Energy Use in the Industrial Sector

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Key highlights

Over the 1990 to 2015 period,
  • Canadian industry saved $3.2 billion in energy costs due to an 11% energy efficiency improvement in 2015.
  • Industrial energy use increased 31%. It would have increased 42% without energy efficiency improvements.
  • In 2015, Canadian industry saved 298 PJ of energy and reduced 14.9 Mt of GHG emissions.
  • Energy intensity (MJ/$2007 – GDP) decreased 10.4%.

  Overview - Energy use and GHG emissions

The industrial sector used the most energy of any sector in Canada, but had fewer GHG emissions than the transportation sector.

The industrial sector spent $38.5 billion on energy in 2015 for all their manufacturing, resource extraction, forestry and construction activities.

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Distribution of industrial energy use by fuel type, 2015

Percentage
Electricity 20.1
Natural gas 42.6
Oil 6.9
Still gas and petroleum coke 13.3
Wood waste and pulping liquor 10.9
Other 6.2

GDP and energy use are not always proportional.

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Distribution of energy use and activity by industry, 2015 (percentage)

Industry GDP Energy use
Construction 27.6 2.3
Forestry 1.2 0.6
Mining 30.4 37.7
Manufacturing 40.8 59.4

  Industrial energy use

From 1990 to 2015, industrial energy use increased 31%, from 2,710 PJ to 3,540 PJ. The associated end-use GHG emissions increased 26%, from 141.52 Mt to 177.6 Mt.

Natural gas use grew while major declines were reported in heavy fuel oil2 (HFO) and coke and coke oven gas. The shift toward less emission-intensive fuels changed the mix of energy used over the period, which resulted in lower growth in GHG emissions.

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Industrial energy use by fuel type, 1990 and 2015 (petajoules)

1990 2015
Electricity 658.4 711.3
Natural gas 837.2 1508.1
Oil 328.7 242.7
Still gas and petroleum coke 309.9 470.8
Wood waste and pulping liquor 341.0 387.5
Other 234.6 220.1

  Energy use in resource extraction

This subsector comprises industries engaged in oil and gas extraction, coal mining, metal ore mining, non-metallic mineral mining, quarrying and support activities for mining and oil and gas extraction.

Since 1990, the subsector’s energy consumption and its associated end-use emissions have both more than tripled. Over the 1990–2015 period, this subsector's GDP increased 55%, compared to a 46% increase for the entire sector.

Activity in the oil sands was the main driver in energy demand from the resource extraction industries. Since the late 1990s, production from non-conventional resources (oil sands) increased. The production of bitumen and synthetic crude oil in 1990 was 55,000 cubic metres per day (m3/day). It climbed to 377,000 m3/day by 2015.

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Industrial energy use by selected industry, 1990 and 2015 (petajoules)

1990 2015
Upstream mining (including oil and gas extraction) 210.7 1190.9
Metal and non-metallic mining 136.9 145.5
Other industries 2362.4 2204.0

  Manufacturing energy use

The Manufacturing sector is responsible for approximately one quarter of the energy used by final consumers in Canada, consuming 2,102 PJ of energy in 2015, a decline of 8.1% since 1990. Although there are 21 subsectors with NAICS 3-digit codes, four of these subsectors accounted for 76% of all energy consumption in the sector.

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Share of energy use in the Manufacturing sector, 2015

Percentage
Pulp and paper 26.5
Smelting and refining 10.9
Chemical 14.0
Petroleum refining 14.5
Wood products 2.9
Iron and steel 9.6
Cement 2.7
Other Manufacturing subsectors 18.7

Paper Manufacturing

The Paper Manufacturing subsector is engaged in the manufacturing of pulp, paper and paper products and is the main user of biomass as a source of energy.

This subsector is a big player in combined heat and power (CHP), which could result in a substantial increase in efficiency compared to separate electricity generation and heating. Energy use for Paper Manufacturing production peaked in 2004, before trending downward thereafter. In 2015, the subsector consumed 557 PJ of energy, a decrease of 23% from 728 PJ in 1990. Pulp mills, paperboard mills, paper mills (except newsprint) and newsprint mills all decreased their energy use significantly since 1990, with the largest decline from the newsprint mill industry (-64%). GHG emissions decreased 62% since 1990 for the sector as a whole.

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Paper Manufacturing energy use by selected industry, 1990 and 2015 (petajoules)

1990 2015
Pulp mills 300.2 288.3
Paperboard mills 62.6 33.9
Paper mills (except newsprint) 99.8 77.9
Newsprint mills 247.7 88.9
Other 18.0 68.6

Primary Metal Manufacturing

Energy use for Primary Metal production increased significantly, driven completely by growing energy demand in the production of alumina and aluminum of the smelting and refining industries, which are primarily engaged in the production of aluminum, nickel, copper, zinc, lead and magnesium.

