Canada should commit C$2.2 billion to renewables
OTTAWA, Ontario, CA, 2004-11-24 Refocus Weekly
Canada should adopt a ten-year program that commits Cdn$2.2 billion to promote renewable energies.
The national Wind Power Production Incentive should be expanded to 4,000 MW
from the current commitment of 1,000 MW and have complementary support from
provincial incentives, says the David Suzuki Foundation in its pre-budget
recommendations to a federal government finance committee. That would cost $500
to $600 million over the decade.
Government should also establish Green Energy Production Incentives, similar to
WPPI but to promote the adoption of solar, wave, tidal, hydro and biogas, with
incentives structured to reflect the marginal development costs of each
technology. Providing an incentive for solar and other small-scale technologies
to be structured as a capital cost rebate would cost $200 million over the
decade.
“Low-impact renewable energy is the fastest growing source of new energy in
the world,” it says. “To catch up with other jurisdictions and take
advantage of the tremendous international and domestic market opportunities,
Canada should establish a National Renewable Energy Strategy. By expanding its
commitment to renewable energy in key federal areas, the federal government can
leverage significant provincial and territorial government and private sector
engagement in advancing renewable energy to improve Canadian energy security,
reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and strengthen a
forward-looking industrial sector.”
Zero or low-interest revolving loans would establish long-term funding for
renewables at a one-time investment of $100 million to support the “immense
opportunities” of distributed energy systems such as earth energy, biomass,
solar thermal and solar PV. The existing Market Incentive Program for green
power promoters should be expanded to $30 million per year and federal funding
for research of innovative renewables technologies should be $50 million per
year.
The government should establish long-term funding of $5 million a year for a
comprehensive program to encourage Canadians to purchase renewables and another
$50 million a year to establish a national renewable energy training program.
“Canada needs a comprehensive national sustainability plan to become a 21st
century economic and environmental leader,” it adds. “The next federal
budget is an opportunity to set a sustainability agenda for Canada.”
A National Renewable Energy Strategy would outline how Canada can take advantage
of the industrial opportunities in the global renewables sector, and the
environmental group also recommends creation of a Sustainable Energy Trust to
provide a “critical mechanism for enabling cost-effective, practical
sustainable energy technologies to be integrated into the marketplace.” The
Trust would be financed from proceeds from the sale of the government-owned
Petro-Canada oil company, which has been placed on the market for sale.
“Canada requires a concerted, effective Low-Impact Renewable Energy Strategy
to support a full range of relevant technologies and to meet the federal targets
set in the Climate Change Plan for Canada,” it explains. “The federal
government is ideally positioned to play a leadership role in establishing a
strong renewable energy presence in Canada, and to create leverage to engage
provincial and territorial governments.”
The level of financial support required to accelerate the deployment of
renewables “would not be necessary if the environmental and public health
costs of conventional energy were included in the pricing of energy,” and it
is “essential that priority be placed on deploying practical, cost-effective
technologies with short, medium and long-term opportunities for emission
reductions such as low-impact renewable energy and energy efficiency
technologies.”
The proposal reflects a similar proposal jointly advanced by the David Suzuki
Foundation with two other groups, Pollution Probe and the Pembina Institute, and
submitted through the Green Budget Coalition. The latest submission includes
distributed renewable energy technologies which are not grid-connected, such as
space conditioning from earth energy heat pumps and solar thermal systems.
“Such technologies have significant potential in Canada and are critical for
strengthening electricity system resilience,” it notes.
“Low-impact renewable energy is increasingly playing a central role in
addressing both global climate change and regional air pollution in a growing
number of jurisdictions around the world,” it adds. “Expansion is occurring
because many industrialized and developing countries recognize the central role
of renewable energy. They are taking steps to position themselves advantageously
with respect to growing environmental requirements while benefiting from the
rapidly expanding market.”
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