Edmonton Commits to Energy Transition Strategy

Edmonton’s city council has voted unanimously in favour of a citizen-supported energy transition strategy that would cut greenhouse gas emissions, diversify the energy economy and transition towards becoming a world-class low-carbon city. The city’s Energy Transition Strategy proposes to apply environmental measures to energy use in buildings and industry, water and waste water, land use and transportation, and energy generation.

Edmonton’s Community Energy Transition Strategy responds to council’s goal to become “the nation’s leader in setting and achieving the highest standards of environmental preservation and sustainability both in its own practices and by encouraging and enabling the practices of its partners.”

It contains

• a diagnosis of the energy and climate challenges we face along with the related opportunities

• 11 strategic courses of action for addressing challenges and opportunities 

• an eight-year action plan establishing the first step (2014-2017) and signalling the second step (2018-2021) of Edmonton’s energy transition journey

What Edmonton will look like

The energy sustainable Edmonton reflected in this strategy includes: 

• energy literate citizens with energy conserving lifestyles 

• world-class energy efficiency in all types of buildings 

• world-class energy efficiency in industrial processes 

• a strong shift to active and public transportation as preferred modes of travel

• an urban form that is carefully designed to avoid unnecessary energy use and optimize free energy from the sun 

• greener electricity from Alberta’s electricity grid and local generating facilities 

• a greater portion of electricity produced close to where it is used through district energy systems, combined heat and power systems and renewable and alternative energy technologies 

• increased electrification of Edmonton’s transportation system with passenger vehicles, buses, light trucks and trains powered by clean electricity. 

Read the strategy: http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/documents/EnergyTransition-ShortVersion.pdf