01Buildings
Toward net-zero buildings
Design, construction, retrofits, and the systems that shape energy use in the places Canadians live and work.
A Canadian energy-transition archive
What would it take to cut energy emissions by 80%?
The Trottier Energy Futures Project asked Canada to look beyond incremental efficiency—to the grids, buildings, industries, cities, and choices that create energy demand in the first place.
2050 target80%
below 1990 energy-related emissions
5 yearsof research and dialogue
11interlocking challenges
3 partnersengineering, environment, philanthropy
A collaboration of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Trottier Family Foundation.
Recovered research
Start with the evidence.
Four original documents are available here in their recovered form. Dates and project framing have been retained.
Scenario review · 2013
Low-Carbon Energy Futures
A review of national-scale scenarios examining how industrialized economies could achieve deep emissions reductions.
Open PDF Resource inventory · 2013An Inventory of Low-Carbon Energy for Canada
A detailed assessment of Canada’s lower-carbon energy resources, their distribution, and their potential contribution.
Open PDF Dialogue report · 2013Carbon Talks: Biomass
A record of a public dialogue on the opportunities, constraints, and competing priorities surrounding biomass energy.
Open PDF Discussion guide · 2013Biomass and Canada’s Energy Future
The companion discussion guide prepared to support an informed, multi-perspective conversation about bioenergy.
Open PDFThe organizing framework
Eleven systems. One transition.
Deep decarbonization is not one technology problem. The project organized it as a set of connected design, investment, and public policy questions.
02Electricity
Decarbonizing electricity and the grid
A cleaner supply, wider electrification, and a grid capable of supporting a deeply lower-carbon economy.
03Bioenergy
Bioenergy and the bioeconomy
The potential and limits of sustainably produced fuels and feedstocks where direct electrification is difficult.
04Industry
Fossil fuels in a low-carbon world
What a global energy transition means for a country that is both a major producer and a major consumer of fossil fuels.
05Freight
Supply chains and goods movement
Rail, ship, air, and road freight—and the deeper supply-chain choices that determine how far goods must move.
06Mobility
Low-carbon access and transportation
Efficient vehicles matter, but land use and access to work, education, and services determine the travel Canadians need.
07Heavy industry
Energy-intensive industries
Pathways for mining, metals, chemicals, cement, pulp and paper, and other sectors central to regional economies.
08Manufacturing
Manufacturing and integrative design
How equipment, buildings, product design, and industrial systems can reduce energy demand together rather than separately.
09Skills
Education and training
The professions, trades, institutions, and practical knowledge required to deliver a long-term transition.
10Capital
Finance and investment
How investors, lenders, and public institutions can assess and finance unfamiliar low-carbon technologies and systems.
11Strategy
Industrial strategy and clean technology
The transition viewed not only as environmental policy, but as a generational investment and industrial opportunity.
Writing from 2011–2013
Ideas from the project archive
Explore essays on energy productivity, national scenarios, electricity, oil economics, collaboration, and the social choices behind technical systems.
Search the archive- 01Price signals matter, but which prices?September 30, 2011
- 02The energy productivity supergiantNovember 1, 2011
- 03Following the evidence where it leadsFebruary 23, 2012
- 04The journey upstreamJuly 3, 2012