Looking for a way to reduce your carbon footprint and energy bills? The City of Burnaby may have the answer. By creating its own District Energy Utility (DEU), the city aims to recycle wasted energy from Metro Vancouver’s Waste-to-Energy facility to heat homes and businesses in Burnaby. This would not only provide residents with affordable and reliable energy but also help in the fight against climate change.
A district energy system can provide thermal energy to multiple buildings through a central energy plant, rather than each building having its own furnaces or boilers. Hot water produced at the plant is transmitted 24/7 through an underground network of thermal piping, directly transferring thermal energy to the building’s heating system.
A feasibility study found that the facility generates enough energy to serve the Metrotown and Edmonds neighbourhoods, alongside the River District in Vancouver. It’s in Metrotown and Edmonds that the city intends to begin providing energy in 2026, with almost half of the city’s population growth expected to be centred around those two neighbourhoods over the next two decades.
Transitioning to the new system would replace the need for carbon-intensive fuels like natural gas, reducing the equivalent of 22,400 tonnes of CO2 annually. The move would help Burnaby get closer to its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Existing buildings would have the option to connect to the system, but it would be mandatory for new construction in the core Metrotown and Edmonds service areas. Several Burnaby communities already employ their own district energy systems, including SFU, BCIT, Solo District, and Burnaby Central Secondary School.
Picture source: City of Burnaby
While some organizations have criticized the Waste-to-Energy facility for potentially producing more emissions than landfills, Metro Vancouver says it handles about 260,000 tonnes of garbage per year—enough to power 16,000 homes a year. By making better use of available energy resources, Metro Vancouver hopes to become a carbon-neutral region by 2050, while providing a sustainable heat source for homes and businesses.
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The Bank of Canada has announced its decision to hold the target for the overnight rate at 4.5%, while keeping the Bank Rate and deposit rate at 4.75% and 4.5%, respectively.
The Bank will also continue its policy of quantitative tightening.
While inflation in many countries is declining due to lower energy prices, tighter monetary policy, and normalized global supply chains, measures of core inflation in advanced economies suggest persistent price pressures, especially for services. Global economic growth has been stronger than anticipated, with growth in the United States and Europe surprising on the upside. However, the Bank expects the growth to weaken due to tighter monetary policy.
In Canada, the demand still exceeds supply, and the labor market remains tight. Economic growth in the first quarter looks to be stronger than expected, with a bounce in exports and solid consumption growth. However, the Bank expects consumption to moderate as more households renew their mortgages at higher rates, and restrictive monetary policy works its way through the economy. Overall, GDP growth is projected to be weak through the remainder of this year before strengthening gradually next year.
CPI inflation eased to 5.2% in February, and the Bank expects CPI inflation to fall quickly to around 3% in the middle of this year and then decline more gradually to the 2% target by the end of 2024. However, Governing Council remains prepared to raise the policy rate further if needed to return inflation to the 2% target.
Governing Council’s focus is on the evolution of core inflation, inflation expectations, and corporate pricing behavior to gauge the progress of CPI inflation back to target. In light of its outlook for growth and inflation, Governing Council has decided to maintain the policy rate at 4.5% and continue with quantitative tightening.
For more information on the Bank of Canada’s outlook for the economy and inflation, including risks to the projection, refer to the Monetary Policy Report (MPR) scheduled to be published on July 12, 2023.
Picture source: Trading Economics
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