Canada, the Enerbyte Country of the Month

Canada is June's country of the month for a profile of its current energy system.

The country ranks 2nd globally in geographic size behind Russia, and over this vast territory lives a  population of 36 million (Statistics Canada, 2016). Canada has two official languages of French and English with the latter spoken largely in the Province of Quebec. It has an advanced technological society with a diversified, service-based economy that ranks among the world's largest.

Accordingly, the energy system developed similarly to that of other top economies of the world. Its electric grid and transportation needs are predominantly built around fossil fuel resources. The largest pieces of the pie chart below show the proportion that fossil fuels and nuclear power (~88%) play in providing for the country's energy needs, while the smallest pieces reflect the smaller role belonging to renewables (~12%).

Source: Natural Resources Canada, Energy Markets Factbook, 2014-2015.

Despite the present dominance of fossil fuels and nuclear power in Canada's energy pie, several factors have been contributing to a renewable energy revolution that may achieve near 100% renewable energy production within a generation. The video below comes from the Canadian Renewable Energy Co-Operative group, Our Power. It offers a brief explanation of what is powering Canada's energy transition.

Source: Our Power Canada, YouTube, 2016.

See you all on the 20th for the Enerbyte News^TM story of the month. I appreciate your stopping by.