Energy Efficiency Trends in Canada

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The Office of Energy Efficiency at Natural Resources Canada has changed the base year from 1990 to 2000. This change was made to ensure that our data reflects developments in trends and structures of Canada’s energy end use and efficiency across sectors. It also synchronizes reporting on Canada’s energy use data with changes recently made by the International Energy Agency.

Highlights

As a result of energy efficiency improvements since 2000, in 2019:
  • Energy efficiency improved 12.3%, saving Canadians 814.7 PJ in energy and $23.2 billion in costs in 2019. Secondary energy use (final energy demand) in Canada increased 20.4%. It would have increased 30.5% without energy efficiency improvements.
  • Energy efficiency helped avoid 45.7 Mt in GHG emissions in 2019.
  • Canada’s energy intensity per unit of GDP improved 17.7%.
One petajoule is approximately equal to the energy used by more than 9,800 households in one year (excluding transportation).

Energy use Energy use

Under the Energy Efficiency Act, the Office of Energy Efficiency is mandated to measure, analyze and report on changes to secondary energy demand (i.e. energy efficiency improvements) in an annual report to Parliament.

Primary and secondary energy use (final energy demand) by sector, 2019

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Primary and secondary energy use (final energy demand) by sector, 2018

Percentage
Energy losses, feed stock, producer consumption and pipeline 28
Secondary energy use 72
Residential sector 12
Commercial/institutional sector 9
Transportation sector 21
Industrial sector 28
Agriculture sector 2

Secondary energy (or final energy demand/use) is the energy used directly by the final consumers in various sectors of the economy. This includes electricity, natural gas, refined petroleum product required to heat and cool homes or businesses in the residential and commercial/institutional, the energy used by vehicles in the transportation sector and the energy required to run machinery in the industrial and agricultural sectors. Secondary energy use accounted for 72.9% of the primary energy use in 2019, or 9,683.2 petajoules.

Primary (Total) energy encompasses the total demand for all users of energy. This includes, besides secondary energy use, the energy required to transform (energy losses) one form of energy to another (e.g. coal to electricity), the energy used to bring energy supplies to the consumer (e.g. pipeline), and the energy used to feed industrial production processes (e.g. the natural gas used as feedstock by the chemical industries). In 2019, the total amount of primary energy consumed was 13,276.4 PJ.

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Secondary energy use by sector, 2019

Distribution of energy use Percentage
Residential 15.9
Commercial/institutional 12.4
Industrial 39.0
Transportation 29.5
Agriculture 3.2
In 2019, the five sectors of the economy (residential, commercial/institutional, industrial, transportation, and agriculture) used 9,683.2 PJ of energy.
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Secondary energy use by fuel type, 2019

Distribution of energy use Percentage
Electricity 20.2
Natural gas 31.0
Motor gasoline 17.2
Other oil products 14.9
Aviation gasoline 0.02
Aviation turbo fuel 3.5
Petroleum coke and still gas 4.7
Wood waste and pulping liquor 3.9
Other fuelsFootnote * 3.4
Residential wood 1.2
Note: Measure is based on final energy use, which does not include producer consumption, feedstock and energy losses.
Natural gas and electricity were the main types of secondary energy in Canada, accounting for just over half of the total final demand. Motor gasoline and other oil products (diesel fuel oil, light fuel oil, kerosene, and heavy fuel oil) represented about 32.1% of energy use.
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Total energy use and growth by sector, 2000 and 2019 (petajoules)

2000 2019 Growth/decrease
Residential 1,384 1,536 11.0%
Commercial/Institutional 990 1,204 21.5%
Industrial 3,167 3,780 19.3%
Transportation 2,266 2,856 26.0%
Agriculture 235 308 31.3%
Total Economy 8,042 9,683 20.4%
Energy use in the agriculture sector grew the most at 31.3%, followed by the transportation sector, which grew 26.0% over the 2000–2019 period. The rapid growth of energy use in the transportation sector was largely driven by a significant increase in freight transportation and a shift toward larger vehicles (SUVs, light-duty trucks) in passenger transportation.

Energy intensity Energy intensity

Many organizations (e.g. International Energy Agency) use energy intensity as a proxy for energy efficiency. While the two metrics tend to move in parallel, they do not constitute the same measurement. Canada has developed a more sophisticated factorization analysis – one that disaggregates the multiple effects affecting energy use – to more accurately estimate actual energy efficiency improvements (see the Energy Efficiency section).

Energy intensity is a measure of the energy inefficiency of an economy and calculated as units of energy per GDP. High energy intensity indicates a high cost of converting energy into GDP. Many factors influence overall energy intensity such as standard of living, weather conditions, vehicular distances travelled, methods and patterns of transportation (mass transit), off-grid energy sources, new energy sources, energy disruptions (power blackout) and energy efficiency.

