Ethan Braund
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Woolwich Observer
Canada cracked the top ten in energy transition investment and GDP share in 2024 after a $35.2 billion investment on the road to meeting its net-zero emissions target.
Investing grew 19 per cent in 2024 and jumped into the top ten globally for the first time. Mainland China led the way this year, with the U.S. in second place.
The world also grew in total investment, hitting $2 trillion in spending for the first time, said Merran Smith, president of New Economy Canada.
“This is a global transition. This is a long-term transition. The real driver of this energy transition is energy security for countries, and that’s why we’re not going to see Asian countries slowing down in their investments in clean energy technologies because that brings better energy security for those countries.”
Smith noted that Canada is now involved in the global race for transition energy investments for the first time, arguing we can’t afford to fall behind.
To continue to rise on the leaderboards, Canada needs to promote investment in clean energy technology and infrastructure upgrades, says New Economy Canada.
“These investments include those made in deploying power grids, clean industry, electrified heat, clean shipping and electrified transport, hydrogen, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear, energy storage and renewable energy,” the organization said in a release.
Waterloo Region has also been promoting these investments locally, said Matthew Day of WR Community Energy.
The local group is a first-of-its-kind partnership with the region and its utilities to ensure the energy transition in Waterloo Region benefits everyone and makes smart, coordinated, targeted energy investments.
The region has various types of energy investments, and some groups are working on adding solar panels to more locations, though that form accounts for just one per cent of the region’s energy, says Day.
“The real opportunity for our community is to use local renewable heat, replacing natural gas for space heating,” said Day.
That said, he noted that natural gas will be needed for industry for the foreseeable future since steel melts at 1500 degrees Celsius and natural gas burns at 2000 degrees.
“That’s a good use of natural gas, but burning natural gas at 2000 degrees to heat our houses at 22 degrees is a bad idea,” he added of the easier shift at the residential level.
Day wrote a report last year that stated the region produces enough heat to warm the community ten times over.
He notes there’s a greater potential for geothermal technology, which uses the briny, salty aquifer below the ground that is not used for anything else.
“It’s great because it’s a steady supply of temperature. So, you pump that water up; it’s 10 degrees in the summer, which is cool, and it’s 10 degrees in the winter, which is warm. Then you convert that to an air pump and heat buildings with it,” Day explained.
Conestoga College has various buildings that heat on geothermal projects, and the Evolv1 – the Waterloo structure that was Canada’s first zero-carbon building – uses open-loop geo-exchange. Day once hired a consultant to come to the region and do some studies, and he found that we were sitting atop an energy goldmine.
Other local examples include the biogas facility in Elmira that produces energy from organics and biowaste.
“By cracking the top 10 countries, attracting investments in clean energy technology and infrastructure, Canada is in the game. But we’re in catch-up mode, trying to make up for lagging investments in the past. We need to keep this momentum going by providing policy and regulatory stability that’s coveted in an uncertain world. Let’s get things built,” said Smith.
