Canadians consumed less energy last year but not because we have greener attitudes.
Consumption dropped 2.1% in 2008 compared to 2007, mainly due to lower energy usage in the industrial and transportation sectors, according to government data released Tuesday.
Declines in those sectors offset slight increases in residential, public administration and the commercial sectors.
In total, Canadians used 7,793 petajoules of energy in 2008, down from 7,958 petajoules in 2007. One petajoule equals roughly the amount of energy needed to run Montreal's subway system for one year, Statistics Canada said.
The use of fossil fuels such as natural gas, refined petroleum products and coal, fell by 3.6%, again mainly due to falling demand in the recession-ravaged iron, steel and transportation industries.
Demand for all refined petroleum products, including fuel oil and motor gasoline, decreased by 3.0% in 2008. Sales of motor gasoline amounted to 41 billion litres, down 3.4%.
Demand for electricity from hydro, nuclear, wind and tidal power was up by 2.9% and production from those power sources increased by 2.7% as a result.
Energy demand was highest in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. Together the three provinces accounted for 72.6% of the country's total need. However, demand in all three provinces, was down in 2008 compared to one year prior.
