Sustainable Energy Transitions in Canada

Edited by Mark Winfield, Stephen Hill, and James Gaede

UBC Press

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Canadian energy systems need to change. Beyond providing essential energy services, they must mitigate and respond to climate change, enhance social justice, and remain sensitive to local cultures and traditions. Can they do this and still make financial sense?

Framed through the relationship between decarbonization and energy sustainability and justice, Sustainable Energy Transitions in Canada brings together experts from across the country to share their perspectives on leading theories and practices. Contributors first deal with the broad conceptual aspects of energy transitions, investigating such topics as energy justice and poverty, the decolonization of energy, community energy planning, the role of energy systems modelling, and links between energy and climate change policy. Building on this foundation, they offer case studies that cover the North, the Atlantic region, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia along with crucial sectors like transportation and space heating.

These experts reveal the potential tensions between top-down policy approaches and bottom-up community models and highlight the impact of major events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Running throughout their rigorous, comprehensive discussion is a common thread: the importance of paying attention to wider sustainability goals in the process of decarbonizing the Canadian economy.

Scholars and practitioners working in the areas of climate change, energy systems transitions, sustainability, energy policy, and environmental policy will find this collection invaluable. It will also be highly relevant for upper-level courses in climate change, energy, and environmental policy.

RELATED TOPICS: Climate Change, Environmental Conservation & Sustainability, Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, Political Science

Editor
Contents

Mark S. Winfield is a professor of environmental and urban change, and co-chair of the Sustainable Energy Initiative at York University. He is the author of Blue-Green Province: The Environment and the Political Economy of Ontario. Stephen D. Hill is an associate professor and director of the School of the Environment at Trent University. He has been awarded the Symons Award for Excellence in Teaching, the CMHC Award for Excellence in Education, and Trent’s Community Leadership Award. James R. Gaede is a research manager at Efficiency Canada, Carleton University, and lead author of the annual Canadian Energy Efficiency Scorecard report.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Climate Change, Decarbonization, and Energy Sustainability