|
|
Business opportunities for suppliers of GHG technologies
Are Canadian businesses taking advantage of the domestic and international
markets for GHG technologies? It is not possible now to fully evaluate
the success of Canadian GHG technology suppliers because of the lack of
time-series data on GHG technology revenues. However, the available data
show that Canadian businesses have started earning revenues from GHG technologies,
some of which have not been fully commercialized until recently.
In 2002, for example, environmental businesses earned $364.3 million from the sales of technologies to reduce GHG emissions:
small establishments earned more than half of these revenues (Table 3).12 This
was much less revenue than that earned from other traditional types of
environmental goods and services such as recyclable materials, waste management,
water pollution control and air pollution control. But spurred by domestic
and international demand, the market for GHG technologies offers more
room for growth. From 2000 to 2002, revenues from GHG technologies rose
28%, surpassing the revenue gains in the more established markets for
water and air pollution controls.
 |
Table 3. Environmental revenues, by category
of environmental goods, Canada, 2000 and 2002 |
Some GHG technologies that started out as demonstration projects have
since been transformed into viable revenue producers with both domestic
and international commercial applications. In 2002, revenues from fuel
cell and alternative fuel technologies accounted for $118.0 million of
the revenues from GHG technologies
(Table 4). Fuel cell
and alternative fuel producers, parts and systems suppliers and infrastructure
developers located in Ontario and British Columbia accounted for more
than 80% of these revenues. Small firms in Quebec, Alberta and Manitoba
contributed the remainder.13
|
Table 4. Revenues from sales of GHG technologies,
Canada, 2000 and 2002 |
The combined revenues from sales of solar and wind energy systems and
equipment climbed from $76.7 million in 2000 to $111.7 million in 2002.
The growth was mainly because of rising sales of wind energy systems
and
equipment. In 2000, Canada had 13 wind farms or sites with total installed
capacity of 138 090 kilowatts. By 2002, the number of sites more than
doubled to 32, and the total installed capacity rose to 242 210 kilowatts (Figure 4).
 |
Figure 4. Canada’s wind farms, number
of sites and installed capacity, 2000 to 2002 |
Methane capture or landfill gas recovery and utilization is another GHG
technology that has been developed over the past decade. This technology
captures methane gas from landfills by drilling deep into landfill sites
and pumping the gas out through a system of pipes. The gas is either burned
off or used as fuel to produce electricity or heat buildings.14 In 2002,
the waste management industry earned revenues of $3.7 million from the
sale of methane or energy derived from recovered landfill gases.15
Approximately 38% of GHG technology revenues were earned in international
markets. GHG technology
export revenues reached $139.5 million in 2002, up 26% from 2000 (Figure
5). Export markets provide opportunities
for Canadian businesses to both develop niche markets and facilitate the
transfer of Canadian technology abroad. This was the case, for instance,
in fuel cell and alternative fuel technologies, where $102.4 million,
or 87% of 2002 environmental revenues was derived from exports.
|
Figure 5. Exports of GHG technologies,
by type of technology, 2000 and 2002 |
|
