Key takeaways
- Nearly 20 per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions come from household energy use, which includes both residential heating and cooling and personal transport.
- The solution to cutting household emissions lies almost entirely in switching from fossil fuels to electricity with electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps, and electric appliances changes that come with upfront costs but can save people money over time.
- This is low-hanging fruit for policy-makers looking to cut emissions with changes Canadians want.
- For households, switching to EVs, electric appliances, and equipment is relatively straightforward especially compared to hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors.
- It comes down to making it easier and more affordable for people to use efficient electric technologies.
- Smart government policies can help make the transition smoother, faster, and more equitable.
Recent fuel price spikes underscore the benefits of clean electricity
Cascading global events have thrust fossil-fuel prices into the spotlight, with many analysts describing the current situation as the worst oil shock the world has seen since the 1970s.
For most Canadians, it has been impossible to ignore the sudden and sharp spikes in prices for gasoline and diesel to power their vehicles as well as home-heating oil. Electricity prices, meanwhile, have remained relatively stable.
The war in Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz have highlighted just how vulnerable the world is to fossil-fuel price spikes. But it's not a new phenomenon: over the past 10 years, gasoline prices were more than three times more volatile than electricity prices, and furnace oil prices were 6.5 times more volatile.
