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.
Ciel & Terre has created a thriving business installing 1.7 gigawatts of floating solar in 30 countries around the world in 300 projects in places that have neither the land nor roof space and at competitive rates.
Alberta just lifted a six-month-old moratorium on new renewable energy projects, but are new rules a poison pill for the once booming industry? We talk to Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon a renewable energy expert to find out.
There are 170,000 inactive and abandoned oil wells in Alberta many of which no longer pay taxes or lease payments to landowners. What if you could transform these sites into revenue-producing, tax-paying solar farms? That’s exactly what RenuWell is doing.
Small towns and cities with neither the money, expertise or capacity to undertake energy efficiency or solar projects. The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre knows this so they helped 26 municipalities hire energy managers who are doing just that.
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.
The Bow Valley Renewable Energy Cooperative started up during an economic downturn and the pandemic, but still managed to complete four projects in just a few years. This is lightning speed for a Cooperative in Canada. We head to Canmore Alberta to talk to Jeff Roberts, a boardmember with the cooperative about their success.
We meet up with Sarah Delano of Parkdale Cromdale Community League to learn all about living local, food foraging, community gardens and their solar-powered community league. Parkdale Cromdale has even created its own art walk with 64 panels of local community created art spread along a trail in one of the City’s ravines.
The Tufts had a choice: bulldoze their 1953 bungalow and start over or do a deep energy retrofit to net-zero. They chose the cheaper option in this amazing story of renewal.
The Métis Nation of Alberta is taking climate action, saving money and creating new opportunities by embracing energy efficiency and investing in solar.
Stephanie Ripley of the Municipal Climate Change Action Center gives us a tour of a climate-ready model home display demonstrating the four steps to saving money and getting your home on the pathway to net-zero.
Heather first discovered the benefits of solar seven years ago when she helped install a system on her church. Today solar is booming and she is just one of thousands of Edmontonians who have solar on their homes or businesses and she even works in the solar industry.
The consultants said it wasn’t affordable–it couldn’t be done. But Salvation Army architect Michaela Jones pushed back hard requoting their 175-unit supportive living complex as net-zero-ready at the last minute. Now this amazing solar powered, geothermal heated and cooled, energy-efficient building will save Sally Ann $6 million.
So much has changed in the 15 years since net-zero homes came onto the landscape. We now have heat pumps good to -35, streamlined building strategies and it now makes more economic sense than ever to build a net-zero home, eliminate your gas utility bill and produce your own energy.
On the 53rd anniversary of Earth Day, we talk to Denis Hayes the coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970. Earth Day defined environmentalism in the 1970, but sadly being green in 2023 is as hard as ever as we learn from Hayes who bemoans political populism and the incredibly challenging mother of all environmental issues – Climate Change.
Curious about energy retrofits for your home? Canadian software company Lightspark has created a new tool that has generated digital energy audits of nearly every home in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta. And that’s just the beginning. You can register, add some information and presto it recommends home energy improvements along with cost and benefits.
Geothermal heating isn’t new, but we predict the 400% efficient heating and 700% efficient cooling system is the ultimate system of the future for our homes, buildings and entire neighbourhoods. Here’s why.
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation dipped its toes in solar in 2018 when with two other First Nation partners they built a 2.3 megawatt solar project in Fort Chipewyan to offset diesel generation. Now they are launching 68 megawatts of solar in southern Alberta that they have a 50% ownership stake in.
More than 25 per cent of homes in Australia have solar on them, but apartment dwellers – not so much – that is until recently. SolShare is an Australian company out of Melbourne that is bringing solar to multi-family and multi-business facilities thanks to SolShare, new technology that makes it possible to share one solar system among many users.
One of the coolest things about Edmonton, Alberta is its community leagues. There are 162 volunteer groups representing every neighbourhood in the city doing everything from running sports, cultural and recreational programs, to operating halls, tennis courts and skating rinks AND as it turns out taking action on Climate Change. Interest in solar, energy efficiency, local food and sustainability was so high the Edmonton Federation started the Green Leagues program – this week we find out what’s happening in the ‘hoods.
This week we set out to find out if now is the time to go solar! Unlike 20 years ago when solar was very expensive, solar is now the cheapest way to generate electricity, but how expensive is it to install solar on your home. We found solar is now ten times cheaper than 20 years ago, there are incentives in many jurisdictions and this just might be the best time to go solar ever.
