Transcript Energy Issues in Canada

GRADE 9 CANADIAN
GEOGRAPHY
RECAP: WHAT ARE OUR ENERGY
SOURCES?
RECAP: HOW DO WE USE ENERGY?
CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
• Conventional energy: sources of
energy that are not renewable and
ecologically hazardous
– Coal
– Petroleum
– Nitrogen
– Natural gas
• Mainly Fossil Fuels (except
hydropower)
CANADA’S ENERGY CONSUMPTION
AND PRODUCTION
• Canada is the 5th largest producer in the world
1.
Russia
2.
China
3.
U.S.
4.
Saudi Arabia
5.
Canada
• Canada is the 8th largest consumer in the world (depends on who you ask and statistics you use)
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
• What does non-renewable mean?
CANADA’S HABITS
WHAT IS CANADA’S OVERALL TREND?
• Oil usage is decreasing domestically (here in Canada)
• Much oil is being exported (still part of the problem)
• Hydroelectricity is our greatest energy producer but we are STILL using oil the most
CANADA AND OUR ISSUES
• Canada is the source of a lot of different energy forms
due to the vast land and the northern territories
• Makes a lot of profit from exporting energy sources
– Energy sectors account for 6.8% of Canada’s GDP in 2002
• All of Canada contributes to the production of energy
– Ontario produces mostly Nuclear energy
• We are the third most important resource base for oil
behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela
• The energy sector provided direct employment for 264
000 people in 2010, or 1.8 percent of employment in
Canada
NUCLEAR POWER
• Nuclear technology can provide energy without the air pollutants
and greenhouse gas emissions produced by fossil fuels. The largest
and currently unresolved environmental problem concerns nuclear
waste
• Radioactive waste
– There is currently no safe way to dispose of it
– Could last for up to 250, 000 years
– Pickering reactor #4 had a heavy water leak in April 1996 that
released radioactive tritium into Lake Ontario, contaminating drinking
water supplies
• Extremely expensive
– The last plant constructed in Ontario, Darlington, was budgeted at
$3.4 billion but ended up costing $15 billion when it was finally
completed in the mid-1980s
HYDROELECTRICITY
• Alberta oil sands uses 3 barrels of water for every barrel of
bitumen mined
• Energy is used to purify and transport water, while water is used
to create energy
• “We’ve had five or six generations of the national myth
of a limitless supply. We’re considered around the world
as one of the most egregious water wasters, because we
have it.”
• Hydro dams may not be able to always depend on upstream
glaciers to fill their reservoirs due to climate change (melting of
the glaciers)
• “Water and energy are interlinked and they depend on each
other.”
• From Global News Article: Canada must start linking water,
energy issues: scientist
– http://globalnews.ca/news/1876109/canada-must-start-linking-waterenergy-issues-scientist/
OIL- PIPELINES
• Trudeau has approved for 2
major pipelines from Alberta to
Pacific coast
– Easier for exporting
– Increase the amount of oil
transportation significantly
• Opposition from indigenous
peoples
– “Justin Trudeau has broken his
promises for real climate
leadership, and broken his
promise to respect the rights
of Indigenous peoples.”
• He has put a ban on oil tanking
off the coast of B.C.
OIL SANDS- ALBERTA
• The Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada, are a very large source of
bitumen, which can be upgraded to synthetic crude oil
• Many environmental issues linked to it- Video
… SO WHAT HAPPENS IF WE KEEP
USING THESE RESOURCES IN THE WAY
THAT WE ARE?
WHAT CAN WE DO?
• Use cleaner, renewable resources
• “Canada, the second largest country in the world by area, is richly endowed with renewable
energy, including wind, solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal and marine (e.g. tidal, wave energy)
sources. With the right policies, Canada can use renewable energy to satisfy its energy needs
and become a world leader in sustainable technologies.”- David Suzuki
• Some countries have learned how to treat waste water in ways that generate energy to offset
that used in the treatment
– This solution saves money by making more efficient use of both water and power
WHAT IS CANADA DOING?
• From the Canadian Energy Strategy (2015)
– Commits the provinces and territories to help get oil pipelines built – but contains little concrete
action on climate change
– A promise for all provinces and territories to set absolute targets for cutting greenhouse gases
– Ontario closed its coal-fired power plants
– Quebec implemented a cap-and-trade system on carbon emissions
– British Columbia has brought in a carbon tax
– Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia have all managed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, but
Alberta and Saskatchewan have seen major increases