Green Energy Futures: Recent Episodes
David Dodge
The CKUA Radio podcast of the GreenEnergyFutures.ca series. The multi-media series is hosted by David Dodge and tells the stories of Canadians involved in the green energy revolution.
In a recent episode we talked to Jeremy Kureluk of Rental Bus Lines about how much they like their electric buses and how they hoped one day to connect them to a virtual power plant to feed electricity to the grid. Turns out this is already happening in Canada. Rob Safrata owns a tour bus company and he too wants to go electric. So he started FUSE Power Management, based in Vancouver, to set up the infrastruture and contracts needed to use electric buses as virtual power plants which would make going electric even more lucrative.Peaking power is valuable and fleets of electric buses that are parked during the evening peak electricity period could make revenue helping the grid when it needs electricity.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastSee blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca to learn more or subscribe to our video podcast on YouTube.
The wheels on this electric bus have been going around and around since 2017. We talk to Jeremy Kureluk of Rental Bus Lines based in Stony Plain, Alberta about owning and operating an electric school bus in the cold Canadian north.Turns out they love their electric buses and want more. We dive into all the questions you might have including range, winter performance, maintenance, and more.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Pocast
It's a ticking time bomb - how do we integrate millions of solar, wind and battery projects along with 250 million EVs by 2030 into our outdated 20th Century Grid? Old school utilities often think of building more power plants, distribution, and transmission, but that would cost too much and could never happen fast enough.At least part of the answer lies in software, AI and smart grid technologies. This week on Green Energy Futures we talk to Sabine Erlinghagen, the CEO of Siemens Grid Software about how to build the smart, affordable, resilient and reliable grid of the future.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
The ballots have been counted and the winners have been announced of the Energy Innovation Challenge hosted by Decentralised Energy Canada and the City of Medicine Hat. The winners were announced at the Decentralised Energy Canada Forum in Whistlers, British Columbia. (https://www.deforum.ca/)The winners solutions will be piloted on the Medicine Hat Grid to help integrate decentralized energy resources such as solar, wind, EVs, batteries and heat pumps. The solutions are a mix of software and hardware designed to use these resources to expand the capacity of the grid, provide cheap energy and better utilize existing underutilized 20th Century grid infrastructure. It's the first step in creating a resilient, affordable and reliable grid of the future.We talk to the winners from Edgecom Energy and Arcus Power.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Subscribe today and lean more in our blog and YouTube Channel.
The City of Medicine Hat has partnered with Decentralised Energy Canada to host the Energy Innovation Challenge, a tool they are using to navigate energy transition and transform new energy resources such as solar, EVs, batteries and managed loads into assets instead of liabilities.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastMedicine Hat & The Energy Innovation Challenge: Navigating Energy TransitionMedicine Hat stands out in Alberta's energy landscape due to its independent, discrete electricity grid. This allows the city to implement innovative energy solutions and set its own rates and policies.• Quote: "Medicine had, unlike other cities, has its own discrete electricity grid and sets their own rates and policies for residents so they can also implement creative energy transition solutions if it makes sense."Key Program: Hat SmartThe Hat Smart program incentivizes residential energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption through rebates for devices, rooftop solar arrays, and water conservation measures.• Impact: The program has provided $6.2 million in rebates since 2008 and led to a 14-16% reduction in water use this summer.• Popularity: Rebates for rooftop solar arrays are fully subscribed by spring each year, highlighting the high demand for solar energy.• Innovation: A new PACE-like financing option called the Clean Energy Improvement Program allows residents to invest in clean energy improvements and repay through property taxes.• Quote: "We've just launched the clean energy improvement program and that it's really a financing option for residents to access top up payments to their property taxes essentially in order to do similar things in order to invest in rooftop solar or other sorts of clean energy improvement options at the household level"Current Energy Mix & Transition PlansMedicine Hat currently relies on three gas-fired power plants (300 MW capacity) and a 6 MW wind farm. They are actively exploring new energy transition avenues:• Utility-scale solar: A 325 MW solar project within city limits is economically viable and under consideration, with a request to the Alberta Utilities Commission to build in stages due to its size.• Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS): While Medicine Hat holds an exploration permit for a CCS hub, analysis suggests it is less economically viable than solar at present, with success hinging on carbon pricing.• Energy Innovation Challenge: This initiative with Decentralized Energy Canada aims to generate solutions for managing increasing demand from EVs, heat pumps, and solar projects.Quote: "We have found that utility scale wind and utility scale solar is economically viable today. So the city is currently looking at a utility scale solar array up to 325 megawatts of generation capacity within the urban limits of Medicine Hat. The city is looking at a whole host of other options including carbon capture and sequestration for hard to abate businesses."Conclusion:Medicine Hat demonstrates proactive leadership in transitioning to a cleaner energy future. Through programs like Hatsmart and exploration of large-scale renewables and CCS, the city provides a valuable case study for other municipalities seeking to decarbonize. The Energy Innovation Challenge further highlights their commitment to finding practical solutions for the evolving energy landscape.#solar #windpower #electricity #energytransition #EV #electricvehicles #decentralizedenergy
The long-held dream of using geothermal energy to satisfy our needs and save the earth is ready for a big breakthrough.Today we take a deep dive into Green Energy Futures complete guide to geothermal with hosts Sarah and Michael, our AI hosts from Notebook LM.Geothermal and its cousin Air Source Heat Pumps are ready to provide heat and power to our homes at every scale from single family homes to entire Cities.This is our complete guide to geothermal, geoexchange and because it makes so much sense, air source heat pumps.Let us know what you think and please SUBSCRIBE an SHARE our story.This podcast is based on our story written for The Earth and I magazine and reprinted at GreenEnergyFutures.ca along with our CKUA.com radio podcast.You will never think of geothermal the same again.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Deep Dive Podcastwith AI Hosts Sarah and Michael of NotebookLMThis episode is based on Green Energy Futures Episode 384https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/384-geothermal-rising-big-breakthrough-is-coming
The Energy Innovation Fair is back again this year on Oct. 18-19th. We talk to organizer Rene Michalak of ReThink Red Deer about the speakers, panels, displays and demos that will be featured this year. The theme is economic diversification in Central Alberta and there are speakers on geothermal, solar, carbon storage, agrivoltaics and much more.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastLearn more about the fair at https://energyinnovationfair.ca/
It's been described as a ticking time bomb. Our electricity grids were designed to accommodate a few giant power plants. But what happens when millions of solar, wind, EVs, heat pumps and other Decentralized Energy Solutions come online? The Energy Innovation Challenge was created to find new and creative solutions to not only integrate these new energy resources but to turn them into assets in a more robust, clean energy grid of the future.The challenge is being run by Decentralised Energy Canada and the City of Medicine Hat a city that has one of the largest microgrids in Canada - what better place to pioneer to approaches to integration?We take you to Medicine Hat to learn more about solving this vexing challenge.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Radio PodcastAlso see GreenEnergyFutures.ca for more
Virtual power plants are simply networks of small energy producers (solar, wind, backup generators etc.) and energy storage devices that can provide power to the grid when needed.It's the digitization of the grid. It's very efficient, costing 40% less than speaker power plants and it's absolutely essential to start managing the millions of distributed energy systems (solar, batteries, EVs) coming on to the grid each year.We talk to Dwayne Caldwell CEO of ENSPI a company that helps companies understand, manage and save energy and then network their resources into a Virtual Power Plant to make money and help the grid.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastBlog GreenEnergyFutures.caSubscribe today!
Farmer Shawn Morton just said "no" the first time he was approached by solar developers. But Morton found an ally in Claude Mindorff a farmer who was working for the solar company. So he cut a deal to lease 300 acres to a solar project and to keep grazing and farming that land in the lease. It's called Agrivoltaics, or the integration of solar with farming or grazing and Shawn says it just might be the thing that can help keep his 100-year family farm in the family. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastBlog GreenEnergyFutures.ca
Solar plus farming, called Agrivoltaics is helping farmers generate new sources of income, keep the family farm viable and keep farming in the solar farm. We meet up with farmer, former oil and gas guy and current renewable energy developer Claude Mindorf at the Joffre Solar Farm in Alberta to talk about agrivoltaics. It turns out Canada could produce all of its electricity from renewable energy that would occupy less than 1% of farmland and enhance the viability of farming itself at the same time. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Video Podcast
Alberta phased out its coal-fired electricity in record time representing the largest single action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. The trouble is a lot of the coal was replaced by natural gas which produces 60% of the emissions of coal. Can the fossil fuel-infatuated province also capitalize on its amazing renewable energy resources to build the net-zero grid of the future? We talk to Scott MacDougall of the Pembina Institute to look at the challenges.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastPart 2 in our End of Coal seriesSubscribe today for more stories about building the sustainable future we need.
Alberta's last coal-fired power plant stopped burning coal on June 16, 2024 at 10:57 pm. The coal phase-out was originally proposed for 2061, but in 2015 a new target was set for 2030. On June 16 the last lump of coal was burned to produce electricity six years ahead of schedule. The phase-out represents the largest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of any initiative.We talk to Scott MacDougall of the Pembina Institute about what this all means for Alberta's grid. King Coal is Dead, so we set out to find out who the new king is and how long the new monarch will reign.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
This is huge! EAVOR believes they've cracked the geothermal nut. Using closed-loop technology they have pioneered a new kind of Geothermal that can be built almost anywhere without uncertainty. We look at EAVOR's pilot project in Alberta and their full-scale geothermal plant in Germany that will provide electricity for 8,000 homes and district heating for 120,000 homes. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
EAVOR has pioneered a new kind of geothermal that can provide heat and power almost anywhere on the planet. This could be the missing link in the energy revolution that could not only help electricity get to net-zero. It also helps solve the even bigger challenge of how to heat buildings with zero emissions.We talk to Jeanine Vany of EAVOR, a company from Calgary, Alberta that has pioneered the new technology.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastSee full story at greenenergyfutures.ca
Here's what Green Infill looks like!Built to the super energy efficient Passive House standard this 16-unit townhouse style infill project replaced two underutilized single-family homes in Edmonton, Alberta. The homes require just 10% of the heating energy of a regular home, and have no natural gas or bills.We take a tour of this amazing project with developers David and Melissa Campbell of Homestretch, a multifamily developer. The project utilized an unique EPS wall system with embedded structural steel, an ICF foundation and Air Source Heat Pumps which required no backup heat in 10 of the 16 units in a City where temperatures reached -40C last year. The Coup de Gras is the homes are powered mostly by solar electricity and 10 of the 16 units are net-zero.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastSee blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca
This project checks all the boxes. T5M Connect replaced two single-family homes with 16 new units of desperately needed housing and the kicker is it was built to the passive house standard in the mostly northerly city in North America.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Part 2 - Gregor Robertson, Vancouver's longest-serving mayor set out to create the greenest city in the world. Now he's the Global Ambassador of the Global Covenant of Mayors helping 13,000 other cities take action on climate change.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastFull story GreenEnergyFutures.ca
When Gregor Robertson came up with his campaign slogan of creating the greenest city in the world who knew it would be his most popular focus? He went to become Vancouver's longest-serving Mayor, and although they may not have reached the coveted top spot, they got pretty close. They created a very green building code, increased non-car transportation and attracted a lot of green business to the city while they were at it.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastPart 1 - In part 2 we talk to Robertson about what he's doing now leading the Global Covenant of Mayors helping 13,000 other cities green up their cities.
PART 2 - Summerside PEI had no electricity generation capacity a decade ago and then did some amazing things. First (in part 1) they added wind power, a smart grid and energy storing furnaces. Then they added AI-powered solar microgrids and a solar and battery farm right in the City. The little City with no generation capacity has achieved 62% locally generated renewable energy and become the leading City in Canada for integrating renewable energy. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
PART 1 - Summerside like the province of PEI had no energy production except expensive backup diesel generators just a decade or so ago. Something had to change. So in an amazing transformation, they set up their own utility, built a wind farm in the city, installed a smart grid and thermal energy storing appliances and got to 42-46% renewable energy, all produced locally. And they didn't stop there, learn more in part 2.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
This sounds counterintuitive, but a new study has found Electric Vehicles (EVs) are driving the price of electricity down and increasing net profits for utilities. Thanks to time-of-use pricing EV owners are shifting their charging habits to non-peak times thus making much more efficient use of existing grid resources. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Video Podcast
Mitchell Beer started The Energy Mix, a media service dedicated to covering climate change 10 years ago long before the conventional media took it seriously. We talk to Beer about climate change, journalism, and his media service which has published 30,000 stories on climate change and climate solutons. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
EVs produce fewer lifecycle emissions than ICE vehicles in countries with dirty grids or clean grids. A study looked at emissions in five countries including China, the US, UK, Germany and Japan and found EVs produce much lower emissions throughout the life of the vehicle.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
In part 2 of our series on Alberta's new renewable energy rules we learn that 57 projects worth $14 billion are potentially at risk. We talk to Jason Wang of the Pembina Institute which just prepared a map overlay showing the potential impact of new restrictions. We also talk to Vittoria Bellissimo of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association about changes that are coming to the structure of the electricity market in Alberta. Bottom line is uncertainty abounds for Alberta's formerly booming renewable energy industry. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastSee our website for the full story.