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Final energy use, Canadian population and GDP, 2000–2019 (Index 2000=1)

Final energy use index Total GDP indexFootnote * Total population index
2000 1.00 1.00 1.00
2001 0.97 1.02 1.01
2002 1.00 1.05 1.02
2003 1.03 1.07 1.03
2004 1.06 1.10 1.04
2005 1.05 1.13 1.05
2006 1.04 1.16 1.06
2007 1.08 1.19 1.07
2008 1.07 1.19 1.08
2009 1.04 1.16 1.10
2010 1.05 1.20 1.11
2011 1.10 1.23 1.12
2012 1.09 1.26 1.13
2013 1.12 1.29 1.14
2014 1.13 1.33 1.15
2015 1.13 1.34 1.16
2016 1.11 1.35 1.18
2017 1.15 1.40 1.19
2018 1.20 1.44 1.21
2019 1.20 1.46 1.23

In Canada, energy intensity improved 17.7% between 2000 and 2019, reflecting a significant overall improvement of how effectively Canadians used energy to produce GDP.

Final energy use increased 20.4% and the Canadian population grew 22.5% (about 1.2% per year), both much slower than GDP growth of 46.3% (about 2.4% per year) between 2000 and 2019.
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Energy intensity per capita and per unit of GDP, 2000–2019 (Index 2000=1.0)

Energy intensity per capita Energy intensity per GDP
2000 1.00 1.00
2001 0.96 0.96
2002 0.98 0.96
2003 1.00 0.96
2004 1.02 0.96
2005 1.00 0.93
2006 0.98 0.89
2007 1.01 0.91
2008 0.99 0.89
2009 0.95 0.90
2010 0.95 0.88
2011 0.98 0.89
2012 0.96 0.87
2013 0.98 0.87
2014 0.98 0.85
2015 0.97 0.84
2016 0.94 0.82
2017 0.97 0.82
2018 0.99 0.83
2019 0.98 0.82
Despite the increase in the overall energy use, driven by additional electronics in homes, an increasing percentage of light trucks in the light-duty vehicle fleet and increased energy use in the industrial sector, actual energy use per capita decreased 1.7% between 2000 and 2019.

Energy efficiency Energy efficiency

Without energy efficiency gains, energy use would have increased 30.5% instead of 20.4% between 2000 and 2019.

The International Energy Agency denotes energy efficiency as the world’s “first fuel of economic development”. Energy efficiency has multiple economic and environmental benefits, including being the cheapest option to reduce GHG emissions.

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Summary of factors influencing the change in energy use, 2000–2019

Petajoules
Total change in energy use 1,641.2
Activity effect 3,119.1
Structure effect -977.7
Service level effect 145.5
Weather effect 57.3
Energy efficiency effect -814.7
OtherFootnote * 111.7

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) isolates and tracks the amount of energy saved through energy efficiency by identifying and measuring other factors that impact energy use:

  • The activity effect is the increase in energy use due to economic growth, which resulted in an increase of 3,119 PJ in energy and 161.2 Mt in GHG emissions.
  • The structure effect is how the changing composition of the economy influences energy use. For example, some industries may have growing subsectors that are more or less energy-intensive than others. The structural changes in the Canadian economy resulted in a decrease of 977.7 PJ in energy and 41.9 Mt in GHG emissions.
  • The weather effect measures the impact of hotter or colder temperatures on energy use. In 2019, the winter was slightly colder than in 2000 and the summer was hotter, resulting in an increase of 57.3 PJ in energy and 2.3 Mt more in GHG emissions.
  • The service level effect measures the increased use of equipment in homes and businesses. As the economy has become more digital, energy use has increased both at home and at work. The changes in service level resulted in an increase of 145.5 PJ in energy and 6.1 Mt in GHG emissions.
  • The energy efficiency effect is the balance of the total change in energy use over time (2000–2019) minus the impact of the identified factors above. In 2019, the 12.3% improvement in energy efficiency for the Canadian economy saved 814.7 PJ in energy and avoided 45.7 Mt in GHG emissions.

