• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Coastal GasLink Cost Skyrockets 70% to $11.2B August 2, 2022
Ottawa Releases Regulatory ‘Frame’ for Net-Zero Grid by 2035 August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Ottawa Finalizes Carbon Price Plan for Large Industrial Emitters

July 4, 2019
Reading time: 3 minutes

bhuman34/Pixabay

bhuman34/Pixabay

12
SHARES
 

The Trudeau government closed out the spring legislative season last week with the final version of a regulation that sets a carbon price for large emitters, includes a price break for steel and fertilizer companies, and creates incentives for emitters to invest in cleantech companies and support decarbonization projects overseas.

Ottawa’s Output-Based Pricing System (OBPS), described by iPolitics as “the more complex, lesser-known part of the federal carbon pricing plan”, was first released in December in draft form. The final version unveiled June 28 by Environment and Climate Change Canada leaves pricing levels for the country’s 38 heavy-emitting industrial sectors unchanged, apart from the relaxed threshold for steel and fertilizers. It applies to facilities that produce more than 50,000 tonnes of carbon pollution per year.

“OBPS thresholds are based on a share of an industry’s average emissions intensity, providing credits to facilities that pollute at levels below the metric, which they can later use or sell to others that pollute more,” iPolitics explains. The new standards will be set at 80, 90, or 95% of each industry’s average emissions intensity, depending on the degree of international competition it faces. 

“Emitters above the threshold would pay a price on pollution, with less efficient facilities paying even more,” writes reporter Jolson Lim. “While the OBPS model gives industrial emitters some relief from added costs, it is designed to prevent them from flocking to other countries where it may be less costly to do business and instead encourage them to find ways to be more efficient in Canada.”

While the Conservative and New Democrat platforms both call that system a free pass for polluters, iPolitics notes that CPC leader Andrew Scheer recently proposed an emissions cap for big polluters, with a price per tonne for those that exceed it. He just declined to call it a carbon price.

The Pembina Institute welcomed last week’s announcement. “We applaud the federal government on finalizing the design of the carbon pollution pricing system for large emitters in a way that incentivizes Canada’s heavy industry to innovate and reduce emissions while protecting competitiveness in international markets,” said Federal Policy Director Isabelle Turcotte. “By internalizing the cost of carbon pollution, the output-based pricing system (OBPS) begins to more accurately reflect the true cost of different sources of energy, helping to create a level playing field for renewable energy.”

As well, “the declining standard set for new natural gas plants means that by 2030 all emissions from these new plants will be priced, not just those over a certain level,” she said. “This natural gas standard will boost our ability to have 90% of our electricity generation coming from clean, non-emitting sources by 2030.”

While the carbon pricing system for large emitters drew the lion’s share of the coverage last week, National Observer says the federal announcement included guidelines for the companies to invest in cleantech businesses in the agriculture, waste, and forestry sectors.

“Projects must be based in Canada, and the emissions they are eliminating must be covered in Canada’s national inventory report that is submitted to the United Nations,” Observer writes. “They must also be ‘specific and identifiable’ and result in a net reduction of carbon pollution ‘that can be demonstrated to have been implemented’. The project type must be federally approved, the reductions must be ‘quantified in a transparent and repeatable manner’, and reductions must go beyond what would normally occur from that business.”

The guidelines, which are open for public comment through August 30, forbid double-counting of credits and require project monitoring and verification.



in Canada, Carbon Levels & Measurement, Clean Electricity Grid, Community Climate Finance, Energy / Carbon Pricing & Economics, Forests & Deforestation, Legal & Regulatory, Oil & Gas, Pipelines / Rail Transport

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

openthegovernment.org
United States

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
152
jasonwoodhead23/flickr
Energy Politics

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
70
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France
Nuclear

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
168

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Joseph Brent/Flickr

Green Hydrogen Will Cost Less than Fossil-Fuelled ‘Blue’, Shell CEO Admits

August 7, 2022
277
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
168
openthegovernment.org

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
152
/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
5.5k
Brian Jeffery Beggerly/Wikimedia Commons

China’s Latest Renewables Plan Could Bridge Global 1.5°C Gap, Expert Says

August 7, 2022
91
David Wilson/wikimedia commons

U.S. State Treasurers Use Public Office to Thwart Climate Action, Investigation Finds

August 7, 2022
78

Recent Posts

jasonwoodhead23/flickr

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
70
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Canadians Share Stories of Fear, Vulnerability from 2021 Heat Dome

August 7, 2022
43
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Pacific Region/Wikimedia Commons

Australia Bans New Coal Mine to Protect Great Barrier Reef, Faces Call for Full Moratorium

August 7, 2022
47
The Come Up Show/flickr

Celebrities, Influencers See Backlash for Private Jet Emissions

August 7, 2022
43
alexxxis/Pixabay

Cambridge University to Rename BP Institute Following Student Backlash

August 7, 2022
30
Green Energy Futures/flickr

Solar Shingle Buying Guide Lays Out Options for Curious Homeowners

August 7, 2022
66
Next Post
NASA/Wikimedia Commons

Scientists Scramble to Understand Sudden Drop in Antarctic Sea Ice

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}