This Phase 1 report builds on past studies to summarize the size of Canada’s major biomass resources (forestry, agricultural, and municipal residues, landfill gas and energy crops) and for each sector identifies a number of possibilities and technologies that could be applied to this resource for energy and other potential commercial purposes.
Currently 25 US states, as well as the United States federal government and, in Canada, the province of Quebec, which have either passed or proposed legislation requiring (or setting as a goal) a certain proportion of their electricity production to come from environmentally preferable fuel sources. These pieces of legislation are most commonly referred to […]
This paper examines the different market-based mechanisms that could be used to encourage the sequestration of carbon; increase energy efficiency; and support the development and use of renewable energy sources. Market-based mechanisms in this paper refer to all mechanisms, voluntary or mandatory, that affect demand for or supply of energy and/or carbon sequestration, either through […]
The need to increase the amount of renewable generation to meet regulatory obligations as well as voluntary purchases of renewable energy by residential and commercial customers has rapidly expanded the marketplace for renewable electricity certificates (RECs). Electronic issuing and tracking systems have been developed in parts of North America, European Union and Australia to support […]
This paper explores the important methodological issues related to estimating the net air impacts of specific resources in electric systems. In addition, we describe a number of projects undertaken across North America in which the emissions benefits of new resources—both renewable projects and efficiency programs—have been estimated. Finally, we briefly explore different views of the […]
NAFTA promised the development of a green economy throughout North America. Provisions against downward harmonization, the respect for state autonomy in environmental regulation, and the creation of the Commission for Environmental Co-operation gave hope to North Americans that an environmentally sustainable trade regime was possible.
The U.S. and Canada are two important partners of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Canada, together with most industrialized countries, has ratified the Kyoto Protocol and begins implementing domestic policy measures aimed at meeting its legally binding Kyoto emissions target.
International trade policies and government intervention through subsidies and indirect forms of support influence agricultural production choices such as type of crop or livestock, mode (technology and inputs), and quantity. Such trends can result in global effects in trade level, industry structure, and production location, which in turn may affect the state of the environment. Recently, the adoption of the US Farm Bill and the launch of negotiations on agriculture in the Doha Round has brought the issue of agricultural subsidies to the forefront of trade policy discussions.
Over the last decade there has been an ongoing, extensive discussion of the environmental implications of increased competition in the electricity industry. As part of that discussion, this study examines the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) analysis of “Order 888”, a proposal to increase competition in US wholesale electricity markets by promoting open access to transmission lines.
The objective of this study is to present European siting and emission requirements for coal-fired and natural gas generating facilities, and provide an overview of the European standardization process. A summary of the functioning of the European Union is presented. Relevant organizations are identified, current trends are presented.
More than half of all the electricity in the industrialized world is produced and used in North America. The economic convergence of Canada, Mexico, and the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is combining with recently liberalized regulatory trends in all three countries to open up and encourage regional trade across national borders in this form of energy. There are great incentives for this trade to increase in decades to come; yet a fundamental question concerns the manner in which these exchanges (probably integral to economic well being and desirable living standards) have also affected and will affect the natural air-water-and-land environment of the three countries, as well as public health.
Renewable energy can contribute substantially to the entire North American electricity supply, to biomass based transport fuels and for space and hot water heating in buildings and industry. Both distributed forms of renewable energy and central large-scale technology options are possible. The manufacturing, installation and maintenance of renewable technology can create substantial employment opportunities for North America. Both wind and biomass fuels could contribute in a major way to enhancing rural economic development in all three countries.
