Promoting Green Power in Canada - Centre for Human Settlements

Promoting Green Power in Canada Pollution ProbeA 10% increase of non-large hydrorenewables has been projected tovirtually offset its extra cost through areduction in natural gas pricescaused by reduced demand.2.3 A Comparison of Definitions ofGreen Energy Sources2.3.1 An Overview of Current Practicesfrom Around the WorldTable 2.2 provides an overview of greenpower definitions used throughout the world(see Appendix D for more detail on the US).There is a lot of agreement concerning solar,wind and geothermal. Large hydro issometimes included, sometimes not. Thereis no agreement as to where the borderbetween small and large hydro should be.Most controversy, however, exists withrespect to waste-related sources: waste-toenergyis sometimes included, landfill gas isoften included as well, and there aredifferent definitions of biomass energy. Forexample, the Canadian draft guidelines forrenewable low-impact electricity require thatcertain management and social andenvironmental pre-assessment rules befollowed. Ocean energy is only rarelymentioned, less because it is not eligible, butrather because the technology is not veryprevalent. 3 In some cases, CHP is admittedas “green” energy. Texas regulations, forexample, define natural gas as a green energysource. Biomass energy is generally admittedas renewable. As biomass is defined as a fuelderived from living matter, the Netherlandsadmit both landfill gas, which is formedthrough biological decomposition of wastein landfills, and the organic fraction ofmunicipal waste (about 50%) as renewablepower sources. This idea has also found itsway into the European Renewable EnergyDirective, passed in October 2001. Theprivate US Green-e program also certifieswaste-to-energy as “renewable” in stateswhere this is permitted, but waste-to-energyhas been banned for Green-e sales in theMid-Atlantic states (PA, NJ, DE, MD). 4Energy savings (negawatts) are sometimesalso admitted as “green energy,” for examplein Australia. The fact that thermal solar isoften not mentioned in the documents thatwere evaluated for this comparison shouldnot be seen as excluding it, but rather it isignored as a little used resource.2.3.2 Definitions from Legislation andOther Pertinent DocumentsCanadian DefinitionsThe following definitions for ‘alternative useelectricity’ and ‘renewable’ are quotes fromthe draft Canadian Guideline on RenewableLow-Impact Electricity [ECP-79], which iscurrently being discussed in the context ofthe Environmental Choice logo:Alternative-use electricity: electricitygenerated from the installation of asupplemental process and/or equipment toalter and/or add to the processes of anexisting operation in order to generateelectricity from a renewable energy source.The existing operation must not have beenoriginally designed or intended for electricitygeneration, nor have had any processes inplace at the time of commissioning thatwould have facilitated electricity generation.Although biogas-fuelled electricity is a formof alternative-use electricity, it is defined as aseparate category by this guideline.Renewable: replenished through naturalprocesses or through sustainablemanagement practices so that a resource is notdepleted at current levels of consumption.12