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To electrify transportation, which produces a third of the B.C. greenhouse gas emissions, the province will need to generate up to 60 per cent more electricity, according to a report.

The reportreleased Wednesday by the University of Victoria, makes a case for using renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind power to save on costs to meet the demand of shifting to all zero-emission vehicles in the next three decades.

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The report by UVic researchers with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions says electrifying vehicles would drop greenhouse emissions for the combined electricity and transportation sectors by 38 per cent or 260 million tonnes of CO2, between 2015 and 2055, as long as 93 per cent of electricity continues to come from renewable sources.

The province will need to increase its electrical production capacity to 23 gigawatts from a 2015 baseline of 15.6 gigawatts to meet forecast economic and population growth, the reports says.