After years of planning and often tense negotiations between governments, the Kyoto Protocol on climate change finally came into effect on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
The goal of the protocol is for 140 participating nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a sustainable rate by 2012, reversing global warming trends that climate scientists have linked to growing concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.
According to scientists, current carbon dioxide concentrations, boosted by the burning of fossil fuels, are at about 370 parts per million – the highest seen on the planet in about 420,000 years. Furthermore, most of the increase has taken place in the last 200 years, with concentrations accelerating in recent decades.
Average global temperatures are up about a degree Celsius, although some areas have seen more dramatic warming and cooling. As a result, global warming is being blamed for vanishing glaciers, rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, and extreme weather events like droughts, heat waves, storms, and floods.
Canada was one of 38 industrialized countries that agreed to cut emissions by 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels, which represents about a 240 megatonnes reduction of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases.
To reach that goal, Canada’s plans include increasing the amount of ethanol is gasoline, promoting alternative fuels, increasing efficiency in homes, cars and buildings, and providing incentives to industry. Canada will also be using "clean air credits" for forest and agricultural development that function as carbon sinks – storing and recycling airborne carbon through natural cycles.
Canada has also signed on to host the next international Kyoto Protocol summit in December.
The David Suzuki Foundation urged Canada to take a leadership role and to meet its Kyoto commitments. "Prime Minister Paul Martin has shown leadership by keeping Canada’s Kyoto commitment," said Morag Carter of the Suzuki Foundation’s climate change program. "But the real test will be if this government has the courage to develop a strong action plan to help position Canada as a world leader in environmental sustainability."
The Kyoto Protocol has its critics in Canada and abroad. Some doubt the science, going as far as to suggest that global warming is a hoax. Others say more study is needed before countries can be asked to submit to a binding international agreement. Others acknowledge there is a problem, but have doubts the Protocol can be effective when the U.S., the world’s largest greenhouse gas producer, and the growing industrial powers of India and China have chosen not to ratify the agreement because of concerns over impacts to economic growth.
In Canada, the impact on industry and development continues to be a major concern, and governments in Alberta and B.C. have both objected to Canada’s participation in Kyoto.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has also suggested that B.C. will lose about 11,000 jobs as a result of the Kyoto protocol, a number that pro-Kyoto groups have refuted.
B.C. is also in the process of expanding its oil and gas industry, as well as resurrecting coal mining operations. Furthermore, oil and gas exploration, investment and development has generated $5 billion a year for the province since 2001.
In Whistler, which is in the process of passing a Comprehensive Sustainability Plan, the Kyoto Protocol been accepted by council, and recognized in various policies.
"Definitely the municipality is interested in supporting and participating in the Kyoto Protocol," said Brian Barnett, general manager of engineering and public works for the RMOW. "Certainly Kyoto was in mind for the Keen (Engineering) report on energy alternatives for the athletes village. We’ve also signed up with the Partners for Climate Protection Program with the (Federation of Canadian Municipalities), and have had council motions in support of reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
The athletes village, which will be built near the landfill site for the 2010 Games, will incorporate some form of alternative heating system. Some of the possibilities include hydroelectric power, burning methane from the landfill, natural gas boilers, and a new process that converts solid waste into heat and electricity.
The authors of the study, Keen Engineering, also recommended that the RMOW embark in community-wide stakeholder discussions to analyze the energy needs of the municipality. The municipality supports that kind of initiative, says Barnett.
The municipality is also in a pilot project to test new propane conversion kits on seven vehicles.
"It’s a very interesting project. It’s a new technology that’s just being tested in North America right now. There are about 10,000 or so in Europe, and only about 100 in North America, but the company (Autogas Propane) is looking to get into the North America market through Whistler," said Barnett. So far Whistler Resort Cabs and the RMOW are the only participants in the program, although there are hopes to expand it to other businesses in the near future if it is effective.
So far, so good – propane is cheaper than gas, and the conversion kits are expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions significantly.
"We’ve partnered up with the Air Care group in the Lower Mainland so we can test the emissions of these vehicles to confirm that reduction. We don’t have the results yet, but we’re watching this closely," said Barnett.
