Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Project context at the Quebec – Ontario level
Project energy context
According to the proponent, the additional natural gas of the order of 5.2 Gm 3 on an
annual basis provided by the project would be destined to supply the Quebec and southeastern
Ontario markets. However, natural gas does not play the same role on these two
markets. The contribution of natural gas to Ontario’s total energy consumption is almost
three times higher than in the case of Quebec’s energy consumption (Table 2).
Table 2 Relative contribution to total energy consumption in Quebec and
Ontario by source (2004)
Energy source Quebec (%) Ontario (%)
Oil 38.79 37.36
Electricity 38.55 18.75
Natural gas 12.33 34.3
Biomass 9.31 4.32
Coal 1.02 5.27
Source: adapted from DB71, p. 2.
As for consumption by sector, Table 3 provides the relative contribution of natural gas
by sector of activity for Ontario and Quebec.
Table 3 Natural gas consumption in Quebec and Ontario by sector, 2004
Sector Share of total natural gas
consumption in Quebec
Share of total natural gas
consumption in Ontario
Residential 12.96% 36.3%
Commercial 36.77% 23.7%
Transportation 0.02% 4.6%
Industrial 50.25% 35.5%
Source: DB71, p. 8.
Average daily natural gas consumption in Quebec is 17.88 Mm 3 . Natural gas is mainly
used for space or water heating in the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors,
for electricity generation (Bécancour), and as raw material in the chemical and
petrochemical industries, particularly for hydrogen production. Unlike the rest of
Canada, natural gas is used very little in Quebec in the residential sector since
64 percent of demand is met with electricity (Mr. Ronald Richard, DT7, p. 86; DQ23.1;
DB78, p. 84).
Rabaska Project – Implementation of an LNG Terminal and Related Infrastructure 73