At first glance, new rules for renewable energy development in Alberta seemed ready to block renewable energy from most of the province. Two weeks on some clarifications have been announced. We talk to Vittoria Bellissimo with the Canadian Renewable Energy Association about restrictions on agricultural land, near so-called "pristine viewscapes" and protected areas. Spoiler alert industry observers worry investment will plummet in an industry with billions in investments planned last year.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastSee our website for the full story.
Ciel & Terre is making a splash with floating solar having installed more than 300 projects around the world. It costs just a little more than mounted solar but its helping utilities, companies and municipalities generate renewable energy where there is no land or roof space. We talk to Chris Bartle of Ciel & Terre US about this growing industry. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Alberta lifted it's six-month moratorium on renewable energy projects but some critics say new rules amount to a defacto moratorium. This is ironic since Alberta had a booming industry with up to $33 billion in projects under development at the time of the moratorium. We talk to renewable energy expert Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon of the University of Calgary about the new rules and the impacts they may have on the renewable energy industry in Alberta.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Part 2 in Green Energy Futures' series on RenuWell, the idea of transforming abandoned oil wells into small solar farms. In this episode, we talk to Trevor Helwig of St. Mary River Irrigation District, the owner of the two RenuWell solar pilot projects. Irrigation and solar are a good match since they both work hardest when the sun shines. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Of the 466,000 oil and gas wells in Alberta on third are active and 170,000 are suspended or abandoned. What to do? Keith Hirsche was a farm kid from Taber, Alberta and his company RenuWell wrapped up two pilot projects to transform a couple of long-abandoned well sites into small solar farms which are now owned by St. Mary's Irrigation District. We visit the sites with Daryl Bennett from RenuWell and discover one of the most amazing examples of energy transition anywhere. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastIn part 2 we talk to Trevor Hellwig of St. Mary's Irrigation District the folks who own these two projects. Turns out solar and irrigation are a perfect match.
The town of Raymond, Alberta was told solar wouldn't work on their buildings in their town in southern Alberta.This didn't sit right with them, so they hired new consultants, installed solar everywhere and became the first community in Canada to achieve net-zero electricity. We talk to Greg Robinson of the Town of Raymond about how they did it.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Record wildfires, crazy amounts of smoke and poor air quality, droughts, and floods - municipalities are experiencing the impacts of climate change in a big way. Cutting emissions is very important to prevent even worse impacts, but what is a small town or municipality to do to adapt to and avoid some of the bigger impacts of climate change? The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre in Alberta knows this so they created a program that has helped fund 26 communities to assess their climate risks and create climate adaptation plans. We head to Pincher Creek, Alberta to see how they are dealing with wildfires, drought and ironically floods as well. GreenEnergyFutures.ca VideoGreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com PodcastMunicipalities taking action on climate change series - Part III
Many small towns and municipalities want to do energy efficiency projects or install solar and save money, but most have neither the money, expertise or the capacity to figure it all out. The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre in Alberta knows this so they created a program that has helped small towns and municipalities hire 26 energy managers that are doing just what they should.This week we travel to Leduc, Alberta where we will meet up with Nathan Schaper the energy manager there who saved $40,000 in his first weeks of work. Green Energy Futures CKUA.com PodcastPart II in
This week we head off to three small towns: Pincher Creek, Raymond and Leduc Alberta to learn about what they are doing to take climate action. We find them embracing energy efficiency, solar, electric vehicles and climate adaptation actions and it's all thanks to support from a little-known organization called the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
You may not have heard of the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC), but you may have seen their work.They have helped more than 150 communities in Alberta complete 878 climate actions including energy efficiency, installing EV chargers, solar, and electric vehicles and even climate risk assessments and resiliency plans for towns.We talk to founder Bob Hawkesworth and the current executive director, Trina Innes of the MCCAC.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
How energy storage can be used to get the grid to net-zero using mostly existing infrastructure. For folks who want to preserve the old centralized grid, the sky is falling. However according to James Bererton an expert in low-carbon energy we can get fossil fuel-based grids like Alberta's most of the way to net-zero using current infrastructure, energy storage, microgrids and and existing technology. Oh, and we can save money too!GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Decentralised Energy Canada is 20 years old. We talk to innovator and founder Anouk Kendall about how her organization went from being an advocate for decentralized energy such as solar that didn't exist then to today when its members represent billions in revenue and are busy building the resilient and affordable decentralized electricity grid of the future. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Heat pumps are the future of heating and cooling. We found them heating and cooling in net-zero homes, in water heaters and clothes dryers and now there are models rated to -35C. The reasons are quite simple: they are incredibly energy efficient, and since they run on electricity it's pretty easy to run them and produce few or no emissions.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
The Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative in Canmore, Alberta has just wrapped up its fourth solar project in just a few years. This is blazing fast progress for green energy cooperatives in Canada that must navigate a network of challenging provincial electrical systems.We talk to Jeff Roberts about the coops success getting started in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta.
FULL INTERVIEW - We sit down with Richard Allen, the chair of United Hydrogen, a conglomerate of 37 hydrogen companies working together to bring to market hydrogen solutions on the road the net-zero. We talk about the role, advantages and challenges of using hydrogen to reduce emissions in transport, buildings and industry. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
United Hydrogen is a conglomerate of 37 hydrogen companies based in Australia that has set it's sights on finding the solutions to help the world get to net-zero. Oh, they also are keen to take advantage of the hydrogen market, expected to reach $201 billion by 2025. We talk to United Hydrogen chair Richard Allen about solutions, challenges and the role of hydrogen. (PART 1)GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
The Red Deer Renewable Energy Fairs were a hit in Red Deer, Alberta until COVID deep-sixed the popular event. But the event is back reincarnated as the Energy Innovation Fair. We talk to organizers Rene Michalak of ReThink Red Deer and Chelsah Thomas of Sol Invictus Energy Services about the line-up for the free event being held on Saturday, October 21. A big theme this year is energy diversification or energy transition which can be a touchy subject in the heart of Alberta's oil country. Yet despite that the innovation and potential of clean energy and technologies here is pretty exciting. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Norquest College is like many educational institutions. Budgets are tight, and capacity is often lacking, but by being smart about building new buildings, combining efforts with renovations to old buildings and by measuring energy use Norquest College is finding innovative ways to save big bucks on energy costs. We take a tour with the facilities manager Jason Schuller to learn what they are doing to reduce costs and emissions.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Edmonton wants to plant 2 million trees as part of its climate change strategy - so how are they doing? We take a walk in Edmonton's extensive forest canopy to find out. Turns out they're on track and it could transform Edmonton. Changing for Climate SeriesGreenEnergyFutures.ca
There are 162 community leagues in Edmonton. Sarah Delano is with Parkdale Cromdale and she says they are taking action for climate change in many small ways from growing and foraging for local food, creating local art and putting solar on their community league hall. We take a walk with Sarah to learn more. Changing for ClimateGreenEnergyFutures.ca
We talk a lot about making electricity net-zero, but as Greg Caldwell explains 80% of the energy we use is in a gaseous form. Greg works for ATCO on hydrogen and he believes hydrogen can play a big role in decarbonizing our economy. We explore how hydrogen is made, what it can do and the role it can play. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca
Jena and Jesse Tufts had a choice: bulldoze their 1953 bungalow, move to the suburbs or retrofit it. They chose the cheaper option and took their 1953 home all the way to net-zero with a deep energy retrofit.Changing for Climate SeriesGreenEnergyFutures.ca
The Métis Nation of Alberta is investing heavily in solar and energy efficiency to save money and reduce emissions. The Nation has installed solar on 35 of its facilities in Alberta and is now building a 5-megawatt solar project at the Métis Crossing Culture Center near Smoky Lake, Alberta. We talk to their climate change guy and the woman in charge of the Métis Housing Corporation about their work.Changing for Climate Video SeriesChangeforClimate.caGreenEnergyFutures.ca
In Part 2 of our Climate Ready Home series we talk to sustainability teacher Kenton Zerbin about some of the things we can do around our homes and yards to adapt to the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. We cover yard landscaping and some of the things you can do to reduce emissions and adapt your home to a changing climate.Changing for Climate Video SeriesChangeForClimate.caGreenEnergyFutures.ca
How making your home Climate Ready can save you money, reduce emissions and get you on a pathway to a solar-powered, net-zero energy home. Stephanie Ripley gives a tour of a model energy efficiency home display which identifies four steps involving 1. Energy Audit, 2. Insulation, 3. Electric Heating and Cooling, 4. Generate your own renewable energy. ChangingforClimate.ca Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca
Lewis Lix loved the oil industry but he grew weary of the boom and bust cycles and being away from his family all the time. After one false start and a great deal of discussion with his family, he eventually enrolled in the 2-year NAIT Alternative Energy Program in Edmonton, Alberta. This is the story of his long and winding journey and where he wound up. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Just a few short years ago Heather discovered the wonders of solar. She help install solar on her church, then her home and now she works promoting solar in Alberta. Solar is booming in Alberta and more than 3,800 Edmonton homes and businesses have installed solar and it's growing faster every year. GreenEnergyFutures/ca CKUA.com Podcast
In part 2 Howaida talks about what it's like living with two EVs in the family. She talks about the cost to operate and what it's like driving an EV in Canada's -30 C winters. Howaida discusses why her family decided to go all-electric and how she mixes using her EV with public transit and cycling in her day-to-day life. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Howaida's family dipped their toes into the world of EVs when they replaced their Smart Car with a short-range EV. But the big decision came when the time came to replace their second family vehicle. This is the story of their family journey going all-electric. This is part 1. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Darren and Darcy Crichton started their DIY home retrofit on their 1969 bungalow 20 years ago. At first, they simply wanted to cut drafts by adding insulation. But with careful research, they did the right renovations in the right order and today they live in a solar-powered, net-zero home. This is their story. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
In part II of our E-Bike Revolution series, we find out why e-bikes are revolutionizing the idea of the bicycle as a mode of transportation. Turns out e-bikers go further and faster than regular cyclists but is the e-bike a fitness cop-out? What we learned might surprise you! GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Seattle Architect Michael Eliason believes we can build affordable, family-friendly multifamily housing that doesn't suck and helps with the housing and climate crises. The answer he says is Point Access Blocks, single staircase buildings that have more windows, more bedrooms, better greenspace and access to well design neighbourhoods. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Learn more in our blog at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Jim Sandercock was coerced into bicycle commuting by a colleague who moved into the neighbourhood and said "Hey why don't we cycle to work?" Here's the thing - He loves it! After doing tons of research Jim bought an electric bike and became the poster boy for the E-Bike Revolution. In PART 1 of our two-part series on the E-Bike Revolution, we follow Jim's journey from bicycle agnostic to advocate and learn why the e-bike is carving out new pathways for the bicycle as transportation. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast www.greenenergyfutures.ca Subscribe today!
They were told it couldn't be done affordably. Then Salvation Army Architect Michael Jones and her team reissued an RFP for a net-zero-ready 175-unit supportive housing complex and were very surprised with what happened next—an inspiring story with lessons for all mid-sized buildings. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Also see our video: https://youtu.be/HpcXhNw4TpA
Microhabitat is all about urban farming and they're bringing 30-pot container gardens to the nature deserts of the big cities. From office towers and apartments to parks, the idea is to produce local food in the most unlikely places. And people seem to love it! Since its humble beginnings in 2016, Microhabitat is installing 200 projects in 8 North American Cities this year. We tag along as they install one of these turn-key container gardens at the Stony Plain Golf Course right along the path to the first tee.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
How Jim Sandercock took his 1951 home and transformed it into a solar-powered net-zero home by reskinning the home by adding new super-insulated walls over the old ones. It's called an EnergieSprong Deep Energy Retrofit and it was one of the first pilots on a single-family home in Canada. The idea is to save the home's old bones and totally retrofit the home's exterior while the homeowners continue living in it. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
To some people, it's all-out war between oil and gas and renewable energy. But Alberta, Canada's oil capital also has the best renewable energy resources in the country. In this feature-length interview, Simon Dyer the author of the Pembina Institute report: Alberta's Pathway to the New Energy Economy explains the challenges Alberta faces and the opportunity that is there to create lower emissions fossil fuels and become a clean energy powerhouse.GreenEnergyFutures.ca #fossilfuels #renewableenergy #alberta #energy #climatechange #energytransition
Stop pitting renewable energy against oil and gas in order to develop a successful future energy economy. A new report by the Pembina Institute says Alberta must reduce carbon emissions in the oil and gas industry to remain competitive and begin investing in clean energy industries to build a successful, diversified energy economy of the future. We talk to Simon Dyer, author of "Alberta's Roadmap to the New Energy Economy."
