Environmental Commissioner Examines Municipal Water Use, Energy Consumption, And Climate Change

The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario has published her Annual Energy Conservation Progress Report, entitled Every Drop Counts (the "Report"). The Report focuses on the nexus between water and energy and finding ways to reduce municipal consumption of both in Ontario.  The Report focuses on some creative solutions for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy and water consumption at the municipal level.

One solution proposed in the Report (and one that generated particular media interest) is to make use of the latent energy source provided by sewage. Municipal water and wastewater systems account for an average 38 per cent of a municipality's energy consumption and 32 per cent of its reported GHG emissions. These are by far the largest shares of overall municipal energy consumption and GHG emissions, respectively.