Municipalities can play an important role in the decarbonization of Quebec by supporting the exit of natural gas in buildings on their territories. Across North America, more and more municipalities are mobilizing in favor of abandoning hydrocarbons, and more specifically natural gas, in buildings.
In the United States, several cities have already banned the connection of new buildings to the gas network. Closer to home, leadership came in the spring of 2022 from the City of Montreal, which pledged to require all new buildings to be “zero emissions” by 2025.
From the point of view of climate policies, the stakes are high. Natural gas is responsible for 14.3% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Quebec. Still very present for heating spaces and water in Quebec buildings, it represents 8% of energy consumption in the residential sector and 27% in the commercial and institutional sectors.
In 2019, the gas burned to heat buildings emitted 5 megatonnes (Mt) of GHGs in Quebec, or 6% of total GHG emissions, or the equivalent of what 1.6 million cars emit per year. While global warming is accelerating before our eyes and Quebec has so far systematically missed its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, removing gas from buildings would be a safe and effective way to seriously begin the decarbonization of Quebec.
The gas distributed in Quebec is 99% fossil fuel, just like oil and coal. Since Quebec is not the source of any commercial production of natural gas, what is consumed there is imported from Western Canada and the United States.
This gas comes mainly from fracking and Énergir estimates that at the moment at least 80% of the gas it distributes is unconventional. In addition, as conventional gas reserves are increasingly depleted, the share of gas from hydraulic fracturing is constantly increasing. The repercussions of fracking, particularly on water contamination, greenhouse gas emissions and the health of populations, have been widely documented.
In 2021, renewable natural gas represented less than 1% of gas volumes distributed in Québec. The little renewable gas available in Quebec should not compete with the electrification of uses, but should rather be reserved for sectors that are difficult to convert to electricity.
The solutions exist and are now mature to completely electrify the heating of buildings without overloading the network during periods of high demand. We can think in particular of the improvement of the energy performance of buildings, of incentive pricing aimed at sobriety in consumption, of heat pumps for cold climates, of heat accumulators and of geothermal energy.
Today, it is high time to abandon natural gas for the energy consumption of buildings by imposing, as soon as possible:
1. The prohibition of any connection and any installation of a gas heating appliance in new residential, commercial and institutional constructions, and;
2. The gradual abandonment of gas heaters for the entire building sector.
The decarbonization of buildings by phasing out natural gas is an essential part of the energy transition in Quebec. Municipalities will have to play a determining role in the development of the Québec regulatory framework. A report outlining their power to act in this area was also made public on Tuesday. Thus, the municipalities have the skills and must act in order to follow in the footsteps of the leadership taken by Montreal, which has yet to confirm its intentions by adopting ambitious regulations.
Current government commitments are not enough. While Quebec has committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, we must prevent our energy policies from locking us into a carbon lock. We ask the government to be proactive and to publicly and financially support municipalities committed to the climate that will take the means to quickly reduce and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.
* Also co-signed this text:
- Émile Boisseau-Bouvier, Climate Policy Analyst, Équiterre
- Jean-François Boisvert, President, Montreal Climate Coalition
- Charles Bonhomme, Public Affairs and Communications Manager, David Suzuki Foundation
- Patrick Bonin, Climate-Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace Canada
- Hugo Cordeau, PhD student in economics, University of Toronto
- Philippe Duhamel, General Coordinator, Quebec Hydrocarbon Vigilance Group (RVHQ)
- Carole Dupuis, spokesperson, UNEplanète eco-citizen movement
- Ursula Eicker, Professor at Concordia University, Co-Director of the Next Generation Cities Institute Canada Excellence Research Chair
- Simon Langlois-Bertrand, Research Associate, Trottier Energy Institute
- Jacques Lebleu, Spokesperson, Environmental Mobilization Ahuntsic-Cartierville (MEAC)
- Laurence Leduc-Primeau, Coordinator, Group of Environmental Energy Organizations (ROEE)
- Krystel Marylène Papineau, Head, Coalition Sortons la Caisse du Carbone
- Éric Pineault, professor at the Institute of Environmental Sciences – UQÀM, Scientific Director of the Resilient City Pole
- Emmanuel Rondia, Director General, Regional Council for the Environment of Montreal
- Martin Vaillancourt, Director General, National Group of Regional Environmental Councils of Quebec (RNCREQ)