Figure 10.11 – Yukon’s energy profile #
Key developments for the Yukon territory:
- In the REF scenario, emissions grow by 59% by 2060, largely driven by transport, which produces the overwhelming majority of emissions, with a much smaller contribution from industry and buildings.
- Because of the cost of decarbonizing transport, CP30 sees a 22% increase in emissions in 2030, far from the Canadian average (-9%); as technology prices fall, emissions begin decreasing and reach 85% of 2016 levels in 2060.
- NZ scenarios encounter the same problem, with emissions increasing by 15% in 2030 (NZ50 and NZ45) and some remaining emissions in 2060, with reductions of 63% (NZ45) to 88% (NZ60) with respect to 2016, as reducing GHG for the Yukon is particularly costly. The net balance in 2060 for these three scenarios is positive but very small, at around 0.1 MtCO2e.
- Transport emissions in net-zero scenarios diverge rapidly away from REF and CP30, especially after 2040. NZ45 is where these reductions are attained the earliest.
- The buildings sector is almost all decarbonized in the first decade, both for commercial and for residential buildings
- While hydroelectricity constitutes the bulk of power generation, some thermal generation remains even in net-zero scenarios, mainly for communities that are difficult to connect to the grid. Biomass is also used from 2040 to allow for BECCS negative emissions
- Biomass increases only after 2030 and accelerates in net-zero scenarios past 2040. Part of this biomass is used for space heating, but most goes to BECCS power generation, which helps compensate the remaining emissions in the electricity sector, without however reaching negative emissions.