On this 53rd anniversary, we talk to Denis Hayes the coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970. Those early days helped define environmentalism as Earth Day served as a big tent for pollution, endangered species and a myriad of other issues. 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. For this story Green Energy Futures collaborated with Mitchell Beer, publisher of The Energy Mix. Check out our blog for the full story and to hear Mitchell's hour long interview with Denis Hayes.Visit GreenEnergyFutures.ca
In part 1 of our new Net-Zero 101 series we meet up with Kevin and Heather Brosinsky who built their dream net-zero retirement home after Kevin became quite enamoured with the idea of the passive house. We talk to them one-year-in to their new home which is solar powered, heated by a heat pump and is super energy efficient. In our next episode we will dig into the bones of this net-zero home to reveal the five key elements of a cold-climate net-zero home. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
E-Bikes are growing in popularity and Mehanaz Yakub has just prepared a guide to e-bikes for Electric Autonomy Canada. This week on GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA podcast we learn about how cool e-bikes are, why they are so popular and even some of rebate programs available. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA Podcast
Lightspark just might be the missing link for homeowners wanting to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes. On its pilot website Lightspark has produced digital energy audits of nearly every home in two cities – and that's just the beginning. You refine the assumptions and then it recommends bundles of home energy efficiency upgrades, and estimates the costs and benefits.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
FULL INTERVIEW with Stephen Thomas about how a proposed clean energy standard could help get Canada's electricity grid to zero emissions by 2025 using renewable energy. Thomas co-authored a report entitled Shifting Power that plots a way forward using solar, wind power, energy storage and new interprovincial transmission lines that would allow provinces with big hydro to share renewable energy with provinces with solar and wind power. Head to GreenEnergyFutures.ca to learn more.
Stephen Thomas of the David Suzuki Foundation likes the idea of Canada creating a Clean Energy Regulation. He hopes it will inspire the addition of 18x more renewable energy, sharing electricity between provinces and Canada achieving its goal of net-zero electricity by 2035.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Hazel Thayer became convinced the "grownups" weren't dealing with climate change so she started posting video stories to TikTok and Instagram and is now reaching 120 subscribers on some unlikely platforms. Her posts are fast paced Rick Mercer like "rants" laced with humour and facts that seem to be moving the needle.This week on GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com podcast we talk to Hazel Thayer.
First the three nations of Fort Chipewyan built a 2.3 megawatt solar project to offset diesel generation. Now they want to bring the first electric vehicle to their fly-in community.
Oslo adopted the world's first city climate budget in 2016 - We set out to find out what the city is doing to slash emissions. Hint - they're killing it with home heating, electric vehicles, waste and even in construction. Part II in our series on Oslo's climate action.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
FULL INTERVIEW - Oslo has one of the most ambitious climate strategies in the world and at the heart of it is a carbon budget that works alongside the fiscal budget. We talk to Heidi Sorensen, head of the Oslo Climate Agency about how carbon budgeting is helping this northern City reduce 95% of its emissions. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com – FULL INTERVIEW
So many ambitious climate plans, so little progress. Oslo was the first city in the world to create a carbon budget and they're bucking the trend by knocking climate action out of the park. We talk to Heidi Sorensen, head of the Oslo Climate Agency to find out how it all works and why they are successful.GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
Is a "Just Transition" about helping workers find new jobs through the energy transition, or a plot to "kill jobs." We look into what a just transition should look like with Ian Hussey, author of "No Worker Left Behind" a new report by the Parkland Institute in Alberta. Green Energy Futures CKUA.com Podcast
In part 1 we unravelled the mystery of how a heat pump works. In part 2 Jean-Marie Robert is back to help us understand what heat pumps can do for us in our homes and buildings. Spoiler alert - they can do everything!Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcastwww.greenenergyfutures.ca
You hear about heat pumps everywhere these days, but how do they work and what can they do in my home? In part 1 of our series about Heat Pumps Jean-Marie Robert a heat pump expert with NAIT's Alternative Energy Program presents us with a simple guide to how heat pumps work and what they can do for us in our homes.Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast - Episode 232Awww.greenenergyfutures.ca
Geothermal heating systems are not new, but this niche heating system is poised to be the heating system of the future. Efficiency, no emissions, and 700% efficient air conditioning are a few reasons. This week to find out why and how geothermal heating and cooling systems are scaling up.Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcastgreenenergyfutures.ca
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.Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcasthttps://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/231-geothermal-101-how-to-heat-your-home-with-400-efficiency
Nova Scotia just might be on the verge of realizing its long sought-after dream of harvesting tidal energy. We were there in 2012. This week we follow Ian Austen of the New York Times as he retraces those steps to look at the latest technology for harvesting the tides at the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. Green Energy Futures CKUA PodcastLearn more: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
"It's go time for wind energy, energy storage, and solar energy" says Vittoria Bellissimo the new President and CEO of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association. "What we need is rapid decarbonization and a great expansion of electricity production to achieve an at zero economy," says Bellissimo. She replaces the long serving and much lauded Robert Hornung at CanREA. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) just launched three large solar farms in Vulcan, Monarch and Coaldale in southern Alberta. The ACFN has a 50% ownership stake with Concord Green Energy in these solar projects which total 68-megawatts, making it one of the largest First Nation ownership stakes in a renewable energy project in Canada. The solar projects will produce enough energy to power 10,000 homes. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Video Podcast www.greenenergyfutures.ca
SolShare, a company out of Australia has created a solar sharing device that enables apartment dwellers to share a single solar system. The innovation has helped more than 1,000 apartments go solar down under. Now SolShare is moving into the U.S. and UK markets and may be interested in undertaking pilots in Canada. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Indigo Canada is adding 500 EV Chargers at its parking facilities in Canada. This is in addition to the 800 they have already installed. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to Indigo CEO John Laires about how electric vehicles are transforming the parking industry.
Community Leagues are taking climate action to neighbourhoods all over Edmonton, Alberta. About 50 of these local volunteer groups are taking action on climate change. This week on Green Energy Futures we talk to Laura Cunningham-Shelpeley of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues about so-called Green Leagues. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Video Podcast www.greenenergyfutures.ca
For many years it was mostly keeners going solar. But solar is now 10 times cheaper than 20 years ago and the cheapest way to generate electricity, but what will it cost for you to go solar? We look at the cost of going solar in Alberta and discovered a few surprises. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Video Podcast https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/time-to-go-solar
Solar already produces emissions free electricity, but Skyfire Energy wants to also eliminate all of the embodied emissions associated with the manufacturing, and construction of their solar projects. We talk to David Vonesch, president of Skyfire Energy. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast See story: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/skyfire-energy-zero-embodied-carbon-solar
Cameron Doepker started Gradient Thermal, a small furnace company in Calgary, Alberta to design a more efficient combined furnace and hot water heater. Now he's adapting the unit to run on 100% hydrogen. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Cameron Doepker was inspired right after graduating in industrial engineering to design a better mousetrap - ok, it wasn't a mouse trap, but he did design a combined furnace and hot water heater that is 95% efficient. That's pretty cool, but now he's looking to the future of the hydrogen economy. Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast www.greenenergyfutures.ca
When NAIT's Alternative Energy program started 10 years ago they were teaching some pretty cutting edge stuff and their grads struggled to find jobs. Today grads are leading the renewable energy revolution. We sit down for a chat with Dr. Jim Sandercock, program chair about the success of the program and of its grads who are busy changing the world.
This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast we track down Mike Fell the social science researcher from the UK who is trying to make Heat Pumps a wee bit more sexy as a climate change solution. Spoiler alert, this involves George Clooney and a pretty CHIC website.
You often hear oil and gas pitted against renewable energy as if they are in an all-out 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 Green Energy Futures stories about inspired Albertans building the sustainable economy of the future we thought we'd take this 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.
There has been $3.7 billion in investment and 4,500 jobs created by municipalities and companies alike procuring 100% renewable energy from private developers in Alberta: companies like Amazon, RBC, Telus, Bimbo and more. We talk to Nagwan Al-Guneid, director of the BRC. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast www.greenenergyfutures.ca
A recent survey says Canadians care deeply about climate change, but fewer than one in five Canadians are investing in energy efficiency and smart home devices. We talk to David O'Reilly at Schneider Electric Canada about the potential of smart home technologies to save energy, save money, and take a dent out of the 13% of greenhouse gas emissions that come from our homes.
Climate Resilient Design takes on a whole new meaning at Zibi, Ottawa's Carbon Neutral Community. Sure the buildings get electricity from run-of-river, and heat from district energy, but what will living in this new kind of community be like? We talk to Sean Lawrence of Kohn Partnership Architects about climate-resilient design and new ideas for living sustainably in the middle of the Ottawa River. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast www.greenenergyfutures.ca
A river runs through Ottawa's ambitious carbon-neutral community called Zibi. Powered by run-of-river, heated by waste heat, and built energy efficiently, Zibi just might be a model of new climate-resilient, urban design. We talk to Ashley Graham of Zibi and Sean Lawrence of Kphn Partner Architects about this fascinating initiative. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast
James Regulinski likes the idea of Environmental Social Governance (ESG) investing, but he wasn't convinced it was helping solve the climate crisis fast enough. So he and his partners started Carbon Collective to advise investors based on the impact of companies fighting climate change. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast Episode 314 www.greenenergyfutures.ca
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! Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast Learn more in our blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/ev-calculator-compare-emissions-fuel-costs-of-evs-versus-gas-vehicles
Canada has a new Emissions Reduction Plan that seeks to reduce emissions by 40% 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 including the introduction of a Clean Electricity Standard. Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast Episode 312 www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Geoships just might be a creative answer to the climate and housing crises. Made out of ceramic, infused with locally available materials (such as hemp) the affordable designs are modular, resilient to climate disasters, and affordable. We talk to Jean-Marc La Flamme from Geoship about this rethinking of the fabled geodesic dome.
