Projects that will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 2,000 tonnes a year over the next decade are receiving more than $230,000 in grants through the Manitoba Climate Investment Pilot Program. This announcement was made by Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh.
“More Manitobans are showing leadership by looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint,” said Mackintosh. “These grants will help organizations begin to identify greenhouse-gas emissions and work to implement more environmentally sustainable solutions for the future.”
Mackintosh also released the province’s latest progress report on climate change. The report shows that Manitoba’s greenhouse-gas emissions were two per cent lower in 2010 than in 2000, meeting the initial reporting target set out in the province’s climate change legislation.
“This reduction is equivalent to taking 90,000 cars off the road every year,” said Mackintosh. “By working together through partnerships like the Manitoba Climate Investment Pilot Program, we are starting to see results in the fight against climate change. Our emissions are lower than they were in 2000, even though the provinces’ population and economy continues to grow.”
The Manitoba Climate Investment Pilot Program was introduced in spring 2011 to help businesses and not-for-profit organizations in Manitoba measure and reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions, Mackintosh said.
The program is providing more than $204,000 for four Climate Mitigation Action Grants to support greenhouse-gas emission reduction projects including:
• $84,000 for a biomass heating project to replace coal use at the Cypress Colony including the creation of an on-site pellet mill that will create new green jobs,
• $6,400 to convert waste vegetable oil to diesel for use on diesel-powered service vehicles at The Forks Renewal Corporation,
• $55,700 for a biovator composting unit for waste created at The Forks and University of Winnipeg, and
• $58,400 to support energy retrofits at the University of Winnipeg.
“The Manitoba Climate Investment Program allowed us to further our Target Zero initiatives at The Forks,” said Jim August, CEO of The Forks North Portage. “This program helped us to burn converted waste fryer oil in our site equipment and also to complete our biovator composting installation. With the first, our Zamboni now smells like French fries and, with the second, we are able to divert 1,700 pounds of waste away from landfills daily.”
“These funds enable our organization to continue our commitment to achieve our targets and to further reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions,” said Laurel Repski, vice-president of sustainability at the University of Winnipeg. “These initiatives form a major part of the UWinnipeg Sustainability Strategy, which was recently adopted by our board of regents.”
The projects are projected to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 2,000 tonnes a year over the next decade, the equivalent of removing 400 cars from the road each year.
Mackintosh said the program also offers Corporate Capacity Building Grants that help organizations inventory their greenhouse-gas emissions including:
• four one-year memberships for Assiniboine Credit Union, The Forks Renewal Corporation, the Woodlot Association of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg to The Climate Registry, the official North American voluntary greenhouse-gas emission registry; and
• third-party greenhouse-gas emission verification for the University of Winnipeg and The Forks Renewal Corporation.
“We are delighted to welcome these Manitoba organizations into our community of leaders from across North America,” said David Rosenheim, executive director of The Climate Registry. “The Government of Manitoba has been an active member on our board for some time, and we look forward to continuing to support efforts around the province that not only reduce carbon emissions, but help organizations become more efficient, competitive and sustainable.”
The Climate Registry is a non-profit organization that operates the only voluntary carbon footprint registry in North America. The Climate Registry is supported by states, provinces, territories and tribes and helps hundreds of public and private organizations measure, report and reduce their carbon emissions. For more information on The Climate Registry, visit www.theclimateregistry.org.
“Manitoba has made great strides in meeting our climate change commitments and we know that Manitoba’s greenhouse-gas emissions need to be reduced further,” said Mackintosh. “We will be consulting with stakeholders and industry to renew our climate change strategy. By building on our strengths in green energy, energy efficiency and environmental protection, Manitoba will continue to be a leader in fighting climate change.”
Click here for more information on the Manitoba Climate Investment Pilot Program.
Manitoba’s Report on Climate Change for 2010 is available for download here.
