Reducing Yellowknife’s GHG emissions helps keep our air clean to breathe and keeps our community members healthy – especially young children, the elderly, and people with respiratory issues.
Investing in cleaner sources of energy and improving efficiency doesn’t just help the environment, but it also helps you save money. Switching to clean energy for heating and electricity, such as biomass and solar, is becoming cheaper than traditional sources like heating oil, propane, or diesel. Improving the efficiency of buildings and transportation will also help lower your bills.
That’s why it’s important that we measure our energy use and emissions and monitor our progress towards our emissions-reduction goals as we aim to mitigate climate change.
What does 'mitigation' mean?
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to help limit the extent of climate change.
Recent emissions and energy data
The City of Yellowknife tracks corporate and community emissions and energy data. Corporate emissions include emissions from infrastructure assets managed by the City, while community emissions encompass all emissions that occur within the City’s geographic boundaries.
| Corporate emissions | Community emissions |
|---|---|
| City owned facilities (e.g., City Hall, the Multiplex, etc.) | All corporate sources (column to the left) |
| Streetlighting and traffic signals | Residential buildings |
| Non-transit fleet vehicles and public transit vehicles | Industrial, commercial and institutional buildings |
| Water and wastewater facilities | On-road, off-road (e.g., ATVs), and aviation vehicles |
| Emissions at solid waste facilities (e.g., the landfill) | Emissions related to solid waste disposal at the landfill, composting, and wastewater treatment |
Check back soon for more information on Yellowknife's recent energy and emissions trends and for the GHG Emissions and Energy Inventory report.
Current targets and progress
The Government of the Northwest Territories has committed to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050. Making up about 50% of the territory’s population, Yellowknife plays a critical role in reaching this goal.
What does 'net-zero' mean?
The total amount of emissions produced by human activities (e.g., by burning fossil fuels) is less than the amount being removed from the atmosphere (e.g., by preserving greenspaces, planting trees, etc.).
What residents can do
Follow these tips to improve energy efficiency in your home or business and save money on your energy and gas bills.
*Possible for some tenants
| Buildings (adapted from Artic Energy Alliance and NTPC) |
Drain water heat recovery systems capture heat from your shower’s drain and use it to pre-heat cold water entering your home. It can save you 40% of your water heating costs!
Air leakage represents 25-40% of the heat lost in an older home.
85-90% of energy used by your washing machine is to heat the water.
LED lighting uses 80-90% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last at least 10x longer. |
| Transportation |
Save money on gas, help the environment, and improve your physical and mental health all at once!
|
| Food |
Plant-based foods generally use less energy, land, and water to grow - and result in fewer GHG emissions - than animal products.
Reduce methane emissions at the landfill by putting your food scraps in the green bin.
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Energy efficient buildings
The City of Yellowknife has adopted the 2020 National Building Code of Canada and the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2020 in the City’s Building By-law. Yellowknife’s building by-law exceeds the energy efficiency requirements of the National Energy Code for residential buildings.
See Arctic Energy Alliance’s Guide for New Energy Efficient Buildings for details on how to design an energy-efficient building.