Talking about building hydroelectric dams to meet our needs demonstrates the Legault government’s lack of vision in terms of energy transition, believes an expert.
Pierre-Olivier Pineau, director of the energy sector management chair at HEC Montréal, hopes that his book energy balance released today will help politicians come up with a better plan.
“Our leaders are not experts in climate change or energy,” explains Mr. Pineau, one of the most sought-after specialists in the field in Quebec.
“These are people who get elected with certain ideas and who don’t have the technical knowledge and who don’t necessarily listen to what their officials say. »
For example, regarding the hydroelectric dams put forward by Premier François Legault during the election campaign, Mr. Pineau tells us: “It was really ignorance that had a platform and that did not understand that it was not there is no real opportunity for dams in Quebec in the short term. »
According to him, the costs of these dams will be too high and they should be built in contested places.
Without energy sobriety first, we cannot justify ransacking rivers, he says.
“It is unfortunate that the lack of a plan […] made him put that in the public square, ”continues Mr. Pineau about Mr. Legault.
Confusion
The expert is also critical of the Minister of Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, who mentioned modulating residential hydroelectricity rates during peak periods and suggested that Quebecers wash the dishes at midnight, associating this with sobriety. energy. However, Mr. Legault quickly closed this door, at least in the short term.
Mr. Pineau attributes this to a lack of vision at the CAQ. “There are none at all [de vision], he said. Sobriety is not about starting your dishwasher at midnight, it does not reduce consumption in any way, it moves it,” he says before specifying that he is in favor of a more flexible consumption system.
Change your habits
But energy sobriety must result in a reduction in our consumption, he insists.
Among the various solutions to achieve our energy transition, according to him: make polluters pay more, adjust hydroelectricity rates by cutting subsidies and rebates for industries and Quebecers, better insulate our homes and stop building ever larger houses. and buy SUVs.
Electric vehicles are not the solution
The Legault government is on the wrong track by focusing mainly on the electrification of transport as the main response to our greenhouse gas (GHG) problems, believes Professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau.
“It is not adding EVs that should be the priority of our societies, but reducing the number of vehicles,” he writes in his book. energy balance.
electric cars [VÉ] will facilitate urban sprawl, which contributes to the destruction of ecosystems and creates additional energy demand for infrastructure, said Mr. Pineau.
The expert points out that all taxpayers pay for the expansion of the road network. “It’s a big cheat because we collectivize all these costs [des routes] without realizing the impact it has […] when we should rather limit our transport and limit our occupation of the territory, ”he believes.
Tolls and taxes
The government should in particular develop rail transport and impose constraints on motorists, he believes. He cites tolls or a kilometric tax where the motorist pays according to the kilometers traveled.
“Users use far too much what is free and this greatly explains the problems of sprawl and proliferation of polluting vehicles,” he writes.
The electrification of heavy trucks will also be very complicated to achieve on a large scale. In addition, EV materials will increase our needs for steel, aluminum, cobalt, nickel and lithium and their production and extraction will represent a significant source of GHGs.
political bravery
But to impose constraints and succeed in the energy shift, political courage will be needed.
“And in an election campaign, it doesn’t pay off,” said Mr. Pineau. That’s why it takes people like me who write books to try to explain that these constraints are not there to bully people and that if we don’t take them into account now we will pay a much greater price in the future. »
Among the biggest consumers
Quebec “is therefore in the front runner of the regions of the world with the largest share of renewable energy” (46%). However, our per capita energy consumption is four times higher than the world average and even that of China’s per capita. Winter does not explain everything since Norway consumes 27% less energy per person than us.