255. “Why I ditched my car for an e-bike” – Leon’s story
E-bikes are selling like hotcakes. We go for a spin with Leon Milner to learn why he ditched his car to ride an e-bike in the most northerly big city in North America.
Recent Episodes
254. Biomass a missing link for Canada’s future sustainable economy?
There are an estimated 120 million tonnes of waste and residue biomass in Canada right now — waste that could form the cornerstone of a green COVID-19 recovery effort that fights climate change by building the sustainable economy we need.
253. Neste: How an oil company became the largest producer of renewable diesel fuels in the world
Jeremy Baines was skeptical at first, when Neste Oil started experimenting with the production of renewable fuels. Today Neste produces 3.4 trillion liters of renewable fuels every year making it the largest producer in the world. We talk to Jeremy Baines the president of Neste U.S. about how this came to be.
252. Former Alberta coal guy is now a solar guru sought after around the world
Faruq Vishram is an engineer from Edmonton, Alberta who cut his teeth designing coal-fired power plants in fossil-fuel rich Alberta. When they started closing coal plants Vishram pivoted to solar and he is now sought after to do projects around the world including a solar-powered hospital in Afghanistan.
251. EV Tipping Point – The Future of Cars is Electric
We’ve hit the electric vehicle tipping point. Surprised? According to EV expert and columnist Matthew Klippenstein the auto industry is investing $300 billion in the development of more than 500 new electric car models by 2025.
250. Best COVID recovery is climate capitalism
“We’ve got abundant opportunity in Alberta and in Canada more broadly to be part of [the clean energy] transition and to benefit from it,” said Dan Woynillowicz, a policy director for Clean Energy Canada.
249. “They can’t even see it”: Tuktoyaktuk Teens’ film on the Impacts of Climate Change
Nathan Kuptana and Eriel Lugt, two of the youth filmmakers in the TukTV collective are creating a film entitled “Happening to Us,” a film about the impacts of climate change on their home in Tuktoyaktuk in the Arctic. They took a preview of their film to COP25, the IPCC climate change conference in Madrid, Spain.
248. Want recycling on steroids – make producers responsible
According to a new study, implementing extended producer responsibility, or EPR, in Alberta would not only save taxpayers money, but would lead to more waste being recycled, create new jobs, and benefit the environment.
247. SPUD.ca turns the table on food waste, reduces emissions
More than half (58%) of the food that enters Canada’s food system is wasted, filling landfills and releasing major greenhouse gas emissions. SPUD.ca is working to change all that.
246. Indigenous-owned renewable energy projects secure low electricity price
An indigenous working helped pave the way for indigenous ownership in renewable energy procurement in Alberta. They also secured some of the best prices for renewable electricity in Canadian history.
245. Land Reclamation and the Decade of Ecological Restoration
The UN has declared 2021 to 2030 to be the Decade of Ecological Restoration and, thanks to the University of Alberta–based award-winning Land Restoration International Graduate School (LRIGS), students in Alberta are taking up the challenge.
244. Rethinking Recycling
All “R”s are not created equal. Recycling a bottle can save 10 – 15 per cent of the energy it takes to create a new bottle. But reusing a bottle saves almost 100 per cent of the energy. The reuse “R” is the one they try to focus on at the Goodwill Impact and Edmonton’s ReUse Centres.
243. Alberta builder includes solar with every new home
“Little things make a big difference.” So said baseball legend Yogi Berra. He could have been talking about Jayman Homes that began installing small solar systems on every new home one year ago. Today there is one megawatt of solar on new homes in Alberta.
242. Canada’s Clean Energy Transition Underway & A Good Thing – Canadians
Most Canadians believe an energy transition to cleaner sources of energy is already underway in Canada and that it will be a good thing for the economy in the long run. Clean Energy Canada found economic growth in the clean energy sector is outpacing other sectors.
241. Vivian Manasc – A lifetime of Building it Green
Vivian Manasc is an architect with a passion for building it green. Her company Manasc Isaac is well known for its pioneering work on many green buildings – they also built the first net-zero commercial building in Alberta. We talk to Vivian Manasc about her journey and her work.
240. Carbon Busters – Building net-zero in Blatchford
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.
Green Energy Futures – Four stories that matter from 2019
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.
2019–The year of Greta Thunberg
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.
237. God’s green home is net-zero
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.
236. Greenest School in Canada has a solar-geothermal greenhouse
Building on a teacher’s maxim “Words without actions are meaningless,” students at Lacombe High School formed the EcoVision club, took on a dozen projects and became the Greenest School in Canada.
