Sweeping measures needed to reach Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Targets, says new SNC-Lavalin report

• While significant improvements have been made in the electricity sector, numerous other sectors have increased their emissions. As of 2019, Canada had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by only 1.1% since 2005.
• A nationwide, collaborative effort across sectors is needed to accelerate the integration of the technological and socio-economic changes required to blunt the worst impacts of climate change.
• Further electrification, including of transport, oil and gas extraction and refining, industrial manufacturing processes, could allow for some quick wins in the short term, using techno-economically proven technologies.
• Greater efforts are also needed to drive the development of carbon capture and storage facilities and the commercial availability of hydrogen-fuelled products, on a 2050 horizon.
• Government support at all levels is indispensable to drive technological development forward, in addition to further societal and economic stimulus to alter consumer behaviour and fuel technological advancements.

MONTREAL: June 28, 2022 – SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC), a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world, today released Engineering Net Zero— Is Canada On Track To Meet Its 2030 Targets?, a comprehensive analysis of Canada’s ability to meet its interim target of cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40-45% by 2030, when compared to 2005 levels. It follows the publication of Engineering Net Zero (Canada) in 2021, a blueprint of how Canada can achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050. 

“Engineering a Net Zero future is our North Star and it is this type of analysis that we provide to clients and communities in the service of this pursuit, continuously asking ourselves how we can help them decarbonize their assets, manage climate risk and build climate resiliency into their portfolios,” said Ben Almond, incoming CEO, Engineering Services Canada, SNC-Lavalin. “In our 2030 Canada Report, we are sharing our analysis, expertise, and solutions on a macro level for government and industry to act on, without delay, as the route to emissions reductions is known.”

The 2030 targets represent an enormous and likely unattainable undertaking, without a major shock to existing systems across all economic sectors. As of 2019, Canada had only reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 1.1% compared to 2005 levels. In eight years, the country now targets to reverse a trend that has been building across most sectors—except for the electricity market—for much of the past 15 years.  

Rather than simply framing the scale of the challenge, the report highlights the enormous opportunities that lie from embarking on a nation-wide decarbonization exercise. The report’s findings include:

• Reducing carbon emissions requires a concerted strategy with the provinces that includes replacing fossil fuels with clean energy, increasing non-emitting energy production, developing new technology, and changing behaviours regarding energy consumption.
• As fossil fuel users see a significant increase in their operational costs due to the carbon tax, a shift to alternative or less carbon-intensive energy sources is expected to happen as a matter of commercial incentive.
• A mix of all “zero emissions” power generation technologies will be required for the energy and capacity expansion necessary to electrify all economic sectors. While it is significantly faster to develop wind and solar, large-scale electrical generation facilities such as hydro or nuclear plants must be part of the solution. The required build rate for large-scale hydro and nuclear would be similar to the build rates achieved in the 1970s and 1980s.
• Three economic sectors will play a key role over the next eight years in helping reach the targets: electricity, transportation, and oil and gas. Key recommendations for each sector include:
• Electricity: the retirement of coal, and addition of newly installed capacity from hydro, nuclear, solar and wind sources;
• Transportation: in the short-term, the widespread introduction of electric vehicles and associated charging infrastructure, spanning cars, light and medium trucks (private and commercial), and, in the medium to long-term, the use of hydrogen fuel for heavier trucks;
• Oil and gas: methane emissions reduction, encompassing fugitive emissions and venting, carbon capture, utilization for enhanced oil recovery and storage, as well as replacement of fossil fuels by renewables and small modular reactors in electricity generation.

“While Canada has not been able to achieve significant reductions in total annual GHG emissions since 2005, that does not need to be indicative of how we approach the future; the choice is in our hands,” said Sébastien Mousseau, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director, Power & Renewables, Engineering Services Canada, SNC-Lavalin. “As the world around us has changed over the centuries, the way we’ve engineered electricity production, transportation, manufacturing, commercial and residential heating, and our infrastructure has invariably changed with it. Creating a Net Zero future represents just another one of these evolutions. Even today, as we continue to rely on significant portions of the built environment constructed decades ago, we know that a decision to engineer a better future for our planet and its people is an investment that pay dividends for not only ourselves, but for our children and future generations.”

Click here to read the full report.

About SNC-Lavalin

Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. We create sustainable solutions that connect people, technology and data to design, deliver and operate the most complex projects. We deploy global capabilities locally to our clients and deliver unique end-to-end services across the whole life cycle of an asset including consulting, advisory & environmental services, intelligent networks & cybersecurity, design & engineering, procurement, project & construction management, operations & maintenance, decommissioning and capital – and delivered to clients in key strategic sectors such as Engineering Services, Nuclear, Operations & Maintenance and Capital. News and information are available at snclavalin.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.