Moving with the EV

This article provides some data to support the fact that EVs are better for the environment in Nova Scotia.

Energy Options for Automobiles

Yes! The electricity generated to power EVs is generally cleaner than gasoline and it’s getting cleaner over time as we integrate more renewable energy on the grid. Even if an electrical grid was powered entirely by coal, EVs would still only produce 88% of the emissions of gasoline powered vehicles. While it’s also true that producing the battery in an EV can sometimes result in higher emissions during the manufacturing process, that gap is closed within 18 months of driving. With our current electricity mix in Nova Scotia, at the end of its lifecycle, an EV cuts the emissions of gas-powered alternatives in half. (Ev Basics, n.d.)

The CAA Driving Cost Calculator for Sustainable Transportation compares the estimated total annual driving costs for the 2023 Hyundai Kona EV Ultimate 4D Utility EV ($7,803.96/year) and the 2023 Hyundai Kona Preferred 4D Utility AWD ($8,366.97/year). (Based on owning the vehicle for 5 years)

CAA Driving Cost Calculator. (2023, June 16). Canadian Automobile Association. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://carcosts.caa.ca/en/compare

The Schumpeter business column, at the Economist, asks how green is your electric vehicle, really? It reports that EVs are in the middle of an obesity epidemic that shows itself in even though some manufacturers claim sustainability as a founding principle, they are building bigger, burlier cars, even when they are electric.

For now, carmakers can argue that however big the electric rigs, they have a positive impact on the planet. Though manufacturing evs—including sourcing the metals and minerals that go into them—generates more greenhouse gases than a conventional car, they quickly compensate for that through the absence of tailpipe emissions. Lucien Mathieu of Transport and Environment, a European ngo, says that even the biggest evs have lower lifetime carbon emissions than the average conventional car. That is true even in places with plenty of coal-fired electricity, such as China.

Ultimately, the industry is almost sure to realise the folly of pursuing size for its own sake. The penny is starting to drop. Ford’s ceo, Jim Farley, recently said carmakers could not make money with the longest-range batteries. His opposite number at General Motors, Mary Barra, has taken the unexpected step of reversing a plan to retire the affordable Chevy Bolt ev. In Europe, carmakers like Volkswagen are building smaller, cheaper evs. Tesla is said to be planning a compact model made in Mexico.

The pressure is partly coming from competition. Felipe Munoz of Jato Dynamics, a car consultancy, says China prizes battery efficiency above bigness and is hoping to muscle in on overseas markets with lighter, cheaper brands, such as byd. Innovation in batteries based on solid-state or sodium-ion chemistry may also make evs more efficient. For the time being, drivers with money to splurge will no doubt relish flaunting their low-carbon credentials from the vantage point of a large suv or monster truck. And so they should—until they realise that they may be making electrification less accessible to the rest of humanity. (How Green Is Your Electric Vehicle, Really?, 2023)

The absence of tailpipe emissions in EV’s results in lower greenhouse gas lifetime output than the average conventional ICE car. As battery technology improves to solid state and sodium-ion designs, the efficiency will improve and the number of charging stations will grow.

References

CAA Driving Cost Calculator. (2023, June 16). Canadian Automobile Association. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://carcosts.caa.ca/en/compare 

Ev Basics. (n.d.). EV Assist. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://evassist.ca/ev-basics/ 

How green is your electric vehicle, really? (2023, June 16). the Economist. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://www.economist.com/business/2023/08/10/how-green-is-your-electric-vehicle-really? 

Both True at COP27

Mia Rabson, reporting for the Globe and Mail, writes that Canada won’t back the call at COP27 to ‘phase down’ oil and gas production.

Two directions?

“Everything we do is challenged in the court,” he said. “[Carbon] pricing was challenged, our plastic pollution regulations were challenged, our environmental impact assessment is being challenged – either by provinces or companies, or both. And if we’re not on very solid legal ground, we will lose in front of the tribunals and that doesn’t help anyone.”

Guilbeault said Canada hasn’t been challenged over plans to phase out coal, but is on almost everything it does on the oil and gas side.

“We have to be super careful in terms of what we do that what we do will hold in court,” he said. “Otherwise we’re wasting time, and precious time, to fight climate change.”

Julia Levin, national climate program manager for Environmental Defence, called that a disappointing excuse.

“I’d say it’s clear that the government of Canada is beholden to fossil fuel lobbyists and putting their interests ahead of public welfare,” said Levin.

