Canada seeks public input on possible clean electricity standard

The Canadian government is taking action to develop a clean electricity standard (CES). Environment and Climate Change Canada on March 15 opened a public comment period on a CES discussion paper. Bioenergy is among the technologies addressed in the paper.

Implementation of a CES would help drive progress towards a net-zero electricity grid by 2025 and help Canada reach its goals of achieving emissions reductions of 40-45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

The government is asking for public input related to a variety of specific questions, including those focused the treatment of biomass under a future CES. The discussion paper includes three specific questions on biomass:

1. If carbon dioxide emissions from biomass combustion are not counted towards compliance under a CES, to what degree might biomass generation increase?

2. What types of biomass are suited to electricity generation? What are their characteristics with respect to regenerative life cycle, non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and land use characteristics?

3. What emissions reporting and compliance requirements for biomass generation should be considered to ensure that nature is protected and land-based emissions do not increase?

A public comment period on the CES discussion paper is open through April 15.

Additional information is available on the Government of Canada website.