources". This comment is worth investigating further.

EC stats shows that total GHG emissions from the power generation (and heat) sector in 2006 were 117 Mt. Over this period electricity generation was approximately 620 TWh in other words GHG emissions per MWh generated were about 200 kg. This figure is low relative to international standards because of the high proportion of hydro in the national generation portfolio. At the end of 2007 nationwide installed capacity of wind turbines was 1,769 MW and these turbines generate approximately 5.4 TWh of electricity annually. In other words they annually avoid the release of about 1.1 Mt of GHGs.

The recently released US DoE report ('20% Wind Vision') showed that there is no technical reason why wind turbines should not be generating 20% of US electricity requirements in 2030. If this is possible in the US there is no reason why they same should not be true in Canada where there is a much higher proportion of flexible hydro assets in our generation mix (60 per cent in Canada versus 9 per cent in the US).

If wind turbines were today generating 20 per cent of Canadian electricity requirements they would annually be avoiding the release of approximately 24 Mt of GHGs. This number is conservative since it assumes that all forms of existing generation would be equally displaced by new wind. In reality new wind would tend to displace mainly coal and natural gas. As a result the GHG emissions reductions achieved by 20 per cent wind penetration would be significantly greater than 24 Mt. It is of note that wind turbines can deliver these savings using technology which is already technically proven and which is already cost effective. While carbon sequestration may have great potential it has yet to be technically proven or to demonstrate that it can be achieved in a cost effective manner.

The following graphic is taken from the EC 2006 GHG inventory and shows annual Canadian GHG emissions from 1990 - 2006.

Canadian GHG Emissions. 1990 - 2006

Environment Canada press release

Environment Canada 2006 GHG inventory

WEICan contact for additional information:
James Glennie
Office: +1-902-882-4128