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Decoupling of production activities and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, or a decline in GHG intensity, is a key metric for gauging GHG mitigation performances. In this study, we explore the determinants of GHG intensity in Canadian industries to understand its key drivers. This study is relevant, because Canada is a developed country characterized by high energy and GHG intensities. Canada has also introduced a series of policy measures to mitigate GHG emissions, including a carbon tax and investments in renewable electricity. The most significant factor for GHG intensity is energy intensity. However, fuel mix, policy trends, and sectoral shifts are essential. After conducting stationarity and cointegration tests, we estimated the relationship between GHG intensity and these determinants using panel error correction, dynamic fixed effects, and dynamic OLS methods to determine the long-run relationships. Besides the strong effect of energy intensity, we found that industrial production mix that indicates sectoral shifts, fuel mix, and the time-fixed effects that capture factors such as the introduction of a carbon tax and technology standards have statistically significant impacts on GHG intensity. We found that industries that rely more on fuel sources other than electricity are characterized by higher GHG intensity. The policy implication is that energy efficiency and fuel switching are essential for reducing GHG intensity, but the role of factors such as sectoral shifts should not be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limiting global warming to 1.5–2.0°C in line with our climate commitments will require decarbonization of residential buildings. The traditional approach starts with major energy efficiency upgrades to the building envelope followed by switching to low‐carbon fuel sources for space and water heating. Building envelope retrofits have been a policy goal for over two decades in Canada and elsewhere, yet historical rates and associated emission reductions fall far short of what is required if we are to meet our climate targets. Alternatively, we propose direct fuel switching to electric heat pumps for space and water heating in regions with low‐carbon electricity. Using a database of 44,463 home energy profiles in Waterloo Region, Canada, we modeled the energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission impacts of building envelope retrofits and direct electrification. While all retrofit plans achieved significant energy efficiency gains (17‐40%), so did direct electrification (70%) and building envelope retrofits plus electrification combined (70‐80%). Only plans that included electric heat pumps achieved greenhouse gas emission reductions of 90% or more. Compared to the conventional approach, direct electrification with heat pumps may be a simpler, more effective, and more realistic approach for policies aiming to decarbonize the residential sector. Key Messages: Direct electrification of residential space and water heaters with heat pumps is a simple and effective approach to decarbonization.Building envelope retrofits should be required as the first step toward electrification only in the most energy‐inefficient homes.Electricity infrastructure must be modernized to accommodate direct electrification of residential buildings and other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Six alternative or low-carbon fuels are evaluated for the cement sector. • Average long-term marginal abatement costs range from −70 to 138 CAD/tCO 2 e. • Up to 21% of emissions to 2050 can be eliminated with negative abatement costs. • Energy prices are the primary factor driving scenario cost performance. Limiting global warming and the pursuit of a net-zero global society by 2050 emphasizes the need to transform the hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The cement sector is the second-largest source of global industrial emissions, accounting for 8% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Fuel switching in the cement sector is a decarbonization pathway that has not been explored in detail; previous studies involving fuel switching in the sector either view it from an energy efficiency lens or focus on a single technology. In this study, a framework is developed to evaluate and directly compare six fuel switching options (including hydrogen, biomass, municipal solid waste, and natural gas) from 2020 to 2050. Capital costs, non-energy operating costs, energy costs, and carbon costs are used to calculate marginal abatement costs and emulate cost based-market decisions. The developed framework is used to conduct a case study for Canada, using the LEAP-Canada model. This study shows that cumulative energy-related greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 21% between 2020 and 2050 with negative marginal abatement costs. Multiple fuel switching decarbonization pathways were established, reducing the likelihood that locality prevents meaningful emissions reduction and suggesting that, with low-carbon fuel and electricity policies, the sector can take significant steps towards emissions reduction. The developed framework can be applied to jurisdictions around the world for decision making, as nations move towards eliminating emissions from cement production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to examine the exhaust emission changed due to fuel switching to gasohol in actual motorcycles (MC) fleet in Nakhon Pathom municipality, Thailand. International Vehicle Emissions (IVE) model was applied by specifying the year 2010 as a base case and the target year of 2020 as Business as Usual (BAU). The parking lot survey, GPS monitoring and MC counting on selected roads during weekday and weekend were conducted. Fuel switching from gasoline octane number 91 to gasohol in all MC fleet in the municipality was set as a scenario according to current Thailand's transport energy policies. Total pollution emissions reduction of the following pollutants after switching to gasohol E10 (10% of ethanol) for all MC in the fleet compared to BAU were obtained: benzene (86%), 1,3-butadiene (69%), VOC (including evaporation) (31%) and CO (29%), while the following pollutants increased: acetaldehydes (>100%), formaldehydes (51%), NOx (9%) and PM (5%). Gasohol use scenario produced larger amount of CO2 (29%) and CH4 (9%). Only a small deviation of climate forcer emissions in CO2-equivalent (reduced by 8% for 20-year and increased by 2% for 100-year horizon) were obtained. Switching to gasohol in MC fleet in Nakhon Pathom municipality unable to achieve air quality and climate co-benefits. Restriction of the local emission factors (EFs) available for adjusting the model's EFs can be influence to the emission calculation. Also, as PM was excluded from the calculation of GWP due to lack of OC and EC information, this can affect the analysis of climate forcer emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through tests conducted at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority's (TRCA) Archetype Sustainable Houses, a hybrid residential space heating system with a supervisory controller was monitored and studied to evaluate its performance and effectiveness for the heating season. A high efficiency natural gas furnace (NGF) and an electric air source heat pump (ASHP) were coupled together to meet the space heating demand of the house. This integrated system is called the cloud based Smart Dual Fuel Switching System (SDFSS) that considers time-of-use (TOU) pricing, fuel cost, short-term weather forecast, and equipment efficiencies and capacities. This multi-variable decision-making process defines an optimal schedule for the hybrid system to run more cost effectively. This paper analyses two separate SDFSSs. According to these analyses, the SDFSS systems showed lower operating cost with respect to the furnace or the ASHP system alone with various carbon tax (CT) levels from $0 to $250/tonne of CT with an increment of $10/tonne of CT that were simulated, along with a significant GHG emission reduction relative to the conventional heating systems. Furthermore, with these technologies, Canada's residential sector could potentially meet Canada's Paris Agreement goals. The SDFSS technology is a is flexible, user friendly, ubiquitous technology for the smooth transition from today's natural gas dominated space heating system to the future's low carbon infrastructure powered by a heat pump and renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents research in which a photochemical modeling system called MC2-CALGRID, was used to simulate the impact of two fuel substitution scenarios on ozone levels in Canada. Description of this photochemical system; Analysis of statistical data compiled on emission scenarios; Details on the processing of fuel substitution control strategies.

