Rob's Ramblings

 The electrification landscape in BC has changed dramatically recently and many people are not aware of how much it has changed. Only a few years ago the official word from BC Hydro  was that we had plenty of electricity generation in BC - especially with Site C coming online.  But in the last two years BC Hydro has begun to discuss the need for more distributed generation as we electrify building heat and transportation. This winter the need for additional generation became more urgent as drought across Western North American meant that hydro-electricity might not be as available as it has been in the past.  Policy makers are now starting to think about rolling back electrification incentives.  Fossil Fuel lobbyists are exploiting the current situation to call for an increase in GHG emissions (see: https://www.straight.com/city-culture/bc-needs-affordable-dependable-energy-choices ) This is going to make it harder to meet our climate change targets.  Of co...

This graphic gets several things wrong. First it assumes that Canadian forests are a CO2 sink. But in fact they have been a CO2 source for several years (in other words they are emitting more CO2 than they absorb). The data to support this is publicly available: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/report/disturbance/16552 More obvious is the fact the graphic also assumes a misunderstanding of how the carbon cycle and emission reporting works. The graphic claims that Canada produces 559 Mt of CO2 (the actual number is closer to 700) but the number reported for CO2 emissions is not the total CO2 released in Canada. It is just the amount from post-industrial sources. Animals (including humans) all release CO2 as part of natural processes. These are not counted in the emissions reporting because they have no affect on global warming. They have no affect because the CO2 is absorbed by plants (including Canada's boreal forests). During per-indus...

On April 20th BC Hydro announced changes to the net-metering program. The announcement was made late on a Friday afternoon, which is when one makes announcements that you hope the public and media will ignore. About 95% of the projects under net-metering are solar energy (photovoltaic) projects. The immediate change would limit the size of projects based on the utility customer's electrical consumption in the prior year. It would also end the payment for excess annual power. This change won't have a major affect on new participation since most projects would fall below this threshold. What is more worrisome is the contents of the submission to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) which will need to approve the change.  In the submission it is clear that BC Hydro thinks that there is already too much enrolment in the net-metering program.  And they state they will further review the program and make another submission to the BCUC before the end of the year. Reading ...

 My thoughts on BC's Climate Consultation: It is not honest to say that BC is a world leader with our carbon tax when some jurisdictions have a tax that is 500% higher and have seen much greater reductions in GHG emissions.  The evidence from full life cycle analysis of our governments approach to LNG indicates that it will create a disastrous increase in GHG emissions. The continued prioritizing of adding new road infrastructure instead of public transit is also have a significant negative affect on climate stabilization. You can comment here: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/climateleadership/

23 kW solar array in Delta, BC Blair King's recent blog post  (August 17th Huffpost British Columbia) “Dispelling Some Myths About British Columbia's Energy Picture” attempted to create a more complete picture of BC's energy use.  He makes an important point that we need to move beyond rhetoric about renewable energy and focus on practical solutions based on quantitative analysis. Unfortunately, King made some miscalculations and inaccurate statements in his piece. He is correct that electricity is only part of the picture when it comes to BC energy use.  King points out that gas and diesel accounts for about 78,000 GWh of energy.  But he then incorrectly assumes that if we converted all these vehicles to electric the consumption would be the same.  Electric vehicles are about 80% efficient compared to 20% efficiency for internal combustion engines.  So if we converted all vehicles to electric it would account for only about 19,000 GWh of electrical c...

My response to an interview with Dan Miller on CBC Radio's The 180: Your interview with Dan Miller contained more misinformed views than I have probably heard in any single interview. I am resident of Vancouver who is very much opposed to new LNG infrastructure, new pipelines and new coal exports. But that doesn't mean I don't understand the resource industries. I was born in northern BC. My family has worked in resource industries for generations. I have worked for oil refineries in this region and in the tar sands in Alberta. He claims that my position is simply an “emotional” argument. But it is not. It is based firmly in science. The science is clear that we need to reduce green-house gas emissions by 80-90%. That means that it makes no sense to build any new fossil fuel infrastructure. On the other hand his arguments were entirely emotional with no evidence offered to support his position. He claims that those opposed to expanding fossil ...

