1996 State of the Environment Report for Canada -- Energy section and Comments of Reviewers (TSA 9512)

Revised the energy section of the State of the Environment Report for Canada assessing the comments of reviewers from other departments and agencies and the responses of outside consultants, incorporating suggestions as required for accuracy and completeness. Prepared a report of responses to twenty reviewers’ questions answering each concern individually.
(Client: Environment Canada, 1995)
 

Revised and augmented the draft of the energy section to strengthen the environmental perspective on Canada’s energy use. Examined all energy sources and pollution outcomes related to Canadian energy use.
(Client: Environment Canada, 1995)
 

Prepared a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of hydro-electric development past, present and future on the state of the environment of the Boreal Shield in Canada. Examined the impacts of environmental restructuring (reservoirs and water diversions) and electricity generation (seasonal variations and peaking power) on indigenous people, the aquatic environment and fish stocks.
(Client: Environment Canada, 1995)

Critiqued the draft program strategies of the research and development arm of Natural Resources Canada (CANMET) for internal review and refinement so that the department’s R&D supports the government’s objective of providing leadership in sustainable development in Canada.
(Client: Natural Resources Canada, 1995)

OECD Initiative on Energy and Environment in Eastern Europe (TSA 9216)

Torrie Smith Associates Inc. contributed to the planning of an OECD/IEA conference, held in Prague in 1992, entitled Energy and Environment in European Economies in Transition: Priorities and Opportunities for Co-operation and Integration. In addition to participating in a small planning group meeting in Paris, the work involved reviewing papers that were commissioned for the conference and helping with the development of the conference agenda.
(Client: Environment Canada, 1992)
 

Torrie Smith Associates Inc. was commissioned to write the energy chapter of The State of Canada's Environment, published by Environment Canada in 1991. This challenging assignment required designing the contents and organization of the chapter and producing a draft that synthesized the entire field of energy and environment in Canada.
(Client: Environment Canada, 1990)

We provided technical and policy advice to the Sustainable Society Project, which was sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Based at the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia Institute for Sustainable Development, this project produced a detailed, highly disaggregated description of a future Canadian society that would conform to a set of agreed upon criteria for sustainability, including environmental, social and political factors.
(Client: Sustainable Society Project, 1990)

 Torrie Smith Associates Inc. has developed and maintains a full fuel cycle emissions model for analyzing the relative and absolute air pollutants emitted by different source-end-use vectors in the energy system. This model has been used by clients such as the Canadian electrical industry to determine the relative full fuel cycle greenhouse gas emissions of alternative power plant fuels.
(Client: Canadian Electrical Association, 1990)

We completed a state-of-the-art environmental analysis of Ontario Hydro's long range business plan. The analysis, based on an ecosystem health approach, involved the evaluation of the current state of health of Ontario's ecoregions and an analysis of the cumulative impacts of stress on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that would result from Ontario Hydro's forecasted economic future. This work is one the first attempts to apply an ecosystem health approach to environmental assessment in a real case. It is a new methodological benchmark for cumulative impact assessment in Canada.
(Client: Coalition of Environmental Groups for the Demand Supply Plan Hearings, 1990)
 

Torrie Smith Associates Inc. played a central role in the review of member countries' integration of energy and environment policies carried out by the Energy Group of the OECD Environment Directorate. We planned and hosted the visit of an expert evaluation team to Canada and drafted the country report for Canada. We also assisted the Environment Directorate in the preparation of the project's final report and attended various project planning and research review meetings.
(Client: Environment Canada and OECD Environment Directorate, 1988)

Torrie Smith Associates Inc. conducted a path-breaking study that analyzed the connection between electricity conservation potential and the cost-effective opportunity for reducing acid gas emissions associated with electricity production in Ontario. This study was the first important application of the "supply curve of saved electricity" concept to an important energy/environment link (i.e. acid rain production) and is widely cited in the literature as representing an important methodological advance in the analysis and evaluation of energy efficiency opportunities.
(Client: Marbek Resource Consultants for the Ontario Ministry of Energy, 1988)

Torrie Smith Associates Inc. principal Ralph Torrie was appointed to and served on the expert advisory panel of the Ontario Nuclear Safety Review. This involved assisting the Commission in identifying research issues and priorities, reviewing the research commissioned by the Review, reviewing and commenting on drafts of the Commissioner's final report, and assisting the Commission in various other aspects of its mandate.
(Client: Government of Ontario, 1987)
 

When the Brundtland Commission came to Canada, we were retained by Canadian environment, development and peace organizations to prepare a brief on their behalf and to represent them before the Commission's Canadian hearings. This involved travelling across Canada to gather the insights and concerns of these organizations, synthesizing and presenting this information in a submission to the Commission's hearings in Ottawa, and representing those groups at the General Assembly when the Commission's report was formally delivered. Parts of that submission are quoted in the Commission's final report, Our Common Future.
(Clients: Canadian NGO Coalition and Environment Canada, 1986)