Alberta's Emission Trends Update

So, how is Alberta doing in the area of emissions, especially for power generation? I took a quick look at the latest available National Inventory Report 1990-2023, published in December, 2025, to find some answers.

Firstly, there is a steady downtrend, with 2023 emissions totaling 263.4 MT CO2e, or about 10% lower than the peak in 2014 of 293.6 MT. For comparison, our neighbour to the west, British Columbia, which has roughly the same population, had 60.4 MT of emissions in 2023. Alberta's emissions also exceed that of the largest populace, Ontario (16 million vs. 5 million), which had 158.7 MT of emissions in 2023, due mostly to Alberta's oil & gas sector which emitted 154.1 MT (i.e. the same as the total for Ontario).

With respect to power generation, this sector represents less than 10% of Alberta's emissions, or about 25.4 MT. The good news is that the phase out of coal-fired power generation has reduced Alberta's grid intensity by 56% since 1990. Our generation intensity in 2023 was 420 g/kWh vs. 950 g/kWh in 1990. With the complete phase out of coal-fired power in June, 2024, Alberta's grid intensity has likely dropped further (i.e. approximately 360 g/kWh, all other things being equal to 2023). Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go to get to the national average grid intensity of 100 g/kWh, as many of our provincial neighbours have grid intensities far lower due to their hydro and nuclear generation assets (i.e. Ontario's grid intensity was 54 g/kWh).

For more insights on this topic, check out the National Inventory Report at https://energy-information.canada.ca/en/subjects/greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-inventory-report-nir.