Kanaka Bar Chief Patrick Michell's home burned along with nearly the entire town of Lytton B.C. Canada in a climate-change-induced wildfire in June 2021. Kanaka Bar is now working with SAIT polytechnic from Calgary to find climate-resilient solutions to build back right. They're determined to build homes that are net-zero, climate-resilient, and affordable. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast See more in our blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/wildfires-burned-lytton-how-do-they-build-back-better
In June 2021 Lytton, British Columbia burned to the ground in the middle of a Canadian record-setting heat dome event. As the world looked on in horror, Melanie Ross and her team at SAIT Green Building Technology program decided to offer to help. Now they are working with the Kanaka Bar Indian Band to find the lowest emissions, most fire and climate impacts resistant model for rebuilding homes in the town. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast Learn more in our blog at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Five years ago the Sundance Housing Coop in Edmonton, Alberta made the audacious decision to deep energy retrofit all 59 homes in the complex to net-zero. We talk to Sandy Susut about why and how they pulled off this amazing project. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast Learn more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/energiesprong-retrofitting-59-homes-to-net-zero-in-canadas-north
Buildings are responsible for 30-40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Edmonton builder Peter Amerongen is tackling this head-on by piloting the Dutch idea called EnergieSprong. New walls and roofs are built in a factory and craned onto old energy inefficient homes transforming them all the way to net-zero. It's the largest project of its kind in North America as 59 homes are being transformed to net-zero energy. CKUA Radio Network Green Energy Futures Podcast See more in our blog at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Electric Autonomy Canada set out to design the ultimate Electric Fuelling Station of the Future in an international design competition. The winning designs will knock your socks off. James Silvester of Edinburgh, Scotland wins Electric Autonomy Canada's award for the top Electric Fuelling Station of the Future in a Canadian design competition. #EV #ElectricVehicle That's this week on the Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast See blog and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/ultimate-ev-electric-fuelling-station-of-the-future?_thumbnail_id=10014
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, ElectricAutonomy Canada surveyed EV drivers - We talk to Ilana Weitzman this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. Learn more at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Coal-fired electricity is going, going, gone as of 2023. University of Calgary economist Blake Shaffer calls this the biggest greenhouse gas reduction in Alberta history. Now the challenge is to take the Alberta electricity grid to net-zero. Shaffer tells us it's hard, but there are several ways it can be done. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast Learn more in our Green Energy Futures Blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/alberta-electricity-king-coal-is-gone-now-for-the-hard-part-getting-to-net-zero
Nations, companies, and home builders - everybody was talking about getting to net-zero emissions in 2021. We share three of our favourite stories from 2021 from the long and winding journey to net-zero emissions. We look at a very inspiring net-zero passive house, the world's most efficient windows, and a very innovative EV charger that is also a solar inverter and AI-powered energy management device. See blog and more: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
2021 will go down as the year solar boomed in Alberta. Just as the largest solar project in Canada came online in April in Claresholm, Alberta a project 3.5 times larger was already under construction. There are dozens of projects underway and even Alberta's oil industry is building solar farms in the energy-rich province. See our blog: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
ENEON was born in a partnership between an oil and gas supply firm and a battery company. In a few short years, they have grown significantly and are building Battery Energy Storage Systems for grid and microgrid markets in Canada and the U.S. See our blog and part I in this series: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/rigs-to-renewables-oil-and-gas-guy-energy-storage
Jason Beacock went straight out of school to work on the rigs, drawn by the allure of high salaries. He loved the work but he always had a passion for renewable energy. Then the company he worked for pivoted to battery energy storage. Today ENEON, an Alberta-based company is installing battery systems all over Canada and the U.S. to help grids of all sizes optimize their use of renewable energy. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast episode 303A www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Sure solar energy and wind power are already cheap and booming in Canada today, but for Canada to reach its net-zero goal we need to scale up our efforts 10-fold says Robert Hornung of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association of Canada. And to do that our grids and the policies that govern them need to get a whole lot smarter. This is part 2 in our series on Powering Canada's Journey to Net-Zero on the Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. Learn more in our blog at our web channel: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/net-zero-power-for-canada-solar-wind-and-energy-storage-can-do-it
FULL INTERVIEW - Net-Zero Grid Part I – Solar and wind my be booming already, but the pace needs to ramp up ten-fold if Canada wants to transform its electricity grid to net-zero. We talk to Robert Hornung of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association about "Powering Canada's Journey to Net-Zero" a new report. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast
The first big subsidy-free solar project in Alberta, the first utility-scale solar project in B.C., the opening of the market to home solar - All tipping points in the evolution of solar in Alberta that led up to the solar boom that is going on today. We trace these tipping points with solar pioneer David Kelly of SkyFire energy who was there and led the ascent of solar in Alberta. CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures Podcast, Part II in our series. Learn more in the Green Energy Futures blog and see our video: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/from-niche-to-boom-david-kelly-and-skyfire-energy-20-years-of-solar
In 20 years David Kelly went from being inspired by the potential of solar and eeking out a modest living selling small solar systems to becoming CEO of SkyFIre Energy a very successful solar company that has installed thousands of solar systems and is now at the center of a solar boom in Alberta. David Kelly is a solar pioneer in Canada - This is his story. Lean more greenenergyfutures.ca
With all the changes in the energy industry, automotive industry and even in the buildings industry required to meet climate targets labour groups say concrete actions are required to ensure there is a just transition for workers and communities. To find out how this can and should be done Mitchell Beer of The Energy Mix talks to just transition specialist Patrick Rondeau of the Quebec Federation of Labour at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. Follow our #COP26TinyExplainer series and learn more at TheEnergyMix.com and GreenEnergyFutures.ca
The federal government has big plans and cities and municipalities are where the climate action is - you'd think they need to work pretty closely together. But “It’s fairly limited,” Allison Ashcroft a veteran practitioner says. “Procedurally, there’s little to no direct engagement between ministers and elected officials,” nor between policy staff at key federal governments and practitioners in local government. Allison has worked with cities across Canada. She says closer collaboration could accelerate climate action significantly and dramatically reduce waste and redundancy. Mitchell Beer of The Energy Mix talks to Allison Ashcroft on this edition of #COP26TinyExplainers. Follow the series and learn more at theenergymix.com and greenenergyfutures.ca
Faith groups want accelerated action on climate change, but they also want a just transition. Mitchell Beer talks to Karri Munn-Venn of Citizens for Public Justice from Canada. They discuss social justice and the role of faith groups in fighting for climate action at COP26. The #COP26TinyExplainers series is a co-production of TheEnergyMix.com and GreenEnergyFutures.ca
COP26TinyExplainers – Millions of youth around the world have been inspired and empowered by Greta Thunberg, the Swedish activist who started a world-wide #fridaysforfuture movement by protesting alone on the steps of the Swedish Parliament.
Mitchell Beer talks to Sophia Mathur of Sudbury, Ontario. She was the first Canadian youth to participate in a climate strike, was a winner of the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2019 along with Greta Thunberg and she's at COP26 pushing for action. The #COP26TinyExplainers series is a co-production of TheEnergyMix.com and GreenEnergyFutures.ca
COP26TinyExplainer – Coal Phase-Out & Clean Electricity
Coal is the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions so coal phase-out and replacing it with clean electricity generation is one of the big actions in reducing global emissions. Mitchell Beer talks to Binnu Jeyakumar of the Pembina Institute about coal phase-out in Canada and abroad and the importance of replacing it with clean energy. The #COP26TinyExplainers series is a co-production of TheEnergyMix.com and GreenEnergyFutures.ca
COP26TinyExplainer – Net-Zero targets have been all the rage for government and industry. Join us as we attempt to sort the spin from substance.
Mitchell Beer talks to Catherine Abreu of the new created Canadian non-profit Destination Zero to sort the many zeros of net-zero. This #COP26TinyExplainers series is a co-production of TheEnergyMix.com and GreenEnergyFutures.ca
SPECIAL #COP26TinyExplainer - We talk to Anya Knechtel of Oxfam Canada about the $100 billion promised, but not yet delivered from the Global North to the Global South to help develop countries reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This part 1 in a series specially co-produced by TheEnergyMix.com and GreenEnergyFutures.ca.
GREEN ENERGY FUTURES CKUA PODCAST PART 1 - We take a tour of the LiteZone plant where they are producing the most energy-efficient windows in the world. These glass units have two panes of glass and anywhere from one to eight films producing unheard-of insulation levels ranging from R 6.8 to R 22. Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast.
We hear it all the time at Green Energy Futures. What happens to all of that farmland beneath those giant solar farms? So we headed off to the 136-megawatt Claresholm Solar Project on the Canadian Prairies to find out. We met up with Gregory Lamming a quality assurance guy on a hot summer day and standing at the edge of a solar farm with 477,000 solar modules he shared the story of how solar and sheep have a symbiotic relationship. Be sure to subscribe and learn more in our blog:
https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/what-happened-to-all-that-farmland-under-canadas-largest-solar-farm
This net-zero passive house requires 80-90% less energy to heat, has no furnace, and will provide all of its own energy on a net annual basis. This cleverly designed home can withstand the northern climate of Calgary, Alberta, Canada where temperatures can get down to almost -40 Celsius in the winter. It uses a special heat pump water heater to provide hot water for both suites and to provide supplementary heat in the winter. CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures Podcast - Learn more at https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/stunning-net-zero-passive-house-good-to-40-with-no-furnace
Dagmar Knutson was growing weary of the rhetoric and polarization that swirls around climate change and energy transition in oil-rich Alberta. So she formed Ten Peaks Innovation Alliance and has organized a conference to bring teachers and students together to transcend polarization and begin collaborating on building the low carbon energy future we all need.
The DCBEL R16 is a revolutionary fast electric vehicle charger and solar inverter all-in-one. Oh, and it uses artificial intelligence to optimize your solar energy and save money. Learn why this is the device of the future for the solar-powered home and why this is the device the grid needs. This week on the Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast we talk to Marc André Forget, CEO of DCBEL, a Montreal-based company getting set to revolutionize the grid in California. There is much more to this story in our Green Energy Futures blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/ring-that-dcbel-a-revolutionary-fast-ev-charger-and-solar-inverter-for-the-home
We look at solar recycling - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Ok, that's pretty melodramatic because as we learned solar modules contain mostly very benign, and rather plain materials. We tear apart a solar module, find out what toxins are present, and learn how a company in Medford, Oregon is recycling 110,000 solar modules per year. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio VIdeo Podcast Learn more in our blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-recycling-101-the-good-the-bad-the-potential
Solar Recycling - Fabtech, A company is Phoenix, Arizona is breathing new life into end-of-life #solar modules. They're not only solving the solar #recycling challenge, they've already brought a 2nd Life to 600,000 solar modules. These very affordable solar modules are being sold to a whole new market of do-it-yourselfers, RV owners, farmers, homeowners and fans of van dwelling.
Mark Dowson is the author of ReCognition: Oxygen Debt. By day he develops solar projects in the United Kingdom, but when the sun goes down he works on his dystopian, SciFi, thriller stories. We talk to Mark Dowson this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast.
90-95% of Canada’s NEW electricity generation, between now and 2050, will come from wind and solar energy says a five-year North American Renewable Integration Study (NREL) undertaken by Canada and the US. The study says Canada can have a reliable grid, powered by up to 95% renewable energy and electricity prices actually decline over time. This will mean 10-fold increases in wind power and an 18-fold increase in solar generation with virtually all new development coming from solar and wind. We talk to Phil McKay of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association that co-chaired a Canadian stakeholder group in the study. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast - See Blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/renewable-energy-could-provide-95-of-electricity-in-canada-by-2050
Schneider Electric was named the most sustainable company in the world by Corporate Knights a Canadian sustainability rating firm. The France-based global company already used 80 per cent renewable energy for its operations and wants to be carbon neutral by 2025. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast Learn more: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Edmonton has a bold plan to create 15-minute districts all in a bid to build a modern, climate-resilient, net-zero city of the future. This week in Part II of our 15-Minute Cities series we talk to engineer Howaida Hassan about building a sustainable city of the future on Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast.
Learn more in our blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/15-minute-cities---edmontons-bold-plan-for-a-sustainable-net-zero-city
Architect Shafraaz Kaba says the concept of the 15-minute city can help tackle urban sprawl and help us build zero-emissions cities that are people-friendly, location efficient, and climate-resilient. Kaba is co-chair of Edmonton's Energy Transition and Climate Resilience Committee and an award-winning architect of super-efficient, net-zero buildings. This is part one in our Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio series on 15-minute cities and Edmonton's bold plan to live within a 1.5-degree carbon budget, get to zero emissions and build a sustainable city of the future. Learn more in our blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/15-minute-cities---edmontons-bold-plan-for-a-sustainable-net-zero-city
Hydrogen is no magical solution, but it just might be the lynchpin to integrating and optimizing renewable energy and creating a pathway to a zero-emissions future. We talk to Dr. Walter Merida at UBC's Renewable Energy Hub where they are integrating the use of hydrogen, solar, batteries and electric vehicles to find a pathway to a zero-emissions future. Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) are building a $23 million Renewable Energy Hub to learn how to integrate solar, batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), and hydrogen production. They believe integration will maximize our use of renewable energy while converting some solar energy into hydrogen for mobility use in trucks and planes and space heating in buildings. This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast we talk to Dr. Walter Mérida of UBC about how we can get much more out of renewable energy by integrating solar, batteries, EVs and hydrogen production.
Plastic Bank tackles poverty and pollution at the same time by paying thousands of the world's poorest people to collect plastic pollution in more than half a dozen countries around the world. This week on Green Energy Future's CKUA Radio Podcast we talk to David Katz, founder of the Plastic Bank social enterprise. See blog and video: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/plastic-bank-deposit-plastic-withdraw-food-supplies-and-medicine
When COVID shut down the events industry worldwide, David Betke created GreenShows a carbon-neutral online event hosting service that radically reduces travel, increases participation, and plants trees instead of handing our swag. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. See blog and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/greenshows-carbon-neutral-virtual-events-made-for-the-times
This week on Green Energy Futures we return to CBI Solar's pop-up solar RV workshop in the parking lot at West Edmonton mall to take a tour of Don Riep's off-grid, solar-powered Airstream trailer. Don is just one of many people adding high-end solar systems to their RVs to go off-grid on the open road. Demand for these $2,000 to $20,000 solar systems is up more than 10 fold thanks to COVID-19. Learn more in our blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-rvs-business-is-booming-for-off-grid-solar-on-wheels
Remi Watts and CBI solar do all sorts of solar systems, but these days business is booming for off-grid solar systems for recreational vehicles. We meet with Remi at a pop-up workshop in Edmonton, Alberta at the famous West Edmonton Mall.
FULL INTERVIEW - 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. This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast we sit down with Mayor Don Iveson to talk about energy transition and the economy of the future. See blog, video and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/edmontons-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. This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast we sit down with Mayor Don Iveson to talk about energy transition and the economy of the future. See blog, video and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/edmontons-energy-transition-plan-targets-1-5-degrees-an-interview-with-mayor-don-iveson
Renewable Energy Co-operatives were a big part of the strategy to develop renewable energy in Europe, but here in Canada, there is also a dedicated group of fans of co-operatives that have eeked out a niche promoting renewable energy, installing systems, and building community-owned projects. We talk to Rob Baxter of SolShare, a renewable energy co-op in Vancouver, British Columbia. See blog www.greenenergyfutures.ca
The Energy Detective is back! Having reduced his energy consumption Ron Kube suddenly had excess solar electricity production from the solar system on his home. The surprising solution? He bought an electric vehicle to use the excess solar electricity and saved $2500 a year on gas! How solar + EVs are an amazing combination. That's this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast. Learn more in our blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-with-benefits---the-solar-ev-nexus(opens in a new tab)
Emissions on the farm grew 23% between 1990 and 2018. The National Farmer's Union has a vision for near-zero emissions farming in Canada and it involves fewer fertilizers, less fuel and more better quality local foods. This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast we talk to Darrin Qualman author of a new report on net-zero farming.
