Targeted policies can help decarbonize Canada door-to-door

Maybe through the food we eat, the means we use or the way we live, we use fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases in various activities in our daily life. We need to reduce emissions across sectors, starting with our homes. This requires Ambition and quick action.

As we face more and more extreme weather events caused by climate change, we rely heavily on the use of indoor heating and cooling infrastructure. Emissions from heating and cooling indoor spaces account for almost a fifth global greenhouse gas emissions.

In Canada, home emissions account for about a quarter of six percent of emissionsmostly because most homes that rely on natural gas or oil-fired furnaces and boilers, although additional emissions are associated with air conditioning.

Canada should reduce emissions from residential building 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050 to meet its climate goals. Ours recent research found that the first step towards this goal is to use targeted policies that encourage the use of low-carbon technology in our homes, such as heat pump.

Some provinces take the lead in decarbonization policy

At all levels of Canadian government, a variety of policies have been designed to encourage the transition from fossil fuel-based technologies to low-carbon technologies.

These include grants or loans to transition to low-carbon technologies, education programs, and the adoption of economy-wide policies such as carbon pricingconstruction emissions regulations and renewable natural gas mandates.

For example, the province of British Columbia provides its residents with subsidies for transition away from fossil fuel-based heating systems. It also provides bonuses for additional performance low carbon retrofit.

Prince Edward Island offers a interest-free loans up to $30,000 for residents to upgrade their existing heating system in their home to a cleaner, more efficient low-carbon system that reduces their carbon footprint.

Canada recently updated its carbon price, in line with its planned strict annual increase.

While efforts to decarbonize such buildings are increasing, current policies do not appear to be enough for Canada to meet its goals. committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Five factors influencing Canadians’ decarbonisation

Heat pumps can be substantial decarbonizing homes in Canada because they run on electricity, not fossil fuel. They also provide the same efficient space cooling with the same system and can reduce consumer energy costs.

But despite many policies encouraging their adoption, these heat pumps are only used for about five percent of home heating systems in Canada. Why is adoption so low?

Using data from a nationally representative sample of 3,138 Canadian homeowners, we explored the key drivers for heat pump adoption in Canada. our research.

We found that while a third of homeowners in Canada expressed a willingness to use heat pumps, they were often unaware of government effort or policies in place to support its adoption. Only five percent of our respondents were able to name such policies from memory. This policy awareness in British Columbia, and about heat pump subsidies and carbon taxes.

However, policy perception, we found, was a weakly positive predictor of heat pump readiness. We find that homeowners are more willing to use heat pumps if they

• Believing it can effectively heat and cool their home,
• Thinking it could improve air quality and help fight climate change,
• interested in technology,
• Support policies that encourage heat pump adoption, and
• Do not consider heat pumps to be too expensive or inconvenient to install.

Top-down approach

So, instead of focusing their efforts on educating homeowners about existing policies, our research suggests policymakers should aim to increase owner confidence. homes into low-carbon infrastructure like heat pumps. They must highlight the efficiency and environmental benefits of these technologies.

Policies can also be designed to help remove the barriers of high financial costs and inconvenience during heat pump installation. For example, the grant amount could cover inconvenience costs and more funding could go to contractors that train in such installations.

Considering these dynamics and barriers while adjusting policy design and structure will help increase adoption of such low-carbon technologies and by extension home decarbonisation.

While this is true in Canada, at both the national and provincial levels, it can also be replicated in other jurisdictions with similar climates or policy regimes such as Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom. north United States.

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