City report finds drops in energy consumption and emissions since 2005
On Wednesday, Nov. 6, the City of Guelph released its Energy Emissions and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions report for 2012. The report shows significant decreases in both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions per capita over the last seven years in Guelph despite a reported population growth of 21.7 per cent in the same time period.
The report shows that energy consumption has decreased by 26.3 per cent per capita, and a GHG emission decrease of 17.6 per cent per capita since 2005. The report is released annually and is put together using data collected by the City of Guelph with assistance from Guelph Hydro. The report breaks down energy consumption and GHG emissions into five sectors: residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and community waste. It also outlines five different sources energy consumption and GHG emissions: electricity, natural gas, diesel, gasoline, and municipal solid waste.
Across the five sectors, transportation consistently remains Guelph’s highest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, contributing about 30 per cent of the emissions since 2006.
The total GHG emissions have dropped across all sectors since 2006, including a 5.2 per cent reduction in this past year. The sectors that saw the largest decrease were the residential (10.2 per cent decrease) and commercial sectors (11.7 per cent decrease), which together reduced carbon emissions by over fifty thousand cubic tonnes since 2011. The waste management sector has decreased emissions by 43.6 per cent since 2006, a success largely attributable the new organic composting facility.
With respect to the emission sources, natural gas accounts for almost half of the GHG emissions in Guelph (47 per cent). Natural gas saw a 7.9 per cent decrease in emissions last year, with 11.7 per cent and 13.9 per cent reductions in the residential and commercial sectors respectively. Gasoline was the next highest contributor to the emissions at 29 per cent, followed by electricity at 22 per cent. Electricity saw an increase from 2011 – the largest contribution being from the industrial sector – but was only up about 2 per cent since the last report. The increase in electricity use was attributed to the weather of this past year. Although the usage increased, emissions from electricity were still down by 3.6 per cent overall. The decrease in emissions has been accounted for by the phasing out of coal in favor of natural gas, as well as the increased use of wind energy since 2011.
“This being our third annual report, our progress is evident. Together we are creating a more resilient economy and a healthier community by increasing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Robb Kerr, Corporate Manager of Community Energy for the City of Guelph, about the progress outlined in the report.
The progress that the City of Guelph has seen in both its energy reductions and GHG emission reductions is thanks largely to the Community Energy Initiative, started by the city back in 2007. It is composed of a variety of community and corporate partners, including Union Gas, Guelph Hydro and the University of Guelph. The goals of the initiative are to decrease Guelph’s overall energy consumption by 50 per cent, using the emissions of 2005 as a benchmark. The initiative’s other goals include having lower energy consumption among comparable Canadian cities, having less GHG emissions per capita than the global average, achieving a 40 per cent decrease in energy during the “summer peak,” and having 25 per cent of the city’s energy provided by local renewable resources.
Mayor Karen Farbridge said this about the report:
“Riding bicycles to work or school, putting organic waste in green bins, reducing usage of air conditioning, installing solar panels – clearly everyone is doing their part to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases to improve our environmental footprint.”
The report indicates that although there is progress being made towards the city’s distant 2031 goals, there is still much work to be done. The report urges more people to be conscious of their emissions from transportation, and recognizes that the city’s goal to have a quarter of its energy locally supplied from renewable resources is still far from complete – as of now, it comprises only 0.23 per cent of the city’s energy. However, thanks in part to the Community Energy Initiative, the city has seen a 78 per cent increase in the sale of hybrid cars and has built three kilometers of bike lanes as part of its “Bicycle-Friendly Guelph” program, which hopes to aide the transportation sector with the emissions report next year. In addition, the city has been making efforts to install more solar panels on roofs. It plans to achieve its one thousandth solar rooftop later this year.