A linear programming model is used to examine the impact of carbon taxes on the optimal generation mix in the Alberta electrical system. The model permits decommissioning of generating assets with high carbon dioxide emissions and investment in new gas-fired, wind and, in some scenarios, nuclear...

This paper provides an overview of the role that forestry activities play in mitigating climate change. The emphasis is on a comparison of carbon offset credits and a carbon tax/subsidy scheme for incentivizing reductions in the release of CO2 emissions and increase in sequestration of...

Energy has been produced from woody biomass in British Columbia for many decades, but it was used primarily within the pulp and paper sector, using residual streams from timber processing, to create heat and electricity for on-site use. More recently, there has been limited stand-alone...

Activities that remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in forest and agricultural ecosystems can generate CO2-offset credits that can thus substitute for CO2 emissions reduction. Are biological CO2-uptake activities competitive with CO2 offsets from reduced fossil fuel use? In this paper,...

The carbon flux from burning biomass for energy is often legislated, or simply assumed, to be carbon neutral as subsequent forest growth sequesters carbon lost during energy production. In this sense, there may be no net contributions to atmospheric carbon flux associated with biomass energy....

This paper serves to document the REPA Forest Trade Model – a global model of forest trade that consists of ten products across two horizontal layers in a vertical chain. The model includes 20 regions: Five Canadian regions (Atlantic Canada, Central Canada, Alberta, BC Interior and BC Coast),...

British Columbia’s natural gas industry is currently facing competitive pressures from other gas-producing jurisdictions in North America. The emergence of shale gas developments has resulted in natural gas prices falling dramatically. Nonetheless, British Columbia is positioned to take...

British Columbia’s energy policy is at a crossroads; the province has set a goal of electricity self-sufficiency, a 93% renewable portfolio standard and provincial natural gas strategy that could increase electricity consumption by 2,500-3,800 MW. To ascertain the reality of BC’s supply...

Power interruptions are a typical characteristic of national grids in developing countries.Manufacturing, processing, refrigeration and other facilities that require a dependable supply of power, and might be considered a small grid within the larger national grid,employ diesel generators for...