Renewable energy sector shorted in climate control plan

Canada’s climate change plan appears to fall short when it comes to the renewable energy sector, a Toronto lawyer specializing in energy and climate change says.

Andrew Taylor, left, of Ogilvie Renault, was in North Bay Thursday addressing a conference of the Ontario Waterpower Association, held at the Clarion Resort-Pinewood Park.
Taylor was discussing the Kyoto Accord, and Canada’s plan to implement the greenhouse gas reduction treaty.

Part of the plan rewards large industrial companies with what is called offset credits if they reduce their emissions beyond their targets.

The credits can then be sold to companies that have fallen short of their targets.
But so far renewable energy hasn’t been included in the offset system.

“The message as it stand today is that the plans for implementing Canada’s climate change plan seem to be renewable energy sector short,” Taylor said.

Encourage new renewable generation
He referred to that fact as “Canada’s lost opportunity,” but couldn’t explain why the renewable energy sector was being overlooked in the Kyoto plan.

“I don’t know, I have no idea, I couldn’t even speculate,” Taylor said

But that’s not to say that the government isn’t going to come forward with “some really creative targeted measures” that will encourage new renewable generation, Taylor said.

“We’re hopeful that they will and hopefully the Ontario Waterpower Association will work with some other associations and with the federal government to create beneficial real targeted measures that will work.”

Demand and supply
Taylor was asked if the buying of emission credits would discourage large industrial companies from reducing their own emissions.

He said it depends on what the cost of an emission credit ends up being on the market.

“If the cost is going to be greater than what it cost the company to actually reduce emissions themselves, then there is going to be an incentive to reduce,” Taylor said. It’s strictly a matter of demand and supply, he added.

“We can’t say now whether or not every company can go out there and start buying their credits, because there have to be sellers, so somewhere out there companies are going to be reducing below their targets, because greenhouse gas has a global affect, the net affect will be a positive reduction.”

Progress is slow
The federal government’s blueprint for implementing the Kyoto Accord, the Climate Change Plan for Canada sets out a three-step approach for reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by 240 megatonnes.

Companies in the thermal electricity, oil and gas, and mining and manufacturing sectors, are expected to produce about half of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 2010. The plan proposes Canadian emissions be reduced to 94 per cent of 1990 emissions by 2012.

So far, Taylor said, progress towards that target is slow.
“There’s a lot of work that has to be done, and a lot of that work is going to rest on the Paul Martin government,” Taylor said.
“ I think we can still achieve our target but I think we’re going to have to really pull up our socks and start moving.”

So far though, Taylor said, Martin has been “tight-lipped” about climate change.