RNNR Committee Report

During the 39^th Parliament, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources examined different energy issues, mainly related to energy supply. The Committee tabled a report on the oil sands, conducted hearings on the greening of electricity in Canada, and discussed forestry biomass in its report on the forest sector. In this Parliament, the Committee has decided to advance its study of energy issues by examining downstream energy supply and use, particularly at the community level.

Communities represent about 50 percent of Canada’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.[1] According to Alan Meier, Associate Director of the Energy Efficiency Centre at UC Davis, the choice of energy policies in North America over the last 30 years has been largely influenced by a lack in knowledge and education regarding emerging energy supply and demand issues.[2] Bob Oliver, Executive Director of Pollution Probe, confirms that the current non-integrated approaches “suffer from an inability to respond creatively to energy crises and climate change.”[3] Providing the future energy needs of a growing Canadian population in a carbon constrained economy and achieving the federal government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 to 70 percent by 2050 are major challenges that cannot be resolved entirely with conventional energy systems.[4]

As Martin Lee-Gosselin, professor at Laval University, explains, contemporary energy efficient products and services offer multiple innovative opportunities that may “resonate with people who are ripe for change…”[5] The integration of these opportunities, in consideration of both energy supply and consumption, is the principal inquiry behind the Committee’s study, based on the underlying concept that integrated energy planning is an effective approach to supporting efficient and resilient patterns of energy supply and demand; diversifying economic opportunities; generating employment; reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and establishing more sustainable communities with an improved overall quality of life.[6]

In view of the challenges and opportunities regarding energy management and climate change mitigation, the Committee has conducted a study of integrated energy systems over the course of eight weeks, by hearing from a wide-range of Canadian and international witnesses from the energy industry, academia, and the public and private sectors. This report concludes the Committee’s study, and brings forward nine recommendations, based on evidence from a wide-range of expertise.