Hwy. 413 debate: Are electric vehicles the solution to climate change and traffic?

Yorkregion.com
April 1, 2022

Heeding the call on climate change and reaching net-zero emissions in 2050 is proving to be complex as approaches on how to actually achieve it vary.

The envisaged Highway 413 by Doug Ford’s provincial government is going to cut through the protected Greenbelt in Vaughan, diminishing some farmland.

The Tory-led government sees the new highway as a solution to solving traffic gridlock, especially with more and more Ontarians buying electric vehicles.

This is why Ontario is pledging to spend $91 million to expand its network of public electric vehicle chargers. It launched five new ONroute charging stations on March 18.

Currently, 11 out of the 23 ONroute service centres along highways 401 and 400 are equipped with EV fast charges. Not only that, by 2030, it is projected one out of every three automobiles sold will be electric.

“The rapid advancement of electric vehicle (EV) technology offers Ontario an opportunity to address a key source of emissions,” said Dakota Brasier, senior communications adviser and press secretary from the ministry of transportation office.

With the number of EVs doubling over the last three years in Ontario, Dakota added the government plans to sustain “the continued pivot to electric, low-carbon, connected and autonomous vehicles.”

However, Eric Miller, a professor who specializes in the economics of environmental issues and public policy at York University, says he isn’t seeing the government crunching the numbers behind its EV strategy.

In addition, Miller says all government departments are working in silos and do not have any integrative approach even though “there are really great, smart people who are working in the government on the government side.”

For the professor, the policy on electrification, including that of vehicles, isn’t the magic bullet.

He cited figures from the latest 2023-2042 outlook by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator. IESO forecasts increasing greenhouse gasses from electricity production in Ontario, contrary to the province’s recent history of decreases since shutting down coal-fired generation.

Due to reduced nuclear production and growing demand, IESO described in a report that electricity sector emissions are predicted to increase to 11.9 Mt CO2E by 2030. This will also put pressure on -- increased production -- from gas-fired generation.

“That’s a 226 per cent growth from actual emissions (3.6 Mt CO2E) that IESO estimates for 2021,” Miller said.

 

This means Ontario burning more fossil gas to generate electricity.

“To me, that's a big question that needs to be addressed by the province,” he added.

Stuart M. Turnbull, a business professor at the University of Houston, also questioned EVs as the magic solution when some of the materials to make these vehicles need to be mined to construct their batteries.

“Carbon trail number 1,” Turnbull said, adding, “We need to process the raw materials to make the batteries. Carbon trail number 2.”

And once batteries are depleted, “How do we deal with all the dead batteries? Carbon trail number 3.”

And like Miller, Turnbull said if we all do indeed switch to EVs, “We need to generate extra electricity.”

“Climate change is affecting power generation. Water is becoming a scarce commodity. Even nuclear power stations require water (acts as a coolant),” Turnbull added. “Try driving from Toronto to Ottawa in an EV. Where are the recharging stations? Do you want to wait a few hours while your car is being charged? There are still many practical problems to solve.”

In the background, however, the world is witnessing a new trend in environmental, social and governance investing.

In 2021 alone, ESG investment saw issuance exceeding $1.6 trillion, bringing its total market to balloon to more than $4 trillion after ESG-conscious investors pitched in into anything from a carbon capture stock to an ethical semiconductor company.

“It's the ESG investors that are leading more than governments in my view. They're the ones who are asking questions, developing new metrics and so on,” said Miller.

“That part brings me optimism.”