Health impact assessment of Ontario's green energy and green economy act. The roles of environmental informatics in sustainability

Renewable energy received a boost in Ontario, Canada with the Green Energy and Green Economy Act (GEGEA), ushering in a new Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program modelled on programs from Germany, Spain, Denmark and other jurisdictions. Information about lessons learned elsewhere has clearly benefited the Ontario experience. Part of the Ontario program included streamlining the impact assessment process to facilitate the swift development of provincial renewable energy capacities. In this context, the GEGEA has been remarkably successful, generating renewable energy sector capacities, resources, projects and their spin-off benefits in Ontario, along with more sustainable electricity system. Environmentalists along with industry continue to laud the benefits of renewable energy and the GEGEA, and with good reason. Renewable energy generation in Ontario has grown from to 2 per cent in 2012 and is expected to reach 10 per cent in 2013. (orig.)