This subsector saw its energy consumption increase by 7.5% in 2015 to 433 PJ from 1990. The increase was totally driven by growing energy demand in the production of alumina and aluminum of the smelting and refining industry group. From 1990 to 2015, energy demand in the manufacturing of alumina and aluminum grew 68%, emitting just 14% more associated GHG emissions. Since 1990, GDP in the production of alumina and aluminum has more than tripled, from $1.0 billion ($2007) in 1990 to $3.1 billion ($2007) in 2015.

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Smelting and refining energy use by selected industry, 1990 and 2015 (petajoules)

1990 2015
Alumina and aluminum 109.8 184.9
Other non-ferrous 73.5 45.1
Smelting and refining 183.3 229.9

Chemical Manufacturing

Chemical Manufacturing saw robust growth in energy needs, while Petroleum Refining reported a decline in energy use in 2015 compared to 1990.

Energy use for this subsector rose 32% from 223 PJ in 1990 to 295 PJ in 2015, driven in part by increasing energy demand in industrial gas manufacturing. Natural gas (70% share) and electricity (25% share) accounted for the majority of the energy needs for the Chemical Manufacturing subsector. GHG emissions from this subsector increased 20%.

Contrary to the upward trend in energy consumption in this subsector, energy use in Petroleum Refining declined 6%, even though the production level of the petroleum refining industry was 4% higher in 2015 from that in 1990. GHG emissions remained virtually unchanged in 2015 compared to 1990 for this industry.

Wood Product Manufacturing

The Wood Product Manufacturing subsector3 comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing products from wood.

This subsector represented only 3% of the Manufacturing sector’s energy use with 67.7 PJ in 2015. GHG emissions decreased 3.9% between 1990 and 2015. The industries in this subsector are engaged in:

  • sawing logs into lumber and similar products, or preserving these products
  • making products that improve the natural characteristics of wood; for example, by making veneers, plywood, reconstituted wood panel products or engineered wood assemblies
  • making a diverse range of wood products such as millwork

  Isolating the effect of energy efficiency in industry

Without energy efficiency gains, energy use would have increased 42% instead of 31%.

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Impact of activity, structure and energy efficiency on the change in industrial energy use, 1990–2015

Petajoules
Total change in energy use 830.5
Activity effect 2,189.4
Structure effect -1,060.9
Energy efficiency effect -297.9

In 2015, Canadian industry saved $3.2 billion in energy costs due to an 11% energy efficiency improvement. Industry saved 298 PJ of energy and reduced 14.9 Mt of GHG emissions.

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Industrial energy use, with and without energy efficiency improvements, 1990–2015

Energy use without energy efficiency improvements Energy use with energy efficiency improvements
1990 2710.0 2710.0
1995 3058.0 3017.3
1996 3104.4 3019.6
1997 3231.6 3086.4
1998 3290.1 2998.6
1999 3465.8 3046.4
2000 3595.2 3166.9
2001 3513.1 3023.3
2002 3664.8 3139.6
2003 3655.5 3202.9
2004 3745.6 3367.4
2005 3735.4 3305.9
2006 3626.4 3306.8
2007 3745.2 3434.8
2008 3576.2 3294.0
2009 3257.0 3135.9
2010 3436.6 3237.0
2011 3489.1 3321.5
2012 3529.2 3415.9
2013 3634.1 3525.1
2014 3792.8 3584.4
2015 3838.4 3540.5

Various factors influenced change in energy use:

  • activity effect - Industrial activity increased energy use by 2,189 PJ and GHG emissions by 109.8 Mt.
  • structure effect - The structural changes in the industrial sector, specifically, a relative decrease in the activity share of energy-intensive industries (i.e. pulp and paper), helped the sector to reduce its energy use and GHG emissions by 1,061 PJ and 53.2 Mt, respectively.
  • energy efficiency effect – Improvements in the energy efficiency of the industrial sector avoided 298 PJ of energy use and 14.9 Mt of GHG emissions.
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Factors influencing energy consumption, 1990-2015

