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TRANSPORTATION - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

Transportation's Environmental Impact

An increase in transportation energy use generated from increases in the level of transportation activity leads to an increase in emissions arising from the combustion of refined petroleum, which makes up almost all transport fuels.

Transportation activity has three major environmental impacts in terms of emissions. First, it is responsible for emissions of active compounds (greenhouse gases) into the troposphere (the lowest layer of the atmosphere), where they trap heat reflected from the surface of the planet. This process elevates global temperatures and thus changes the earth's climate. Second, it results in emissions of compounds that thin the stratospheric ozone layer and thereby cause damaging infiltration of ultraviolet radiation. Third, it results in the production of transport-related organic pollutants that affect biological systems.

Transport's effect on climate change arises mostly from the increase of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gas of greatest concern is carbon dioxide (CO2), which is responsible for about two thirds of anthropogenic, or human-induced, global warming.

Among major sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, transportation is the single largest. As Figure 5-13 shows, in 1998, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation energy use were about 157 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent, or about 34.8 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions from total secondary energy use.Note 1

In 1998, road transportation accounted for more than 77 per cent of transportation greenhouse gas emissions, while aviation accounted for 10.2 per cent and marine and rail together less than 10 per cent.

However, environmental impact from transportation activity is not limited to the use of energy. Although transportation provides many economic and social benefits, the movement of people and goods can have other significant environmental consequences. Environmental impacts of transportation include air, water and noise pollution, and the use and alteration of land and other natural resources. A range of transportation activities contributes to these other environmental pressures. These include the construction of infrastructure; operation and maintenance activities, with particular emphasis on winter maintenance; the production, operation, maintenance and disposal of vehicles; and the distribution of fuel.

Trends in Transport - Pressure Points

As the population and economy grow, so too does the demand for transportation. Between 1995 and 2000, Canada's economy grew at a rate of about three per cent per year. Population increases, along with a rise in the number of Canadians travelling, are leading to ever-increasing levels of passenger transportation activity, particularly on the road and in the air. Similarly, growth in domestic and international trade and changes in freight activity patterns are leading to significant increases in freight transportation activity. Overall, freight transport activities are expected to increase by 60 per cent between 1990 and 2020, with the greatest share of the growth projected to be handled by the air and trucking sectors.Note 2

Under such a scenario, total transportation energy demand in Canada could rise by more than 50 per cent from 1990 to 2020,Note 3 with major increases in the demand for gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels leading the way. The modes with the largest expected growth - private automobiles, trucking and aviation - have the greatest impact on the environment, primarily due to air emissions and land use.

To overcome these challenges, or pressure points, three major issues must be addressed: climate change, air quality, and sustainability in the transportation sector. A sustainable transportation system is a system that meets today's needs for access and economic growth without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Under the foreseeable transportation trends, and assuming a growing use of energy in other economic sectors, emissions would continue to increase, contributing to global climate change and the decline of air quality. Such a scenario is not sustainable; it would contribute to changing the average temperatures and rainfall patterns around the world, which in turn would have negative impacts that threaten to create an irreversible impact for future generations.

Transportation is only one component of global climate change. Even if all transportation systems were sustainable, global warming and air quality concerns could continue.

Sustainability is a broader issue than global climate change and air quality. A sustainable transportation system balances short- and long-term needs for the environment, economic efficiency, and safety.

The following sections briefly review what Canada is currently doing to meet the climate change and air quality challenges as well as the broader issue of sustainable transportation.

Canada's Climate Change Agenda

In December 1997, Canada and other developed countries negotiated the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol commits Canada to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to six per cent below 1990 levels during the five-year period of 2008 to 2012. If current trends continue, however, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation are expected to exceed 1990 levels by 32 per cent by 2010 and 53 per cent by 2020.

In response to the Kyoto Protocol, and as part of a national process to develop measures to address climate change, Canada established 16 issue tables, including one on transportation. The issue tables brought 450 experts from industry, academia, non-governmental organizations and municipalities, and federal, provincial and territorial governments to the discussion. The process was open, inclusive and comprehensive. It advanced understanding of the issues and of potential solutions. The Transportation Table completed an Options Paper in November 1999, which assessed over 100 potential measures to reduce emissions from transportation.

The two-year national climate change process produced Canada's National Implementation Strategy on Climate Change, released in October 2000. As part of this strategy, Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments have agreed to develop a series of national business plans outlining concrete actions that they will take in all sectors of the economy to respond to climate change - individually, in partnership and collectively. These business plans will cover a three-year planning horizon and be updated annually. The ministers of Energy and the Environment released the first national business plan for the period 2001 - 2003 in October 2000.

