Government of Canada Announces new Greening Projects and Reduced CSA Emissions

The Government of Canada announced two new greening projects, and recently discussed progress on a third for Canadian Space Agency (CSA) that saw a sharp cut in its emissions, as part of a government-wide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In late February, Treasury Board president Anita Anand spoke about the Greening Government Fund (GGF) projects at CSA headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec. (CSA officials told SpaceQ they were unable to provide commentary for a separate interview.)

“Creating climate resiliency requires everyone to do their part, and the government is no different,” Anand said in a statement. “Through the Greening Government Strategy, we are leading by example in greening our own operations by supporting projects that will move us closer to our goal of net-zero operations by 2050.”

The new projects, CSA stated, represent $2 million in funding. (GGF overall includes 77 projects in 18 different federal departments and agencies, for $55 million all told.) The two new projects are the following:

• The CSA will do a life cycle assessment on “one of its space projects” (which one was not specified in the press release or by CSA) for “identifying opportunities to reduce embodied carbon and developing solutions for decarbonizing space-related research and development contracts.”
• The second new project, co-led by Natural Resources Canada and the Department of National Defence, focuses on “lower carbon heating options in the northern heating market” in terms of building metrics such as “sizing, installation, seasonal performance, and maintenance.” The funding will be targeted for facility owners and managers to get help on system design, system costs and to assist with use of ground source or sea water heat pumps. CSA’s involvement in the program, if any, was not disclosed.

The third, ongoing project from 2020 focuses on better use of electric heating at CSA headquarters, and is led by NRC. It has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and natural gas consumption by 33% since 2021-22. This project, alongside retrofits and a “cleaner electric grid,” reduced CSA emissions from its property portfolio by 56% since 2005-06.” The CSA’s involvement in the Greening Government Fund projects will help advance technological innovations and ensure the preservation of our planet and its space environment for future generations. This is a key part of the CSA’s contributions to our government’s environmental, social and economic sustainability goals,” said François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry who is responsible for CSA.