As countries across the world intensify their commitments to mitigating the worst effects of climate change, activists, scholars, and regular citizens are demanding more from this transition than the mere substitution of fossil fuels with low-carbon forms of energy. Increasingly, many call for an energy system that better distributes the benefits that energy provides and more fairly spreads the costs that its production and use creates. However, it is not only those seeking to right past inequities that call for a just transition: justice is a rhetorical device that opponents of the clean energy transition can use to slow its progress. This paper will engage with the conflicting roles that various actors' sense of justice plays in Canada's transition to a decarbonized economy. First, it will consider how opposition to Canada's carbon price was fueled by a sentiment that it would unjustly destroy an industry that many Canadians depend on for employment. The following section explores how the strategic use of energy democracy, or the involvement of people in the decision-making and ownership of clean energy infrastructure, could build political will for the clean energy transition across Canada. This paper ultimately argues that by designing this transition so that it directly benefits as many Canadians as possible, and ensuring that every citizen understands those benefits, Canadian decision-makers can fortify climate policies to withstand false claims and perceptions of injustice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the results of experimental measurements on mixed-oxide (233U,Th)O 2 fuel bundles in the ZED-2 heavy water critical facility of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) in Chalk River, Canada. Pressure-tube heavy water reactors can use such fuel to extract the energy potential of thorium, which helps extend nuclear energy resources and reduces waste. Measurements were made in a series of substitution ZED-2 experiments, with (233U,Th)O 2 test fuel placed into vertical channels filled with air or heavy water in a reference lattice of very low-enriched uranium fuel. Fuel was arranged to maximize the importance of the test fuel. Each fuel and coolant configuration in the substitution series was simulated in MCNP5 to verify the measurement of critical moderator height. The precision of the substitution measurements can help support the validation of reactor physics codes for evaluation of reactivity coefficients in reactors with fuel that contains oxides of thorium and thorium-derived uranium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrial sector, accounting for 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is among the key drivers of human-induced climate change impacts. Given this volume of emissions, the sector could play a critical role in mitigating climate change. Canada is among the top 10 global GHG emitters and its industrial sector is responsible for more than 39% of national emissions. GHG emissions from the sector increased by almost 32% between 1990 and 2017 and are expected to almost double by 2050 if no measures are taken. This paper aims to evaluate how different technical and economic factors have contributed to the increasing GHG emission trends in Canada's industrial sector between 1990 and 2014. The Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index was developed and implemented as the decomposition method. Results from the analysis suggest that activity level is the biggest contributor to the increase in industrial GHG emissions between 1990 and 2014, which ranged from 5 Mt CO 2 eq in 1994 to 57 Mt CO 2 eq in 2014 compared to the 1990 baseline. Increased shares of low carbon-intensive industries and fuel switching contribute to GHG emission mitigation from the sector. The structural change is responsible for GHG reductions of 1.1 and 23.4 Mt CO 2 eq in 2000 and 2014, respectively. The impacts from fuel mixs and increased shares of low-carbon fuel ranged from −1 Mt CO 2 eq in 1994 to 16 Mt CO 2 eq in 2011. Despite improvements in process-energy-intensity (i.e., the energy consumed per unit of product) in several industries, changes in economic energy intensity (energy consumed per unit of economic output) have resulted in increased GHG emissions. These changes are mainly driven by changes in the process-energy intensity of the oil sands mining sector, the largest contributor to industrial GHG emissions in Canada. Image 107490 • Historical GHG emissions trends from Canada's industrial sector were analyzed. • GHG emissions decomposition analysis was done for the years 1990–2014. • The impacts of driving factors on increasing GHG emission trends were examined. • Activity level was found to be the main driver of GHG emissions. • Fuel switching and electricity decarbonization mitigate industrial GHGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]