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Wedge Advisory Note – Endnotes

Advice on a Long-term Strategy
on Energy and Climate Change

Endnotes

 ¹ The following section is based on the paper “Energy
Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada in 2050-A Low
Emission Scenario”. Prepared by ICF International
for the NRTEE.

 ² CO2 equivalent signifies “carbon dioxide equivalent.”
While carbon dioxide itself comprises most energy-related
greenhouse gas emissions, there are also emissions of
methane and nitrous oxide from the production and consumption
of fossil fuels. To facilitate analysis and comparison,
the relative effectiveness of these other gases in causing
global warming can be used to express emissions of these
gases in terms of the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide
it would take to cause the same amount of global warming.
For example, with the generally accepted convention
used here, a tonne of methane emissions is equivalent
to 21 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and a tonne
of nitrous oxide emissions equate to 310 tonnes of carbon
dioxide emissions, or 310 tonnes CO2 equivalent.

 ³ “Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem
for the Next Fifty Years with Current Technology”,
Science, Vol. 305, 13 August 2004, pp.968-972

 ⁴
The oil and gas sector is examined separately in this
study.