Investment in solar, wind and other distributed forms of energy is booming, but it wasn’t back when Decentralized Energy Canada set up shop. We talk to DEC president and founder Anouk Kendall about how her organization has gone from the fringe to mainstream in just 20 years.
2024 is going to be the year of the heat pump. It’s fast becoming the number one method of heating in northern countries like Norway and in 2023 we found them in net-zero homes, water heaters and clothes dryers. The big reasons are pretty simple: heat pumps are the most energy efficient way to heat and cool a building and it’s easy to run them emissions-free simply by powering them with renewable energy.
The Bow Valley Renewable Energy Cooperative started up during an economic downturn and the pandemic, but still managed to complete four projects in just a few years. This is lightning speed for a Cooperative in Canada. We head to Canmore Alberta to talk to Jeff Roberts, a boardmember with the cooperative about their success.
Red Deer’s popular Renewable Energy Fairs put on by ReThink Red Deer was “deep-sixed” by COVID, but the good news is it’s being reincarnated as the Energy Innovation Fair and it’s back live on October 21 at Red Deer Polytechnic.
We meet up with Sarah Delano of Parkdale Cromdale Community League to learn all about living local, food foraging, community gardens and their solar-powered community league. Parkdale Cromdale has even created its own art walk with 64 panels of local community created art spread along a trail in one of the City’s ravines.
Alberta’s is betting big on hydrogen, but can hydrogen, blue, green or otherwise help us get to a zero-emissions future? We take a deep dive to find out how and where hydrogen can decarbonize energy use.
The Tufts had a choice: bulldoze their 1953 bungalow and start over or do a deep energy retrofit to net-zero. They chose the cheaper option in this amazing story of renewal.
The Métis Nation of Alberta is taking climate action, saving money and creating new opportunities by embracing energy efficiency and investing in solar.
Lewis Lix loved the oil industry but he grew weary of the boom and bust cycles and being away from his family all the time. After one false start and a great deal of discussion with his family, he eventually enrolled in the 2-year NAIT Alternative Energy Program in Edmonton, Alberta. This is the story of his long and winding journey through energy transition.
Heather first discovered the benefits of solar seven years ago when she helped install a system on her church. Today solar is booming and she is just one of thousands of Edmontonians who have solar on their homes or businesses and she even works in the solar industry.
The consultants said it wasn’t affordable–it couldn’t be done. But Salvation Army architect Michaela Jones pushed back hard requoting their 175-unit supportive living complex as net-zero-ready at the last minute. Now this amazing solar powered, geothermal heated and cooled, energy-efficient building will save Sally Ann $6 million.
So much has changed in the 15 years since net-zero homes came onto the landscape. We now have heat pumps good to -35, streamlined building strategies and it now makes more economic sense than ever to build a net-zero home, eliminate your gas utility bill and produce your own energy.
Canada’s proposed Clean Energy Regulation could help transition its national electricity grid to net-zero, if loopholes are avoided, and if we focus on renewable energy says Stephen Thomas, co-author of Shifting Power.
First the three nations of Fort Chipewyan built a solar project to offset 25% of the diesel electricity generation, now they are bringing electric vehicles to the north.
So many climate plans – so little action. Oslo, Norway is bucking that trend by creating the first Carbon Budget in a City and taking the boots to carbon emissions. We talk to Heidi Sorensen of the Oslo Climate Agency about what they are doing and why it’s working.
The idea of a “just transition” seems pretty straight forward. The Paris Climate Agreement says countries will develop “a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs.” Canada is working on this, but amidst a great deal of political theatre. We talk to Ian Hussey who just wrote a report entitled “No Worker Left Behind” for the Parkland Institute at the University of Alberta.
“It’s go time for wind energy, energy storage, and solar energy” in Canada says Vittoria Bellissimo the new President and CEO of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association. “What we need is rapid decarbonization and a great expansion of electricity production to achieve an at zero economy.”
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation dipped its toes in solar in 2018 when with two other First Nation partners they built a 2.3 megawatt solar project in Fort Chipewyan to offset diesel generation. Now they are launching 68 megawatts of solar in southern Alberta that they have a 50% ownership stake in.
One of the coolest things about Edmonton, Alberta is its community leagues. There are 162 volunteer groups representing every neighbourhood in the city doing everything from running sports, cultural and recreational programs, to operating halls, tennis courts and skating rinks AND as it turns out taking action on Climate Change. Interest in solar, energy efficiency, local food and sustainability was so high the Edmonton Federation started the Green Leagues program – this week we find out what’s happening in the ‘hoods.
This week we set out to find out if now is the time to go solar! Unlike 20 years ago when solar was very expensive, solar is now the cheapest way to generate electricity, but how expensive is it to install solar on your home. We found solar is now ten times cheaper than 20 years ago, there are incentives in many jurisdictions and this just might be the best time to go solar ever.
