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A renewable energy-powered Canada could be closer than we think

[Wind turbines are viewed at a wind farm on January 21, 2016 in Colorado City, Texas. / Getty Images ]

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder recently released a study that said the United States could get most of its energy from clean, renewable wind and solar power by 2030.

This would mean that greenhouse gas emissions there could fall by more than three-quarters from 1990 levels.

That got us thinking: could a similar projection could be made here in Canada?

Mark Winfield, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at York University in Toronto, thinks it can.

“That’s entirely possible,” he told Yahoo Canada.

“Given the pace that certain technologies are moving, this is not inconceivable in either a Canadian or an American context. There are many people who would argue that this is where we need to go.”

Green energy was not a priority item for the previous government of Canada, as fossil fuel exploration and development – most notably in the massive oil sands development in Alberta – remain an important sector of the Canadian economy.

But Winfield stresses that the development of green energy technology has not been standing still.

“This is the biggest technological revolution in the electricity sector since Thomas Edison came up with the light bulb, or since we invented the [power] grid,” he said.

“We are in this really quite remarkable period of technological transformation, built around the renewable energy technologies themselves, but also around smart grids and energy storage.”

Smart grids are smaller, local set-ups capable of generating their own renewable power. They can attach to the main grid – and contribute – but also isolate themselves and continue functioning if the larger grid goes down.

Storing energy is essential as well, given the intermittent nature of both wind and sunlight.

“From a technical perspective, it looks viable,” he said.

“Hydro storage exists already. Other storage technologies have been coming together in interesting ways. Battery technology has undergone a revolution.”

Winfield notes that political will is crucial, especially in the area of carbon pricing.

“That will be a major driver, because it changes the cost-benefit equation between low-impact renewables and competing conventional technologies.”

He adds that the spread of wind and solar could really speed up if nuclear power plants were taken off public subsidies, and had to pay for themselves.

“Nuclear power is already in trouble,” he said.

“Private capital won’t touch it, without being able to offload the fuel management costs and risk, the decommissioning risk, the accident risk. All of that in Canada and the United States is effectively assumed by the state. If you take away those supports, nuclear’s economic viability starts to look very, very shaky.”

Winfield adds that local municipal utilities are already starting to realize their traditional role could soon be downgraded considerably.

“They are getting kind of nervous about this, because they can foresee situations where they are going to be displaced. Their role is going to go from being the primary supplier via the grid, to being a back-up supplier. People will want their grid connection for back-up, but not as their primary energy source. I think that’s an interesting signal, in terms of how far some of these conversations are going already at the operational community level.”