Achieving net zero in Canada will require a Big Switch

In its new report, the Canadian Climate Institute lays the groundwork for a new electricity policy, exploring “the changes needed in Canada’s electricity systems to align them with net zero”.

The challenge for Voilà: was to create compelling visuals that illustrate both the Institute’s message and the nuances that accompany the careful and rigorous work of climate science.

Two copies of the summary report in print format. One is shown closed, showing the front cover of the report. It features a megaphone icon projecting a stream of light that illuminates a pylon icon. The title is "The Big Switch". The second report is presented open, and shows the highlight of a double page spread of the printed report. On the left page, we can see the first page of the second chapter, and on the right page, an infographic.

A strong symbolism for necessary conversations

Responding to the client’s intention to further the policy debate necessary for this change to occur, we used the symbolism of the megaphone that highlights the challenges and solutions identified in the report.

By creating an array of icons to represent the issues at hand, we had all the tools to create a memorable cover. On the left is the summary report cover with a large headline and strong image. Center and right, the two technical reports that delve into the details, as suggested by the many small icons.

Three report covers. On the left, the summary report cover with the title "The Big Switch" shows a megaphone icon projecting a light that illuminates a pylon icon. In the center, the cover of the technical report "Bigger, Cleaner, Smarter", features the same megaphone projecting its light on smaller icons: a lightning bolt, a battery, a sun, a wind turbine propeller. On the right, the second technical report, entitled "Electro-federalism", uses the same visual system. The megaphone illuminates small icons such as an electrical plug, a phylactery, a lightning bolt and a maple leaf.

Finding the right balance between impact and nuance

On the one hand, this report has a strong message and wants to communicate it unequivocally. On the other hand, the calculations are filled with nuance.

We navigated this fine line on a chart-by-chart basis. For example, when the focus was on climate science and the modeling done by the Institute, we aimed for clarity, often by using “small multiples” to break down the information in a more digestible format.

This first chart focuses on the amount of installed capacity that needs to be added to our grid in order to meet our energy needs. It shows the projections based on the minimum and maximum values of all the studies and how each study fits into these overall projections.

The format of the chart allows for the understanding that the future can take different pathways based on how you model it, but that there are imponderable, minimum amounts of installed capacity that everybody agrees on.

This graph looks at the amount of installed capacity that needs to be added to the grid to meet the energy needs of Canadians. The title reads: on the path to net zero, installed capacity must grow substantially. The larger chart shows two projections based on the minimum and maximum values of all studies. It is accompanied by five smaller versions, which show how each study fits into these larger projections.

This column chart focuses on increasing the proportion of renewable energy that will be required in the canadian energy landscape. It shows the evolution over time of our energy needs and the proportion of renewable energy required. All studies predict that the share of renewable energy will increase regardless of the increase in our energy needs.

The subject of this graphic is the growing proportion of renewable energy in the canadian energy landscape. Its title is: on the path to net zero, the share of variable renewable energy must increase significantly. This column chart is organized in a grid format with four columns and two rows. Each column contains a different study. The top row contains the raw values and the bottom row contains the percentage values, based on the same data. Each row shares a Y axis.

Finally, this line chart shows the different types of clean energy that can be used to phase out fossil fuels. Each study considers a slightly different combination to replace fossil fuels, but there are clear trends: wind and solar must grow, hydro and nuclear must be maintained, and the others will play only a marginal role.

The topic of this graphic is the different types of clean energy that will phase out fossil fuels. Its title is: on the path to net zero, multiple sources of clean electricity displace fossil fuels. It is presented as a line graph with four small multiples arranged horizontally, sharing the same Y axis.

In this study, when the focus is on the main message, we aimed for bold colors and larger shapes to convey their message loud and clear.

This chart quickly became the poster for the report’s main message. With a clear trend and a strong visual movement, it resonated with the megaphone from the report cover as well as with the idea of light shining forward, towards a cleaner future.