She added that Canada’s position is strange, considering the agreement would likely have included the same abatement provision as coal. While Levin doesn’t back carbon capture and storage as a serious solution to cutting emissions, she said even that would be “a clear signal that, according to the U.S. and others, the age of oil and gas is over.”

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, meanwhile, said getting lower-emission oil and natural gas to international markets is paramount for its members. (Rabson, 2022)

Perhaps the concern of the Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and the goal of Julia Levin, national climate program manager for Environmental Defence, both reflect progress in dealing with the climate emergency.

References

Rabson, M. (2022, November 18). Canada won't back call at COP27 to 'phase down' oil and gas production. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 19, 2022, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canada-wont-back-call-at-cop27-to-phase-down-oil-and-gas-production-2/ 

Science and Care of our Grandchildren

Scientists continue to study and report on the environmental and health risks that we must confront with serious action now.

Our grandchildren need us to act

 

A report in the Guardian in 2019 noted that Pope Francis believed that numerous studies tell us it is still possible to limit global warming. He added that to do this we need a clear, far-sighted and strong political will, set on pursuing a new course that aims at refocusing financial and economic investments toward those areas that truly safeguard the conditions of a life worthy of humanity on a healthy planet for today and tomorrow.

He put particular emphasis on the role of young people, who “show a heightened sensitivity to the complex problems that arise from this emergency. We must not place the burden on the next generations to take on the problems caused by the previous ones.”1 

The David Suzuki Foundation in an article by David Suzuki observes that we have become the impatient species, too busy to let nature replenish itself and too puffed up with our own sense of importance to acknowledge our utter dependence on its generosity. Instead, we steal from our children and future generations by extinguishing so many species that could have been here for them too.

We have many reasons to change our destructive ways, to show greater respect to nature. Above all, we have to think of the world we’re leaving to our children and grandchildren and those yet to be born. We must do it for love.2

 

The “boomer” generation took us from the social consciousness of the sixties to the indifference, “throw away culture”, and greed of our current time. We need to prevent our grandchildren from suffering the consequences of our poor decisions and inertia to face the facts we increasingly witness in the world around us.

 

References

 

1	(2019, December 5). Climate crisis is 'challenge of civilisation', says pope .... Retrieved December 5, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/05/climate-crisis-is-challenge-of-civilisation-says-pope
2	(2021, December 7). We have to stop squandering our brief time on Earth - David Suzuki .... Retrieved December 13, 2021, from https://davidsuzuki.org/story/we-have-to-stop-squandering-our-brief-time-on-earth/

 

Climate Progress Update

As world leaders prepare to meet for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, in November, a report by John Woodside in the National Observer comments that Quebec has rejected a $14B LNG project over environmental concerns.

Check on government action

 

It “was proposed on the premise of supplying fracked gas to the world as a climate solution, and Quebec's government showed a lot of leadership by saying that's completely untrue,” said Julia Levin, senior program manager for climate and energy at advocacy group Environmental Defence. “This will lock those countries into continued dependence on fossil fuels at a time when we have to be moving in the opposite direction.” After a groundswell of opposition to GNL Québec’s multibillion-dollar natural gas project, the provincial government has rejected the plan. Now advocates say it’s time for other governments to follow suit. #cdnpoli #LNG Levin called the rejection of the facility a “people-powered victory” against the notion fracked gas should be used as a bridge fuel. The idea “Canada can help global decarbonization by doubling down on fracked gas (is) a lie,” Levin said. “It's irresponsible for premiers in other parts of the country to continue to latch onto that lie.” Levin called it a form of climate denial by defining denialism as a failure to act at the scale required by the crisis, even when understanding the crisis is real. “So if you're continuing to approve LNG projects, like the premier of British Columbia, it's hard to not say you're a climate denier,” she said.1

A Post Media editorial comments on a recently published piece led by Joel Balyk that looked at what kind of mixes of EVs/mode switching/efficiency etc would be required to hit 2035 transport emissions targets in Canada. Sara Hastings- Simon thought the editorial was highly misleading. 

