Understanding where greenhouse gas emissions are created in Newfoundland and Labrador provides insight into the priorities of the emissions reduction fund. The following summary is based on 2023 data made available through Canada’s National Inventory Report (NIR) and published by the provincial government. Additional insights are extracted from econext research publications.
Transportation on land is the most significant source of GHGs in NL. Road transportation accounts for 89% of these emissions, with 69% (19% of all NL GHGs) attributed to personal vehicles and 20% attributed to heavy duty trucks (6% of all NL GHGs). Off-road transportation accounts for 11% of land transportation emissions (or 3% of all NL GHGs); this includes heavy machinery used in agriculture and forestry, commercial and institutional, as well as personal/residential recreational vehicles. Note that ‘off-road manufacturing, mining, and construction’ GHGs are significant (6% of all NL GHGs) but are covered under the ‘heavy industry’ category below.
This includes GHG emissions that originate from NL’s offshore oil and gas production facilities. The primary sources of GHG emissions for these facilities are: power generation for onsite activities; flaring; and fugitives and venting. Power generation – which currently is achieved through the use of combustion turbines using gas derived from production processes – is responsible for about 2/3 of these GHGs (with some variance by facility and by year).
The vast majority of heavy industry GHG emissions (90% or more) are attributed to mineral extraction and processing operations. The remainder of GHG emissions originate from fuel production facilities and pulp and paper operations.
Most GHG emissions from electricity originate from the Holyrood generating station which includes thermal generation and combustion turbines. This facility operates in the colder months and as a backup to the electricity grid which is predominantly made up of renewable sources (90+%). There are other diesel generators throughout the province which are used when needed but account for less than 1% of provincial GHGs. Off-grid diesel generation (i.e., for remote communities) accounts for 0.5% of provincial GHGs.
‘Buildings’ includes residential homes and commercial / institutional buildings, etc. GHG emissions originating from buildings are related to the combustion of fuels and propane for space and water heating. Emissions are roughly split 50/50 between residential and commercial / institutional.
26% of marine transportation GHGs come from tankers – mostly moving fuel from offshore oil and gas facilities to ports on the island. 21% of GHGs come from provincial and federal ferries. Container ships account for 16% of marine transportation GHGs in the province, while merchant bulk, merchant other, offshore supply, and fishing vessels account for 7% each. These figures do not include international traffic (i.e., vessels with departures or arrivals that are outside of Canada). If these emissions were included, GHGs attributed to container ships triple and GHGs attributed to merchant bulk increase by a factor of 6.
GHGs in waste are from methane produced as as result of materials decomposing in landfills. Methane is a powerful gas which is many time more potent as a GHG than CO2. Organic materials being landfilled are responsible for these emissions, and break down over a long period of time. Organic waste represents more than 30% of all waste that is landfilled in NL; this does not include industrial waste that oftentimes does not find its way into landfills (i.e., agricultural, fisheries, and forestry related waste).
Light industry refers to a diverse range of industrial sub-sectors in areas like food processing, textiles, consumer goods, vehicles and machinery. GHGs in light manufacturing typically are related to the combustion of fossil fuels for space and water heating, machinery, and processes that require high heat (i.e., boilers).
Aviation GHGs include arrivals and departures from domestic (Canadian) locations, excluding international traffic (or those with international origins or destinations).
Agricultural emissions primarily stem from livestock digestion (methane), manure management (methane and nitrous oxide), synthetic fertilizer application (nitrous oxide), and fossil fuel combustion in machinery.
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