Student-led Climate Leadership for Alberta Schools white paper

150. Student white paper calls for climate change action in Alberta schools

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson You may remember the students from the Centre for …

A new blue roof in Saskatoon

149. Saskatchewan solar co-operative brings power to the people

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson On the roof of the Two Twenty building in …

Summerside2

148. Summerside smart grid uses 46 per cent wind power

David DodgeWind, Energy Storage, Renewable Energy 2 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson In 2015, the city of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, …

You may know Bob Chelmick as the calm, steady, professional former news anchor from CBC and CTV. But this city boy who built a career under the glare of the city lights, and spotlit newsrooms found his own authenticity in the "calming quiet of the country" where he built his storied solar-powered Cabin in the Woods the inspiration behind the landmark radio series The Road Home. “I wanted to integrate the things I love in my life most. Living here in a cabin, living out of the city, living in nature, making radio, storytelling, and painting pictures through that storytelling.” “The best pictures I make are on radio,” says the accomplished photographer. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

147. Bob Chelmick’s Solar-powered Cabin in the Woods

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson On a crisp spring morning, a pair of Canada …

Lliam Hildebrand is an boilermaker and oilsands worker that helped found Iron and Earth to call on training in renewable energy for out of work oil workers.

146. Iron and Earth: oilsands workers call for training in renewable energy

David DodgeRenewable Energy, Solar, Wind 2 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson The call to action on the Iron and Earth …

A beautiful home in West Cape PEI with the West Cape Wind Farm in the background. Islanders get an average of 26 per cent of their electricity from wind power. Virtually all of the rest comes from an inter-tie undersea cable to the New Brunswick grid. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

145. Prince Edward Island rocks wind power

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson Prince Edward Island is the smallest province in Canada. …

Scott Harper, the CEO of the Wind Energy Institute of Canada at North Cape on Prince Edward Island. The institute reinvented itself in 2005 adding it's own 10 megawatt wind farm to the research institute to fund their work and being real life experience to their research and work. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

144. The Wind Energy Institute loves wind so much, they bought the farm

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson Long before you get to the North Cape of …

Calgary is wind powered

143. Renewable energy powers Calgary, Canada’s oil capital

David DodgeWind, Renewable Energy, Solar 3 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson Alberta’s carbon tax is expected to have a relatively …

142. Alberta students school Premier Rachel Notley on climate change

David DodgeEducation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Solar 1 Comment

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson There’s a stereotype about young people. They don’t care …

Medicine Hat, Alberta AKA "The Gas City" wanted to diversify into wind power so they entered into a public private partnership with Wind River Power to build a 6 megawatt wind farm, the largest inside a city in Canada. The power purchase agreement is what helped access bank financing from ATB Financial, something that is challenging in Alberta's deregulated electricity market. Since Alberta needs 5-7 gigawatts of new renewable energy by 2030, creating enough price certainty to attract bank financing will be very important in Alberta. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca Learn more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/canada-germany-renewable-financing

141. Financing critical for renewable energy projects

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson It’s no secret that the Germans have done a …

Saskatchewan will add another 1,700 megawatts of wind capacity between now and 2030 to reach their goal of 50% of generation capacity. This naturally means actual generation by renewables will be much lower due to capacity factors of less than 50%. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

140. Saskatchewan blows the dust off its dirty electricity grid

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson It’s late winter in rural Saskatchewan. The highways are …

The Temperance Street Passive House will be the first passive house certified in Saskatchewan. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

139. The first certified passive house in Saskatchewan

David DodgePassive Solar, Buildings, Energy Efficiency, Solar 5 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson In 1976, gas prices doubled overnight. Naturally, this freaked …

Energy audits are often supported by municipal or provincial energy efficiency programs because they provide a strategic recipe book for all future energy efficiency improvements to businesses or homes. It provides hard, cold facts about return on investment for each change you are contemplating. It might be the best money you spend. Here, Rob Gawreletz inspects the attic insulation and seals in a home audit by CReturns, in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

138. Energy efficiency coming to Alberta, at last!

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson On March 2, 2016, energy efficiency companies and experts from …

Edmonton's new carbon neutral net-zero garage suite is full of sensors and will be part of Godo Stoyke's PhD lifecycle assessment of the home to determine if energy efficiency and solar energy production can make not only the operation of the home carbon neutral, but whether it can also offset the carbon used in materials and construction and decommission. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

137. Carbon neutral laneway home–first of its kind

David DodgeBuildings, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage 2 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson This carbon neutral garage suite is a first for …

Visiting the Kinney Earthship, in the dead of winter on the Canadian prairie landscape north of Lethbridge, Alberta does invite comparisons with the lunar landscape! So much so it inspired photographer Steve Nagy to create this selfie in the middle of the night on a fine winter day. And in fact the number one question the Kinney's get about their Earthship is how does this passive solar heated home work when it's -30 degrees celsius.

136. Earthship living in a cold Canadian winter

David DodgeBuildings, Energy Efficiency, Net Zero, Passive Solar, Renewable Energy, Solar 8 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson  When we last visited the Kinney Earthship it was a smokin’ hot 30 …

The Mosaic Centre in Edmonton, Alberta is a net-zero commercial building powered by a nearly 200 kilowatt solar system (some of which is flat mounted) and heated by a geoexchange system that runs on solar power.

135. Shining a light on solar energy myths

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson In Greek mythology, Icarus, while escaping Crete wearing homemade …

Electricity from tomatoes?

134. Biogas: Brown waste – green power!

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson Brown gold. Prairie pies. Monkey missiles. Whatever you call …

In Green Energy Futures' whirlwind tour of wind energy myths we learned that the only significant health effect of wind farms is that they annoy some people. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

133. A whirlwind tour of wind energy myths

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson It seems to happen with every new technology. It …

Peter Amerongen is one of the acknowledged grandfathers of the net-zero home—a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. Using his secret formula for insulation you can make a net-zero home in the most northerly city in North America. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

132. Insulation 101: One builder’s secret blueprint for a net-zero home

David DodgeEnergy Efficiency, Net Zero 3 Comments

By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson The era of net-zero homes is upon us. These super-efficient …

Carl Lauren of Tyee Log and Timber Homes in Kimberley B.C. wanted to promote energy efficiency in home building so he pushed City Hall to start a program. Pictured is the crew that hand builds log homes at Tyee in Kimberley. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca

131. Small town energy efficiency program is simple by design in Kimberley B.C.

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By David Dodge & Dylan Thompson All Carl Lauren wanted to do was promote the …