The Canadian Institute for Climate Choices has evaluated 60 scenarios for getting Canada to net-zero emissions by 2050. We talk to co-author Jason Dion about the key solutions that can help Canada cut its emissions by 30% by 2030 and get to net-zero emissions by 2050. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast Episode 280 www.greenenergyfutures.ca
An oil guy and a solar guy got together and wondered which would drive you farther? And oil well on a 100 meter well pad, or 750 kilowatts of solar on the same footprint. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we crunch the numbers and look at how solar is being used to redevelop abandoned oil wells in Alberta. See blog: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
RenuWell – the idea is to breathe new life into Alberta's thousands of 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.
Green Energy Futures presents the Energy vs Climate expert panel tackling climate change in the media with special guest Laura Lynch host of What on Earth on CBC. Covering climate change has never been a cakewalk, but things are changing as major networks set up climate change beats and stop giving coverage to climate deniers.
Canada's Climate Plan was just updated with a price on carbon rising to $170 per tonne by 2030, and billions in funds for energy retrofits, clean energy and green infrastructure. Can the plan meet the goals of the Paris Accord and reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 and get Canada to net-zero by 2050? We talk to the Energy vs Climate panel of experts to find out. We talk to EvC host Ed Whittingham, energy expert Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon, Dr. David Keith of Harvard and Dr. Mark Jaccard, author of “The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Success.” Listen to the full Energy vs Climate podcast and learn more in the Green Energy Futures blog: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
A Canadian company has a patented process and is building plants that can recycle up to 95% of the components of lithium-ion batteries into battery-grade raw materials that will be used to make new batteries - the very definition of a circular economy. The wild success of smartphones, laptops, and electric cars is due to the impressive performance of these batteries, so much so that there are fears of shortages of the raw materials as markets for electric cars soar. Recycling batteries deals with a serious waste problem and it creates a new supply of the increasingly rare raw materials needed to manufacture batteries that are fueling energy transition. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. Learn more in our blog: greenenergyfutures.ca
"The energy transition is the greatest commercial opportunity of our generation and...Alberta is extremely well-positioned to take advantage of that if we can embrace the change." Green Energy Futures one-on-one interview with Alberta's renewable energy czar Dan Balaban, CEO of Greengate Power. Balaban is a former oil and gas guy who has built the largest wind power project in Canada and is now building the largest solar project in Canadian history. It's a refreshing story amidst a backdrop of economic doom and gloom. FULL INTERVIEW - Also see Green Energy Futures story on Alberta's Solar Boom: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/albertas-solar-boom-the-big-story-you-havent-heard-about
There's a solar boom going on in Canada's oil province and you probably haven't even heard about it. There is a stunning 5,000 megawatts of solar projects in the development queue and the largest solar project in Canadian history is just about complete and it won't be the largest for long as construction begins this year on a 465-megwatt project that is amost four times larger! Alberta's Solar Boom this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast. See blog, photos and more: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Is nuclear power the only we can reach net-zero emissions or is it a threat to civilization and a distraction from other low carbon sources of energy such as solar and wind? Green Energy Futures teams up with the Energy vs Climate Podcast. We hear from hosts Ed Whittingham, Dr. David Keith, Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon, and special guest MP and former Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. See blog and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/273-nukes-or-no-nukes-nuclears-role-in-a-low-carbon-future
PODCAST - The second energy transition tipping point that came into focus in 2020 was the electrification of transportation. We look back at 4 big Green Energy Futures stories from 2020: 1. The auto industry pledges to invest $300 b in developing 700 electric vehicles mostly by 2025 2. Norman Crowley, the Irish multi-millionaire who started the Cool Planet Group and Electrifi a retro EV company 3. Leon who traded his car for an e-bike 4. Edmonton's e-bus revolution. Check out our blog and videos at GreenEnergyFutures.ca Happy New Year!
Renewable Energy passed the tipping point as both wind and solar became the cheapest new sources of energy in 2020, trillions in investment moved to renewables and solar boomed in Canada despite COVID-19 and the miserable economic climate. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Edmonton's new artsy home for its electric bus fleet has energy storage, a rainwater bus washing system and a fast-charging system for its fleet of 40 e-buses. Oh and on the roof of the rainwater sucking bus barns is an art installation that is circumglobal. CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. See blog, video and more: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcase we talk to Eddie Robar about Edmonton's e-bus revolution. The city has quietly become a national leader in electric buses. The city has purchased 40 long-range e-buses, has a high-speed charging system and is looking at the electrification of its entire fleet over time. The City is expecting 30% lower maintenance costs and up to 75% reduced fuel costs. See Green Energy Futures blog, photos and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/e-bus-revolution-edmonton-is-national-leader
This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast we visit the largest solar project in Canada in Claresholm, Alberta where business is booming for the screw pile industry. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic chaos the solar business is booming and along with it the industries that build solar farms. We meet up with Bryce Bernhard the CEO of Alberta Screw Piles who came to Alberta from Texas in 2010 with little more than a truck and a bag of tools. Today he has a booming business in hard times. Also see blog, photos and our video: greenenergyfutures.ca
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. Solar replaces much of the use of gas generators that cost $30 a day to use in these wilderness settings. Travel with us into the wilds of Canada's North. See blog, video and more at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
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. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. See Green Energy Futures Blog, Videos, Photos and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-cabins-hello-solar-say-goodbye-gas-generator(opens in a new tab)
Three Nations Energy, a community-owned company in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta built a 2.2-megawatt solar project to replace 25% of the diesel-generated electricity in their remote off-grid community. The company is equally owned by Athabasca Chipewyan and Mikisew Cree First Nations and the Fort Chipewyan Metis Association. See blog: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
TerraView homes is not only building net-zero ready homes, they are ONLY building net-zero ready homes. This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast we talk to president David Brix and company owner Andrew Lamden about the companies journey to building net-zero energy homes that are 80% more energy-efficient, affordable and above all are selling like crazy in the marketplace. See Green Energy Futures blog, photos and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/?p=7441
Electrifi is an electric vehicle start-up from Ireland and the creation of Irish entrepreneur Norman Crowley. He's reviving and building by hand some of the signature classic cars of all time. A 1963 Corvette Stingray may have had 283 horsepower back in the day, but Electrifi is rebuilding one that will have 2,000 hp. It's all part of Crowley's plan to fight climate change through the Cool Planet Group of companies.
This is Part III of our Climate Capitalism series on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. Learn more in our blog and check out our full 48-minute interview with Norman Crowley: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/norman-crowley-climate-capitalist
Norman Crowley of the Cool Planet Group in Ireland says economic trends and precipitous events will lead to climate change being solved by 2030. He says changes in the economics of energy production, the electrification of transportation and innovations in food production are breaking all the models and point to a low carbon future faster that we can imagine. This is Part II of our Climate Capitalism series on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. Learn more in our blog and check out our full 48-minute interview with Norman Crowley: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/norman-crowley-climate-capitalist
Irish Billionaire Norman Crowley was blown away when he discovered businesses waste $1.2 trillion worth of energy per year – so he started Crowley Carbon to make and save millions of dollars. Climate Capitalism Part I Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast See FULL INTERVIEW, blog and related content: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/?p=7365
The inspiring story of how permaculturalist Kenton Zerbin took a large, slopped, shard to mow church lawn and transformed it into a Food Forest Park. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. Learn more: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Tiny Home Tour – Kenton Zerbin teaches permaculture across Canada and he built his own super sustainable tiny home just outside of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. At 262 sq. feet his tiny home has big features, is super efficient and allows Kenton to live large with a small footprint. CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures Podcast. Learn more, take a video tour: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/260-tiny-home-tour-living-large-super-efficiently
Kenton Zerbin is a school teacher who was so concerned about the future of our planted he opted out of the school system to teach people about permaculture. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to Kenton at his tiny home just outside Edmonton, Alberta about leaving the security of a full-time teaching position to start a business educating people about permaculture. See blog and watch our tour of Kenton's Tiny Home: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/260-tiny-home-tour-living-large-super-efficiently
Carbon Plunk – After creating a zero-carbon supply chain for his wild birdseed company and creating the longest green highway of contiguous EV chargers in the world Kent Rathwell has a very big idea: measure carbon, plant trees and sequester carbon in Carbon Plunk Parks around the world. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. Learn more in our blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/carbon-plunk-plugging-climate-changes-black-hole
Years ago Kent Rathwell CEO of Sun Country Farms said something audacious - "My wife and I bought a birdseed company and I wanted to prove that you could have a zero-emission company in Saskatchewan and still be sustainable" He went on to create the longest Green Highway of electric vehicle chargers in the world. This is his story. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA Radio Podcast. Also see blog: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/how-kent-rathwell-created-a-zero-emissions-birdseed-company-and-the-worlds-longest-green-highway-for-evs
Richard Zurawski is a meteorologist, TV personality and the architect on City Council that crafted HalifACT 2050 a climate change plan to get to carbon neutrality for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast - Learn more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/halifact-2050-how-halifax-got-its-climate-plan-and-a-goal-of-carbon-neutrality
It's the largest and perhaps the coolest installation of architectural solar in Canada. The sun shines through the translucent solar modules of the Edmonton Shaw Convention Centre – we take a tour with Adam Yereniuk of Kuby Renewable Energy this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA podcast. Learn more http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-as-art-edmontons-solar-skydome?preview=true&_thumbnail_id=7117
Electric bike sales are soaring, as much as 300 per cent higher, all in response to the COVID-19 crisis. It's ironic, but bikes are now seen as a "safe" form of transportation and e-bikes are expanding our concept of what a bicycle can do as a form of transportation. This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast we talk to an EV columnist and a guy who ditched his car for an e-bike. See blog, photos and video: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/why-i-ditched-my-car-for-an-e-bike-leons-story
The e-bike revolution is underway! Sales are booming. We go for a ride in Edmonton's beautiful river valley with Leon Milner who swapped his car for an electric bike one year ago. Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast. www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Neste is the largest producer of renewable biodiesel in the world. In this Green Energy Futures full-length interview we talk to Jeremy Baines, President of Neste U.S. about how at 3.4 trillion liters a Finnish oil company became the largest producer of renewable fuels in the world. See blog and CKUA Radion podcast at GreenEnergyFutures.ca
Jordan Solomon of Ecostrat says new standards and special Bioeconomy Development Zones could unleash a $31 billion biomass industry in Canada. That's this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcast. See blog, photos, and related stories: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/biomass-a-missing-link-in-canadas-future-sustainable-economy
PODCAST - This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we learn there is 120 million tonnes of mostly waste biomass in Canada just waiting to used to produce biofuels, bioenergy and an assortment of other products. We speak with Jordan Soloman, president of Ecostrat, a Canadian biomass company working on the creation of Bioeconomy Development Zones to increase the use of this waste material. Also see blog at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Neste, the company formerly know as Nest Oil is now the largest producer of renewable diesel in the world. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures We talk to Jeremy Baines, president of Neste U.S. about how an oil company came to produce 3.4 trillion liters of renewable fuels every year. See blog and our full 30-minute interview: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/253-neste:-how-an-oil-company-became-the-largest-producer-of-renewable-diesel-fuels-in-the-world
In part II of our interview with Edmonton solar engineer Faruq Vishram we talk about the more than a dozen solar projects he's working on and why 20 megawatts seems to be the magical scale at which solar is springing up in Canada. That's in this week's episode of CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. See blog and part I on the solar hospital Faruq built: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/252-former-alberta-coal-guy-is-now-a-solar-guru-sought-after-around-the-world
Faruq Vishram was an Alberta guy who designed coal-fired coal plants – that is until they started closing coal plants. So he pivoted and today he's sought after to do solar projects around the world including a solar-powered hospital in Afghanistan.
Automakers may be investing $300 billion in electric vehicles and batteries, but the tell-tale sign that the world is going electric is the best-selling Ford F150 going electric says Matthew Klippenstein, EV industry watcher and columnist. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/250-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 before 2025. Learn more in our blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/250-ev-tipping-point-–-the-future-of-cars-is-electric
Look to climate capitalism to recover from COVID-19 and building the sustainable economy of the future. So says Dan Woynillowicz of Clean Energy Canada. We follow the money to a future green economy with jobs, resilience and sustainability. That's this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. See blog and related stories: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/250-best-covid-recovery-is-climate-capitalism
This week travel with us to Tuktoyaktuk in Canada's Arctic where youth are making a film called "Happening to Us" the story of how climate change is impacting their world in dramatic ways. The teen collective called TukTV took their film to the COP25 UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid in Dec. 2019 and left a powerful impression. See blog and trailer: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/249-“they-can’t-even-see-it”:-tuktoyaktuk-teens'-film-on-the-impacts-of-climate-change
How do you improve recycling? Some say it's by making producers responsible. It's called Extended Producer Responsibility and a study in Alberta has found municipalities would save money, more would get recycled and emissions would be slashed. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to Christina Siedel of the Alberta Recycling Council about how we can up our game when it comes to recycling.
