We need to rev up the green vehicle wave
Source: Ralph Torrie · CORPORATE KNIGHTS· | December 8, 2021
Part 2 of Corporate Knights' Earth Index asks how we make nearly all new vehicle sales zero emission by 2030est showcases continuous power flow with zero outages and clean energy integration.
Source: Corporate Knights
In the 20th century, the car changed everything. It redefined the meaning of local, it reshaped our neighbourhoods and our communities, and it eventually transformed every aspect of our lives. These changes took place over 100 years and brought many benefits, but at the expense of mounting social and environmental costs, including the climate impacts of the tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases. We must now act urgently to reduce those emissions. There is no pathway to a sustainable, net-zero future that does not include the elimination of fossil-powered transportation.
Where we’re at today in relation to our targets:
Canada has set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. Total emissions in 2019, the most recent year for which an official inventory exists, were at or slightly below 2005 levels. So for practical purposes, the 40 to 45% reduction target applies to today’s level of emissions. But for transportation, emissions are up over 2005 levels, and meeting our target will require a steeper decline than for other sectors.
Total emissions from all modes of transportation in 2019 were 14% above 2005 levels. More than two-thirds of the energy use and emissions in the transportation sector are from the exhaust pipes of cars and trucks, and in 2019 these emissions were up 18% over 2005 levels. It will take a 50% reduction from current levels to meet our target.
The hitch:
Every fossil-powered car or truck purchased today makes it that much more difficult and expensive to achieve a 50% reduction in road transportation emissions by 2030. Cars and trucks last for eight to 12 years, and sometimes much longer. The vehicles that are being sold in Canada today will be on the road in 2030, and more than 95% of them are powered by fossil fuels.