With the UN’s COP28 Conference wrapped up, the challenge to wean the global economy off fossil fuels becomes clear. For its part, Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced a framework plan to cut emissions in the oil and gas sector by 35 to 38 per cent by 2050 compared to 2019 levels.
Negative reaction from provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan to such a framework is hardly surprising, given the outsized role fossil fuels play in their respective economies. It demonstrates the difficulty of delivering top-down mandates in a country where regional authorities have specific legislative powers.
The same could be said for the United States. The powers granted to individual states and the influence of the fossil fuel industry leaves North America well behind Europe in terms of carbon reduction measures, particularly the manner by which homes and building interiors and appliances are fuelled.
For example, the German cabinet approved a bill in April banning most new oil and gas heating systems starting in 2024, and agreeing that almost all newly installed heating systems in the country should run on 65 per cent renewable energy from 2024, both in new and old buildings. Ireland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have passed legislation that already, or will very soon, ban oil and gas from all buildings.
Will Canada’s promised oil and gas industry emissions cutbacks trickle down to restrictions on fossil fuel consumption in Canadian homes and commercial buildings? It’s far from clear. Nothing resembling a national mandate is on the horizon.
It’s important for project developers to understand which way the tide is flowing on this issue when planning utilities and infrastructure for future projects. Perhaps the smart bet might be to acknowledge the incoming wave of fossil fuel restrictions and to embrace the move towards electrification.
In fact, the future direction of natural gas consumption is indicated by those individual municipalities which have moved ahead with their own bans on new gas installations in order to encourage electrification.
As reported in La Presse, Montreal will begin banning gas-powered appliances such as heating systems, stoves and water heaters for swimming pools and spas in new buildings, beginning with those three floors or less built after Oct. 1, 2024, and with a maximum of 600 square metres. The ban shifts to larger buildings after April 1, 2025. Only minor exceptions are permitted.
In British Columbia, the municipalities of Nanaimo, Saanich and Victoria have adopted bans or restrictions on new natural gas connections, some as early as 2024, as part of their adoption of the B.C. Zero Carbon Step Code.
Vancouver had proposed similar measures, but rejected them in May in the face of strong resistance from several interested parties. Concerns included higher costs for electrification and cultural considerations in terms of cuisine and food preparation. Some concerns went even further.
“It’s vital to remember that the gas grid is an essential ally in our transition to renewable energy,” Resource Works Society founder Stewart May wrote in the ORCA. “Dismissing it as a relic of the fossil-fuel era is a costly mistake, one that could even stymie the city’s renewable energy goals.”
The scatter-gun approach encouraging a shift from fossil fuels to electricity for space and water heating resonates in the United States.
New York became the first state to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in most new buildings, passing a law earlier this year requiring most new buildings to be zero-emissions starting in 2026, with larger buildings coming into compliance in 2029. In California and Washington States, measures have been enacted encouraging increased electrification in homes and buildings through local building codes.
However, natural gas bans are a divisive issue across the country. A law adopted in Massachusetts in 2022 allowing 10 cities and towns to participate in a pilot program banning gas-burning stoves and furnaces from new construction was struck down by the state’s attorney general. At least 22 other states have passed anti-natural gas ban measures.
John Bleasby is a Coldwater, Ont.-based freelance writer. Send comments and Climate and Construction column ideas to editor@dailycommercialnews.com.
It is counter productive and not in the best interests of a country to follow policy of other countries which have vastly different natural resources. A nation’s ability to be a leader and globally competitive requires intelligent use of all natural resources.