Historical trends of factors influencing final energy use, 2000–2019 (petajoules)

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Historical trends of factors influencing final energy use, 2000–2019 (petajoules)

Activity effect Structure effect Weather effect Service level effect Energy efficiency effect Other
2000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2001 48 -87 -84 12 -119 0
2002 292 -83 9 22 -215 -7
2003 450 -129 25 33 -155 -1
2004 740 -188 -17 41 -122 8
2005 913 -264 -16 51 -293 19
2006 1,080 -335 -122 57 -416 20
2007 1,226 -349 -10 61 -286 42
2008 1,187 -414 0 67 -332 44
2009 971 -552 10 72 -191 -1
2010 1,360 -541 -94 76 -402 33
2011 1,517 -540 -48 81 -297 58
2012 1,796 -710 -126 88 -366 52
2013 2,013 -730 -26 95 -462 70
2014 2,262 -790 45 101 -641 81
2015 2,381 -760 -33 107 -752 91
2016 2,473 -686 -61 116 -1,082 98
2017 2,779 -764 -33 122 -984 105
2018 2,994 -855 40 131 -861 120
2019 3,119 -978 57 146 -815 112

A steady increase in activity contributed the most to increased energy use. The structure effect shows a steady decrease of energy use, especially from 2005 onwards, resulting from a shift in production toward industries that are less energy-intensive (i.e. pulp and paper).

Energy efficiency improvement has been steady since 2000. However, the rate of improvement slowed down between 2008 and 2010, which can be attributed to slower economic growth during the 2008-2010 recession and contributing factors such as sub-optimal freight transportation.

Final energy use, with and without energy efficiency improvements, 2000–2019 (petajoules)

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Final energy use, with and without energy efficiency improvements, 2000–2018 (petajoules)

Energy use with energy efficiency improvements Energy use without energy efficiency improvements
2000 8,042 8,042
2001 7,812 7,932
2002 8,061 8,276
2003 8,264 8,420
2004 8,505 8,627
2005 8,451 8,745
2006 8,325 8,742
2007 8,726 9,012
2008 8,593 8,925
2009 8,352 8,543
2010 8,473 8,876
2011 8,814 9,111
2012 8,777 9,143
2013 9,001 9,464
2014 9,102 9,742
2015 9,076 9,828
2016 8,899 9,981
2017 9,268 10,252
2018 9,613 10,473
2019 9,683 10,498

Without significant and ongoing energy efficiency improvements in end-use sectors, energy use would have increased 30.5% between 2000 and 2019 instead of 20.4%.

<abbr title='greenhouse gas'>GHG</abbr> emissions GHG emissions

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GHG emissions by sector, 2019

Distribution of GHGs Percentage
Residential 12.4
Commercial/institutional 9.9
Industrial 35.4
Transportation 38.5
Agriculture 3.8
In 2019, the industrial sector used 3,779.5 PJ – the most energy of any sector in Canada. However, the transportation sector emitted more GHG, given its greater use of more emission-intensive motor fuels such as gasoline, diesel and heavy fuel oil (rail and marine transport).
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Change in GHG emissions by sector, 2000 and 2019 (Mt CO2e)

2000 2019 Growth/decrease
Agriculture 15.6 19.3 23.5%
Transportation 160.1 196.9 23.0%
Industrial 160.5 180.7 12.6%
Commercial/institutional 55.2 50.8 -7.9%
Residential 74.6 63.3 -15.1%
Total Economy 466.0 511.0 9.7%
Canada’s GHG emissions, excluding electricity-related emissions, increased 22.8% while emissions including electricity-related emissions grew 9.7% between 2000 and 2019.

The increase in GHG emissions was significantly less than would otherwise have been because of the positive change in the fuel mix used to generate electricity. In particular, the share of coal used for electricity generation fell from 29.6% in 2000 to 13.1% in 2019.

The rapid growth of energy consumption and dominance of emission-intensive refined petroleum products are the primary reasons for making the transportation sector the highest source of GHG emissions in Canada in 2019.

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GHG savings by sector, 2018 (Mt CO2e)

Mt CO2e
Total economy -45.7
Residential -18.1
Commercial/institutional -5.2
Industrial 11.4
Transportation -33.7
About 45.7 Mt of GHG emissions were avoided in 2019 resulting from energy efficiency improvements in Canada since 2000.

The transportation sector was the largest contributor at 73.7% of total GHG savings, largely driven by ongoing improvements in performance standards for passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks. Among other factors, there were awareness and education programs that increased fuel efficiency through maintenance and improved driving habits.

The residential sector contributed 39.7% to the total GHG savings through several mechanisms, including enhanced building codes, minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for appliances, improved energy monitoring systems, and home retrofits.

The commercial/institutional sector contributed to 11.5% of total GHG savings.

The industrial sector however offset GHG emissions by 24.9%, mostly due to energy-intensive processes in oil and gas extractions after 2000. Without resource extraction industries, the industrial sector has avoided 5.6 Mt of GHG emissions in 2019 from energy efficiency improvements since 2000.