The Government of Canada's contribution to the first national business plan was announced on October 6, 2000, in the Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change. This comprehensive package of measures includes a commitment to spend up to $500 million over the next five years on new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This builds upon the $625 million announced in the 2000 federal budget for climate-related initiatives.

The five new transportation programs included in the Action Plan 2000 focus on initiatives that can produce cost-effective greenhouse gas reductions in 2010; offer clean air benefits for urban centres; have minimal competitiveness implications; have good public acceptance; support the take-up of new technologies; and improve the efficiency of the transportation system.

The five transportation-related components of the Action Plan 2000 are described in the Action on Transportation box.

Provinces and territories approved the business plan of the National Implementation Strategy in October 2000. Some jurisdictions identified their actions for inclusion in this first integrated plan of committed and proposed federal, provincial and territorial actions. Other jurisdictions, such as Quebec, have adopted the themes and objectives, in whole or in part, and identified their own business or action plans, which are appended to the national plan. Examples of actions approved and under way include British Columbia's SkyTrain expansion, Alberta's further adoption of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) measures, Saskatchewan's short-line Railway Advisory Program, Newfoundland's Fleet Replacement and Maintenance initiative, and Nova Scotia's action to increase awareness of transportation options and encourage behavioural change. Provinces and territories are currently pursuing further work to develop longer-term action and implementation plans that will provide sustained reductions in transportation emissions. Some municipalities also have their own diverse action plans.

Clean Air Initiatives

Another significant sustainable transportation challenge facing Canada is the air pollution generated by transportation activities.

In December 2000, an agreement to significantly reduce smog-causing pollutants was brought into force by the governments of Canada and the United States. The agreement, entitled the Ozone Annex to the 1991 Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement, was signed by the Honourable David Anderson, Canada's Minister of the Environment, and Frank Loy, US Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs. This agreement commits both governments to significantly reduce the creation of smog causing pollutants - nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - in Ontario and Quebec and the northeastern and mid-western United States.

The Ozone Annex agreement builds on an earlier success in reducing acid rain under the 1991 Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement.

The Ozone Annex commits the United States to a NOX emission reduction program of 36 per cent year-round by 2010 in the US transboundary region. To achieve this goal, the United States expects to reduce summertime emissions of fossil fuel power production and major industrial sources by more than 70 per cent. Further reductions in NOX and VOCs are to come from existing US vehicles and fuel quality rules and standards for other sources of VOCs, such as consumer and commercial products.

The agreement also commits Canada to aggressive annual caps by 2007 of 39 kilotons of NOX (as NO2) emissions from fossil fuel power plants in central and southern Ontario and five kilotons of NOX in southern Quebec. In addition, Canada is to put in place regulatory standards for vehicles and fuels, aligned with those in the United States. It is estimated that the total NOX reductions in the Canadian transboundary region will be 44 per cent year-round by 2010.

Both Canada and the United States are to report once every two years on progress in reaching their targets and, in 2004, revisit the agreement to see if further reductions are required. Both countries are to analyse further options to reduce emissions from significant sources such as transportation, manufacturing and electricity. The goal is to implement cost-effective emission reductions through energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner fuel and alternative technology. Both countries are also to examine whether air quality issues along the British Columbia-Washington border should be jointly addressed under the Ozone Annex.

Environment Canada initiated a vehicle emissions inspection program in 1986. Since then, the department has organized voluntary vehicle emissions clinics in conjunction with various regional organizations in both the public and private sector. In 2000, Transport Canada once again partnered with Environment Canada to conduct Vehicle Emission Inspection Clinics across Canada. The primary objective of the clinics is to raise awareness of on-road vehicles' contribution to smog-causing emissions.

At the provincial level, Ontario's Clean Drive Program carries out emissions testing, and repair has become a mandatory requirement for vehicle registration and transfer of ownership. In its first year, the program achieved fuel savings equal to more than 120,000 fill-ups for a mid-size car, resulting in an estimated 6.7 per cent reduction in the emission of smog-causing pollutants.

Sustainable Transportation Strategy

In 1995, the Government of Canada passed legislation requiring each federal department to prepare a sustainable development strategy through the lens of its own mandate. The legislation also established a Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development within the Office of the Auditor General of Canada to monitor and audit the implementation of these strategies.

Transport Canada's first strategy was tabled in Parliament in December 1997. The strategy made important progress in a number of areas, such as public education and outreach, climate change and environmental management. Transport Canada's second Sustainable Development Strategy, which will be tabled in Parliament in early 2001, builds on the first strategy. The strategy is Transport Canada's plan for making decisions encompassing sustainability considerations in the transportation sector, in partnership with key stakeholders, and is a step in the journey toward a more sustainable transportation system in Canada. The development of the strategy benefited from the views of a national advisory group and a national stakeholder consultation process that included over 200 stakeholders in eight cities across Canada.