The official transcript is at: https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/ll-eng/livelink.exe?func=ll&objId=914749&objAction=Open I have made small edits for clarity. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for listening. In 1827, over 180 years ago, a French scientist, Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier, wrote a paper that helped us understand how our planet works. It was based on earlier experiments by a Swiss scientist, deSaussure. In 1896, Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist, building on that paper developed a formula that allowed him to calculate exactly how much temperatures would rise based on the CO2 that we put into our atmosphere. That was 117 years ago. We’ve had 117 years of experiments, data collection, research, measurement and even more precise calculations and yet, from what I understand, this Panel is not even going to fully consider the impact of that science and this project. Anthropogenic global warming has been called the most peer-reviewed project in the histo...

- Transportation is one of the highest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in our regions so it is important to shift to less polluting modes. - Metro Vancouver with a transit modal share of only 13% lags behind many world class cities that have modal shares of 40-60%. - Zurich has achieved a transit modal share of 63% by keeping fares relatively low (a one zone monthly fare card is about 40% less than one in Vancouver). - Private automobiles are subsidized by about 6 billion dollars per year in our region. - The subsidies that to go automobiles should be shifted to transit. This would provide long term stable funding for the service and reduce the need for fare increases.

A carbon tax can offers a significant opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate innovative economic activity.  However, evidence would suggest that the carbon tax must be priced appropriately. I believe that the carbon tax in BC is currently priced too low and needs to be raised significantly.  The net price of natural gas including the carbon tax is now less than it was before the carbon tax was introduced in 2008.   This means that it has not created any significant economic incentive for users to reduce consumption and switch to other energy sources.  And it has made it difficult for businesses to create innovative alternatives to fossil fuels. Sweden  has a carbon tax of over $100 per ton and has demonstrated success in reducing its emissions. We should be raising our carbon tax to at least that level to make BC a leader in innovative sustainability solutions.

IMGP7458 , a photo by Rob__ on Flickr. On May 5, 2012 citizens blocked a BNSF rail line in White Rock, BC. As a result 6 trains carrying coal to a west coast shipping port were delayed or cancelled. Over a dozen people were arrested including two SFU professors (one a Noble Prize winner) and one former Vancouver City Councillor (also a medical doctor). Via Flickr:

The Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline has been a hot topic here in BC. And one question that often arises is "What are the realistic alternatives?" The science is clear that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80-90% (these calculations are detailed in the first two chapters of George Monbiot's book Heat ). Which means we need to reduce fossil fuel use dramatically. And that means that simply refining the crude oil in Alberta or using trucks to ship it instead of a pipeline are NOT viable alternatives. So, I have attempted to produce a quick summary of realistic alternatives. This is just a quick summary - an entire book could easily be written on this subject. Please note that all these alternatives are realistic and proven.  They are already being used by communities, individuals and businesses around the world.  They do not rely on some new technology that has not been invented yet. Transportation: • Redesign urban areas with dense mixed use commu...

Oulu, Finland sounds like an interesting place.  A subarctic climate   but with more than 500 km of bike routes (mostly separated).  Vancouver is at about 400 km, most not separated.  And their modal share for cycling is between 20 and 37 %.  If Vancouver is going to be the world's greenest city we need to catch up with cities like Oulu.  Unfortunately some of those candidates running for mayor want us to fall further behind. [ photo courtesy   City of Oulu , Finland ]

One of the big news stories here in Vancouver this morning is the announcement of a funding proposal for the long delayed Evergreen line. Rather than focus on the benefits of expanding cleaner transportation options most of the media seems focused on the two cent gasoline tax increase that will be used to fund the project.  CBC radio is encouraging drivers to phone in and complain about the tax. But there is no mention of the fact that driving is highly subsidized here in the Lower Mainland.  Reports by Metro Vancouver and the provincial Ministry of Transport estimate the subsidy to be as much as 6 billion dollars per year.  It is unlikely that this small tax increase will come close to covering that subsidy. There is broad consensus that we need to make significant cuts to our greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions.  Both the provincial government and some municipalities have set targets of 80%.  With transportation being the largest source of ghg emissions in...

