Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
It's always a pleasure to be called before a committee of the House of Commons and to have the opportunity to present the industry's views.
I'm going to present a brief picture of the coalition, then talk about how geothermal energy contributes, or can contribute more to integrated energy systems in the communities. I'll conclude by talking about our industry organization experience.
I just remembered that, last time, I spoke far too quickly for the interpreters. I promise I'll speak more carefully today.
Essentially, the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition is an association of geothermal sector stakeholders. It is a matrix representation. We represent all stakeholders: installers, manufacturers, people from the financial sectors and so on. It's a comprehensive association.
We're talking about the integrated approach to energy services in a North American context. We think there is a real North American challenge, even though we're talking about communities. Currently, a number of issues must be resolved in the energy sector.
The first is to adapt to noticeable fluctuations in energy prices. This is an everyday reality. It is also important to continue optimizing the overall energy supply and demand chain, whether it be by securing or better managing traditional energy sources, improving energy efficiency or the efforts that must be made to integrate renewable energy in the supply and demand equation, while considering the decisive role Canada plays in energy security in North America.
We have to put the debate in this context and define the role of the communities in energy management. This requires us to rethink how our energy is moved in and around municipalities and communities, while building and upgrading infrastructure to reflect the adoption of new energy technologies, particularly renewable energy, while ensuring economic growth and sustainable development without losing a single job and, if possible, creating new jobs. We think the challenge is extremely important.
The energy forms found in isolated regions, whether it be oil, hydroelectricity or natural gas, are transported to the communities through various mechanisms. This is the traditional approach to energy supply and demand.
In reality, however, most of the energy consumed within communities is thermal energy. So this is energy that has been transformed and essentially generated by fossil fuel combustion. Another important reality for the communities is that organizations do not have a culture of energy management. The communities are used to receiving energy, not managing it.
The conclusion that must be drawn from this is that we must promote the wider use of technology that produces thermal energy more efficiently within the entire supply-demand chain and accelerate the wider and wisest of available technologies to move thermal energy within our communities. This is the central point of our position.
Obviously, the key technology for transferring this energy is geothermal heat pumps and heat pumps in general. The key tool is the integrated energy systems approach within communities.
If you turn the page of the presentation, you'll see a visual representation of what we consider an integrated approach for providing energy services. I won't review each of these points, but, essentially, in the upper left-hand corner of the slide you'll find the traditional energy sources that enter the community, whereas all the other boxes represent potential energy sources or sources of energy consumption, whether it be municipal waste management, cogeneration from industrial processes and excess heat produced by arenas and supermarkets. A large quantity of thermal energy is thus being lost.
I've strategically placed what I call thermal storage and heat exchangers. This is the concept of geoexchange. These devices can be installed in a municipality to absorb this energy and subsequently to redistribute it in the community.
However, the market raises many barriers to the integration of these devices. I won't review them one by one, for lack of time. Whatever the case may be, we are faced with exactly the same barriers as other forms of energy, that is to say financial issues, reluctance to move away from current practices, the renewable energy products and services supply bottleneck and regulatory and standards issues. The development of integrated energy services in the communities thus faces all these traditional barriers to energy efficiency.
For us, the integrated energy services approach requires a market transformation. It is unrealistic to think that we will expand and improve the way energy circulates in the communities if our ultimate objective isn't to transform markets, and thus to move from the current method to more futuristic methods of delivering energy. The market raises barriers, but market failures must also be resolved. When the market is unable to resolve those barriers, governments and industrial associations must address market failures. The transformation of these markets will obviously be achieved through market solutions. This also involves the promotion and revision of certain standards and practices. This won't be done by itself; we must acquire the tools to do so. Governments have an important role to play in this regard. Then applications and standards must be implemented. It isn't simply a matter of implementing standards; they must also be enforced. Otherwise there will be no market transformation.
Very briefly, I will say that our experience with geoexchange has transformed the markets in the past four years. Essentially, after years of consultation with power companies and various governments, both provincially and federally, we have developed a global quality program and a self-regulating industry-led approach that works relatively well. Ultimately, the quality equation that we have developed essentially has three parts: training for individuals, accreditation for professionals and systems certification. This equals, first of all, market discipline for the industry, among the people who work in it, but especially for consumer and stakeholder confidence in the technology. That's the fundamental point that concerns us. And you'll find that in the approach for the communities as well.
I won't dwell on the next slide, but it shows the results achieved after two years of implementing our quality program. Several hundreds of individuals have been trained and are fully qualified, and several thousands of systems have been certified by the coalition. We therefore have a great success story that can be replicated with other forms of energy.
In the current situation, we see opportunities for the industry to grow and for government to help. The government's first role is to provide assistance for infrastructure and technologies for the integrated approach. Every single form of renewable energy within the communities becomes more efficient when combined with another energy form. The combination of two technologies normally yields a better result than the sum of those two energy forms individually. Applying 10, 15 or 20 different energy forms to the community as a whole amplifies the situation. It is therefore important that infrastructure programs aim to achieve a higher degree of integration.
Another promising component would be to set performance goals. We could lay out a medium- and long-term vision in the communities. For example, we must understand that, based on the standards, a building will have to be heated with so many kilowatt-hours and Joules per square metre. We shouldn't merely insulate a wall with R-40 or R-60 products or whatever. This is much more a performance approach than a prescriptive approach.
In addition, the current recession might provide the right opportunities. With respect to manpower training, there is currently a need for new worker training. There's also a need for investment to replace infrastructure. It is important to replace current infrastructure based on energy systems, not on each specific component. There must also be a focus on capital stock turnover cycles. If we don't do it now, we won't be able to do it in future.
In short, the business model for an integrated approach works relatively well. We've proved that the deployment of geoexchange is realistic. As for the need to adapt existing standards, the confidence of stakeholders in the communities depends on the development and implementation of standards. We also note a serious need to better inform stakeholders. Obviously, the self-regulating model that the coalition has developed in the geoexchange sector could be adapted to other forms of energy.
Thank you very much.