You often hear oil and gas pitted against renewable energy as if they are in an all-out either-or war for supremacy. But Alberta, Canada’s oil province is also blessed with the best renewable and clean energy resources in the country and the energy expertise to build the net-zero economy of the future. We have done so many stories about inspired Albertans building the economy of the future we thought we’d take the conversation live. In this preview, we speak to four Albertans who believe their province has the right stuff to thrive in a net-zero future.
SolShare Cooperative partnered with Tantalus Winery in the Okanagan of B.C. to install solar to power the winery operations. Germany’s renewable energy industry was kick-started by cooperatives, but it’s harder in Canada due to the structure of electricity markets. We talk to Rob Baxter of SolShare about their efforts to make solar more accessible.
Canada has a new Emissions Reduction Plan to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030. Binnu Jeyakumar of the Pembina Institute says “This is a turning point for climate action in Canada. It’s the first time we have a detailed plan on how we get 40% emissions reductions…by 2030. We zero in on new measures to decarbonize Canada’s electricity grid.
2021 was a big year for solar in Alberta. Just as the largest solar project in Canadian history came online one 3.5 times larger was already under construction. Solar is now the cheapest way to generate electricity and in one of the coolest energy transition projects ever solar is being used to repurpose abandoned oil well sites in Alberta.
In the early days, the economics of solar was “horrible.” But solar pioneer David Kelly always believed in the potential so solar so 20 years ago he started SkyFire Energy in Alberta. Since then has pioneered a slew of solar firsts in Western Canada that foreshadowed the major solar boom his company is now part of in Alberta.
What happens to all of that farmland beneath those giant solar farms? We hear it all the time at Green Energy Futures. So we headed off to the 136-megawatt Claresholm Solar Project on the Canadian Prairies to find out.
A North American Renewable Integration Study found Canada could get up to 95% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2050 in a low-cost, low-carbon future. This would mean a 10-fold increase in wind power and an 18-fold increase in solar power.
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.
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.
Renewable energy co-operatives have led the renewable revolution around the world. We look at the roots of co-operatives in Europe and SolShare and other renewable energy co-operatives in Canada.
Here’s a big idea! RenuWell wants to breathe new life into thousands of Alberta’s abandoned oil wells by reusing well pads and roads and building 750-kilowatt solar farms. It’s a win-win for landowners, municipalities and energy transition.
In spite of COVID-19 and economic chaos in the world there is a solar boom going on in Alberta, Canada’s oil-rich province. This is big news you probably haven’t heard about. The biggest solar project in Canadian history is just about finished, a project four times larger starts construction this year and there are 77 other projects in the development queue in the province.
PODCAST – As 2020 winds down we look back at the year when the renewable energy revolution past the tipping point. Renewable energy is now the cheapest energy money can buy and is attracting trillions in investment. In Canada the largest solar project in Canadian history was built unsubsidized in Claresholm Alberta. Before it was complete another solar project was announced four times larger for 2021, also in Alberta. Renewable energy is becoming a story of opportunity, investment, jobs and economic diversification.
Bryce Bernhard came to Alberta from Texas in 2010 with little more than a half-ton and a bag of tools. Today he is the CEO of Alberta Screw Piles a business booming thanks to a booming solar industry.
Solar is revolutionizing life for indigenous people at their remote cabins in Canada’s north. Join us as we take a tour of Raymond Cardinal’s solar-powered cabin out on the Peace-Athabasca Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest inland delta in North America.
Blue Eyes Simpson is just one of 20 Indigenous and Metis people of Fort Chipewyan getting a custom-designed off-grid solar system to replace gas generators at their remote cabins out on the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Canada’s North.
Three Indigenous Nations in northern Canada joined forces to build a 2.2-megawatt solar project to replace 25 per cent of the local diesel-generated electricity. What’s more, it’s completely community-owned which contributes to energy sovereignty while creating local jobs and training.
This Canadian home builder now builds only net-zero ready and net-zero homes and the best part is – the homes are selling like crazy!
Permaculturalist Kenton Zerbin is living large in his super-efficient tiny home. Join us as we take a tour of this amazing tiny home with big features.
First came evidence-based decision making, then Halifax declared a climate emergency and now HalifACT 2050 is their plan to get to carbon neutrality by 2050.
We’re calling it Edmonton’s Solar Skydome! It’s the largest architectural solar installation in Canada and one of the most beautiful. We tag along with Adam Yereniuk of Kuby Renewable Energy for a tour of this amazing project.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Alberta-based Greengate Power has already developed the largest wind farm in Canada – now they’re building the largest solar farm in Canada by a factor of four.