Transport Canada's 2001 - 2003 strategy has 7 challenges and 29 commitments for action and associated targets and performance indicators. The seven challenges are:

1. Improving education and awareness of sustainable transportation

2. Developing tools for better decisions

3. Promoting adoption of sustainable transportation technology

4. Improving environmental management for Transport Canada's operations and lands

5. Reducing air emissions

6. Reducing pollution of water

7. Promoting efficient transportation

To measure the success of the sustainable development strategy, Transport Canada has defined performance measures for its challenges and commitments.

The federal government is also working with municipalities to address sustainability. Municipalities' sustainable transportation actions vary in scope, in part because of the degree of differences in transportation responsibilities delegated to them by provincial governments, but also because of their relative size. Larger municipalities generally have more scope for action than smaller municipalities, especially because of their involvement in public transportation system operations.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the national voice of municipal governments, provides guidance to municipal decision makers on a range of issues, including transportation and environmental protection.

The FCM is advocating and urging municipal governments to adopt policies that favour public transit over private automobiles; review their transportation policies with a view to shifting to environmentally friendly modes of transportation; and ensure that infrastructure required to support alternative modes of transportation, such as walking and cycling, is adequate.

Many Canadian communities have embraced sustainable development concepts within municipal and regional plans. These plans, developed in consultation with local stakeholders, aim to mitigate environmental impacts associated with urbanization, including transportation. Housing types and residential development that reduce land requirements and facilitate the use of more sustainable modes of transportation are encouraged. Improved long-term land-use planning and modelling exercises are being used to deal with the challenges tied to growth, changing demographics, and lifestyle preferences.

In Canada, there are a number of ongoing initiatives aimed at improving fleet performance and encouraging the development of alternative fuels. Some of these initiatives are described in the following sections.

Alternative Fuels

Progress has been made in vehicle and fuel technologies that result in low or zero emissions. Electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel-cell power systems will all have a role to play in the future of the transportation sector. Fuel-cell technology, such as that being developed by Ballard Power systems of British Columbia, is currently being tested in small residential areas and on transit buses in several North American cities.

Public Awareness And Behavioural Changes

Achieving sustainable transportation will depend largely on increasing public awareness of related issues and changing behaviour. Enhancing public awareness of sustainable transportation issues and potential solutions is a major effort in Canada.

Clean Air Day Canada is an example of a federal government program aimed at increasing public awareness. It targets two key environmental priorities, clean air and climate change. It is a grassroots, locally driven program relying on strong partnerships with all sectors of society. In 2000, Clean Air Day focused on sustainable transportation, highlighting initiatives by environmental and health organizations, transit companies, and private sector businesses in over 60 communities all across Canada.

The Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF), established by the Government of Canada in 1998, supports, among other things, initiatives that increase public awareness and understanding of climate change. The objectives are to provide balanced information to Canadians; explore the barriers to action; motivate positive behaviour change; focus on what Canadians can do at home, at work, and on the road; encourage activities in communities, schools, businesses and industries; and leverage resources and promote partnerships. Just under one quarter of the projects is transportation-related.

Noise Pollution

Although noise pollution from transportation activities is a non-residual pollutant, the effect of noise on the quality of life continues to be an issue for Canadians.

A great deal of international effort has been made recently to mitigate the impact of noise caused by aircraft landings and departures at airports. In this regard, the work of the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over the last three years culminated, in the development of a comprehensive series of recommendations to reduce the environmental impact of aircraft noise and engine exhaust emissions.

The conclusions and recommendations of the Committee will help to formulate new policies and the adoption of new standards for aircraft noise reduction. This in turn will support country members and the air transport industry in achieving maximum compatibility between the safe and orderly development of civil aviation and the quality of the environment. On aircraft noise, CAEP endorsed a balanced approach to noise mitigation, consisting of four distinct, complementary elements: reduction of noise at source; improved land-use planning and control; a wider use of noise abatement operational procedures; and operating restrictions.

TRANSPORTATION - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

Energy

Transportation's Environmental Impact

NOTES:

1 In 1998, transportation emissions accounted for a smaller share (23 per cent) of total greenhouse gas emissions from all sources of energy (primary energy), which include emissions from final end use, non-combustion uses of energy, electricity generation, and oil and gas production.

2 Canada's Energy Outlook 1996-2020. Natural Resources Canada, 1997.

3 Ibid.