National network of researchers assesses Canada’s energy future

A new report co-authored by 71 researchers from across Canada, including Professor Dror Etzion of Desautels, examines how Canada could transition to low-carbon energy systems, while remaining globally competitive.

The independent paper, written at the invitation of Natural Resources Canada and entitled, Re-Energizing Canada: Pathways to a Low-Carbon Future, provides independent academic input to Generation Energy, a national dialogue on Canada’s path to a low-carbon future launched by Natural Resources Canada on April 21, 2017.

According to the scholars, Canada should shift from being an oil producing country to become a low carbon energy leader. They argue that Canada can accelerate the move toward a low-carbon economy by reducing overall energy demand through energy efficiency and conservation, increasing electrification and switching to low-carbon-emitting sources of electricity and progressively replacing high-carbon petroleum-based fuels with low-carbon ones.

“With its uniquely vast endowment of renewable energy resources, Canada can seize the global low-carbon energy transition as an opportunity to build a major new economic engine for the country,” according to the volunteer network of scientists, engineers and social scientists who compiled the 60-page paper. 

The report also underscores the importance that science and research must play in informing the public policy debate on Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy. The study constitutes an important contribution to the range of views and opinions on how Canada can create the affordable energy and innovative jobs that Canadians want.