The rise of wind and solar around the world is unprecedented. The International Energy Agency’s 2024 World Energy Outlook described renewables expanding at record pace, led by solar, and generating just under half of the world’s electricity in 2030, ahead of power from fossil fuels. At the same time, demand for fossil fuels is projected to peak by the end of the decade.
Canada’s hydropower-rich grid is 85% non-emitting with wind and solar currently making up 7% of the country’s total electricity generation, however studies indicate that Canadian power demand could double between now and 2050. Meanwhile, the Canada Energy Regulator projects that the share of wind and solar would rise to between 33% and 37% of electricity generation in a net-zero 2050. To meet this challenge, the federal government has proposed the Clean Electricity Regulations to help ensure that Canada’s power system remains both clean and affordable in the years ahead.
The following breaks down some of the common misconceptions about the use of wind and solar in Canada and around the world.
Myth: Renewables can contribute only a small share of grid electricity because they only work when the wind blows and the sun shines.
Fact: There are many solutions available to complement wind and solar, which already make up more than 60% of electricity generation in some countries.
- It’s true that wind and solar are variable resources that provide most power to the grid when the sun shines or the wind blows. However, solutions are available to complement these resources, from grid-scale storage to better interconnections to demand-side measures.
- A look at other countries around the world offers plenty of examples of current wind and solar shares that are much higher than Canada’s today, including Denmark (67% in 2023), around 40% in Germany and the Netherlands, 28% in Australia, and the U.K. (34%).
- Wind and solar generated more power than fossil fuels in the EU in the first half of 2024, making up about 30% of the bloc’s total generation.
- South of the border, the U.S. had a share of 16% in 2022, although with great state-level variation. Over a third of all U.S. states (18) generated more than 20% of electricity from wind and solar in that year. The U.S. states with the highest shares were Iowa (63%) and South Dakota (55%). Others with relatively high shares include major states like California (34%) and Texas (26%).
Myth: Renewables are expensive, and the cost of energy storage required to support renewables is prohibitive.
Fact: Renewables are among the cheapest kinds of power generation available and are cost competitive in Canada even with the costs of storage included.
- A Clean Energy Canada report, A Renewables Powerhouse, found that electricity from wind and solar is already cost-competitive with natural gas generation in Ontario and Alberta (the two provinces studied), with even more cost reductions on the horizon.
- When Canada’s carbon price is added to the equation, both wind and solar are significantly cheaper than natural gas already today.
- Even when the costs of battery storage are included, both wind and solar are cost-competitive in many scenarios in the two provinces studied.
- Analyses for the U.S. from Lazard and the Energy Information Administration show similar results. Both find wind and solar to be cost-competitive with natural gas-fired electricity in the U.S. even without a carbon price. In addition, estimates show that wind and solar plus storage can be cost-competitive with natural-gas-fired electricity.
Myth: Electricity from renewables is not clean when you consider the resources required to produce solar panels and wind turbines.
Fact: Wind and solar have much lower life cycle emissions than fossil-fuel-fired generation.
- The greenhouse gas emissions of electricity generation from renewables like wind and solar are considerably lower than power from natural gas and coal.
- A U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory review showed that total life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from solar, wind, and nuclear (from manufacture to disposal) are considerably lower and less variable than those from natural gas and coal. Specifically, the median total life-cycle emissions from natural gas power is almost 40 times that of wind and more than 10 times that of solar.
Myth: Renewables are not clean when you account for the equipment waste they generate at their end of life.
Fact: Renewables generate significantly less waste than fossil fuels.
- Research that specifically looked at waste from solar panels shows that 35 years of global projected cumulative solar panel waste is dwarfed by the waste generated by fossil fuel energy and other common waste streams.
- For example, if there was no transition to renewable energy sources, coal ash and oily sludge waste generated from fossil fuel energy would be 300 to 800 times and two to five times larger, respectively, than solar panel waste by 2050.
- Although some 85% to 90% of the mass of a wind turbine and solar panel can be reused or recycled, most is currently directed to landfills or is being stored pending future recycling options, according to a 2021 report.
- Numerous policy tools are available to minimize waste generation and encourage circularity of materials from renewables equipment. Indeed, some provinces, like B.C. and Alberta, have already begun advancing recycling efforts.
- Analysts expect rising energy costs, improved recycling technology, and government regulation to increase recycling rates. In fact, the recycling market for solar panels alone is projected to be worth US$2.7 billion globally by 2030, up from only US$170 million last year.
Myth: Renewables may work elsewhere but are not suited to Canada
Fact: Canada has some of the best renewable power generation potential in the world
- A 2021 study analyzed the ability of solar and wind to meet electricity demand in over 40 countries and ranked Canada second.
- Earlier analysis similarly found significant potential for wind and solar across Canada. Highlights include on-shore wind potential in Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan, off-shore wind potential in B.C. and Ontario, and solar potential in Ontario and the Prairies.
- Atlantic Canada is home to some of the best wind power resources in the world, with a study pointing out that “offshore wind could be for Atlantic Canada what oil was to Texas or hydro power to Quebec.”
- According to the federal government, parts of southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have been shown to have high solar power potential.
- In fact, Canada’s hydro-dominated electricity network is well-suited to complement the integration of significant shares of wind and solar. Analysis from 2022 found that Canada could see wind and solar reach a penetration rate of 54% across the country on average, with even higher rates possible when adding demand-side measures.
- Additionally, Canada has “tremendous potential for pumped-storage hydropower,” which could store power generated from wind and solar, with more than 8,000 GW identified at almost 1,200 sites, according to WaterPower Canada.