Edmontonians have already been recognized as pioneers of net-zero homes, and now they are building the largest carbon-neutral community in the country: Blatchford.
Solar will replace 25 per cent of diesel generation in Fort Chipewyan a small community of 1,000 people in northern Alberta that until now has received all of its electricity from a diesel microgrid.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Saerbeck, Germany calls itself the “Climate Community of the Future.” Today they produce 400 per cent as much renewable energy as they need.
Solar played a starring role in every single one of our favorite Green Energy Futures stories from 2018. It’s the leading clean technology in terms of global investment and it’s playing a pivotal role is zero emissions homes, stores, colleges and grids.
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.
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.
Red Deer College has surged beyond its own goals for renewable energy by installing a 1.6-megawatt solar system, the largest on any post-secondary institution in Canada. Solar is everywhere and combined with their new 1-megawatt cogeneration system they generate 66% of their own electricity right on campus.
Greg Caldwell generates 80 per cent of his own electricity, right in his Edmonton home. He uses a solar micro combined-heat-and-power (cogen) system—one that combines a rooftop solar system with a small gas-fired generator.
Just seven short years ago NAIT’s Alternative Energy program seemed ahead of its time. Today this innovative 2-year program is training the leaders of the clean energy revolution in Alberta. We talk to program chair Dr. Jim Sandercock about the evolution of the program.
As a 19-year-old Rae-Anne Wadey had to make a decision – buy a diesel truck or study Alternative Energy. The program was ahead of its time and Rae-Anne had problems finding a job. What happened next is history – she’s a Face of the New Energy Economy.
Brandon Sandmaier is one of the faces of the new energy economy. He left a six-figure job as a heavy duty mechanic in the oil industry to study Alternative Energy at NAIT. Even before graduation, he started a company called Generate Energy.
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.
A Calgary-based medical device manufacturer sees solar as key in the global marketplace, important to attract new talent and a key part of the new energy economy.
Ontario’s SolarShare is North America’s largest renewable energy cooperative, with $60 million in projects—but its beginnings were much more humble. We talk to Mike Brigham, solar evangelist and co-founder of SolarShare.
Metamorphosis the film takes viewers on a poetic, visually stunning journey through the climate crisis to a brave new world of clean energy solutions and a new relationship with nature. It was inspired by climate change itself.
Riverdale Community League tested public interest in sustainability at a community meeting in 2005 and since then the community has created a community garden, a food forest, hosted energy efficiency pizza parties, and thanks to a grant from Eco-City is now powered by solar energy. Oh, and there’s a waiting list to get on the sustainability committee!
The Canadian Home Builders Association now has a net-zero labeling program. We talk to Sonja Winkelmann about the program designed to help consumers and builders understand and embrace super energy efficient, solar-powered net-zero homes.
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.
It’s called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. Alberta introduced a PACE bill and some believe if passed, it could drive a surge of investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy in Alberta homes and businesses.
The small community of Hudson’s Hope, British Columbia has more solar per capita than any B.C. district on municipal buildings. It was all due to the vision of Mayor Gwen Johansson who worked with the Peace Energy Cooperative to put Hudson’s Hope on the solar map.
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.
La Maison Simons just opened the first net-zero major retail store in Canada. It’s solar powered, geothermal heated and cooled and energy efficient.
A solar partnership in a small First Nations community in Alberta, could help point the way forward for energy workers, indigenous people, and Canada as a whole. The Louis Bull Tribe partnered with Iron and Earth an organization of oilsands workers to put on 5-day solar training course for workers.
With very little money in the bank and an old church they could no longer afford to heat, the Westmount Presbyterian Church was on the brink of failure. Then, they hatched a plan to build Canada’s first net-zero church and social housing project.
Alberta secured the lowest price for wind energy in Canadian history and built the first utility scale solar farm in Western Canada in 2017 a banner year for Green Energy in Alberta.
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.
Producing your own solar electricity, it’s a cool idea right? But when is the right time to go solar? We talk to Ron Kube, who installed solar on his home and Clifton Lofthaug of Great Canadian Solar about everything you need to know before going solar.
Edmonton is getting set to host the first international conference on Cities and Climate Change Science. We talk to Seth Schultz from C40 about Edmonton, climate change and the action thats required. Schultz is an organizer and director with a global organization of 90 megacities helping mayors and cities taken action on climate change.
