We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q: I understand Canada has the largest peat reserves in the world. Is peat used in Canada for biomass-fuelled electricity generation?

A: Peat consists of partially decayed plant material, such as trees, shrubs and marsh grasses, that accumulates in wetlands where acidic and anaerobic conditions inhibit decomposition. Under the heat and pressure of burial, peat transforms into lignite coal. As the depth of burial increases, over time lignite metamorphoses into higher grades of coal.

At 1,100,000 square kilometres, Canada does have the largest peat reserves in the world, roughly 45 per cent of global supply. Peat bogs are found in every province and territory, with the majority being in Northwest Territories, Ontario and Manitoba. However, Canada does not use peat as biomass fuel for commercial generation of electricity.

There are a couple of reasons for this. Peat bogs provide various wetland functions. They filter water; they provide habitat for animals, and they act as a carbon sink in much the same way forests take up carbon. Dry harvesting of peat involves draining the peat bog, which can significantly hamper, or even destroy, the peat bog’s ability to perform these functions.

Until recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considered peat to be a fossil fuel because it is a precursor to coal. However, because peat is formed from growing organic matter and, if properly managed is, according to the European Parliament “a long-term renewable energy source”, the IPCC now places it its own category – not quite biomass but not fossil fuel either.

The fact is, like biomass, peat is carbon neutral. This means that the carbon dioxide taken up by the plant while growing is released after the plant dies. Whether the plant is left to decay or if it is burned, the same amount of carbon dioxide is released.

Peat is used extensively in northern Europe as a fuel for heating and generating electricity, particularly in Finland and Ireland.

A newer harvesting method, wet harvesting, is much less destructive and is being tested in a pilot project in Newfoundland where peat pellets are being used as a power source in a paper mill.

Canada does harvest peat for horticultural use and is a large exporter to the United Sates.

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q: How much fuel is consumed by freight rail transport in Canada per year?

A: The amount of fuel consumed, has been steadily climbing since 2000, averaging about 2.1 million cubic metres per year from 2000 through 2008. The decrease in consumption in 2008 is likely due to the global recession which started in the early autumn of that year.

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q: What are the top ten energy producing and consuming countries in the world?

A:
Production (2007)

	Quadrillion Btu	Percentage World Production
United States	71.50	15.0
China	70.80	14.9
Russia	53.97	11.4
Saudi Arabia	23.81	5.0
Canada	19.42	4.1
India	13.05	2.7
Iran	12.99	2.7
Australia	11.88	2.5
Indonesia	10.93	2.3
Norway	9.94	2.1

Consumption (2007)

	Quadrillion Btu	Percentage World Consumption
United States	101.55	21.0
China	77.81	16.1
Russia	30.35	6.3
Japan	22.47	4.6
India	19.09	3.9
Germany	14.17	2.9
Canada	13.75	2.8
France	11.21	2.3
South Korea	9.65	2.0
United Kingdom	9.46	2.0

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q: What was Canada’s energy production in 2008?

A: Here is the breakdown.

Energy Source	Natural Units	Quadrillion Btu	Per Cent
Oil	1,233 MMbbl	7.093	39.9
Natural Gas	7,359 Bcf	7.565	42.6
Coal	75,074,000 tons	1.501	8.5
Nuclear Power	89.2 billion kW-h	0.304	1.7
Hydropower	368.6 billion kW-h	1.258	7.1
Other Renewables	11.5 billion kW-h	0.039	0.2
Total		17.76

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q: What were Canada’s supply and demand for gasoline and diesel in 2008?

A:

(000s cubic metres)	Gasoline	Diesel
Supply
2007 Closing Inventory	2,484.8	2,028.0
2008 Refinery Production	40,938.9	27,256.3
Imports	5,457.7	3,748.5
Total Supply	48,881.4	33,032.8
Demand
Domestic Sales	41,766.5	28,247.7
Exports	7,516.8	4,431.7
Total Demand	49,283.4	32,679.4

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q: What hydro projects are under construction or in the planning stages and what are their estimated installed capacities?

A: There are 15 projects in planning our under construction across the country. Here are the details:

Project Name	Location	Capacity (MW)	Status
Site C	Peace River, Fort St. John, BC	900	Consultation
Slave River	Near Fitzgerald, AB	1,300	Consultation
Wuswatim	Taskinigup Falls, Burnt River, MB	200	Under construction
Conwapta	Nelson River, MB	1,485	Planning
Keeyask	Nelson River, MB	695	Planning
Sir Adam Beck Complex	Niagara, ON	200	Under construction
Upper Mattagami	Mattagami River, Timmins, ON	35	Proposed
Lower Mattagami	Mattagami River, Timmins, ON	450	Proposed
Hound Chute	Montreal River, Latchford, ON	10	Consultation
Little Jackfish River	Northeast of Thunder Bay, ON	100	Proposal
Eastmain 1-A and Sarcelle	James Bay, QC	900	Under construction
Chute-Allard	Saint Maurice River, QC	62	Under construction
Des-rapides-des-coeurs	Saint Maurice River, QC	76	Under construction
Romaine Complex	Romaine River, QC	1,550	Under construction
Lower Churchill	Lower Churchill Falls, NL	2,800	Proposed
	Total	10,763

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q:  What is petroleum coke and how is it used?

A: Petroleum coke is a black, solid residue comprising 90 per cent carbon that results primarily from cracking or breaking down large, heavy petroleum feedstocks such as bitumen. It can be:

• pulverized and used as fuel in lime kilns and recovery boilers in kraft pulp mills to replace natural gas and reduce fuelling costs
• processed to produce activated carbon for treating produced water from oil sand facilities, and other novel applications
• gasified to produce ‘syngas’ for use in heavy oil upgrading, production of steam and hot water for enhanced oil recovery and bitumen processing, and fuelling of lime kilns and boilers in pulp mills

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q:  How much income does Manitoba generate through electricity exports?

A: According to Manitoba Hydro, electricity generated $625 million in exports for Manitoba in 2008, with 82 per cent of that amount coming from exports to the United States and 18 per cent from exports to other parts of Canada.

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q:  What is the residential energy consumption, by province, in Canada?

A: Ontario is the largest consumer by province, but second by household and fifth per capita. Combined, Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories consume the least electricity overall and per capita, but are the third largest per household.

We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q:  How much aviation fuel does Canada consume?

A: In 2008, Canada consumed almost seven million cubic metres of aviation fuel, or about 43.7 million barrels. This includes aviation gasoline, kerosene-type aviation turbo fuel and naphtha-type aviation turbo fuel. About 92 per cent of the total was kerosene turbo fuel, the fuel used in jet passenger planes.

Fuel Type	Cubic Metres	Barrels
Aviation Gasoline	89,600	563,853
Aviation Turbo Fuel – kerosene type	6,410,900	40,343,794
Aviation Turbo Fuel – naphtha type	447,400	2,815,488
Total	6,947,900	43,723,135

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