CEA in the News

Greenhouse gas emissions rise locally, despite residents' efforts

Brian Cross - Windsor Star / September 27, 2019

Windsor is going the opposite way when it comes to reining in climate change.

A first-of-its-kind City of Windsor report on community-wide greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption shows that between 2014 and 2018 emissions locally rose 7.3 per cent from 1.81 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent to 1.95 million. Meanwhile, energy consumption rose 5.9 per cent, from 39 million gigajoules to 41.3 million.

“I’ve seen the numbers and it’s not good to see our overall emissions going up, they’re going in the wrong direction,” said Derek Coronado, executive director of the Citizens Environment Alliance. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, for sure.”

This is the first report card issued after the city adopted its Community Energy Plan in 2017, with the goal of a 40 per cent decrease from 2014 levels by 2041.

“To put the community emissions into context, 2.3 million acres of forest or 27 million seedlings planted and grown for 10 years would be required to sequester the carbon emitted each year by the Windsor community,” says the report from CEP administrator Kyle Bassett, who was not surprised by the increases, since local efforts under the CEP are just getting going.

“To make the leaps and progress we were looking for, it takes some significant groundwork before full implementation of the program can be achieved,” he said Thursday.

The biggest culprit is industry, which saw emissions rise 44 per cent. That increase negated improvements in other areas such as commercial/institutional (down 16 per cent) and residential (down eight per cent). It’s encouraging that residential has declined, an indication that individuals are making environmental strides, said Bassett. It means people are lowering their thermostats in winter, running their air conditions less in summer and shopping for more energy efficient appliances.

Coronado was also encouraged by the residential improvements.

“This is the first significant performance indicator that’s come out and some trends like that are going in the right direction, but that’s being overwhelmed by some of the other negative trends,” he said.

One reason industrial emissions is going up is that more people are working than in 2014 when unemployment was three percentage points higher than 2018, said Bassett. More activity at workplaces translates into more emissions and energy consumption.

Another factor is the trend by industries to respond to rising electricity costs by converting to combined heat and power systems that use cheaper natural gas to both heat their buildings and supply electricity. These CHPs produce more heat and emissions than electricity from the grid, said Bassett, whose emission numbers are derived from information gleaned from energy companies like Enbridge Energy (Union Gas) and Enwin.

“I do certainly think where’s room for improvement in the industrial sector,” he said.

The drop in emissions by commercial and institutional buildings is also a positive sign that people expect action on climate change, said Bassett. During the four years, energy consumption dropped significantly, from 9.5 to 8.6 million gigajoules.

During the same time, Windsor’s population rose 2.9 per cent, from 211,000 to 217,185. The emissions per person, meanwhile, rose from 8.59 tonnes to 8.96 tonnes, a 4.3 per cent increase.

On-road emissions, meanwhile, increased two per cent during that time, which Bassett attributes to the growing popularity of light trucks and SUVs, which burn more gas. The environment alliance’s Coronado said on-road emissions is a good example of how government needs to get involved to help lower these numbers. Improvements to public transit and the design of neighbourhoods are needed to encourage people to use their cars less, he said.

“People are not going to stop needing to get around,” he said. And society has been dependent for so long on the convenience of fossil fuel-based vehicles, it will take a big effort to get people to switch to alternatives. “We need to do it a lot quicker than we’re doing it,” he said.

Bassett believes the next report two years from now will see improvements in residential and on-road emissions as people look for ways to save energy and electric vehicles become more popular. As an example of the reductions possible, the City of Windsor experienced a 79 per cent drop in emissions from streetlights when it switched to LED lighting. Total emissions from the corporation dropped 8.2 per cent and energy consumption dropped 5.7 per cent, as city hall launched a number of programs.

Other key initiatives either in the works or already launched include: the city’s Active Transportation Masterplan that aims to significantly increase the number of trips taken by foot, bike or bus by 2041; the review of the city’s transit system, with the hope of improving bus service so much that many more people use it; and the Deep Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program (currently being developed) which aims to retrofit 80 per cent of existing homes and businesses by 2041.

bcross@postmedia.com

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