The government of Quebec would have identified and financed 67% of the measures to achieve the objective of 37.5% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030, according to the Implementation Plan (PMO) 2024-2029, which includes for the first time a section on energy efficiency and sobriety.
At a technical briefing on Tuesday, government officials presented the fourth update of the Green Economy Plan 2030 (PEV 2030), with a record financial framework of more than $10 billion for five years.
The plan update includes:
– $4.0 billion to reduce GHG emissions in the transportation sector;
– More than $2 billion to maintain and develop the public transportation offering and its electrification and to support active transportation;
– $1.5 billion to support the acceleration of the electrification of light vehicles;
– $1.7 billion to support the decarbonization of industries and $1.5 billion to make buildings more sustainable;
– $1 billion for reducing GHG emissions by using renewable energies other than electricity.
Measures identified at 67%
The Implementation Plan “provides for fully defined and funded measures starting this year, which will allow us to reach 67% of our GHG emissions reduction target, marking an increase of seven percentage points compared to the previous edition. previous,” indicated the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette.
However, there is still a long way to go before reaching the target.
Quebec has reduced its GHGs by 9% since the reference year of 1990, while the objective for 2030 is a reduction of 37.5%.
In 1990, Quebec emitted 85.1 megatons of CO equivalent2 (Mt CO eq.2), while GHG emissions will stand at 79.1 megatons for the year 2022, according to the document presented Tuesday, or 3.1 megatons less than the pre-pandemic level of 2019.
However, this is 1.8% more than the 77.6 million released into the atmosphere in 2021.
Energy sobriety
The PMO includes for the first time a component on energy efficiency and sobriety, which has a budget of nearly $900 million for the next five years.
The PMO emphasizes that existing government programs and measures alone represent more than $786 million of these investments, and cites the ÉcoPerformance, Éconologis and Rénoclimat programs as examples.
In order to “double annual electricity savings by 2030”, the government intends to inform owners of residential buildings of the energy performance of their residence.
Also, Hydro-Québec will install high energy performance technologies, such as heat pumps, in low-rent homes.
More than $15 million will be invested to improve the energy productivity of large industries and the government “will set an example and reduce, starting next year, heating and air conditioning in its buildings with the collaboration of the Société québécoise des infrastructures.”