SMART HOMES PART 2 – Have you ever dreamed of living in a net-zero home? According to Peter Darlington, that dream may be closer than you think. In fact, you might already be living in your future net-zero home. We present Peter’s four steps to making your home net-zero.
SMART HOMES PART 1 – Is your water heater kaput? Want to discover the best option for high efficiency water heaters? Look no further! We check out tankless, electric heat pump and power vented conventional high efficiency water heaters. Is one of them right for you? Read on and find out.
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.
Solar powered football – the Philadelphia NFL Eagles have 11,000 solar modules, fly on 100 per cent renewable energy, divert 99 per cent of waste and recycle everything else.
Gordon Howell is a solar pioneer, the first to install a grid-connected solar system on his home in Western Canada. Today Gordon finds himself at the hub of a community of people involved in a veritable solar revolution.
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.
Brazeau County may be in the heart of Alberta’s oil and gas country in Alberta, but the county is diversifying into clean energy by putting solar on most of the country buildings.
Brian Scott and Leigh Bond want to see Property Assessed Clean Energy financing come to Alberta. They say PACE has generated $3.4 billion investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy in the U.S. and that little else would do more to spur on a boom in Alberta.
Edmonton-based builder Landmark Homes has launched one of the most affordable net-zero homes we’ve seen in Canada.
EnerGuide for homes: You wouldn’t buy a car without knowing how many liters per 100 kilometers it gets. So why buy a home without knowing how much power it uses?
Tom Jackman of Simple Solar shows us the benefits of solar thermal technology.
The 1.14 megawatt solar system on the roof of the Leduc Recreation Centre is the largest of its kind in Canada and accounts for fully 10 per cent of Alberta’s total solar capacity.
More than 4,000 people have signed Iron and Earth’s pledge calling for renewable energy training for out-of-work oil workers and already 450 workers have said they want training.
Securing investment in renewable energy is getting easier, but banks have a few things they like to see in projects, like price certainty and long term contracts that ensure a steady stream of revenue to support the loans needed to develop renewable energy projects.
How does a passive solar heated Earthship fare in the long cold Canadian winter. This week we return to a familiar place, the Kinney Family Earthship, to see how it holds up in the middle of a cold Canadian prairie winter.
The European green capital for 2012, Vitoria-Gasteiz is small in size but big in ambition.
Evansdale Community League goes solar and builds a more resiliant community in Edmonton, Alberta.
This week we visit the largest solar farm in Western Canada on the Green Acres Hutterite colony.
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.
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.
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.
Canada’s latest batch of net-zero homes is being built in Guelph, Ontario. We head to the build site to check them out up close.
Shipping container architecture has become more and more popular over the years. We check out an off-grid solar powered sea contaner cabin called the Octopod, located near Bobcaygeon, Ontario.
Ontario’s energy transition — shutting down coal and ramping up renewables — is the most successful greenhouse gas reduction project in Canada’s history.
More than 100 hundred episodes after our first episode on geothermal we circle back for a follow up.
Net-zero houses are almost old news here at Green Energy Futures. But a net-zero commercial building? Now that got our attention.
Feed-in tariffs have transformed renewable energy markets around the world. Now the mountain town of Banff is the first municipality in Canada to institute this important piece of renewable energy supporting policy.
What happens when you sell unserviced lots for a dollar and get people to build green homes on the edge of a small Saskatchewan town? We find out.
Learn how wind and solar energy are driving down prices for consumers in Canada’s most fossil-fuel-friendly province.
Solar energy may only make up 0.03 per cent of Alberta’s electrical generation capacity. We make the case that solar is a growth opportunity in Canada’s only deregulated electricity market.
This is the story of how the family of Green Energy Futures’ editor Duncan Kinney built an Earthship in southern Alberta this summer.
Landmark Homes is planning to have all of their homes be net-zero by 2015. Learn how net-zero is transitioning from small custom home builders to large scale companies.
In 10 years net-zero homes have gone from government pilot project to mass production. Shafraaz Kaba’s near net-zero home is an excellent example of how we got there.
The first episode of our four-part series Chasing Net-Zero. We dive into the history of net-zero homes and figure out you can build one of these comfortable, beautiful homes that also doubles as a mini-powerplant.
A passive solar greenhouse in Invermere B.C. is making people across the continent sit up and takes notice. It may sound ironic, but most greenhouses are not designed to harvest and retain the sun’s energy.