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 wants to change all that. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to Georgie Hyland of this Emerald Award-winning program from Alberta. Learn more on our blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/spud-ca-turns-the-table-on-food-waste-reduces-emissions
GREEN AND LEAN - The projects had to have indigenous ownership and they had to be renewable. At 3.9 cents/kWh the result was historically cheap renewable energy in Alberta. And for their part in all this, the Indigenous Electricity Working Group picked up an Emerald Award. We speak to Andres Filella, of the Metis Nation, a consultant to the working group. This is Part III in our collaborative production with the What On Earth Podcast of the Alberta Emerald Foundation. See blog, podcasts and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/246-working-group-leads-to-indigenous-owned-renewable-energy-projects
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 Reclamation International Graduate School (LRIGS), students in Alberta are taking up the challenge. That's this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast produced in collaboration with the Emerald Foundation's "What on Earth Can We Do" podcast. Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/245-land-reclamation-and-the-decade-of-ecological-restoration
This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we present the story of how Goodwill Impact Centre diverts close to 90% of waste from the landfill by reusing and recycling and creating jobs at the same time. We also chat with Kristin Arnot of the Edmonton ReUse Centre. This episode is produced in collaboration with the Emerald Foundation's What On Earth You Can We Do podcast. See story, links and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/244-rethinking-recycling---emerald-series-part-i
Jayman BUILT Homes in Alberta began including a solar system with every new home they built in Alberta in January 2019. One year later they have added more than one megawatt of solar to the Alberta grid – one home at a time! That's this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures.
When you hear clean energy jobs, you might think solar, wind or geothermal? But the clean energy sector is much bigger encompassing electric vehicles, green buildings and much more – 400,000 jobs strong in Canada and growing faster than the rest of the economy. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to Merran Smith of Clean Energy Canada about the growth of the clean energy sector. Learn more in our blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/canadas-clean-energy-transition-underway (photo Gordon Howell)
75% of Canadians and even almost 50% of Albertans believe an energy transition is happening and that it will benefit us in the long run. But where are those jobs? Merran Smith and Clean Energy Canada have done work to define and track the sector and she says the sector already exists and grew 70% between 2010 and 2017. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we look at the emerging low carbon economy.
Take a tour of Vivian Manasc's green penthouse suite – a project she describes as reimagining buildings as sustainable. Her firm took a metal-clad box on top of the Cambridge building and turned it into a sustainable glass bubble with a view. This and more this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures in part II of our conversation with Vivian Manasc, green building pioneer. See photo gallery, blog and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/vivian-manasc-a-lifetime-of-building-it-green
Vivian Manasc has been designing it green for several decades. We talk to the architect who has been a pioneer of sustainable buildings, net-zero buildings and now she wants us to reimagine old buildings as energy-efficient and beautiful models of sustainability. That's this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures episode. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/vivian-manasc-a-lifetime-of-building-it-green
Godo Stoyke reveals Carbon Busters secret formula for their innovative net-zero homes being built in Edmonton's Blatchford, the largest sustainable community in the world. The homes are so efficient they require 94% less energy to heat. We take a look at these unique homes this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures.
Learn more in our blog and see photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/carbon-busters-building-net-zero-in-blatchford
When Shanthu Mano first learned her company would be the first builder to build net-zero homes in Edmonton's Blatchford, the largest carbon-neutral community in the world, she could picture herself living there. We talk to Shanthu and the first person to buy a net-zero home in this landmark project.
Learn more in Green Energy Futures blog, and see photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/carbon-busters-building-net-zero-in-blatchford
Four stories that mattered from 2019 – This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures: Blatchford (the largest carbon-neutral community in the world), the largest solar project in Canada, solar for diesel and a solar-powered retrofitted net-zero University library from Calgary. See blog for links and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/2019-the-year-of-greta-thunberg
Green Energy Futures looks back on 2019, the year Greta Thumberg was named Time Magazine "Person of the Year" and climate change became the Canadian Press news story of the year. In this episode: Raffi writes a tribute song to Greta Thunberg, the first net-zero church and social housing project is built and a Red Deer car dealership builds the first Passive House car dealership in North America. See blog, videos and more: www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/2019…eta-thunberg
When a church in crisis negotiated a creative deal with a social housing agency they produced amazing net-zero sustainable homes for both the church and immigrant families in Edmonton. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we meet the Teklay family from Eritrea. See blog, photos and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/gods-green-home
Save the church, save the school, build homes for refugee families – build the first net-zero church and social housing project in Canada. Join us as we visit Westmount Presbyterian Church in Edmonton and learn about one of the amazing stories of sustainability we've ever seen. That's this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. Also see blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/canadas-first-net-zero-church
Steve Schultz is the super teacher behind the EcoVision Club, a student group at Lacombe Composite High School in Alberta that has built a very cool solar-geothermal greenhouse and a dozen other projects. Schultz has been as inspired by his students as they have been inspired by him. This is Part III in our Greenest School series on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. See blog, videos and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/greenest-school-in-canada-has-a-solar-geothermal-greenhouse
Darcy Cunningham gives us a tour of the super cool solar-geothermal greenhouse that EcoVision students built at Lacombe Composite High School in central Alberta. The geodesic design uses passive solar, solar thermal and geothermal heat and even features an aquaponics system that works as part of the heating system. That's this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Future. Also see blog, photos and videos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/greenest-school-in-canada-has-a-solar-geothermal-greenhouse
The EcoVision Club has built a solar-geothermal greenhouse, set up school gardens, raises bees and has even put solar on Lacombe Composite High School. The amazingly successful eco-group was borne of sun and fire. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures it's the origin story of the EcoClub. See blog, photos and videos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/greenest-school-in-canada-has-a-solar-geothermal-greenhouse
Greengate Power is building the largest solar project in Canada in Alberta. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to CEO Dan Balaban about this unsubsidized 400-megawatt solar project planned for Vulcan, Alberta. Learn more in the Green Energy Futures blog at http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/travers-largest-solar-project-in-canada
Tegan Martin-Drysdale have been looking forward to building near-net-zero homes in Canada's largest low-carbon communities for almost a decade! This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to Martin-Drysdale about the homes and the super sustainable community she's building in. Also see video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/blatchford-largest-carbon-neutral-community-in-canada
Edmonton is building the largest carbon-neutral community in Canada. Homes will be near net-zero and there's a geothermal district heating system, sustainable urban design and some of the most energy-efficient homes on the market. Find your place in the sun, this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. Also see blog and video at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Jeff Linton says by making producers responsible for recycling the waste they produce we can solve the waste crisis, create jobs and reduce environmental impacts. CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures - Episode 233 at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Amidst the plethora of plastic and non-recyclable packaging plaguing the world comes Loop a company that wants to eliminate the idea of trash by using reusable containers. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we ditch the packaging and go reusable. Learn more in Green Energy Futures' blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/loop-reuse-like-the-milkman
This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures – How the University of Calgary — yes, that University of Calgary, at the heart of Canada’s conventional fossil fuel industry — has turned their ‘60s-era brutalist MacKimmie Library into a building designed to reach net-zero carbon emissions. See blog and photos at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we talk to Raffi about his song “Young People Marching” a tribute to Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old Swedish climate activist who has inspired millions of youth around the world to call for action on climate change. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/raffi-young-people-marching-for-greta-thunberg
Recycling was once a badge of honour – I recycle therefore I am helping the environment. But have we turned our backs on the three Rs as we walk down the street with single-use cups as if it were a fashion statement? We talk to Christina Seidel of the Recycling Council of Alberta about rebooting recycling. See Green Energy Futures story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/229-recycling-energy
Recycling just might reclaim a place in the sun as one solution to climate change and some of the waste issues plaguing us today. As plastics, microplastics and other waste issues plague the environment and hit the news there are calls to double-down in our efforts to truly reduce waste and emissions. see Green Energy Futures story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/229-recycling-energy
Fort Chipewyan is going solar? Solar will replace 25 per cent of diesel generation in Fort Chipewyan a small community of 1,000 people in northern Alberta. See Green Energy Futures video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-for-diesel:-the-sun-shines-on-fort-chipewyan
Kevin Ma knew he wanted an electric vehicle soon after a series on watersheds led him to the issue of climate change. This is the story of his long and winding road to EV ownership in Alberta. Episode 227, part III in our Green Energy Futures series LIfe with an EV broadcast on the CKUA Radio Network in Alberta. See blog, photos and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/life-with-an-ev-kevin-ma-environment-reporter-long-and-winding-road-to-electric-vehicle-ownership?preview=true
Life with an EV Part 2 – Carol Bishop bought her Nissan Leaf "mostly for environmental reasons" but she also loves driving it! In part 2 of our series, CKUA Radio and Green Energy Futures present Carol Bishop's experience with her EV. Spoiler alert, she also likes paying only $9 in fuel costs to drive 600 km!
Life with an EV Part 1 – Ed Ma was bitten by the EV bug in 2009 when "I made the mistake of taking a Tesla Roadster for a test drive." In the first of our series CKUA Radio and Green Energy Futures present Ed Ma and Rhonda Blair who've owned three Teslas and one Smart Cabriolet EV and will never go back! See blog, photos and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/life-with-an-ev-ed-ma-electrifying-performance-electric-vehicles(opens in a new tab)
"Burning Souls" is a new book by David Chernushenko, activist, former Ottawa City Councillor and tireless crusader for sustainability. We talk to David about his "climate breakdown thriller" on this episode of CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. See blog and part 1 of this series: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/224-activist-david-chernushenko-climate-thriller-burning-souls
David Chernushenko is the author of the new climate breakdown thriller entitled "Burning Souls." In this episode of CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures, we talk to David, a filmmaker, former Ottawa City Councillor and author about his journey to sustainability in Part I of our 2 part series. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/224-activist-david-chernushenko-climate-thriller-burning-souls
Twelve years ago Ed Ma and Rhonda Blair of Calgary, Alberta built the greenest home they could long before all this talk of net-zero homes and it's still pretty cool! What did they do in this amazing home? And what would they do differently today? Find out in this week's episode of CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures.
