According to Statistics Canada, Canada ranks among the top energy consumers worldwide, almost equal to the United States. “That’s because of our long travel distances, our long winters, and an economy based partly on high energy consuming industries, such as mining, forestry, petrochemical, pulp and paper, aluminium smelters, refining and steel manufacturing,” says Marinka Ménard of the Manufacturing, Construction and Energy Division of Statistics Canada.
Energy Consumption is broken down into 3 different categories; electricity, natural gas and heating oil. In the dataset I used for this analysis there were cases in which provincial data was not included for natural gas and heating oil. For the purposes of this analysis I will be focusing on electricity and natural gas energy consumption across Canada.
Natural gas, as explained by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, is a non-renewable, naturally occurring resource formed millions of years ago from decaying organic matter mixing with rock and earth. Tiny pockets created in the rock house the natural gas for many years to come. Electricity is considered a secondary energy source. That means it requires a primary source of energy—either renewable or non-renewable—to be turned into electrical power.
Quebec ranks highest for electricity use at 67.3 gigajoules (GJ) per household, while Alberta ranks lowest at 25.9GJ per household. In natural gas energy consumption Alberta uses the most with 119.2 GJ per household and Quebec being second to lowest with 82.6 GJ per household.
One reason due to the high use of natural gas in Alberta versus other provinces can be attributed to the sheer volume of Alberta’s natural gas resources. According to Alberta Energy there is “an estimated 77 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of remaining recoverable conventional natural gas.” The price of natural gas, across all provinces, fluctuates with market demand. For Alberta and the proximity of natural gas resources to individual homes, the cost of natural gas is significantly lower, 32% lower than the national average of natural gas prices.
Electricity rates, according to Statistics Canada, are among the lowest in Quebec, and while rates are steadily on the rise, there is not as much market fluctuation with electricity as there is with natural gas, making it a more financially stable source of energy for provinces further from natural gas resources.
Quebec also makes use of hydroelectric power, a renewable primary energy source converted into electricity. When you consider the low cost of electricity and the fact that the main source of energy is a primary source converted into electricity, it is easy to understand why Quebec would have the highest use of electricity across Canada.
Though I was not able to find a definitive answer to understand why Alberta’s overall energy consumption is so much more than other provinces, it can be speculated that natural gas uses, on average, more gigajoules than electricity. When you consider the overall use of electricity as being significantly lower than natural gas consumption it can be said that type of energy uses few gigajoules than other types of energy.
Hi Mel
ReplyDeleteGreat observation on the use of natural gas and electricity in Canada.I am surprised to discover that Canada ranks among the top energy use in the World. I guess our cold weather does not help.Well done on your research and happy holidays.
Great presentation! Like you said during the presentation, bar charts were the perfect way to show your data clearly. I think this is a really relevant topic especially here. The statistics you linked for Canadian energy consumption really helped provide the reader with great context.
ReplyDeleteHi Mel. I agree with the above comments. Your bar chart was simple but got to the point very easily. Furthermore your sources are very helpful for further research. Happy holidays!
ReplyDeleteExcellent job. i feel like we have a similar report as i also focused on Alberta. You have a lot of helpful information and good visualizations. This is a relevant topic in Canada
ReplyDeleteHello Mel, A very streamlined report with good colour choices denoting red for alarming and I guess grey for background. Alberta has long been in an unfortunate position of reliance upon their resources, resources that create wealth to be a "have" province that unfortunately the federal government relies upon to help give to the "have not" provinces. Aside, I would logic that any province with a high population, cold winters, and high irrigation/ agriculutral needs would consume more than other provinces.
ReplyDeleteGreat work on this, Mel. Your graphs are all very clear and easy to follow. You're analysis for why provinces like Alberta use the energy sources and amounts that they do seems very well thought out.
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