I worked on a recently published piece led by Joel Balyk that looked at what kind of mixes of EVs/mode switching/efficiency etc would be required to hit 2035 transport emissions targets in Canada.
Postmedia wrote a highly misleading editorial about it:https://t.co/QkIkNpOJCi pic.twitter.com/1e5F0wmmF8

— Dr Sara Hastings-Simon (@S_HastingsSimon) July 21, 2021

2

The study, “Driving Ambitions: The Implications of Decarbonizing the Transportation Sector by 2030” by four researchers notes, “this paper does not make any inference towards the new target as no material such as emissions modelling or reports have been published by the federal government as yet … “The federal government could facilitate understanding by the Canadian public and members of industry by publishing the more detailed projections (i.e., by sub-sector and province) that we assume underlie its sector-level projections.” But that’s not the purpose of Trudeau’s ever changing climate plans which from the beginning have treated Canadians like mushrooms — covering them with manure and keeping them in the dark — while making unrealistic promises which make no sense to anyone who can do math.3

Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent with the Guardian reports a new alliance urges governments to work together to deliver a just transition to a green economy

Ilhan Omar, a US congresswoman for Minnesota, said the recent extreme weather in the US and around the world should serve as a warning. “Climate change is here and it is an existential threat to humanity. We have already seen the horrifying repercussions of failing to act – wildfires raging across the west coast [of the US], extreme hurricanes, heatwaves in Australia, massive flooding around the world. Natural disasters like these will only get worse unless we act as a global community to counteract this devastation.” Paola Vega, Costa Rican congresswoman and president of the special permanent commission for the environment of the legislative assembly of the Republic of Costa Rica, said a green deal would require a transformation of the way governments treat ecological problems, and in the way people live. “Unless our countries, and the diverse alliances and range of powers that govern them, create enough pressure for collective action that changes the rules of the game, we will fall short of the urgent measures that we need to be able to address the massive challenges that we face today,” she said. “It’s important that we are clear that this means an absolute change of paradigm: a change in the way we live, the way we consume and produce.”4

These articles on the progress being made to treat the climate emergency as an existential threat to humanity indicate that the full engagement of Government and Private Enterprise is still lacking.

 

References

 

1	(2021, July 21). Quebec rejects $14B LNG project over ... - National Observer. Retrieved July 22, 2021, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/07/21/news/climate-advocates-push-quebec-reject-14-billion-lng-project
2	Hastings-Simon, S [@S_HastingsSimon]. (2021, July 21 ) I worked on a recently published piece led by Joel Balyk that looked at what kind of mixes of EVs/mode switching/efficiency etc would be required to hit 2035 transport emissions targets in Canada.  Postmedia wrote a highly misleading editorial about it: https://cdhowe.org/public-policy-research/driving-ambitions-implications-decarbonizing-transportation-sector-2030 [tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/S_HastingsSimon/status/1417974413509595138
3	(2021, July 20). EDITORIAL: Study blows hole in PM's climate plan | Toronto Sun. Retrieved July 22, 2021, from https://torontosun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-study-blows-hole-in-pms-climate-plan
4	(2021, July 19). Politicians from across world call for 'global green deal' to tackle .... Retrieved July 22, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/19/politicians-from-across-world-call-for-global-green-deal-to-tackle-climate-crisis

 

Engineering Work Plan for Climate Emergency

 

Putting Canada on the path towards meeting our Paris Agreement GHG emissions reduction target of 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 is a task that will require enormous engineering effort  calculating the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) and in the construction of infrastructure to mitigate the effects of Greenhouse Gas emission.

Engineering mitigation of GHG effects

 

  Marieke Walsh writes in the Globe and Mail that Environment Minister Wilkinson says that 2019 will be the last year of emission increases in Canada. The highest emitting sectors in Canada (oil and gas and transportation) are the ones that Mr. Wilkinson said he will be most focused on in the years ahead. 

On transportation, Mr. Wilkinson said emissions can largely be cut through regulatory changes that will target vehicle fuel efficiency. He said in his talks with Mr. Biden’s special envoy for climate, John Kerry, the focus is on “how fast can we go in terms of raising the level of ambition” on fuel economy standards. More investments in zero-emission vehicle infrastructure will also be needed, he said. On the oil and gas sector, Mr. Wilkinson said the increasing stringency of methane regulations will “start to bite” and the pending implementation of the clean fuel standard will also have a “significant impact on emissions.” Raising the carbon price to $170 a tonne by 2030 is the key reason why Canada can show that it will meet its emissions targets in less than a decade.1

An article in The Economist proposes this is the moment for an ambitious attempt by President Biden to deal with climate change and move America to less carbon and blackouts. Biden has said that he wants fossil-fuel emissions from power generation to end by 2035 and the economy to be carbon-neutral by 2050. America is not just the world’s second-largest emitter, but also a source of climate-related policy, technology and, potentially, leadership. What is about to unfold in Washington will set the course in America for the next decade—and quite possibly beyond.

