In November, York rolled out its new sustainability strategy, Positive Change: Connecting People, Planet and Purpose, with an ambitious plan to help solve the planet’s environmental challenges and ensure sustainability for future generations. The University’s new cogeneration strategy is putting this vision into action.
In response to the rapidly changing power generation landscape, increasing provincial demands and a new government incentive, York is using its own resources to be a sustainability leader in Ontario. Aligned with its commitment to foster collective action, the University will use its own cogeneration units – systems that generate electricity and heat simultaneously – to reduce emissions and generate cleaner energy across the province. By engaging these systems, the University will reduce provincial carbon emissions by 17,000 tonnes.
Running its cogeneration units more often will allow York to ease the strain on the provincial grid, produce cleaner energy than provincial gas plants and earn government incentives –offsetting rising electricity, gas and carbon tax costs, resulting in an estimated operational savings of $3.66 million.
“York’s cogeneration units are configured to be a lower emitting electricity generator than the gas-fired power plants in the province,” said Narin Kishinchandani, vice-president finance and administration. “While York’s own operational improvements have significantly decreased our individual emissions, the current provincial landscape provided us an opportunity to do something greater. Running our cogeneration units more frequently enables us to take on a leadership role in Ontario by helping to generate cleaner energy and reduce provincial emissions on a macro level.”
This shift follows York’s decision to adopt a peak energy demand management program to contribute to a more sustainable provincial energy system and reduce emissions from operational needs. Through the program, York stopped running its cogeneration units around the clock to reduce its energy use in alignment with peak demand days – eliminating emissions, saving costs and reducing strain on the grid.
Through participation in the program, the University avoided an estimated 22,000 tonnes of carbon emissions and saved $2.8 million in energy costs per year, over two years. This change was projected to get York 80 per cent of the way to its target of curbing emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 – a near-term target on the journey to net-zero.
However, since the program’s implementation, electricity demand in the province has outpaced renewable capacity, increasing reliance on provincial gas-fired power plants. Keeping York’s cogeneration units offline could add 39,000 tonnes of carbon emissions to the province.
On the contrary, running its units more frequently would enable the University to generate cleaner energy, reduce provincial emissions and improve the sustainability of the current energy grid against growing demand.
“This shift is in alignment with several of the guiding principles in our new sustainability strategy,” said Nicole Arsenault, program director in the Office of Sustainability. “It demonstrates how York can effectively and mindfully navigate challenging, complex and rapidly shifting ecological, economic and social environments, while contributing to our collective sustainable future.”
York’s peak energy demand management program will help the University meet its overall emission reduction targets and keep the University on track to achieve its near-term 2030 emission reduction targets. The University will continue to monitor provincial energy and electrification needs to determine how it can support emission reduction and electrical production across Ontario.