Canada: New motor vehicle registrations, first quarter 2026

[NNadir]

1. In parts of Canada a plug in car is actually clean.

Quebec, Newfoundland, and Manatobia and British Columbia each have carbon intensity below 100 grams of CO₂ per kwh. Ontario is close at 111 g CO₂/kwh.

The first four rely on hydroelectricity which is considered "green" if one does not care about riparian and riverine ecosystems. (I do, but I'm eccentric.) Ontario's largest source of electricity is nuclear, using the magnificent CANDU reactors. They do burn some gas, but should be able to reduce this reliance when the Bruce reactor refurbishments are completed. The refurbishments have been proceeding in an excellent fashion, under budget and ahead of schedule. Units 1 and 2 are completed, as has that of unit 6. The refurbishment of units 3 and 4 are underway.

Electric cars are not sustainable anywhere in the world owing to material constraints and embodied energy; but then again there are no cars of any type that are sustainable. In Canada however electric and plug in hybid cars are the least offensive.

There are no grids in the United States that have carbon intensity below 100 grams of CO₂. On my grid, PJM, an electric car is dirtier in carbon intensity, if one includes embodied energy as one should, than a straight up internal combustion engine car, and a hybrid is only marginally better than an internal combustion engine car.

The only grids in Canada that rely heavily on fossil fuels are Alberta and Saskatchewan. The only grid in Canada to depend heavily on coal, the worst fossil fuel, is Saskatchewan.