Time is pressing. Neither Mr Biden nor his successors may get a second chance to recast policy on such a scale. Global emissions from fossil fuels and cement production in 2019 were 16% higher than in 2009. It will be even harder to limit climate change to less than 2°C above the pre-industrial level, the global threshold from which America’s target for 2050 comes. To be carbon neutral, the world must curb emissions by 7.6% a year for a decade, a steeper decline than in 2020, when covid-19 cut demand for oil and coal. For America, delaying action to 2030 would nearly double the cost of reaching net zero or, more likely, mean it overshoots its targets. Yet there are grounds for hope. Although the Republican Party is against almost all action, voters are increasingly alarmed by climate change. Two-thirds of them think the federal government is doing too little about it, and that share includes plenty of younger Republicans. Although the fossil-fuel lobby remains powerful, many Republican business donors want more action—partly because asset managers are urging firms to align their strategies with the net-zero world Mr Biden envisions. Most encouraging of all, the costs of power from wind and solar have plunged by 70% and 90% over the past decade. Along with cheap gas, this has already helped America decarbonise at an impressive rate, despite Donald Trump’s rolling back of fossil-fuel regulations. Price has not been the only factor; more than half of the states have some sort of clean-energy mandate, a device that Mr Biden wants to introduce on a national scale.2

The Canada Department of the Environment and Climate Change reported on Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in 2020. Emission increases since 2005 in the oil and gas and transportation sectors have been offset by decreases in electricity and heavy industry.

After hovering between 700 and 720 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2 eq) in recent years, in 2018 (the most recent annual dataset in this report) Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased to 729 Mt CO2 eq. This increase is attributed to higher fuel consumption for transportation, winter heating and oil and gas extraction. Over the long term, Canada’s economy has grown more rapidly than its GHG emissions: the emissions intensity for the entire economy (GHG per Gross Domestic Product [GDP]) has declined by 36% since 1990 and 20% since 2005. Emission trends since 2005 remain consistent, with emission increases in the Oil and Gas and Transportation sectors being offset by decreases in other sectors, notably Electricity and Heavy Industry. The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change (adopted in 2016) puts Canada on the path towards meeting our Paris Agreement GHG emissions reduction target of 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. The Framework is a comprehensive plan to reduce emissions across all sectors of Canada’s economy, stimulate clean economic growth and build resilience to the impacts of climate change. Canada is committed to continue implementing the Framework, while working to exceed its 2030 emissions reduction goal, and developing a plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.3

Breach Media reports on a committee formed by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers ( CAPP ) and Canadian Government representatives named “Create the Path Table” to discuss regulations and creating “opportunities” post-pandemic.  Themes for discussion included advancing offshore projects in Atlantic Canada and tar sands projects in Western Canada, “cooperation in building investor confidence,” and “government industry collaboration to strengthen energy trade” with the United States.

 There was discussion of “emission reducing technologies,” hydrogen energy, and carbon capture and sequestration—several proposals promoted by oil companies that have been widely panned as false solutions perpetuating fossil fuel use. “Canada’s LNG” is referred to as an “opportunity” for the country’s climate plans, even though scientists have concluded that liquified natural gas is in fact a carbon-intensive fuel that needs to be phased out. CAPP “greatly appreciated” government engagement with industry. The oil lobby’s focus on Natural Resources Canada appears to have paid off.  In June, O’Regan announced that the government would exempt offshore drilling in Newfoundland and Labrador from federal environmental impact assessments. In September, he announced a $320 million public handout with no strings attached to Newfoundland’s offshore oil industry. That same month, O’Regan began echoing the CAPP’s talking points by touting LNG as the answer to the climate crisis and a key part of the Liberal’s “green recovery” agenda. Soon after, he reassured CEOs from Husky and Suncor that the federal government “cannot achieve Net Zero without our oil and gas sector” and that any economic recovery would involve “continued exploration” for oil off the east coast, according to a memo obtained by Greenpeace.4

Mitigation of the effects of the climate emergency on Canada is an enormous engineering challenge that will require government support of research, training, design and construction of infrastructure that meets the IPCC goals on emission reduction and supported by SCC calculations.

