PACP Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |  | Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
Canada’s Environment Commissioner found major deficiencies in government modelling of hydrogen to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
Ottawa, February 27, 2024 -
The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development found in a 2022 audit that the federal government did not correctly assess the role hydrogen could play as an energy source to reach the Government of Canada’s climate commitments.Key findings of the audit include:
- Natural Resources Canada overestimated hydrogen's potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Environment and Climate Change Canada relied on policies not yet established to demonstrate its plan would meet the government’s 2030 climate target.
- Both departments used unrealistic assumptions for modelling the potential of hydrogen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Natural Resources Canada's modelling did not consider how the supply of hydrogen and associated costs to meet projected demand would be managed and accounted for.
A report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, tabled in the House of Commons by Committee Chairman John Williamson, makes five recommendations to ensure that the Environment Commissioner’s recommendations are adequately addressed, hydrogen’s research and development costs are properly calculated and included, and that the federal government provide evidence of this to the Committee through regular progress reports.
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