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Adobe stock By lovesan353.<\/p>\n
Buildings are the\u00a0third-largest source<\/a>\u00a0of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. In many cities, including\u00a0Vancouver<\/a>,\u00a0Toronto<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Calgary<\/a>, buildings are the single highest source of emissions.<\/p>\n The recently launched\u00a0Infrastructure for Good<\/a>\u00a0barometer, released by consulting firm Deloitte, suggests that Canada\u2019s infrastructure investments already top the global list in terms of positive societal, economic and environmental benefits.<\/p>\n In fact, over the past 150 years, Canada has built railways, roads, clean water systems, electrical grids, pipelines and communication networks to connect and serve people\u00a0across the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, there\u2019s an opportunity to build on Canada\u2019s impressive tradition by creating a new form of infrastructure: capturing, storing and sharing the massive amounts of heat lost from industry, electricity generation and communities, even in summer.<\/p>\n Natural gas precedent<\/p>\n Indoor heating often comes from burning fossil fuels \u2014\u00a0three-quarters of Ontario homes<\/a>, for example, are heated by natural gas.\u00a0Until about 1966<\/a>, homes across Canada were primarily heated by wood stoves, coal boilers, oil furnaces or heaters using electricity from coal-fired power plants.<\/p>\n After the\u00a0oil crisis of the 1970s<\/a>, many of those fuels were replaced by\u00a0natural gas<\/a>, delivered directly to individual homes. The cost of the natural gas infrastructure, including a national network of pipelines, was amortized over more than 50 years to make the cost more practical.<\/p>\n This reliable, low-cost energy source quickly proved to be popular. The change cut heating emissions across Ontario\u00a0by roughly half<\/a>\u00a0throughout the\u00a01970s and 1980s<\/a>, long before climate change was the concern it is today.<\/p>\n Now, as the need to decarbonize becomes more pressing,\u00a0recent studies<\/a>\u00a0not only emphasize the often-overstated emissions reductions benefits from using natural gas; they also indicate that burning this fuel source is still\u00a0far from net-zero<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, there\u2019s no reason why Canadian governments can\u2019t invest in new\u00a0infrastructure-based alternative<\/a>\u00a0heating solutions. This time, they could replace natural gas with an alternative, net-zero source: the wasted heat already emitted by other energy uses.<\/p>\n Heat capture and storage<\/p>\n Depending on the\u00a0source temperature<\/a>,\u00a0technology used<\/a>\u00a0and system design, heat can be captured throughout the year, stored and distributed as needed. A type of infrastructure called\u00a0thermal networks<\/a>\u00a0could capture leftover heat from factories and nuclear and gas-fired power plants.<\/p>\n In essence,\u00a0thermal networks<\/a>\u00a0take excess thermal energy from industrial processes (though thermal energy can theoretically be captured from a variety of different sources), and use it as a centralized heating source for a series of insulated underground pipelines connected to multiple other buildings. These pipelines, in turn, are used to heat or cool these connected buildings.<\/p>\n A\u00a0substantial potential<\/a>\u00a0to capture heat similarly exists in every neighbourhood. Heat is produced by data centres, grocery stores, laundromats, restaurants, sewage systems and even hockey arenas.<\/p>\n In Ontario, the amount of energy we dump in the form of heat is greater than all the natural gas we use to heat our homes.<\/p>\n A restaurant, for example, can produce enough heat for\u00a0seven family homes<\/a>. To take advantage of the wasted heat, Canada needs to build thermal networks, corridors and storage to capture and distribute heat directly to consumers.<\/p>\n The effort demands substantial leadership from all levels of government. Creating these systems would be expensive,\u00a0but the technology does exist<\/a>, and the one-time cost would pay for itself many times over.<\/p>\n Such systems are already working in other cold countries.\u00a0Thermal networks<\/a>\u00a0heat half the homes in\u00a0Sweden<\/a>\u00a0and two-thirds of homes in\u00a0Denmark<\/a>.<\/p>\n The oil crisis of the 1970s\u00a0motivated both countries<\/a>\u00a0to find new domestic heating sources. They\u00a0financed their new infrastructure over 50 years and reduced their investment risks<\/a>\u00a0through low-interest bonds (loaned by public banks) and generous subsidies.<\/p>\n These were offered to utility companies looking to expand district energy operations, and to consumers by incentivizing connections to such systems. Additionally, in Denmark,\u00a0controlled consumer prices<\/a>\u00a0served a similar function.<\/p>\n At least seven American states have established thermal energy networks, with New York being the first. The state\u2019s\u00a0Utility Thermal Energy Network and Jobs Act<\/a>\u00a0allows public utilities to own, operate and manage thermal networks.<\/p>\n They can supply thermal energy, but so can private producers such as data centres, all with public oversight. Such a strategy avoids monopolies and allows gas and electric utilities to deliver services through central networks.<\/p>\n An opportunity for Canada<\/p>\n Canada has a real opportunity to learn from the experiences of Sweden, Denmark and New York. In doing so, Canada can create a beneficial and truly national heating system in the process. Beginning with federal government leadership, thermal networks could be built across Canada, tailored to the unique and individual needs, strengths and opportunities of municipalities and provinces.<\/p>\n