Total change in energy use Activity effect Structure effect Energy efficiency effect
1990 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1995 307.4 251.1 96.9 -40.6
1996 309.7 301.2 93.3 -84.8
1997 376.5 474.4 47.2 -145.2
1998 288.7 584.0 -3.9 -291.5
1999 336.5 722.2 33.6 -419.4
2000 456.9 911.0 -25.8 -428.3
2001 313.3 941.2 -138.0 -489.8
2002 429.6 1076.5 -121.7 -525.3
2003 492.9 1137.0 -191.4 -452.7
2004 657.4 1330.0 -294.4 -378.3
2005 595.9 1366.6 -341.1 -429.5
2006 596.9 1483.3 -566.8 -319.6
2007 724.9 1533.6 -498.3 -310.4
2008 584.1 1470.8 -604.6 -282.1
2009 426.0 1356.7 -809.7 -121.1
2010 527.0 1552.4 -825.7 -199.6
2011 611.5 1650.6 -871.4 -167.6
2012 705.9 1849.1 -1029.8 -113.3
2013 815.2 1966.0 -1041.9 -109.0
2014 874.4 2154.8 -1072.0 -208.5
2015 830.5 2189.4 -1060.9 -297.9

Resource extraction, Manufacturing, Construction and Forestry did not contribute to energy savings proportional to their energy use. Manufacturing energy savings were 643.4 PJ in 2015. Energy consumption in the resource extraction sector more than tripled from 1990 to 2015. However, higher energy use in resource extraction did not translate into more energy savings over the period. Most resource extraction industries posted much higher energy intensity per unit of economic activity, especially in the upstream mining sector (including oil and gas extraction). The resource extraction sector was the mirror opposite the strong performance in energy efficiency improvement in the Manufacturing sector of the Canadian economy.

Without resource extraction, Canadian industries improved energy efficiency by 27%, which represents 684.5 PJ of savings.

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Industrial energy use, with and without energy efficiency improvements (without resource extraction industries), 1990-2015

Energy use without energy efficiency improvements Energy use with energy efficiency improvements
1990 2499.3 2499.3
1995 2779.1 2697.6
1996 2814.5 2677.3
1997 2915.0 2744.0
1998 2955.9 2666.1
1999 3132.8 2658.6
2000 3244.5 2772.4
2001 3144.6 2620.3
2002 3270.4 2720.4
2003 3250.9 2688.8
2004 3279.8 2865.5
2005 3280.7 2755.6
2006 3129.9 2714.3
2007 3232.6 2691.9
2008 3070.1 2557.5
2009 2711.8 2311.1
2010 2884.7 2344.7
2011 2898.9 2403.1
2012 2892.7 2396.0
2013 2949.5 2422.6
2014 3029.3 2456.9
2015 3034.0 2349.6

The impact of activity, structure and energy efficiency on the change in industrial energy use without upstream mining (including oil and gas extraction) are as follows:

  • activity effect - Industrial activity increased energy use by 1,790.3 PJ and GHG emissions by 77.5 Mt.
  • structure effect - The structural changes in the industrial sector, specifically, a relative decrease in the activity share of energy-intensive industries (i.e. pulp and paper), helped the sector to reduce its energy use and GHG emissions by 1,255.5 PJ and 54.4 Mt, respectively.
  • energy efficiency effect – Improvements in the energy efficiency of the industrial sector avoided 684.5 PJ of energy use and 29.6 Mt of GHG emissions.
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Factors influencing industrial energy consumption (without resource extraction), 1990-2015

Total change in energy use Activity effect Structure effect Energy efficiency effect
1990 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1995 198.3 228.1 51.7 -81.5
1996 178.0 272.7 42.6 -137.3
1997 244.8 426.5 -10.7 -171.0
1998 166.9 523.8 -67.1 -289.8
1999 159.3 645.6 -12.0 -474.3
2000 273.1 810.7 -65.5 -472.1
2001 121.0 837.0 -191.6 -524.3
2002 221.1 954.3 -183.1 -550.1
2003 189.5 1005.9 -254.3 -562.1
2004 366.3 1168.9 -388.4 -414.2
2005 256.3 1199.7 -418.2 -525.2
2006 215.0 1296.2 -665.5 -415.7
2007 192.7 1336.5 -603.2 -540.7
2008 58.2 1287.6 -716.7 -512.7
2009 -188.1 1201.3 -988.8 -400.7
2010 -154.5 1344.0 -958.6 -540.0
2011 -96.2 1415.0 -1015.4 -495.8
2012 -103.2 1556.4 -1163.0 -496.7
2013 -76.7 1637.6 -1187.3 -526.9
2014 -42.4 1767.0 -1237.0 -572.4
2015 -149.7 1790.3 -1255.5 -684.5
  1. Wood waste and pulping liquor are primarily used in the pulp and paper industry because they are recycled materials produced only by this industry.
  2. One reason for the decline in HFO was that the pulp and paper industry, the largest user of HFO, adopted alternate forms of fuels, such as pulping liquor. Fuel switching was facilitated by the use of interruptible contracts with energy suppliers, allowing the industry to react to changes in relative prices of fuels.
  3. Wood Product Manufacturing does not include industries engaged in logging and chipping logs in the field, which is covered in Forestry and Logging.