Category: Electric Vehicles
366. Helping municipalities take action to save energy and money, and reduce emissions
Not many people have heard of the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre in Alberta, but since 2009 they have worked with more than 150 municipalities helping them save $166 million by doing energy efficiency projects, installing solar and EV chargers and implementing climate resilience action plans.
360. Red Deer’s Renewable Energy Fair reincarnated as the Energy Innovation Fair
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.
349. Going all-electric – A family’s EV journey
Howaida and her family first dipped their toes in the world of electric vehicles by purchasing a small short-range EV and eventually took the plunge and went all-electric with both family vehicles. It all started when their non-electric Smart Car seemed too small for kids and hockey gear.
335. Pilot could bring the first electric vehicle to Fort Chipewyan in Canada’s North
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.
334. Oslo Climate Budget a First and Hey it’s Working
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.
326. Indigo Park Adding 500 New EV Chargers in Canada
Indigo Park Canada is adding 500 new EV chargers to its parking facilities in Canada. It’s all part of a transformation of the parking industry. Tomorrow’s parking lots will provide parking, EV charging and even play host to fleets of EVs in the off hours.
313. EV Calculator – Compare the Emissions and Fuel Costs of EVs versus Gas Vehicles
This Canadian EV calculator takes real-time grid data and lets you compare emissions from EVs vs gas vehicles – spoiler alert – EVs produce a lot fewer emissions even in provinces with dirty grids. The calculator also allows you to compare fuel costs of electric versus gas vehicles and these results may surprise you!
308. The Ultimate EV Electric Fuelling Station of the Future
Let’s face it an electric vehicle charger on the wall of a store just doesn’t cut it. That’s why Electric Autonomy Canada set out to create the ultimate Electric Fuelling Station of the Future in an international design competition. The winning designs will knock your socks off.
307. Charge it – What EV Drivers Really Need – Electric Autonomy Survey says
What are the most important barriers to electric vehicle adoption? What do EV drivers really need at an EV charging station? In search of the ultimate EV charging station, Electric Autonomy Canada surveyed EV drivers – We talk to Ilana Weitzman this week on Green Energy Futures.
306. Alberta Electricity – King Coal is Gone – Now for the Hard Part, Getting to Net-zero
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.
295. Ring that DCBEL – A revolutionary fast EV charger and solar inverter for the home
The DCBEL R16 is a revolutionary electric vehicle charger that connects your solar system to the grid, and with built-in artificial intelligence learns how to help you save money. Due to its unique DC charging system, it charges EVs at twice the speed of a level two charger and it completely replaces the inverter for your solar system. Oh, and it knows your price of electricity and optimizes vehicle charging, and thanks to bidirectional charging the R16 can use electricity from your car to run your home during a blackout.
285. Solar RVs – Business is booming for off-grid solar on wheels
Business is booming for off-grid RV solar systems as snowbirds and campers take to the roads in droves. We meet with Remi Watts of CBI solar at a pop-up workshop at West Edmonton Mall to get the lowdown on some pretty cool RV solar systems.
284. Edmonton’s Energy Transition Plan targets 1.5 degrees – An interview with Mayor Don Iveson
On the same day, Edmonton’s Mayor Don Iveson was awarded a national Clean 50 Award and city council passed its landmark 1.5-degree Energy Transition Plan which seeks to take Edmonton to net-zero by 2050.
282. Solar with Benefits – The Solar-EV Nexus
By using 3,500 kilowatt hours of excess solar electricity from his home solar system Ron Kube is able to power his electric car for 22,000 km and save $2,500/year and reduce the payback on his solar system to just five years.
279. Solar versus Oil – Which can drive you further?
Which can fuel your vehicle to go further? An oil well pump-jack extracting oil or a 750-kilowatt solar farm covering the same footprint? We do the math.
275. What to do with the mounting heap of spent lithium-ion batteries – Recycle them!
Li-Cycle is a Canadian company from Ontario that is taking the mounting heap of battery waste and turning 95 per cent of it into gold – battery-grade raw materials for new batteries. This is the very definition of a circular economy and a secure supply of batteries for electric vehicles.