Another area where Whistler hopes to reduce emissions is in public and private construction. The municipality is in the process of adopting green buildings standards so that buildings consume less energy, while promoting technologies like geothermal exchange systems.
Last year, in a partnership with B.C. Hydro’s PowerSmart program, the municipality retrofitted lights and other fixtures in municipal buildings to reduce annual electrical consumption by 60,000 watts.
Leaving no stone unturned, the municipality also purchased a fleet of six electric bikes for employees to use when visiting sites around the village, reducing the need for a fleet of cars and trucks.
"That kind of approach works well for us in reducing emission," said Barnett. "There’s a lot of little things we’re doing every day."
Next year, with federal funding, Whistler will be encouraging members of the community to take the One Tonne Challenge. The One Tonne Challenge is a series of suggestions how Canadians can easily reduce their annual greenhouse gas emissions by one tonne per person.
Whistler-Blackcomb has also been actively working to reduce emissions.
According to Arthur DeJong, the manager of mountain planning and environmental resources, mountain resorts are extremely sensitive to global warming.
"In regards to Kyoto, we’re not just trying to meet the Kyoto ideal, we’re trying to exceed it," said DeJong. "It just makes environmental and economic sense.
"When you look at the (National Ski Areas Association), the core focus in respect to the environment is climate change. In the long term it is our livelihood at stake, and we want to become a model to the industry at large."
Whistler-Blackcomb has already started to reduce its impact out of concern for shrinking glaciers and diminishing snowpacks for the area.
On the ground, the Whistler-Blackcomb reduced its electrical energy consumption by 11 per cent last year (2.5 million kilowatts) through the PowerSmart program, and this year is investing $400,000 to replace about 7,000 different light features with more efficient models.
Half of the snowmobile fleet has been replaced by more efficient two-stroke models that reduce emissions by approximately 50 per cent.
Overall, fuel consumption is down 18-20 per cent on Whistler-Blackcomb after a new fuel injection system was retrofitted into grooming machines.
DeJong estimates that a carpooling program for Pemberton and Squamish residents has already reduced emissions by half a million pounds, while Whistler-Blackcomb is also reducing the size of its vehicle fleet. At the end of this month Whistler-Blackcomb directors will be replacing their SUVs with gasoline-electric hybrid trucks.
Although there has been some expense, DeJong says most changes have been good for the company’s bottom line by reducing energy costs.
"That being said there’s so much still to do, there’s a lot of low hanging fruit out there, but we’re working on it. Spending $400,000 on light fixtures, that’s significant," he said.
Taking a more long-term view, Whistler-Blackcomb has not given up on a proposal for a run-of-the-river small hydro project on Fitzsimmons Creek.
"It’s stalled, but we haven’t given up," said DeJong. "We’re trying to fit it in with the footprint of the (Olympic) luge track, but we still don’t have that engineering resolved."
The small hydro project would produce about 32 gigawatts of energy per year, approximately the same amount that Whistler-Blackcomb currently consumes.
On a more ambitious note, Whistler-Blackcomb is actively studying the potential for the creation of one or two wind farms within their tenure area, which would effectively produce enough power for the entire village of Whistler.
"It’s just a study, and we still require a considerable amount of dialogue with the community… but the vision, when we look at sustainability, we look at Kyoto, is that it would be very meaningful in the world community to prove that a resort community of our size can be self-sustaining in energy," said DeJong.
Aesthetics and bird populations will be considered before any decision is made, and the wind generation potential will have to be proven. The next step will be to build a meteorological tower in a selected spot and monitor it for a year. If the wind data supports the construction of a windmill, a single unit will be built and studied for another year.
Because of economies of scale and transmission requirements, DeJong says two farms with between 15 and 20 windmills would be ideal.
"When we’re talking about climate change, we’re talking about air pollution, the fallout on ecosystems and air quality and water quality, and this is the very core of our environmental resolve," said DeJong. "If we don’t change our dependency on carbon, the bridge to sustainability will collapse. We’re quite serious about this, and that’s why we’re engaging in these studies."
Within the community, Whistler-Blackcomb is also looking at ways to encourage transportation alternatives to the resort, and within the resort itself. "We need to continue to design a resort that makes it easy for a guests to be energy efficient," said DeJong.
The federal government is planning to release its Kyoto Protocol plan in the next few weeks.
