Alberta has clarified what it meant about extensive no-go zones in its new rules for renewable energy. The province has laid down a raft of restrictions on an industry that was booming just a year ago. We talk to Vittoria Bellissimo of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association to get the lowdown on the changes.
Energy storage and all of the technologies we need to get the grid to net-zero already exist to affordably transition the grid; government just needs to allow/facilitate their use through new tariffs and regulations says James Bererton.
Investment in solar, wind and other distributed forms of energy is booming, but it wasn’t back when Decentralized Energy Canada set up shop. We talk to DEC president and founder Anouk Kendall about how her organization has gone from the fringe to mainstream in just 20 years.
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.
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.
Like many young Albertans, Jason Beacock went straight out of school to work on the rigs in the oil and gas industry, drawn by the allure of big salaries. But Jason always had a passion for renewable energy. The company he worked for at the time also saw economic opportunity in the energy transition. They partnered with a battery company and just a few years later business is booming and they are installing battery energy storage systems all over North America.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
At 46% Summerside PEI already has among the highest integration rates for wind energy in North America – now they are working with BluWave AI to use artificial intelligence to use even more renewable energy.
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.
Summerside, Prince Edward Island (PEI) replaced expensive diesel power with record amounts of wind power using a smart grid and simple energy storage in residents furnaces and hot water heaters.
This carbon neutral home has a solar wall, solar PV on the roof and a unique energy storage system that heats this innovative garage suite when the sun doesn’t shine!
Elon Musk’s presentation on the Powerwall gave the energy storage business a billion dollars worth of free press. In Canada, Ontario is leading the way in energy storage deployment; we head there to learn more.
Energy storage is getting ready to expand across the world. We head to Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan to see a finished project and understand more about this important next wave of energy technology.