In Part II of Geothermal Revival Jacob Komar says super-efficient geothermal heat pumps make bigger buildings much more efficient and may be the most economical way to make bigger buildings net-zero. We dig deeper into geothermal this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. See blog and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/geothermal-revival-getting-to-net-zero-the-easy-way
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures Jacob Komar tells us why Geothermal Energy is about to experience a great second coming! He says on a renovation project you can get to net-zero for half the cost of using a more passive heating approach. Find out what's shaking up the green building industry. Check out our blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/geothermal-revival-getting-to-net-zero-the-easy-way
The Tesla Model 3 is the best selling electric vehicle (EV) in Canada and electric vehicles have eclipsed internal combustion engines in Norway. So says Matthew Klippenstein, EV columist from Vancouver, Canada on this week's edition of CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Derek Leahy is a farmhand, podcaster and the guy behind Rural Routes to Climate Solutions, an innovative project that works with farmers on farm solutions that are climate solutions in Alberta. Learn more about this CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures episode at http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/alberta-farms-fertile-land-for-rural-routes-to-climate-solutions
The county of Osnabrück in northern Germany produces 80% of its electricity from renewable sources, smashing national goals that call for 60% by 2050. We talk to Andreas Witte, head of climate change and energy about how the county is meeting Germany's Energiewende goals. CKUA Radio, Green Energy Futures. Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/osnabruck-county-produces-80-renewable-energy
Mike Holmes was on had when Effect Homes has cut the cord to the electricity grid in their new off-grid solar-cogen office in Edmonton, Alberta. This self-sustaining office produces its own electricity using solar and micro combined-heat-and-power units. Learn more in this week's episode of CKUA's Green Energy Futures. See blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/office-goes-off-grid-in-the-big-city
Geothermal energy could be harvested from tens of thousands of spent oil wells in Alberta––enough to support a revolution in agriculture. So says Dr. Johnathan Banks of the UofA in this co-production between CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures and Rural Routes to Climate Change. See blog, full-length Rural Routes podcast and our CKUA Green Energy Futures episode: www.greenenergyfutures.ca
A German waffle cone factory has sparked an ingenious small-scale green energy initiative. Waffel Meyer, the largest manufacturer of waffle cones in Europe is using its waste heat to heat the homes in the tiny village where it operates. We talk to owner Christian Meyer zu Venne on CKUA's Green Energy Futures. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/waffle-cone-factory-shares-its-warmth
Doubling down on energy efficiency in Canada could create 118,000 new jobs, save 40% on home energy costs and secure half of the emissions reductions need to meet Paris goals. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to international energy expert Philippe Dunsky envisioning Canada's energy future. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/energy-efficiency-essential-for-the-planet-great-for-the-economy
The small community of Saerbeck in northwestern Germany refers to itself as "The Climate Community of the Future." Residents decided to strive for carbon neutrality in 2009 and today produce 400% more renewable electricity than they need! This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures take a tour of Saerbeck. See blog, photos and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/saerbeck-germany-a-model-climate-community-of-the-future
Scott Subaru in Red Deer, Alberta has built the first passive house car dealership in North America. We talk to Garrett Scott this week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/213-first-passive-house-car-dealership-in-canada
This week in Part II of our Year End Review with Dr. Tim Weis we hear about the rise of solar in Alberta and how it's disrupting traditional electricity grids. See Part I and learn more in our Green Energy Futures blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/212-the-year-of-cheap-wind-power
To talk about some of the big Alberta green energy stories of 2018 we lined up Dr. Tim Weis from the University of Alberta to talk about record setting cheap wind power, the ascent of electric vehicles and the descent of coal. Year End Review Part I on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. www.greenenergyfutures.ca
Insurance payouts from severe weather events connected to climate change have soared 250% in one decade–from $400 million to $1 billion in Canada. This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we talk to David McGown of the Insurance Bureau of Canada about insurance and climate change. Learn more in our blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/risky-business-insurance-and-climate-change
Solar is the fastest growing clean technology in the world and it grew 500% in Alberta in the last three years. Solar is also the one common denominator in all of our favourite Green Energy Futures stories from last year. 1. Brookfield Passive House; 2. NAIT Alternative Energy; 3. Red Deer College largest solar system; 4. Simons solar-powered net-zero department store; 5. Solar/Battery Revolution in New Zealand - Watch the videos, read the blog, learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-leads-a-year-of-firsts-in-alberta
This Calgary passive house is warm and cozy in Calgary, Alberta where winters go to -30 Celsius. It's solar powered and heated, 90% more efficient than a regular home and has NO furnace! This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we visit one of the most beautiful super energy efficient homes we've ever seen. Also see video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/passive-house
Julia Pyper grew up in Milton, Ontario went to university in New York, worked on the "apocalypse" (climate change) beat for Climate Wire in Washington DC and is now senior editor at Greentech Media in Los Angeles. On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures we talk to Julia Pyper about clean tech in the Trump era and Alberta's place in the clean tech space. Also see Green Energy Futures blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/ms-pyper-goes-to-washington
Peter Koning is an oil and gas guy who's developed a passion for alternative energy. He started Energy Shift a newsletter that bridges the gap in how conventional energy needs to work with conventional energy. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/energy-shift-oil-and-gas-guys-take-on-alternative-energy
ReThinking Red Deer as sustainable–that's the mission of ReThink Red Deer that is at the heart of a community ceasing the leading edge of the renewable energy revolution. On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures we talk to Rene Michalak of ReThink Red Deer. See Green Energy Futures blog for more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/sleepy-small-city-college-with-a-big-solar-vision
Red Deer, Alberta is now home to the large solar system on a college in Canada. Red Deer College started with a modest goal of generating 20% of their own electricity and now has a 1.6-megawatt solar system, an alternative energy lab and when combined with their new 1-megawatt cogeneration system generates 66% of their own electricity right on campus. This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to Dean of Trades and Technologies Joel Gingrich. See blog, photos and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/sleepy-small-city-college-with-a-big-solar-vision
Greg Caldwell generates 80% of his own electricity and all of the heat for his hot water water right on his home using a solar system working with a micro combined heat and power (cogen) system. On this week's episode of CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures learn how to produce your own electricity rain or shine and reduce your emissions by more than 40%. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episdoe/solar-cogen-generate-electricity-rain-or-shine
When NAIT started its Alternative Energy Program in 2012 it was ahead of its time–since then solar and wind power have boomed and its grads are now leaders of the emerging renewable energy industry. CKUA Green Energy Futures. Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/nait-from-the-cutting-edge-to-leaders-of-the-energy-revolution-in-seven-short-years
Rae-Anne Wadey is a Face of the New Energy Economy. She was one of the first students of Alternative Energy at NAIT, she struggled to find a job and today, just a few years later, she's one of the most experienced solar installers in the business. On this week's episode of CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we trace Rae-Anne's journey into the solar business. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/rae-anne-wadey-nait-alternative-energy-pioneer-rocks-solar-biz
CKUA's Green Energy Futures presents Brandon Sandmaier an oilsands heavy duty mechanic who retooled and started a solar company, even before he completed the Alternative Energy Program at NAIT - Faces of the New Economy. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/brandon-sandmaier-oilsands-mechanic-to-solar-company-owner
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we talk to Bevashish Paul CEO of BluWave AI, an Ottawa-based artificial intelligence company that hopes to boost efficiency 5-20% in pilot project with Summerside PEI Utility - Summerside already has among the highest wind power integration rates in Canada at 46%. Learn more in Green Energy Future's blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/summerside-using-ai-to-boost-renewable-energy
Who wouldn't want to drive 10,000 km for $150 bucks? This week in Part II of our exclusive CKUA Green Energy Futures interview with Gary Holden, the CEO of Pulse Energy in New Zealand we talk about how distributed renewable energy is changing everything. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-battery-revolution-time-of-use-pricing-new-zealand
Solar with batteries are revolutionizing the grid in New Zealand. On this week's episode of @CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we talk to Gary Holden CEO of Pulse Energy about why time-of-use electricity pricing and solar-battery systems could be the future of electricity grids around the world. Learn more in our blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-battery-revolution-time-of-use-pricing-new-zealand
Going solar is good for business says a Calgary medical device manufacturer that exports products all over the world. “We're trying to demonstrate what we think Alberta's new economy should look like—we should be using viable innovations where we can," says Carl Denis CEO of CDR Systems. CKUA Radio - Green Energy Futures - Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/alberta-manufacturer-solar-key-to-future
SolarShare founder Mike Brigham talks about the little solar co-operative he co-founded that has grown up to the be largest renewable energy co-operative in North America. Learn more on #CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solarshare-coop-reaches-60-million-in-projects
Metamorphosis is the near-miraculous process of nature and it's the name of a new film by Canadian Filmmakers Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper about the art of climate change. Join them on a stunning visual journey from crisis to brave new world. #CKUA #GreenEnergyFutures Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/metamorphosis-the-art-of-the-climate-crisis
Riverdale Community League has embraced sustainability in their neighbourhood. It's powered by solar electricity, has a community garden, a food forest and the league is inspiring neighbours to embrace sustainability. Meet Raquel Feroe, aka "Rocky" their director of sustainability and learn how Eco-City helped the community group go solar! Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/riverdale-sustainable-eco-city
Balance sheets are out of wack if they fail to account for natural capital, environmental liabilities and well-being says Mark Anielski, the author of the new book An Economy of Well-Being. This is part 2 of our series on well-being on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/195-an-economy-of-well-being
Can incorporating well-being as an asset on the balance sheets of a nation improve our quality of life? We talk to Mark Anielski the author of the new book "An Economy of Well-Being" about economics that measures what matters. #CKUA's #GreenEnergyFutures. See blog for more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/195-an-economy-of-well-being
Ever wondered about going net-zero with your home? Curious about solar, heat pumps or geothermal systems? We talk to Andrew Mills, boss of the Eco-Solar Home Tour in Edmonton about why people just love to see and discuss eco-home strategies with real owners in their homes. #CKUA #Green Energy Futures Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/edmontons-eco-solar-home-tour
In the wake of news that Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing (PACE) is coming to Alberta, we re-visit our interview with Leigh Bond and Brian Scott to learn about how PACE financing came make adding solar or energy efficiency to your home a no-brainer! #CKUA #GreenEnergyFutures Learn more:http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/pace-makes-easy-invest-solar-energy-efficiency
On this episode of CKUA's Green Energy Futures we talk to Don Pettit about the amazing success of the Peace Energy Co-op that built the first big wind project in British Columbia and recently helped a small northern community go all-in with solar! See story and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/hudsons-hope-solar
On CKUA's Green Energy Futures we present Hudson's Hope Solar, the story of a small community in northeastern British Columbia that has installed more solar per capita on their municipal buildings than any other municipality in BC. We talk to Mayor Gwen Johansson. See Green Energy Futures story and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/hudsons-hopes-solar
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures Energy Disrupted: Five trends driving the global energy transition – we talk to Clean Energy Canada policy director Dan Woynillowicz about energy trends that are changing the world. See blog: https://wp.me/p7ImKe-DE
La Maison Simons has opened the first net-zero department store in Canada. In this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures feature we talk to Peter Simons, CEO about what it takes to create the first net-zero store in Canada powered by 100% solar energy and heated and cooled by a geothermal system. This new store at Galeries de la Capitale in Quebec City follows on the heals of a Simons store in Edmonton powered in part by solar energy. See our blog and photos http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/simons-first-net-zero-store-in-canada
Jen Turner knows what it's like to be outside covered in drilling mud, out at 3:00 o'clock in the morning when it's -40. She's an oil worker who wants to see more renewable energy and more renewable jobs. That's why her organization Iron and Earth has partnered with Louis Bull Tribe in Alberta to run solar training programs for oil workers and Tribe members alike. That's on this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures feature. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/first-nations-oilsands-workers-learning-solar-shoulder-shoulder
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures episode we bring you the story of The Louis Bull Tribe goes solar and partners with Iron and Earth to do solar training for oilsands workers and tribe members alike. It's all about jobs, training and diversification. See video, blog and photos: https://wp.me/p7ImKe-D1
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures feature: Industrial symbiosis. Corn comes into a biorefinery that produces ethanol, industrial alcohols, corn oil, and distillers' grains. And then ALL wastes from this plant are used as well to heat a greenhouse, grow tomatoes and much, much more. It's a virtuous cycle of products and wastes, that each turn are used to produce other products. See blog, photos and video: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/waste-heat-growing-tomatoes-industrial-symbiosis
In a cliché moment in 2010 a greenhouse guy meets an ethanol guy outside of the Woodstock farm show and says "Wouldn't it be cool if we could heat a greenhouse with heat from the stack at the ethanol plant?" Such a cool project – In this CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast we discover there is enough waste heat in that stack to heat 1,000 homes or 45 acres of greenhouse. Learn more in our blog and see photos at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
It's a heart warming story of sustainability that started with a church in crisis, a shortage of social housing and a school slated for closure. Peter Amerongen is a father of building net-zero buildings––this week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we learn how he took this impossible situation and built the first net-zero church and social housing project in Canada. See story and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/canadas-first-net-zero-church
The Westmount Presbyterian Church had a decrepit old building they could not longer afford to heat. So they entered into a very creative partnership with a housing society. They provided land to build desperately needed social housing and got a new net-zero church, the first of its kind in Canada. On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures it's a heart-warming story of how a solar powered church came to be. See story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/canadas-first-net-zero-church
CKUA's Green Energy Futures and the Energy Detective compares cookers to find the best and most energy efficient way to slow cook lentil soup! We compared slow cookers, pressure cookers and the Thermos slow cooker. See our story on The Energy Detective: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/181-the-energy-detective
Green Energy Futures looks back at 2017 with Dr. Tim Weis. It was a big year for green energy in Alberta. The province secured 600 megawatts of wind power at the lowest prices in Canadian history and built the first utility scale solar project in Western Canada. This and more in our year-end review story on CKUA's Green Energy Futures. Learn more at www.greenenergyfutures.ca
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we tag along with EnerGuide auditor Jeff Paton as he assesses a 1956 home. The new EnerGuide label shows how much energy a home uses, where it is losing energy and what improvements can produce the biggest bang for the buck. See story, video and blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/energuide-how-does-your-home-rate
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we enlist Jeff Paton, an EnerGuide home auditor to help us build a list of the Top Ten Energy Efficiency Tips for your home. Some are as easy as changing a light bulb, some are more involved and expensive such as adding insulation and improving your windows–all will help you reduce your energy use, save money and reduce your emissions. Learn more in our blog and video: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/top-10-energy-efficiency-tips-for-the-home
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures Ron Kube really wanted a solar system on his house, until he found out he was using nearly twice the average electricity. So he became a full-fledged energy detective, saved more than half on his electricity use and then installed a smaller solar system.
Producing your own solar electricity, it's a cool idea right? On this week's episode of Green Energy Futures on CKUA radio 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. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/180-solar-101
On CKUA's Green Energy Futures this week: The City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was selected as the host for the first ever Cities and Climate Change Science conference. We talk to Seth Schultz, of C40 about Edmonton, climate change, cities and action on Climate Change. The conference is March 5-7, 2018. The conference is sponsored in part by the IPCC, the organization that hosts the big climate change conferences such as COP21 in Paris and COP22 in Marrakech. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/179-edmonton-hosting-first-international-conference-cities-climate-change
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures Peter Darlington is an exterior contractor who decided to super insulate his home, install an energy efficiency heat pump furnace and power his home with solar energy. He was so taken with the project he created a new company to help others renovate their existing homes to net-zero energy homes. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/178-renovating-your-existing-home-to-net-zero
In part 1 in our Smart Home series we search for the most energy efficient water heater. Ever thought about going tankless? Heard of electric heat pumps? Just want more efficiency? Spend more on your tank and save even more on energy costs – this week we compare three options for high energy efficiency and install the one we like best in host David Dodge's home. That's this week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures. See blog, photos and video.
