134. Biogas: Brown waste – green power!
Lethbridge Biogas takes the manure and food waste, mixes it together, heats it to 39 degrees Celsius and captures the methane to power twin 1.4-megawatt generators, producing enough power for 3,000 homes.
Recent Episodes
133. A whirlwind tour of wind energy myths
Ever hear the one about how it takes more energy to make a wind turbine than it will produce over its lifetime? This week we blow the smoke away, and delve into some of the more pernicious myths about wind energy. Bookmark this one, you’ll want to use it later!
132. Insulation 101: One builder’s secret blueprint for a net-zero home
The era of net-zero homes is upon us. These super-efficient homes use rooftop solar energy production and smaller, electric powered heating systems such as air source heat pumps to produce as much energy as they consume. But the real secret is insulation. Peter Amerongen shows us Habitat Studio’s unique formula for insulating the heck out of a home.
131. Small town energy efficiency program is simple by design
Carl Lauren, owner of Tyee Custom Homes, wanted to encourage energy efficient design in construction, but the building code hamstrung his efforts. So he helped create a rebate system that gets around the bureaucracy!
130. Green Energy Futures: Our favourite stories from 2015
2015 will go down as the year that marked the dawning of the age of the net-zero home. We took notice by preparing our four-part Chasing Net-Zero series. And we we just loved the story about Jason Rioux’s shipping container cabin, as did almost 200,000 viewers! Here are some of our favourites from 2015.
129. Green Energy: The highlights of 2015
2015 was a banner year for clean, green energy! Vancouver pledged to go 100 per cent renewable energy, the Cowessess First Nation built a wind turbine and is testing energy storage, Edmonton passed an energy transition plan and Rachael Notley the new premier of Alberta announced a plan to phase out coal and greatly expand renewable energy.
128. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Spain’s green capital is made for walking
The European green capital for 2012, Vitoria-Gasteiz is small in size but big in ambition.
127. Where are the renewable energy jobs?
This week, Green Energy Futures explores the state of the green economy
126. Evansdale Solar: A community investment
Evansdale Community League goes solar and builds a more resiliant community in Edmonton, Alberta.
125. Coal phase out case study: What Alberta can learn from Washington State
This is the story of Bruce Nilles of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign worked with Dawn Farrell the CEO of TransAlta to accellerate the end of coal-fired electricity generation in Washington State.
124. Green Acres, the largest solar farm in Western Canada
This week we visit the largest solar farm in Western Canada on the Green Acres Hutterite colony.
123. Mayor Don Iveson on Edmonton’s Energy Transition Strategy
Edmonton, the oil capital of Alberta, passed its energy transition strategy earlier this year. We talk to Mayor Don Iveson about what this northern city is doing to transition to clean energy.
122. Solar training on the rise
Randal Benson has trained more than 700 electricians across Canada to install solar systems. This week we go to solar school and talk to Benson and his students.
121. SunMine: How solar is transforming an old mining town
Kimberley B.C. installed the largest solar tracking solar PV system in western Canada and it’s all part of the reinvention of a mining town as tourism City and developer of clean renewable energy.
120. Vancouver to go 100 per cent renewable
When Vancouver Mayor first ran for election he pledged to make his city the “greenest city in the world.” Now Vancouver has upped the ante pledging to make the city 100 per cent renewable by 2050.
119. Students capture the wind with TREC Education
Talk about light bulb moments, the grade 5 students at George Webster School in Toronto, Ontario are literally turning the lights on in TREC Education’s Capture the Wind renewable education program.
118. Cochrane students install solar and get new town policy permitting renewable energy
You could call it Sustainability High – since 2002 students in the Sustainable Development Committee at Cochrane High School in Alberta have raised almost $150,000 and build more than half a dozen solar, energy efficiency and green projects around their school.
117. Sustainability snapshots: How Halifax, Tallinn, Hannover and Ottawa are learning from each other to make their cities more sustainable
From super-cooled rocks to free transit, learn what cities across Canada and Europe are doing to be greener.
116. Tillsonburg: From tobacco farming to building wind turbine blades
In a repurposed auto parts factory on the edge of Tillsonburg, Ontario the transformation of the economy of Canada’s most populous province is underway.
115. Calgary’s wind-powered LRT an incredibly successful system: Nenshi
Calgary’s LRT system is one of the most successful electrified transport systems in North America both from a ridership perspective and a green energy perspective.
