Electricity
How much greenhouse gas emissions are associated with your use of electricity
depends on where you are in Canada. In Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia, if
you are using electricity from the main provincial grid, the amount of fossil fuels
burned to produce electricity ranges from zero to negligible. On the other hand,
in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Alberta, electricity is produced predominantly from
the burning of coal. Therefore, in your attempt to reduce your carbon emissions
by 10% in 2010, keep that in mind. Shifting from carbon based transportation or
heating fuels to carbon-free electricity may be a worthwhile endeavour, if you
live in the right place.
Until I get back to writing about electricity savings for this site, you can
start with what I have written previously on
how to reduce
your electricity use and your electricity bill.
Personal Transportation
As most of us use gasoline, diesel or propane fuel for our direct transportation,
even on public transit buses, finding ways to cut back on our fuel use is the
biggest win. Start here to find ways to
save on your fuel consumption.
Do you think cycling is the answer? The meat engine (human power) is not particularly
efficient, and the story of how much energy we use to fuel ourselves is a nightmare.
If you can source electricity from non-carbon sources, and figure out how to keep
batteries alive (it takes knowledge and discipline), an
electric bike might be a better
way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Humans doing work emit carbon dioxide.
Human powered cycling may be great for your health and boast other advantages.
But when it comes to reducing GHGs, an electric motor doesn't produce them, and is
still quiet, takes up the same space as a regular bicycle, and is more energy-efficient.
More to come over the course of 2010.
Space Heating
We Canadians spend a lot of money burning a lot of fossil fuels to heat our
buildings. Want to reduce the amount you burn and spend, and turn into GHGs?
I have written quite a few tips on how to
reduce your heating bill. This also includes tips on how to reduce your
water heating bill.
Your tax dollars paid for this publication,
Keeping the Heat In
so why not read it and get your money's worth? Full of ideas on how to improve your
home to reduce your energy bills. (If that link doesn't work,
try this one.)
Water Use
Canadians typically undervalue fresh water. We are profligate in our use of
subsidized drinking quality water. We essentially ignore the energy used to move it
from sources to our taps, and all the processing of it to render it potable, and to
treat the resulting waste water so it becomes less of an environmental hazard.
Using less water means using less energy, and slows the depletion of the fossil
aquifers that many of us rely on for our water. Interested in reducing your water
consumption now? OK, how about if I mention that municipal water rates have typically
risen by about 10% in Canada annually in recent years.
Save water, save money,
save the environment, reduce GHGs: here's how. [Disclosure: it's a commercial
message (mine), but there is good information in there.]
More water-related information to come over the course of 2010; it takes time.
Availability of fresh water is going to be one of the leading issues in years
to come as the global climate destabilizes. This
McKinsey report on the future of water gives a taste of what is likely to come.
As an example, consider the current situation in Australia. According to the video
on the McKinsey report page, Australia now has only 30% of the water available for
use that it did 10 years ago!
This Science Daily article is titled "Water Scarcity In Southeast Australia Started
15 Years Ago".
Consider this article on
"The Big Dry" - the current drought in Australia, and whether it may serve as
a blueprint for the Canadian western prairies if we continue ignore the water
issue in that area.
After a summer (2009) of abnormally high rainfall in most of central and eastern
Canada, it's hard to imagine this becoming an issue. However, too little rainfall
or too much, they are both symptoms of changes to climate patterns that have been
stable for millennia, recognizable in a human lifespan.
Feedback
Did you find the information here helpful? Agree? Disagree? Looking for something more?
Does something deserve more coverage? Please
let me know,
and I will try to help with future additions to the page.