 

References

 

1	(2021, April 12). 2019 will be last year of emission increases in Canada, Environment .... Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canadas-last-year-for-emissions-increase-was-2019-jonathan-wilkinson/
2	(2021, February 20). How America can rid itself of both carbon and blackouts | The .... Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/02/20/how-america-can-rid-itself-of-both-carbon-and-blackouts
3	(2021, January 19). Greenhouse gas sources and sinks: executive summary 2020 .... Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/sources-sinks-executive-summary-2020.html
4	(2021, April 13). Oil lobby, Trudeau government formed secretive committee during .... Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://breachmedia.ca/oil-lobby-trudeau-government-formed-secretive-committee-during-pandemic/

Politics of our Disconnect - The Good War

 

In his book “A Good War”, Seth Klein demonstrates how wartime thinking and community efforts can be repurposed today for Canada's own Green New Deal.

A Good War

 

He has found a politics of disconnect is hampering our progress in addressing the climate emergency.

 

"We elect governments that promise climate action, they deliver underwhelming and contradictory policies, and then get replaced by right-wing governments that undo what little progress we’ve seen."1

Emma McIntosh writes that the Ontario Auditor General has issued a scathing rebuke of the Ford government’s environmental policies. Ontario has opened up protected wilderness areas for resource extraction, and two-thirds of the land in Algonquin Provincial Park can’t be considered “protected” due to commercial logging. The province also risks missing its 2030 emissions reduction target, in part because it isn’t reducing its use of fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry often does not comply with key environmental protection and public disclosure requirements, and Ontario Parks lacks the staff it needs to do its work properly, the reports found. "Any time there’s a law, the law needs to be followed," auditor general Bonnie Lysyk said Wednesday, calling the government's failure to do so "concerning." The auditor general is a non-partisan independent watchdog tasked with holding the government of the day accountable for financial responsibility and public transparency.2

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the government's actions are a threat not just to the environment, but also for the province's safety and economy. "I believe we have a moral obligation to our children to leave them a viable planet," he said. John Paul Tasker of CBC News reports that Prime Minister Trudeau has unveiled a new net-zero emissions plan to meet climate change targets. Tasker notes that some critics decry legislation that doesn't include penalties for failing to meet targets.

"Climate change remains one of the greatest challenges of our times," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters Thursday. Just like with COVID-19, ignoring the risks of climate change isn't an option. That approach would only make the costs higher and the long-term consequences worse. Canadians have been clear — they want climate action now."

Trudeau described the bill as an accountability framework that will "ensure we reach this net-zero goal in a way that gives Canadians confidence." Environmental groups celebrated the government's push to enshrine the net-zero commitment into law — but raised red flags about the plan to make 2030 the first milestone year, saying binding targets should be implemented much sooner than that.

"To be effective, the legislation will need to prioritize immediate climate action by setting a 2025 target, and ensure that all the targets we set are as ambitious as possible. We will be looking to all federal parties in the upcoming weeks to work together to strengthen this bill," said Andrew Gage, a staff lawyer with West Coast Environment Law.3

And that, friends, is my summary of the much-anticipated GHG reduction accountability act. This government does not appear to get the #ClimateEmergency We need a real emergency plan. pic.twitter.com/4mycazIMsG

— Seth Klein (@SethDKlein) November 19, 2020

 

Brad Wassink (he/him), Communications Coordinator, Citizens for Public Justice, has issued a response that celebrates Ottawa’s important move to net zero emissions.

“Through our campaigns over the years, CPJ has witnessed a real and active commitment among Canadian Christians to align their concerns and their actions,” says Willard Metzger, CPJ’s Executive Director. “People are making changes in their lifestyles that reduce consumption and emissions. Still, we know that the scale of reductions required needs an all of society approach. We are encouraged by the important step the Government of Canada has taken today.”4

 

References

 

1	Klein, Seth. (2020) A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency. Toronto, ON:ECW Press.
2	(2020, November 18). Auditor general issues scathing rebuke of Ford government's .... Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/11/17/news/auditor-general-rebuke-ford-government-environmental-policies
3	(2020, November 19). Trudeau unveils new net-zero emissions plan to meet climate .... Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/net-zero-emissions-1.5807877
4	(n.d.). Citizens for Public Justice. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://cpj.ca/cpj-celebrates-ottawas-important-move-to-net-zero-emissions/