We head to Starland County, Alberta where some very innovative farmers are working with Bullfrog Builds and the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre to build solar that pays for itself in 10-13 years.
Community scale renewable solar is cheap and requires very little maintenance. Learn how two communities in Alberta built successful community solar energy programs.
Soon solar will be so cheap it won’t make sense not to have it on your house, office building or spare building facing south. The price of solar has dropped one hundred times in the past 35 years, that’s not a typo. Learn what’s driving the low cost of solar and where and when you’ll start seeing it in the near term this week at Green Energy Futures.
We profile Morgan Solar, a Canadian startup that aims to develop a cheaper to produce and more efficient solar module.
Ever looked at the breakdown of your electricity bill with all of its transmission and distribution charges and wondered if there was a better way? There is and it’s called distributed generation. Learn about it this week at Green Energy Futures.
It took a 45-person team to build Edmonton’s first net-zero home. In six short years since then net-zero builders are constructing cheaper and radically simpler net-zero homes. We Peter Amerongen and Simon Knight, two net-zero pioneers.
The T’Souke First Nation on Vancouver Island developed and implemented a plan that slashed 75 per cent of their energy use and installed solar PV to provide clean power. It turns out it’s a lot easier to go net-zero when you drastically cut your energy use.
Landmark Homes builds super energy efficient homes in a factory. Not only is this process more energy efficient – it’s also about 10-12 tonnes of CO2 more efficient. The homes they’re building are understated energy efficiency lions.
This four-story, 60,000 square feet structure is practically a living thing. It’s a $37-million laboratory that aims to achieve LEED Platinum status, but more than that, they’re also pursuing a Living Building Challenge certification. This certification is so hard to get, there are only three certified living buildings in the world.
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.
Some provinces have all of the luck. While poor PEI has little more than potatoes and tourists Alberta gets not only the lions share of Canada’s coal, oil, gas and bitumen, it gets the best solar resource in all of Canada too. We learned this by talking to Alberta’ solar industry veterans, experts from Ontario and even the minister of environment for Alberta, Diana McQueen at CANSIA West.
If I told you you could almost double the amount of money you got from the solar energy you put on the grid would that make you more likely to get a rooftop solar system? Spark and several other small electricity retailers are betting that you will. Is this the final push that gets solar over the hump in Alberta?
We take a tour of the Canadian Solar plant in Mississauga, Ontario. In 2011, the solar manufacturing industry in Canada was responsible employing over 2,100 people $584 million of economic output.
“We can take a commercial roof that was previously wasted space and turn it into a generation asset which is producing clean, safe, renewable energy,” says SolarShare president Mike Brigham.
Not only that but investors get to finance these projects through solar bonds and see a healthy financial return without creating a toxic legacy.
The German style feed-in tariff that Ontario implemented in 2009 has made Ontario a North American leader in renewable energy. Learn how they did and why other provinces need to follow the lead of Ontario.
Cheryl Shuman, a city councillor with the city of Dawson Creek in northeastern British Columbia considers herself a turbine hugger, not a tree hugger. She was part of the Peace Energy Co-operative a local grassroots group that developed the Bear Mountain Wind Park.
Les Wold is a part of this second wave of net-zero home builders. At 38-years-old he’s a managing partner with Effect Homes, an Edmonton based homebuilder that currently builds about 10 houses a year.
Learn about how these new kinds of homes are getting built and the simple design cues you can take even if you don’t put solar panels on your roof.
Have you ever wanted to get solar panels on your house but were scared of the costs, time and effort it would take? Enmax, a Calgary based utility, has simplified the process for homeowners with their Generate Choice program. Simply sign up and if you qualify Enmax will handle the installation, permitting and maintenance.
Meet the people and families that have taken the solar energy plunge.
NAIT’s Alternative Energy Program is helping meet the increasing demand for professionals to design, build, install and maintain green energy systems. A two-year program, it teaches students the intricacies of solar, wind, geothermal and even fuel cell systems.
Meet the students and instructors who are helping to create the next generation of skilled green energy workers.
The award winning Hat Smart program in Medicine Hat, Alberta provides incentives and rebates for renewable energy and energy efficiency and has really captured the imagination of residents of this Southern Alberta City of 61,000 people. In this week’s episode Alderman Ted Clugston explains how success depends on a sexy program, a solar powered dentist shows his stuff and a home builder explains how building an EnerGuide 89 geothermal heated home is helping him build better, greener homes.
