http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-to-create-agency-to-oversee-climate-change-goals-draft-plan-shows/article29781337/
New Ontario agency will be given sweeping mandate to overhaul energy use
ADRIAN MORROW AND GREG KEENAN
TORONTO — The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2016 9:57PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Apr. 28, 2016 7:10AM EDT
The Ontario government plans to make the majority of the province’s
buildings emissions-free and slash the use of cars to just 20 per cent
of commuter trips by 2050 as part of a dramatic plan to meet its
climate-change goals.
To achieve these aims, the province will establish a “new
ultra-low-carbon utility” – an agency with a sweeping mandate to change
everything about how Ontarians use energy to reduce carbon emissions
drastically.
These details are in a confidential draft of the province’s Climate
Change Action Plan obtained by The Globe and Mail. The strategy, which
wants to put “a zero emission or hybrid electric vehicle in every
multicar household driveway within eight years,” is expected to be
unveiled next month. It is meant to supplement a cap-and-trade system
for carbon emissions that takes effect next year.
The draft plan promises to get at least 1.7 million electric and hybrid
cars in use by 2024, take seven million gas-burning vehicles off the
road by 2030, and ensure that by 2050, 80 per cent of residents use
public transit, walk or cycle to work.
It would also cut emissions from buildings by 15 per cent by 2030 and
ensure most buildings are emissions-free by 2050. This would be done by
helping homeowners and businesses install solar panels or geothermal
systems and undertake retrofits, and by changing the building code to
require renovations and new construction to make buildings more
energy-efficient.
It would buy offsets to make the Ontario government carbon-neutral next
year. By 2030, the government will cut its own emissions by 50 per cent.
The plan would provide funding for industry to switch to cleaner
factories, and for research into new low-carbon technologies.
To co-ordinate the electricity system, home-based power generation such
as rooftop solar panels, low-carbon transportation and energy-efficient
heating and cooling systems in buildings, a new utility would be
established – effectively an agency to oversee a massive shift to
low-emission homes, buildings and transportation options.
Environment Minister Glen Murray's spokesman, David Mullock, said the
document obtained by the Globe is a preliminary draft circulated among
industry to get feedback on the government's ideas.
"These discussion documents are very much draft in nature and do not
reflect any final decisions regarding the Climate Change Action Plan. We
will continue to consult on the Climate Change Action Plan to ensure
that Ontario is successful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and in
meeting our reduction targets," he wrote in an email.
“This looks like a fairly comprehensive approach,” said Keith Brooks of
Environmental Defence. He said the idea of having a single agency to
help Ontarians retrofit their homes and oversee the transition to
electric and hybrid vehicles is a good one; such things now are often
handled piecemeal.
But Mr. Brooks cautioned the plan is short on details: “This looks like
a precursor to an action plan.”
The document is largely silent, for instance, on how the new utility
would fit with existing electricity distribution, transmission and
generation companies. It also does not say how much more emissions-free
electricity generation – whether from nuclear plants, wind farms or
solar projects – would be necessary.
The plan does not spell out how it would get Ontarians to switch to
zero-emission or hybrid electric vehicles in eight years. Possibilities
include giving drivers more rebates on electric cars or mandating that a
certain percentage of auto makers’ sales be electric or hybrid.
Either way, reaching that number will be hard. By The Globe’s
calculation, it would entail sales of 1.7 million hybrid or electric
vehicles in the next eight years in Ontario or about 200,000 annually –
compared with just 52,000 last year.
Whether it is possible to reach that goal “depends on what you’re
smoking,” said one auto industry source who has been involved in
discussions with several provinces regarding plans to increase the
electric and hybrid vehicle fleets. About 8 per cent of the fleet is
replaced annually, the source said, which means it takes about 20 years
to turn over completely.
“Manufacturers are not and will not make or sell that many cars for
Canada by that date,” said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive
Parts Manufacturers’ Association of Canada.
Such a move would also signal to manufacturers of large volumes of
vehicles with internal combustion engines that the products they make in
Ontario are not welcome in the province, Mr. Volpe said.
Transportation accounted for 35 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions
in Ontario in 2013, the document says, pointing out that to meet the
province’s goals, all vehicles will need to be low- or zero-emission by
2050.
The report suggests the government will push for the trucking industry
to switch to cleaner-burning natural gas. It also says the province will
“promote complete communities” – planning jargon for encouraging cities
and towns to stop sprawling and create dense developments where people
live within walking distance of work.
Joe Vaccaro, chief executive officer of the Ontario Home Builders’
Association, said his industry can meet the province’s goals, but the
government would have to make building code changes over a period of
time so companies can adapt, and also make it easier to connect home
solar panels and geothermal systems to the grid. He said some developers
are already raising carbon-neutral buildings, with tight construction
and strong insulation, and solar panels or geothermal systems producing
electricity.
“The aspiration is great, as long as we’re reasonable about how to
achieve this,” he said in an interview. “It’s not in the realm of the
impossible.”
Mr. Vaccaro also pointed out that new home construction makes up only
one per cent of the total annually, meaning the province will achieve
its most signficant emissions reductions by retrofitting existing
buildings. Among other things, he said the province could require an
energy-efficiency audit whenever a home is sold; this would encourage
people to retrofit their homes to raise their value.
Premier Kathleen Wynne and Environment Minister Glen Murray have made
climate change a central policy priority over the past year. The
province aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 15 per cent below 1990
levels by 2020, 37 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050. Ontario
currently sits about 6 per cent below, meaning it has a lot of work to do.
Cap-and-trade is expected to raise about $2-billion annually, and the
government plans to use the proceeds to build new transit lines and set
up other programs under the action plan.
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