The Energy Life Cycle

Energy has a diverse life story, sometimes involving many transformations and often travelling long distances before it enters our home or our gas tanks as electricity and fuels. Understanding this story means exploring the energy life cycle including production, distribution and consumption.

Every step in the energy life cycle releases, or has the potential to release a wide variety and significant amounts of pollutants that then compromise our air quality. However, not all steps are equal. Different types of fuels, technologies, or user behaviours affect the actual amounts of pollutants being released

Energy Production

There are many ways to produce energy, each one drawing on an equally diverse selection of earth resources. In particular, the extraction and use of fossil fuels, including oil, coal, and gas greatly influences air quality. Various petroleum based industries including upstream oil and gas and refining, as well as industries that use natural gas and coal and oil are all involved in the production of electricity, gasoline, diesel and fuel oil to power our cars, homes and workplaces.

Low-impact renewable energy, such as from the sun and wind, or other types of alternative fuels, such as biodiesels, are becoming an increasingly important alternative to fossil fuel based energy production. Although not considered to be low impact renewable energy, nuclear and large scale hydro power plants continue to be important sources of energy production.

Energy Distribution

Extensive networks of power and fuel transmission lines crisscross the landscape to deliver electricity, gas and oil we need for our homes and workplace. Electricity power lines (the “power grid”) can be seen extending between tall metal towers or at the top of wood poles along the roadway. Gas and oil transmission lines are not obvious as they are buried in the ground; however, transport trucks, boats and trains, a common sight on or along our highways, are used in the last leg of this fuel's journey.

Energy Consumption

We use, or consume, electricity every time we plug in our computers, air conditioners, cars and to heat our homes. The most significant source of pollutants comes from the combustion or burning of fossil fuels. It is through the combustion of fuels in engines or boilers that we can transform fuel energy into a form that we can harness. Unfortunately, the combustion of fossil fuels is not perfectly clean and produces many pollutants that impact our air quality, health, environment and economy, as well as contribute to climate change. We can see, smell, feel and taste these pollutants coming from the tailpipes and engines of our cars, trucks, andlawnmowers; from the top of our chimneys; and from the end of smoke stacks of power plants and other industries.

Sometimes we are reminded of our dependency on the energy-electricity life cycle when it reveals its vulnerability during ice and wind storms, or after unexpected events. Blackouts, or the complete loss of power, are often localized, but can cover vast areas as was the case in August 2003 in Ontario and much of the northeastern US. If our demand for energy is higher than the capacity of the power system, we can experience brownouts, which are low levels of available electricity, or rolling blackouts which refer to a technique used by those who manage the distribution network to rotate power between areas.

Fugitive Processes

Fugitive processes involve the release of pollutants in a way that we don't or can't use, and they occur throughout the energy life cycle. For example, flaring is used in petroleum production to burn off waste gases, gas vapours escape into the air as we fill our gas tanks, leaks within the fuel distribution system, and as methane coming from our landfills, sewage and farms.

Our Role, Our Responsibility

We are all part of the energy life cycle. Every time we use electricity or drive another kilometre, we perpetuate this energy life cycle and the associated release of pollutants. It goes without saying that we cannot live without using energy. However, we need to ask ourselves: do we really need to use as much energy as we do? Are we wasteful? Are we using inefficient technologies?

The more we demand energy to feed our growing power needs, the more pressure we exert on the energy cycle to produce and distribute energy. We must see ourselves as an integral part of this whole process, from the extraction of oil to the fumes coming from our car tailpipe.

There are so many things that we can do to reduce the amount of pollutants being released into the air. Simple changes in what we do and the technologies we use can all significantly improve our air quality. It is our responsibility to recognize our role and to take action.