Our Energy Future
By: Dr. Jan Carr (ECE 6T8)
We owe much to the societies of ancient history from which we inherited the fundamentals of our
civilization. But today’s society is equally indebted to the industrial revolution of the late 18th century
that introduced artificial energy to replace the muscle power of horses and men. Wind power had
been exploited for centuries, but it could be developed only where and when the wind blew. Early
water power had similar limitations. Mechanical energy from burning fuel provided motive power
in virtually unlimited quantities, whenever and wherever it was needed. Mining, manufacturing and
transportation soon replaced agriculture as the basis of the world’s leading economies.
Later on, in the late 19th century, science and business
opportunities converged to spawn the electric power
industry. Energy could be produced wherever a fuel
source was available and transported over considerable
distances to power homes and businesses. Industrialized
societies progressed through the wider distribution of
wealth, which allowed advances in education, health
and general well-being.
Later, electricity emerged as an “energy currency”. Like
conventional currency, electricity has no intrinsic use
except as an intermediary between source and end-use.
Energy from many sources – falling water, burning fossil
fuels, fissioning atoms and blowing wind – could be
transported virtually anywhere for an even wider range
of uses – from powering industrial machines to processing
and communicating information.
Canada’s development has been heavily influenced
by - and inextricably linked to - energy production
and use. The “hydroelectric provinces” of Quebec,
Manitoba and British Columbia have benefited from
mining and smelting industries, which are heavy users
of electricity. Canada’s industrial heartland, Ontario,
benefited enormously from the close proximity of
Niagara Falls power developments to urban-area
labour and markets. And the abundance of coal, oil
and gas has spurred Western economies.
Canada is known worldwide for its hydroelectric developments
and increasingly as the home of some of the
world’s largest hydrocarbon and uranium reserves.
Today, Canada’s energy industry has an annual GDP
of more than $60 billion and employs almost 300,000
people. Electric power represents about one-third of
this activity, as does oil and gas extraction, with the
balance consisting of coal mining, pipelining and
support activities. Energy plays a major role in
Canada’s export earnings, representing some 20 per
cent of all merchandise exports.
Canada’s history and status as an energy giant raise
questions about our future in a world where hydrocarbon
use will be constrained to mitigate climate change
and our prosperity is based on depleting resources.
Perversely, the objective of reducing carbon use exacerbates
the concern about resource depletion, since we
have smaller reserves of the lowest carbon fuels – gas
and oil – than of the highest carbon fuel – coal.
To be sure, technology could increase end-use efficiency
and decrease the need for energy production. Advances
can also be made to reduce carbon use in the energy
cycle, both by relying more heavily on renewable and
nuclear energy and by capturing carbon released during
energy production.
However, this won’t happen without price increases,
since we have already exploited all the lowest cost
options. The highly technological energy industry has
enormous elasticity to respond to changing circumstances.
With energy so fundamental to our way of
life, there will be both the pressure to change and the
premium to pay for it.
Dr. Jan Carr (ECE 6T8),
who has more than 30
years of experience in the
electricity sector as a professional
engineer, was
appointed Chief Executive
Officer of the Ontario Power
Authority (OPA) in 2005.
Prior to joining the OPA, Dr.
Carr was Vice Chair of the
Ontario Energy Board.
Dr. Carr as worked on
projects in Asia, Africa,
Central America and the
Caribbean. He has been a
consultant to utilities, governments
and other stakeholders
on the financial,
business, strategic and
policy aspects of the electric
power industry and has
held senior positions in the
design and planning of
electricity transmission
and distribution systems.
He was selected as the
winner of the Professional
Engineers Ontario 2007
Engineering Medal -
Management Category.