Told solar wouldn’t work in their town in southern Alberta, Raymond installed solar everywhere and became the first municipality to reach net-zero electricity in Canada. Since then many have followed suit. This is their story.
Stephanie Ripley of the Municipal Climate Change Action Center gives us a tour of a climate-ready model home display demonstrating the four steps to saving money and getting your home on the pathway to net-zero.
Jim Sandercock transformed his 1951 home to #netzero by undertaking an EnergieSprong Deep Energy Retrofit, one of the first in Canada. The home was literally reskinned with new walls over the old ones.
Canada has a new Emissions Reduction Plan to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030. Binnu Jeyakumar of the Pembina Institute says “This is a turning point for climate action in Canada. It’s the first time we have a detailed plan on how we get 40% emissions reductions…by 2030. We zero in on new measures to decarbonize Canada’s electricity grid.
Alberta’s electricity was 81% coal-fired in 1981. By 2023 it will reach 0%. Now for the hard part – getting to net-zero. Green Energy Futures talks to economist Dr. Blake Shaffer about how to go the distance and reach net-zero emissions.
Solar, wind, and energy storage are the most economical solutions to use for Canada to decarbonize the grid and help Canada reach its net-zero goals says a new report entitled Powering Canada’s Journey to Net-Zero.
Schneider Electric was named the most sustainable company in the world by Corporate Knights a Canadian sustainability rating firm. The France-based global company already used 80 per cent renewable energy for its operations and wants to be carbon neutral by 2025.
The future is not solar, batteries, electric vehicles, or hydrogen – it’s all of the above and more. And this is why the University of British Columbia is building a Renewable Energy Hub, a city-block-sized living lab that seeks to optimize the use of renewable technologies to get to a zero-emissions future.
Emissions on the farm grew 23% between 1990 and 2018 in Canada. The National Farmers Union has a vision for near-zero emissions farming in and it involves fewer fertilizers, less fuel and better quality local foods. This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast we talk to Darrin Qualman author of a new report on near-net-zero farming.
A new report “Canada’s Net-Zero Future” evaluated 60 scenarios for Canada to get to net-zero emissions by 2050. The good news is it’s possible, but it’s going to be a long hard road to get there.
Canada just updated its climate plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and get Canada to “net-zero emissions” by 2050. Is the plan going to work? Green Energy Futures checks in with the Energy vs Climate panel of experts to find out.
Carbon Busters is building the first net-zero homes in Blatchford, the largest carbon-neutral community in Canada. Solar-powered and geothermal heated and cooled these homes require 94% less energy for heating.
Climate change may be the Canadian Press story of the year in 2019, but when we cast our eyes back on the year that was we find inspiring stories of people working on solutions to climate change. From the largest carbon-neutral community in the world to the largest solar project in Canadian history it was a year of firsts.
In 2019 Time Magazine named Greta Thunberg “person of the year” and climate change was the news story of the year as chosen by Canadian Press. At Green Energy Futures we documented a number of firsts: the first net-zero church and social housing project, the first passive house car dealership and the inspiring story on students in the EcoVision Club at Lacombe Composite High School who changed their school by taking action.
The amazing story of a church in crisis that took stock of their assets and wound up building the first solar-powered, net-zero church and social housing project in Canada. They saved the church, saved the school, built 16 new homes for refugee families and created an amazing community of sustainability.
Edmontonians have already been recognized as pioneers of net-zero homes, and now they are building the largest carbon-neutral community in the country: Blatchford.
How the University of Calgary transformed their ‘60s-era brutalist MacKimmie Library into a building designed to reach net-zero energy.
Jacob Komar is shaking up the energy efficient building world by resorting to an age-old technology: geothermal energy. He says you can save lots of money and use much less insulation and get to net-zero for half the price if you use geothermal to heat and cool your home or building.
Effect Homes, a local leader in building net-zero, solar-powered homes has built Alberta’s first off-grid solar-cogen-powered and heated office.