Canada's latest greenhouse gas emission inventory report was quietly released this week.  The numbers are from 2009 (it takes over a year to compile the numbers and for some reason Canada seems to be about a month behind most other nations). The release came only a few days after BC's new premier Christy Clark had announced her commitment to BC's "leadership" on climate change.  So, how do the numbers reflect this "leadership"? At first glance the 2009 emissions numbers for BC look hopeful.  They are down 3.3% compared to the previous year.  But is this decrease the result of macro economic factors in 2009 or good public policy?  It appears it would be the economics - emissions actually declined for every Canadian province during 2009.   In fact, BC was the third WORST province in annual percentage change between 2008 and 2009.  Only Saskatchewan and Quebec preformed worse (To be fair to Quebec their emissions are actually below 1990 levels - BC's ...

Earth Day is usually about rallies in parks, maybe some tree planting and recently corporate sponsored events.  But residents in Metro Vancouver took things to another level this Earth Day when they took direct action against climate change. The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the Metro Vancouver region is transportation.  Despite this fact the provincial government is in the middle of several large highway expansion projects.  On April 22nd a group of local residents began occupation of a highway construction site.  They have set up tents, barricades, an outdoor kitchen, toilet facilities, a solar power centre and appear to there for the long term. About 25 are currently camped out, vowing to stay and stop the freeway they call a ‘climate crime.’ "Gateway's goal with the South Fraser Perimeter Highway is to triple truck traffic. What they don't tell you is that means triple the pollution, too," says North Delta resident Richelle Giberson. "I...

The StopThePave Earth Day Action has inspired a serious of tweets from Dan at http://bctrucker.com/ Unfortunately these tweets promulgate myths about greenhosue gas (ghg) emissions and transportation.  I guess there is still a lot of work to be done to educate the public around these issues.  And in that spirit here are some of those myths: 1. Building more highways will reduce congestion, fuel consumption and ghg emissions.   There is no evidence to support this idea. In fact, the evidence all points to highway expansion increasing emissions.  The proponents of the SFPR and the other gateway program projects even admit this in their own documentation. The provincial government studies, conducted as part of the Environmental Assessment Process, project an increase of 176,000 tonnes per year in greenhouse gas emissions ( http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/epic/documents/p247/d24666/1189031210771_a472fd1478e9414c83aed4d70a214df5.pdf ). Gordon Price of UBC has iss...

In the ten years leading up to 2009 Copenhagen reduced CO2 emissions by 20% ( 40% since 1990 ).  During that time the cycling modal share increased by over 19% and the amount of "cycle tracks" (segregated bike lanes) increased by over 9%.  Copenhagen found that adding cycle tracks to a road section resulted in a 20% increase in cycling.

Certain elements in the Vancouver media are trying to create opposition to the plans for the Hornby bike lane.  Critics often claim that Vision, the current political party in power, has pushed forward bike lanes in an "aggressive" manner with a disregard for public process. Ironically as the NPA leaning blog CityCaucus.com points out , the previous NPA government actually created more bike routes during its tenure. Some of these were simply bike routes that shared the road with vehicles.   But there were many actual bike lanes that gave a distinct strip of pavement to bikes.  Many were downtown and some removed parking and/or lanes for motor vehicles.  Examples of bike lanes introduced before Vision took power include: - Burrard Street - Hornby Street - Pacific - Carrall Street - Homer - Richards - Pacific - Beatty - 41st - 49th But from what I remember in most cases there was LESS pre-construction communication and public process for these cha...

With recent announcements of investment in cycling infrastructure some are predicting economic disaster if Vancouver reduces the number of light duty vehicles on the road.  The table below compares transportation modal share in Vancouver with other selected cities. All of these cities have significantly less personal car use than Vancouver.  In many cases it is less than half.  Are these cities suffering economically? city country walking cycling public transport private motor vehicle Vancouver Canada 12% 4% 25% 58% Metro Vancouver Canada 11% 2% 13% 74% New York City US 8% 1% 54% 32% Bern Switzerland 11% 11% 54% 24% Zürich Switzerland 8% 5% 63% 25% Copenhagen Denmark 6% 36% 29% 26% Berlin Germany 30% 13% 26% 31% Stockholm Sweden 15% 7% 43% 33% Dresden Germany 24% 17% 21% 38% Helsinki Finland 12% 6% 40% 41% München Germany 9% 8% 41% 41% Aarhus Denmark 7% 27% 19% 43% Bilbao Spain 23% 0% 34% 43% Frankfurt Germany 11% 7% 39% 43% ...