It is worth pointing out that this chart breaks one of the data viz convention, which is to put the most important series at the bottom of a stacked column chart, so that its change over time can easily be compared. Here however, the comparison year over year is less important than the general pattern.

This percentage-based stacked column diagram has a strong visual pattern. Its title is: to support net zero, household energy use will shift away from natural gas and gasoline toward electricity. The bright yellow middle category in each column, representing electricity, gets progressively bigger each year, slowly taking over the majority of the surface area of each column.

Telling a clean(er) story

We also created more complex infographics illustrating the three core messages from the Big Switch: bigger, cleaner and smarter electricity infrastructures.

For those infographics, we created unusual shapes that would catch the attention of a reader and pique their curiosity. 

They show patterns that work in a detailed format as well as in a more simple version that could be presented alongside its two counterparts.

Series of three graphics that support the Institute's messages for canadian electricity systems. A fourth infographic brings them together. The first graphic uses the visual metaphor of a pylon to illustrate the increase in Canada's electricity generation capacity relative to installed capacity in 2010, 2020 and 2050. The second graph illustrates cleaner systems, showing two different projection scenarios by type between 2020 and 2050, based on a high or low solar and wind scenario. The third graph represents a panel of tools capable of harnessing more wind and solar energy to improve climate resilience.

Take the “cleaner” infographic. It starts in the present, emphasizes our only path forward to 2035 with the phase out of unabated fossil fuels and finally illustrates the roles that our two main sources of clean energy can play by 2050.

There are no numbers, no axes, no percentages, only simple shapes, telling a visual story.

The infographic “Canada's electricity systems need to get cleaner” illustrates the projections of electricity generation by type (wind and solar, nuclear and hydro, fossil fuels and other alternatives) between 2020 and 2050, under a high and a low “solar and wind” scenario. This last figure changes the projection of production after 2035, where the graph splits into two different projection branches for the year 2050. The infographic then takes on the general shape of a funnel that diverges towards the year 2050.

One bite at a time

We also adapted some of our static visuals in an animated format. This provides an opportunity to tell a story in a sequential way, building up anticipation and focusing the audience on each new piece of information while building up a more complex narrative on top of them.

Each animation starts with a clear message and a playful animation of the signature megaphone/spotlight. This prepares the audience for what they are about to see.

Presentation of the infographic "Canada's electricity systems need to get smarter", in animated version. This infographic lists systems that can harness more wind and solar energy to improve climate resilience. They are presented as a circle divided into 4 equal parts. On the top, the first one shows the supply-side solutions and is illustrated by a sun icon. The second one on the right, shows the network related solutions and is illustrated by the pylon icon. The third one at the bottom, highlights the storage solutions, thanks to the electric battery icon. Finally, on the left, the demand side solutions are illustrated by an icon of the electric plug.The animation emphasizes these 4 parts by making them grow and shrink to the benefit of the other parts. The goal is to highlight the creation of a robust and resilient system, where the solutions must take on more or less importance depending on consumer needs.

Then, we built each visual in the same sequence, first setting up the stage with empty axes and gridlines, and then filling it up with the data.

Animated version of the stacked column diagram. The bright yellow center category of each column that represents electricity, is brought to the forefront through its animation. The animation emphasizes the megaphone shape of the report cover that comes to life as the animation progresses.

A colorful presentation

The electronic presentation that often accompanies these reports is often the only contact a certain audience will have with the content. It is therefore important that it be of the same level of clarity and quality as the report itself. We applied the visual identity and adapted the graphics to this medium.

Three slides from the electronic presentation. The first shows the entry in chapter 1 "Technical pathways to align Canada's electricity systems with net zero", and uses the visual developed for the covers of the technical reports. The megaphone shines its light on the title and on small icons. The other two slides are presented one on top of the other for aesthetic reasons. In the slide shown above, a stacked bar graph is presented that focuses on the majority of new energy capacity by 2030 that will need to be wind and solar in order to achieve carbon neutrality. It shows several studies on this topic, which demonstrate that 63-96% of the capacity added by 2030 will come from solar and wind energy and storage.
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