|
  
5
TRANSPORTATION
-- ENERGY
AND ENVIRONMENT
Energy
Energy Use
In 2000, total
energy consumption in Canada was 7,178 petajoules. Transportation
accounted for 34 per cent of this total. As such, this sector
is the single largest energy user in Canada.
Figure 5-1 shows
the distribution of energy use in the different sectors of Canada's
economy in 2000.
Due to large price
increases in 2000, growth in total energy consumption slowed to
one per cent, compared to 1.3 per cent in 1999. In 2000, transportation
energy consumption declined by 0.1 per cent, following a 2.6 per
cent increase in 1999. Figure 5-2 compares the growth in transportation
energy use with that of the other sectors combined and the total
economy, in 1999 and 2000.
As Figure 5-3 shows,
energy consumption in all sectors of the economy except transportation
fluctuated somewhat during the 1990s. Energy consumption in the
transportation sector grew steadily from 1990 to 1999 before falling
slightly in 2000.
Road transportation
accounts for most of the energy consumed within the transportation
sector, at 74 per cent of total consumption. This is followed
by pipelines and aviation at nine per cent each, marine at five
per cent and rail at three per cent. Figure 5-4 shows the relative
energy use of each of the transportation modes in 2000.
As Figure 5-5 indicates,
most of the decline in transportation energy use in 2000 was in
the form of an 11 per cent decline in the pipeline industry. Natural
gas use by the pipeline industry fell from 245 petajoules in 1999
to 219 petajoules in 2000. Fuel consumption in the marine sector
(including services related to fisheries), which had already declined
by 2.5 per cent in 1999, fell by a further 1.8 per cent in 2000.
All other modes increased their energy use in 2000, although at
a lesser rate than in 1999.
The annual growth
rate of energy use by the road sector (including urban transit)
fell from 2.7 per cent in 1999 to 1.3 per cent in 2000. Similarly,
the annual growth rate of energy use by the rail sector fell from
6.5 per cent in 1999 to 2.5 per cent in 2000. In the air sector,
this growth rate stood at 6.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively,
over the same two years. Figure 5-5 compares growth levels in
energy use by transportation mode in 1999 and 2000.
In terms of energy
type, motor and aviation gasoline represented just over half the
energy consumed by the transportation sector in 2000. Diesel fuel
(road, rail and marine) was the second largest type of energy
consumed, at 26 per cent of transportation's total, followed by
natural gas and jet fuel, at nine per cent each.
Figure 5-6 shows
the different types of energy and relative amount consumed in
the transportation sector in 2000.
Figure 5-7 compares
energy purchases by transportation in each region in Canada in
2000. Ontario, by far, consumed the largest share of transportation
energy, with 865 petajoules, or 35 per cent of the Canadian total.
Quebec was second, with 454 petajoules (18 per cent of the sectoral
total), followed by British Columbia with 370 petajoules (15 per
cent) and Alberta with 363 petajoules (15 per cent). Manitoba
and Saskatchewan represent 3.6 per cent and five per cent of transportation's
domestic energy consumption, respectively, for a combined total
of 215 petajoules. The Atlantic region consumed 205 petajoules,
or eight per cent of the total domestic energy consumed by transportation
in 2000.
In most regions,
the annual growth in transportation energy consumption was lower
in 2000 than in 1999. In both Atlantic Canada and Ontario, the
annual increase fell from six per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively,
in 1999 to less than one per cent in 2000. In Quebec, energy consumption
had grown by 1.9 per cent in 1999, but fell by 1.3 per cent in
2000, remaining slightly above its 1998 level of 454 petajoules.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, which had a combined growth of 2.8
per cent in 1999, showed a decline of 5.8 per cent in 2000. Consumption
in Alberta remained stable in 2000. Only British Columbia and
the territories went from a slight decline in 1999 to a 1.8 per
cent increase in 2000.
Figure 5-8 compares
transportation energy use by region in 1999 and 2000.
Because road transportation
is such an important part of transportation energy consumption,
the patterns shown in Figure 5-9 reflect, for most Canadian regions,
annual changes in road energy use. The three Prairie provinces
were exceptions, due largely to the significant drop in natural
gas used by pipelines, which accounted for their reduction in
energy consumption by transportation reported in 2000.
Figure 5-9 compares
the annual growth in energy consumption by the road mode for each
region in Canada in 1999 and 2000.
According to preliminary
data, transportation energy consumption declined further in 2001.
Gasoline consumption increased by 1.4 per cent, boosted by lower
prices. Sales of diesel, however, declined by 2.7 per cent, a
result of both the downturn in the US economy which affected transborder
trucking activities, and the lower GDP growth in Canada. Finally,
jet fuel sales in Canada dropped seven per cent in 2001, due to
both the US economic downturn, which affected transborder activities,
and the effects of September 11 on the aviation sector as a whole.