272. 2020 Year of the EV Revolution
$300 billion in investment, 700 new EV models and numerous stunning trends mark 2020 as the tipping point for the EV Revolution. The only question is how fast the revolution will take hold and transform the transportation industry around the world. We look back on 2020 with Norman Crowley of the Cool Planet Group, Eddie Robar, transit boss in Edmonton, and Leon Milner e-bike enthusiast.
269. E-Bus Revolution – Edmonton is a national leader
Edmonton has quietly become a national leader in electric buses and is counting on these zero-emissions vehicles to reduce operating costs.
263. Electrifi – back to the future with a 2000 hp electric Corvette Stingray
How a 2000 horsepower 1963 Corvette Stingray, energy efficiency and wisdom fits into Norman Crowley’s recipe for cooling the planet and tackling and taming the scourge of climate change.
258. How Kent Rathwell created a zero-emissions birdseed company and the world’s longest green highway for EVs
They said it couldn’t be done, but Kent Rathwell created the first zero-emissions wild bird seed company and then created the longest green highway in the world where you could charge your electric vehicle for free.
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.
227. Life with an EV: Kevin Ma, an environment reporter’s long winding road to electric vehicle ownership
Kevin Ma is a long-standing environment reporter in the Edmonton Metro region. He realized there was an electric vehicle in his future almost a decade ago. This is the story of the long and winding road that led up to him driving an electric vehicle.
226. Life with an EV: Carol Bishop – Fill it up for 3 bucks
Carol Bishop of Edmonton bought a Nissan Leaf EV “for environmental reasons,” but loves it because it’s “fun to drive” and super cheap to operate. Fill it up for three bucks this week as we take a ride with Carol in her Leaf in Part II of our #LifeWithAnEV series.
225. Life with an EV: Ed Ma – Electrifying performance
Once Ed Ma started reading about Tesla ten years ago, he was hooked! In the first in our series Life with an EV we talk to Ed Ma and Rhonda Blair about their ten-year romance with electric vehicles. Ed likes that EVs are better for the environment, but he absolutely loves the electrifying performance of electric vehicles.
224. Activist David Chernushenko delivers a climate thriller in Burning Souls
Activist and former Ottawa City Councillor David Chernushenko’s new book Burning Souls is a climate thriller–fiction with a firm grasp on the real world and the vexing issue of climate change.
223. Solar Thermal Home still cool after all these years
Ed Ma and Rhonda Blair built their super energy efficient green home 12 years ago using solar thermal modules–it’s still pretty cool after all these years. So much has changed since then and his green home project continues to this day. We talk to the couple about what they’ve done, what they’ve learned and what they would do differently today.
221. Tesla 3 is Canada’s Best Selling EV
Big news in EV circles. Matthew Klippenstein tells us the Tesla Model 3 is the best selling electric vehicle in Canada and sales of electric vehicles have eclipsed internal combustion vehicles in Norway.
219. Osnabrück county produces 80% renewable energy
The county of Osnabrück in northern Germany produces 80 per cent its electricity from renewable sources, smashing national goals that call for 60 per cent by 2050. We look at one county’s response to the challenge of the national goals of Energiewende (energy transition) in Germany.
215. Energy efficiency essential for the planet, great for the economy
In a scenario where Canada invests 2.5 times more in energy efficiency, Canada would create 118,000 jobs, save $75 billion on energy costs and reduce emissions up to 50 per cent. “And without energy efficiency, there’s no way that we can meet our Paris targets,” says Phillipe Dunksy an international energy efficiency consultant.
212. The year wind power won the price war
In 2018 Alberta secured the cheapest wind power price in history, electric vehicles are on the rise and coal is on the decline. We talk to Dr. Tim Weis, industrial professor from the University of Alberta about some of the big green energy stories in Alberta from 2018.
208. Ms. Pyper goes to Washington
Julia Pyper grew up on a horse farm in Milton, Ontario. But at a time when journalism seems like a tough career, she went to university in New York, landed an internship reporting on what she calls the “apocalypse beat” (climate change) for Climate Wire in Washington DC and today she’s senior editor with Greentech Media in Los Angeles. We talk about clean tech in the Trump era and much more.
207. Energy Shift – An oil and gas guy’s take on alternative energy
Energy Shift is an e-newsletter – an oil and gas guy’s take on how conventional energy needs to work with alternative energy to tackle climate change and find the way forward.
