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Canada turning green Survey shows renewable energy employs more than oil sands, but GHG emissions still rising; think tank calls for government support Gary Park For Petroleum News
Canada’s renewable energy sector employs more people than the oil sands, with C$25 billion invested in green energy projects over the last five years, peaking at C$6.5 billion in 2013.
The investment spurt has moved Canada to seventh place among the Group of 20 industrialized nations from 12th spot a year ago.
On the downside, greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise according to Environment Canada, meaning the country is not even close to meeting its 2020 international target for curbing emissions under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord - and that ensures that Canada will again have to deal with global finger-pointing as it enters two weeks of meetings in Lima, Peru, on the United Nations framework convention on climate change.
But there was still much to inspire hope for Clean Energy Canada, which released these results Dec. 2 in its first annual survey of Canada’s clean energy performance.
The independent think tank said that “while pipelines grab more headlines, clean energy is grabbing growth,” crediting policy leadership in the British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec governments with helping to drive renewable energy investment and a 37 percent increase in full-time employment since 2009 to 23,700, outnumbering the 22,340 direct employees in the oil sands.
Big business “Clean energy has moved from being a small niche or boutique industry to a really big business in Canada,” said Merran Smith, director of the think tank.
She said investment in the sector over the past five years is about the same as agriculture, fishing and forestry combined and the industry will “continue to show huge growth potential.”
But Smith said Canadian government backing is crucial for clean energy in the same way that federal money has helped every major industrial sector - from the oil sands to the aerospace industry - get off the ground.
The study showed that leading fossil fuel players, notably the highly criticized pipeline companies Enbridge and TransCanada, are among the top five producers of renewable energy.
Of the combined 4,090 megawatts of power generated by those companies n 2013, TransAlta accounted for 1,510 MW, Enbridge 890 MW and TransCanada 650 MW.
On the flip side, Alberta - which relies on fossil fuels for 85 percent of its generated power - need to get into the renewable energy game, Smith said.
But she did concede there is a glimmer of hope, with Alberta Finance Minister Robin Campbell declaring that her province has to “get off the oil train.”
China leader in both Globally, the study said China is now the world leader as a carbon polluter and clean energy producer, with the United States second in both categories.
But Clean Energy Canada said U.S. clean energy companies are hungrily eying investment beyond their domestic borders, with the U.S. International Trade Administration flagging Canada as the top market for renewable energy and energy efficiency exports in keeping with President Barack Osama’s goal of doubling those exports in the 2010-2015 period.
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