Canada, Green Energy And Economy

By : Adriana Noton http://www.articlecue.com/Art/302177/265/Canada-Green-Energy-And-Economy.html
Submitted 2010-07-29 18:41:27 The world's nations are concerned about the potential end of fossil fuels and the effect this would have on their energy infrastructures. Equally of concern is the economy, both the global economy and the economies of the individual nations. There is broad agreement amongst them that these two concerns - green energy and economy - are intertwined. Amongst the nations looking for solutions is Canada.

Total global investment in renewable energy, in 2008, was greater than all combined investment in nuclear, natural gas and coal electricity. Renewable energy initiatives attracted almost US$148 billion worldwide. Nations that work to create renewable energy solutions will attract the bulk of this money. Therefore, if it wishes to remain globally competitive in this new world market, Canada needs to present itself as an attractive market in order to win these investments and prevent them going elsewhere, most likely the United States.

The United States Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 invests nearly fourteen times as much in renewable energy than Canada's Federal Budget of that same year.

Another cause for concern and research and development in renewable energy is the need to reduce carbon emissions in order to halt or slow climate change. The International Energy Agency calculates that the nations of the Major Economies Forum need to spend three to six times more per year than they are currently if they wish to reach their goal of fifty percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2050.

One notable R&D investment is that of carbon capture and storage. Canada claims to be strongly in favor of this and to be providing robust investment. However, nations who have not evinced a strong commitment to climate change such as the United States and Australia are still outspending Canada's 19 million by hundreds of millions.

If Canada wishes to enter fully into the renewable energy economy, it already has a strong base from which to develop this capacity. Hydroelectric dams already produce most of Canada's electricity. Quebec, Manitoba, Labrador, and Yukon produce over 90% of their electricity this way.

Canada has plentiful solar energy resources, particularly in Ontario, Quebec, and the Prairies. Although currently only a small part of Canada's energy production, there is a solar power infrastructure in place mainly for non-electric space and water heating. Government studies show solar energy could account for five percent of energy needs by 2025.

Many areas of Canada are hard to reach and/or sparsely populated. Thus, they do not have easy access to the nation's energy grid. Here solar power is already put to use through photovoltaic cells. PV cells, when exposed to light, use semiconductor materials to generate directly electric power. In the northern provinces and territory, they have are used as standalone units to distribute electricity, particularly for remote homes, telecommunications equipment and navigational devices. Because they replace the costly diesel fuel systems that used to provide this energy, they also benefit the economy of these areas.

Currently 1.1 percent of Canada's electricity is produced by ninety-nine wind farms. The Canadian Wind Energy Association states it could reach a capacity of 55,000 MW by 2025, meeting 20 percent of Canada's needs.

The impact on the economy is already on display in parts of the country. Ontario's Green Energy and Green Economy Act of 2009 incentivizes homeowners to use renewable energy generators like solar panels by offering low- or no-interest loans to finance the cost.

In British Columbia, GLOBE Foundation of Canada estimates the province's recent turn to a green economy could be worth over 27 billion dollars by 2020. It is already responsible for 117,000 full time jobs and over 15 billion dollars of provincial GDP.

Canada already has the resources and the systems in place for renewable energy. It remains for the nation to decide how fully it wishes to develop and integrate them into the global green market and economy grid.