200. Solar-battery revolution tied to time-of-use pricing in New Zealand
In New Zealand solar with batteries is economic today, and could transform the electricity grid thanks to a simple market-based policy called time-of-use pricing.
193. Visit 21 Inspiring green buildings on Eco-Solar Home Tour
Ever wondered about going net-zero with your home? Curious about solar, heat pumps or geothermal systems? The 19th Annual Edmonton Eco-Solar Home Tour is your chance to see the latest solar and energy efficiency technologies and talk to the owners who installed them.
190. Energy disrupted: Five trends driving global energy transition
Energy systems around the world are being disrupted and Clean Energy Canada has just zeroed in on five trends that are driving a global energy transition to clean energy. We talk to CEC’s policy director Dan Woynillowicz to to figure out what it means.
181. The Energy Detective
When Ron Kube discovered his home was using nearly twice as much energy as the average home the energy detective was born. We can all learn from Ron’s journey that led to him reducing electricity use in his home by more than half–through measures so simple they are clichés.
176. New Simons has largest solar system in Edmonton
The new Londonderry Simons in Edmonton, Alberta has a 636 kilowatt solar system, the largest in the city and three solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations including one level three charger capable of charging EVs in under 30 minutes.
172. Sustainival, the world’s first green carnival
Life is a carnival! Sustainival, the world’s first green carnival started in Edmonton, Alberta. It’s a biodiesel powered full scale carnival infused with a message of sustainability.
167. Chevy Bolt: the first low-priced, long-range electric vehicle
Two important things happened in the electric vehicle (EV) world in recent months: Late last year Quebec became the first Canadian province to adopt a requirement for the sales of zero-emission vehicles and then in February General Motors debuted its long awaited Chevy Bolt, a long range, low-priced EV.
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.
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.
98. Market snapshot: The state of electric vehicles in Canada
We check out one of the rarest electric vehicles in Canada and that spurs us to check on the state of the EV market here in Canada.
74. Team Zeus
The University of Calgary is home to Team Zeus and they’re building an electric motorbike to race this summer.
59. Electric bikes – An easy way to green your commute
The electric bike might be the single best urban transportation option out there. It’s super green, gets you outside, has really low emissions and can get you up that big hill without breaking a sweat.
57. Energy storage: Power-to-gas and better batteries
Renewable energy produces energy when the sun shines and the wind blows, but these entrepreneurs are developing better batteries and new and innovative ways of capturing and storing renewable energy.
56. Best stories of 2013
Here are our favourite stories of 2013.
52. Sun Country Highway
Kent Rathwell, the co-founder of Sun Country Highway, a company that installs electric charging stations, drove a Tesla Roadster across Canada in the dead of winter just to prove it could be done.
44. Future of transportation Part Two
With the Edmonton Auto Show under our belt we went to check out the Future of Transpotation Symposium There we met the people who are driving and using the next generation of vehicles today.
43. Future of transportation Part One
Shiny, spinning and promising the latest and greatest experiences you can get behind the wheel of a car – when you’re at a car show almost anything is possible. That’s why we headed to the Edmonton Auto Show to get a handle on what the world’s biggest manufacturers are doing in the EV, hybrid and fuel economy space. Follow us as we talk to industry executives and dive into the numbers behind what’s next for the auto industry.
42. Car2Go: Carsharing in Calgary
We head to Calgary to explore how the car sharing service Car2Go works. With 300 Smart cars spread throughout Calgary they make their money on by-the-minute, on demand car rentals within 93 square kilometers of Calgary’s inner core. Parking, gas, maintenance and insurance are all included in the rate and you can find the nearest car with your smartphone. Check it out, this week at Green Energy Futures.
24. Our favourite stories of 2012
Join us as we dive into our archives and give you our favourite clips and behind the scenes moments from 2012. From nearly falling into the Bay of Fundy to angry anti-wind protesters we go coast to coast to coast to give you best.
14. The rise of the electric car
Phil Dayson says he’s not a car guy, but he should probably clarify. He’s not an internal combustion engine car guy. What gets Dayson motor running isn’t the familiar rumble of a V8 but the smooth, seamless acceleration of an electric vehicle. Join us as Phil tells us what it’s like to own and drive the most popular electric vehicle going, the Chevy Volt