December 14, 2001—Ralph Goodale, Minister of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), and David Anderson, Minister of the Environment, recently announced the details of 28 specific Government of Canada climate change initiatives that will cut Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 23.7 megatonnes by 2010.
The projects, worth $425.15 million, are funded as part of the $1.1 billion in climate change commitments made in Budget 2000 and the Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change announced in October 2000, which are expected to take us about one-third of the way to meeting Canada’s international climate change obligations when fully implemented.
Among the initiatives announced by the Ministers are the following:
- the Commercial/Institutional Buildings Retrofit Initiative ($30 million) provides incentives, training, information and advice to encourage commercial and institutional organizations to carry out energy-efficient retrofit projects on existing facilities to reduce energy consumption and, by extension, GHG emissions;
- the Energy Efficient Housing Initiative ($35 million), which builds on the success of the EnerGuide for Houses program by offering a national marketing effort, increased support in northern and remote communities and the ability to link homeowners with qualified, trained renovators. The program also promotes the construction and purchase of energy-efficient houses;
- the Technology Innovation Program ($19 million), which will accelerate the development of cost-effective GHG mitigation technologies, build the intellectual foundation for long-term technological advances and build R&D alliances and partnerships;
- The Clean Development Mechanism/Joint Implementation Office ($25.25 million), which will greatly expand activities to support Canadian companies’ aggressive pursuit of GHG credits through project investments in other countries;
- Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation (CIPEC) ($2.5 million), the industry organization which has already reduced emissions among its members to two percent below 1990 levels, will be expanded to include the electricity-generation, construction, forestry, and upstream oil and gas sectors;
- the Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Initiative ($25 million), which will help demonstrate and commercialize technologies used in the capture, transportation and storage of CO2 underground. This will be an important solution in dealing with the CO2 produced in oil, natural gas and electricity production; and
- the Future Fuels Program ($3 million), which will increase the supply and use of ethanol produced from biomass, such as plant fibre, corn and other grains, so that 25 percent of Canada’s gasoline supply will contain 10-percent ethanol. The program also provides for contingent loan guarantees to boost ethanol fuel production.
The package also includes initiatives for science and other research and public education and outreach. For more details on the 28 projects, contact the climate change program.
