GTHA Emissions Rise 8%, Gas Plant Pollution Up 56% in Two Years, Despite Clean, Affordable Alternatives

The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) will have to reduce its climate pollution by an ambitious 9% per year to meet its 2030 climate targets, after the latest annual inventory of the region’s emissions showed an 8% increase in 2022—alongside a stunning 56% rise from gas-fired electricity over two years.

The Carbon Emissions Inventory Report produced by The Atmospheric Fund shows CO2 output rising across all the region’s major population centres, and in every sector of the local economy, hitting a total of 54 million tonnes last year. But Bryan Purcell, TAF’s vice president, policy and programs, told the Toronto Star the GTHA is taking an even bigger percentage hit from the electricity sector, where emissions are up 26% over one year and 56% over two.

“That’s because the use of natural gas generation is increasing,” Purcell said. “That’s eroding some of the progress we’re making to electrify buildings and transportation.”

The numbers show that “we really need to stop sinking investments into fossil gas infrastructure and equipment,” he told The Energy Mix. “That’s going to make it very hard to make absolute progress in reducing emissions.” Instead, those dollars could be directed to cleaner, more affordable options that are available across the GTHA.

“The solutions are right in front of us,” but “we must not go backwards,” TAF CEO Julia Langer said in a release. “Planning new fossil fuel infrastructure like gas plants and gas hookups has to stop. If you’re in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.”

While the local shift from fossil fuels to clean energy is gaining momentum, Purcell said the numbers point to the immediate need for the GTHA to pick up the pace.

“The challenge we’re having is that lots of Canadians are adopting new technologies like electric vehicles and heat pumps, but for every home retrofitted with a heat pump, we’re seeing two new homes heated with natural gas,” he explained. Similarly, several new internal combustion vehicles are rolling off the lot for every new EV sold. Meanwhile, the Ontario government is contracting for new gas-fired power plants, across the region and across the province. |Read more https://www.theenergymix.com/2023/11/23/gtha-emissions-rise-8-gas-plant-pollution-up-56-in-two-years-despite-clean-affordable-alternatives/| theenergymix.com/2023/11/23/gt…

#onpoli #environment #pollution #CO2 #gas #infrastructure #fossilFuel

IEA report warns oil and gas companies against banking on carbon capture

Carbon capture and storage has become a key plank of the Canadian oil and gas sector’s decarbonization goals, but a new report from the International Energy Agency warns against banking on the technology as the planet continues to warm.

In a report released Thursday, the Paris-based IEA said oil and gas companies need to start “letting go of the illusion” that “implausibly large” amounts of carbon capture are the solution to the global climate crisis.

In Canada, carbon capture and storage has become a key pillar of the oil and gas sector’s decarbonization goals.

Oilsands companies, for example, have banded together to propose a $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage project in northern Alberta that they say will help them reach net-zero emissions from production by 2050.

The report states that limiting global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the target the international community committed to with the Paris Agreement, would require an “inconceivable” 32 billion tonnes of emissions to be sequestered by carbon capture by 2050.

“The amount of electricity needed to power these technologies would be greater than the entire world’s electricity demand today,” the report said, adding that amount of carbon capture would also require an increase in global spending on the technology from $4 billion last year to $3.5 trillion by 2050.

The report states oil and gas companies need to consider diversifying into clean energy rather than simply counting on carbon capture to help them maintain the status quo.

“This (IEA) report is a stunning rebuke to all the Canadian oil executives and politicians claiming that they can simply slap on some government-funded carbon capture and continue with business as usual in a world rapidly weaning itself off of oil and gas,” said Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist for Greenpeace Canada, in an email Thursday. |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10111340/iea-report-warns-oil-and-gas-against-carbon-capture/| globalnews.ca/news/10111340/ie…

#abpoli #cdnpoli #CCS #IEA #report #fossils #GlobalWarming #magic

‘I’m pretty much speechless’: Outrage after Toronto turns down federal shelter offer

The federal government was prepared to offer the City of Toronto two locations as temporary shelters, and operational funding for a third location but the city declined the offer late last week, Global News has learned.

The latest call for aid came months after a bitter battle between the city, province, and federal government over refugee housing that led to hundreds of asylum seekers being left out in the elements during the summer.

Multiple sources confirmed with Global News the federal government offered the city an option last week, which would open both the Moss Park and Fort York Armouries as shelter space until mid-December. According to one source, as part of the deal, Ottawa would also provide $5 million to the city so it could operate a shelter at the Better Living Centre on the Exhibition Place grounds for the remainder of the winter.

The city reportedly declined the offer late last week.

Following the fall fiscal update, Mayor Chow took aim at the federal government again for a lack of support for refugee housing. At a separate housing announcement on Wednesday, Chow pointed to the cold weather expected this weekend, underlining the urgency.

Housing advocate Cathy Crowe called the decision to turn down the offer “a scandal” adding that all levels of government should be ashamed that a deal hasn’t been made while people are left sleeping on the street.

“I’m pretty much speechless and to me it just suggests that there is a lot of politicking going on behind closed doors and the basic humanity of providing shelter is not front and centre,” she said. |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10108533/toronto-turn-down-federal-shelter-funding-offer/| globalnews.ca/news/10108533/to…

#onpoli #housing #MayorChow #toronto #homeless #shelter #freezing #scandal