Nearly 50% of the energy consumed in Quebec is lost, notes the BCF and Quadrat firm in a report revealed this Monday during the publication of the Quebec Economic Barometer.
“Energy inefficiency remains a major challenge in Quebec,” indicate the authors of the study, a team headed by economist François Delorme. The main sectors responsible for this inefficiency are transport (34%), large industries (23%) and buildings (15%).
To reduce losses, the authors recommend that Quebec devote more efforts to the “least efficient” sector, that of transportation.
Several solutions could be deployed, according to them, including tightening standards, implementing tax measures to reduce fuel consumption and discourage the purchase of vehicles as well as incentives to encourage carpooling and public transportation.
An observation that comes at a time when total energy demand has been more or less stable since 1995, unlike the increase observed elsewhere in the country. The third largest consumer in Canada, Quebec has lower energy demand than its Ontario neighbor. On this level, everything remains a question of perspective, because per capita consumption remains higher in Quebec than in Ontario.
While the government and Hydro-Québec discuss the need to increase electricity production to meet high demand during winter peaks, the report emphasizes that Quebec has “a notable energy production capacity”.
However, if current infrastructure meets current needs, “a significant increase in demand for renewable energy” is expected in the coming years.
Specific elements will stimulate demand, generating “considerable investments”, estimate the authors of the study. First, there is Quebec’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Then, Quebec hopes that the province’s automobile fleet will be made up of 85% electric vehicles by 2030.
” These projects […] will lead to a significant increase in electricity demand. Although Quebec produces the vast majority of renewable energy, it remains a large consumer of fossil fuels, representing 55% of the final energy used,” we read in the study.
Having the largest electricity production capacity in the country, Quebec produced 94% of its electricity from hydroelectric power stations, in 2019, from 62 hydroelectric power stations. With a capacity of 4,300 MW, wind electricity represented approximately 5% of the province’s total production. “This capacity should be sufficient to meet energy demand in the short term,” it is said.