Fuel Prices
The price of crude
oil rose sharply in 1999 and 2000. As Figure 5-10 shows, the price
of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose from US $12.53 per barrel
in February 1999 to US $34.84 in November 2000, an overall increase
of 178 per cent. In Canadian dollar terms, the price of WTI rose
from $18.79 to $53.73 per barrel, an increase of 186 per cent,
because of the decline of the Canadian dollar vis-¦-vis
US currency. Then, in December 2000, the price fell by almost
$6 US to $34.84 per barrel. From January to August 2001, WTI hovered
between $26 and US $30 ($41 to $45 Canadian per barrel).
The events of September
11 did not lead to increased oil prices. Two major factors explain
this. First, the economic slowdown in most industrialized countries
meant that the demand for oil and petroleum products was low,
which put downward pressure on prices. Second, the failure of
oil producers to agree on significant cuts in oil production created
a market in which supply greatly exceeded demand. As a result,
crude oil prices dropped in the last part of 2001, from almost
US $28 per barrel in August to less than US $19 in December (or
from $43 to $28 Canadian per barrel).
Changes in the
retail price of diesel more or less followed those of crude oil.
The price at the pump rose from an average of 51.8 cents per litre
in February 1999 to 75.4 cents in December 2000, for an overall
46 per cent increase. It has fallen steadily since then, reaching
61.4 cents per litre in December 2001. Gasoline prices tend to
be more volatile than diesel prices because the retail market
for motor gasoline is more competitive. Between January 1999 and
May 2001, the average price of gasoline at the pump increased
by 58 per cent, from 49.3 to 77.9 cents Canadian per litre, with
odd temporary decreases in monthly average prices. In July, it
fell to 65.2 cents before rebounding to 72.3 cents in September.
Since then, it has declined steadily, reaching 57.6 cents per
litre in December 2001.
Figure 5-11 shows
monthly variations in the cost of transportation fuels from 1999
to 2001, as represented by the retail price of motor gasoline
and road diesel.
Gasoline and diesel
prices do not vary as quickly as crude oil prices because they
are made up of a number of elements, not all of which are related
to the price of crude oil. The price of fuel includes federal
excise taxes and provincial motive fuel taxes, whose values are
preset. Federal taxes are currently set at ten cents per litre
for motor gasoline, 11 cents for (leaded) aviation gasoline and
four cents per litre for other transportation fuels, including
diesel. Provincial fuel taxes currently average 13.3 cents per
litre for both diesel and gasoline.
In 2001, Whitehorse
and Yellowknife had the highest prices for motor gasoline, at
73.7 and 80.8 cents per litre, respectively. Winnipeg and Calgary
had the lowest prices, at 49.8 and 51.2 cents per litre, respectively.
Total taxes include the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and provincial
sales tax (PST), where applicable. Whitehorse (21 cents per litre)
and Calgary (22.3 cents) had the lowest level of taxes applied
to gasoline, while St. John's (35.4) and Montreal (34.8) had the
highest taxes. The tax figure for Montreal includes an ìurban
taxî of 1.5 cents per litre that does not apply to the rest
of the province of Quebec. Vancouver and Victoria which is not
shown in Figure 5-12 were the only other cities to have a special
tax, at four cents and 2.5 cents per litre, respectively. The
revenues generated are used for public transportation initiatives.
Figure 5-12 shows the retail price of motor gasoline by city in
December, 2001.
As Figure 5-13
shows, gasoline prices in Canada are much lower than prices in
selected oversea countries, but slightly higher than in the United
States. While prices before taxes are of the same order of magnitude
in the seven countries shown, taxes differ strongly between Europe
and Japan on the one hand, and North America on the other. Fuel
and sales taxes are about 70 per cent higher in Canada than in
the United States, but they bear no comparison with taxes levied
in the other countries.
Information available
on fuel prices for off-road transportation modes is not as detailed
or as timely as that for motor gasoline and road diesel. Figure
5-14 presents the average cost of rail diesel and aviation jet
(turbo) fuel paid by carriers from 1997 to 2000. These costs,
especially for aviation, also include the costs related to fuel
purchased outside Canada.
Both modes show
spectacular increases in their respective fuel average costs in
2000. Rail diesel jumped by 40 per cent, from 27.9 cents to 39
cents per litre. The increase was even steeper for the aviation
sector: the average cost of fuel went from 26.1 cents per litre
in 1999 to 40 cents in 2000, for a 53 per cent increase.
Due to limitations
in available data, it was not possible to perform an analysis
of fuel prices for marine transportation.
Energy
|