We visit the new Simons store at Londonderry Mall in Edmonton to see the largest solar system in the city. On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures we talk to Peter Simon CEO of La Maison Simons about their new solar-powered store and why energy sustainability is the issue of our time. See blog and photos.
On this week's episode, CKUA's Green Energy Futures takes you to Philadelphia to soar with the NFL Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field that has 11,000 solar modules, is powered by 100% renewable energy, diverts 99% of its waste and might be one of the most sustainable football stadiums anywhere. See blog and photos.
In part 1 in our Smart Home series we search for the most energy efficient water heater. Thought out tankless? Heard of heat pump electric? Just want more efficiency? Spend more on your tank and save even more on energy costs - this week we compare three cool options and install the one we like best in host David Dodge's home. That's this week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures. See blog and video http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/water-heaters-101-getting-yourself-in-hot-water
On this week's episode, CKUA's Green Energy Futures takes you to Philadelphia to soar with the NFL Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field that has 11,000 solar modules, is powered by 100% renewable energy, diverts 99% of its waste and might be one of the most sustainable football stadiums anywhere. See story and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/175-nfl-eagles-f…renewable-energy
The new Simons store at Londonderry Mall in Edmonton has the largest solar system in the city. On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures we talk to Peter Simon CEO of La Maison Simons about their new solar-powered store in Edmonton, Alberta. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/176-simons-solar-largest-edmonton
On this episode of CKUA's Green Energy Futures we take you to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival where intrepid volunteers have found a way to save 170,000 watts everytime they turn on the lights at this amazing festival, now in it's 37th year. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/?p=1890&preview=true
On this week's edition of CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures we present: Gordon Howell a solar pioneer and the first to install a grid-connected solar system on his home in Western Canada in 1995. We talk to Gordon about his solar past, and his vision for our solar future. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/gordon-howell-solar-pioneer
This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures program "Life is a carnival." We talk to Antoine Palmer co-founder of Sustainival the world's first green carnival. It's a full-sized carnival complete with rides, games and popcorn and it's powered by biodiesel energy it's absolutely infused with messages of sustainability. See story and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/sustainival
Net-zero homes are the way of the future! On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures episode we speak to Sonja Winkelmann of the Canadian Home Builders Association about a new Net-Zero Home labelling program. The idea: help consumers and builders understand and embrace super energy efficient, net-zero homes.
On this week's CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures episode: Brazeau County may be in the heart of oil and gas country near Drayton Valley, Alberta, but the county recently installed solar on most of their municipal buildings to support low carbon sources of alternative energy, save money over the long term and avoid future price increases and carbon levies. See story and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/170-brazeau-coun…olar-oil-country
PACE financing has generated $3.4 billion worth of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on buildings in the U.S. Brian Scott and Leigh Bond believe it could be the key to unleashing a wave of projects in Alberta. This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we talk to Scott and Bond about financing clean energy in Alberta. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/pace-financing-produced-3-4-billion-energy-efficiency-projects-u-s
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Energy Futures we visit Landmark Home's new affordable net-zero home just as they put the "0" gigajoule EnerGuide label on the home. As net-zero becomes affordable will solar-powered net-zero homes become the norm? We think they might! See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/affordable_net-zero
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we look at the Pisa from Landmark homes, an Edmonton-based developer. It's the first net-zero home in Canada to sell for less than $400,000! See blog, photos and video: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/affordable_net-zero
On this weeks CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast we talk to Matthew Klippenstein of Green Car Reports about the debut of the Chevy Bolt, the first low-priced, long range EV in Canada, the evolution of the EV market and how this Vancouver engineer came to be a green car guru in Canada.
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast we go to the Gener8 Youth Energy and Climate Leadership Summit where 40 teachers and 80 students are learning about Alberta's energy future and taking action on their own. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/166-gener8ing-environmental-leaders
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we look at the ongoing push to add EnerGuide ratings to homes so buyers know what they are getting. See story and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/165-energuide
This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures episode EnergieSprong means "Energy Leap." The idea is to retrofit every single building in the Netherlands to a net-zero standard by 2050. Sound crazy? It's early days, but they have already begun the work and it's a real game changer. Learn more in our blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/the-sprong-has-sprung
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures feature, the Heights or Skeena project is an 85-unit multi-family building built to the passive house standard in Vancouver, Canada. It is the largest passive house in Canada and the project led this Canadian city to adopt the passive house standard in its plan to make all new buildings zero emissions by 2020.
We present Part 2 of of our Best of 2016 Green Energy Futures series on CKUA Radio. This week we visit Summerside PEI a city powered by the wind, a straw-bale home in Edmonton and Nova Scotia where they are selling negawatts into the grid! See blog and photos and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/2016-year-in-review
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we look back at some of our favourite stories from the year that was 2016. See videos, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/2016-year-in-review
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures' podcast, we visit a social housing project in Vancouver, B.C. that replaced it's boilers and did a lighting retrofit to save $6,000 each year! See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/161-social-housing-retrofits-saves-real-money
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we give you some great ideas for green giving that will take the stress out of the holiday shopping season.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we take a long, lingering look at Alberta's upcoming carbon levy and all that means for the average Albertan.
greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/159-when-the-levy-breaks
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we take a quick look at the state of renewable energy in the world and a long look at the support needed for workers affected by a transition away from coal-fired electricity.
greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/158-a-just-transition
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit yet another straw-bale home, this time in Edmonton, Alberta. Nora Bumanis is the harpist for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra so noise can be a big problem for her neighbours. Luckily, straw-bale construction was the perfect fit for her needs. See video, blog and photos: greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/157-albertans-making-homes-straw
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit the home of Lance and Wendy Olson, a net-zero home that just so happens to be made of straw. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/157-albertans-making-homes-straw
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we chat with Stephen MacDonald, CEO of EfficiencyOne, Nova Scotia's energy efficiency utility.
The first of its kind in Canada, EfficiencyOne has already saved the province more than $100 million.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we check in with Tom Rand, the self-styled "Climate Capitalist."
We first met Rand three years ago but so much has changed in such a short time that we decided to get caught up about Canada's cleantech investment landscape.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we continue our look at Cornelius Koster's laneway house in Calgary.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we meet Tom Jackman, owner of Simple Solar. He explains a bit about solar thermal technology in general and his own patented design.
greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-thermal-101
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit the town of Vulcan, Alberta, the Star Trek capital of Canada, who have recently completed a lovely solar park.
greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/vulcan-solar-park
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit Leduc, Alberta, a city which just installed the largest rooftop solar array in Canada. Check out our blog for more on this groundbreaking (or should I say, roof breaking?) project: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/leduc-rooftop-solar
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we check out the Bull Creek wind farm, which has the distinction of powering over 500 Alberta schools through a power purchase agreement. Check out the blog at: greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/bull-creek-powers-schools
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we tag along with some amazing students as they deliver a white paper on action on climate change in schools to Alberta's ministers of education and environment. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/150-students-meet-ministers
Power to the people! This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we look at a nifty little startup out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This co-operative is bringing solar investments to the little guy. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/saskatchewan-solar-co-operative
Summerside PEI replaced nearly all of its expensive diesel generated electricity with wind power by building a smart grid and storing energy in residents furnaces and hot water heaters. This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures hear how Summerside went from zero to 46% wind power in less than one decade! See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/148-summerside-community-wind
Tom Rand sold his first company in the 90s. It was called Voice Courier and the automated voice response technology behind it underpins most customer service phone systems today. Since then he's moved onto greener pastures, building, investing and advising cleantech companies through the MaRS business incubator in Toronto. Learn what you need to have in order to build the next gamechanging cleantech company this week at Green Energy Futures.
With solar dropping in price don't be shocked when you start seeing solar everywhere. Learn how and why the price has dropped so much and what's happening in Canada's solar industry on this week's Green Energy Futures program on CKUA Radio.
Bob Chelmick's Solar Cabin in the Woods is the near mythical home of "The Road Home" radio series on the CKUA Radio Network. It's solar powered, wood heated and it's from this cabin that Bob produces his ground breaking radio series. Also see Green Energy Futures blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/bob-chelmicks-solar-powered-cabin
This week of CKUA's Green Energy Futures segment we talk to Lliam Hildebrand one of the founders of Iron and Earth, a boilermaker who joined other tradespeople in calling for renewable energy job training for out of work oil workers. "Our primary goals are number one, to build up the workforce capacity to build renewable energy projects in Canada and in Alberta. Secondly, we want to help build up the manufacturing sector required to build renewable energy. And third, we want to ensure that our contractors and unions can position themselves within this emerging sector." See story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/iron-and-earth-renewable-training
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we examine how PEI replaced expensive diesel power with the highest proportion of wind power in North America. See blog and video: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/pei-rocks-wind-power
This week, on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit the NorthWest tip of Prince Edward Island, home of the Wind Energy Institute of Canada.
The institute is a self-funded leader when it comes to real-world application of wind technology.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we take a look at Calgary's renewable energy powered infrastructure and how it will pay off when Alberta'a carbon tax goes into effect.
This week, on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit some Alberta students who want to call the shot when it comes to climate change education.
For the second year in a row, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley comes to hear what these stupendous students have to say.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit the 12th annual Canadian-German wind and solar energy conference to learn how financing works for renewable energy.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit a wind farm just outside the town of Morse, Saskatchewan. It is one of the province's newest energy projects and a sign of things to come since Premier Brad Wall has signaled a desire to get 50 per cent of the province's electric capacity from renewable energy by 2030.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we meet Harold Orr, a pioneer of the passive house movement. He explains how the concept originated in Saskatchewan.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit the first certified passive house in Saskatchewan. It's an ironic twist, since the passive house concept was created in the province back in the 1970s.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit the Alberta Energy Efficiency Alliance conference and discover the incredible potential of energy efficiency to save you and me money and create new jobs. See our blog to learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/energy-efficiency-alberta
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit a carbon neutral laneway home unlike anything we've seen before.
With innovative use of a solar wall, air-source heat pumps, and water-based energy storage, this home looks to revolutionize the green building industry.
This week on our CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast, we return to a familiar place, the Kinney Family Earthship, to see how it holds up in a Canadian prairie winter.
This week on our CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast, we explore those pesky myths surrounding solar energy. From snow to efficiency, there is a rich body of myths to shatter. See blog, photos and more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-myths
This week on our CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast, we visit the largest biogas production facility in Alberta.
This week on our CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast, we explore some of the most pernicious myths associated with wind energy.
This week on our CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast, Peter Amerongen of Habitat Studio shows us his methodology for insulating a home to reach net-zero.
This week on our CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast we look at Carl Lauren of Kimberley B.C. and the rebate program he helped create that is making his city greener. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/kimberley-green-building-rebate
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast we look back on 2015, the year that marked the dawning of the age of the net-zero home. Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/favourite-stories-2015-part-2
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast we recount how 2015 was a banner year for green energy. We look back at the stories that made it happen. Photo courtesy of Dave Cournoyer (daveberta.ca) Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/favourite-stories-2015-part-1
This week on the CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast we look at Vitoria-Gasteiz one of the greenest cities in the world and what they did to get more than half of the trips in the city by walking. Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/vitoria-gasteiz-green-capital
This week, on CKUA radio's Green Energy Futures podcast we present the story of Vitoria-Gastiez, Europe's green capital for 2012 and one of the greenest cities in the world. Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/vitoria-gasteiz-green-capital
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures episode, we look at the explosion of green energy jobs in B.C. and around the world. Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/renewable-energy-jobs
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures podcast we look at Evansdale Community League and how they invested in solar as an investment in community. Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/evansdale-community-solar
In this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures episode, we speak with Bruce Nilles, director of Beyond Coal, the Sierra Club campaign to end the use of coal-fired electricity. Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/beyond-coal-phaseout-alberta
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures episode, we visit the largest solar farm in Western Canada at the Green Acres hutterite colony in Southern Alberta. Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/hutterite-solar-western-canada-biggest
Edmonton launched it's Energy Transition Strategy earlier this year - we talk to Mayor Don Iveson about what energy transition might look like in a city with one of the dirtiest electricity supplies in Canada. Green communities, solar power and energy efficiency are all ideas being explored. Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/iveson-edmonton-energy-transition-strategy
A CKUA Green Energy Futures exclusive interview with Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson about oil city's strategy to transition from dirty to clean energy. For the full story and a full length feature interview see story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/iveson-edmonton-energy-transition-strategy
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures podcast we go to solar school. Randal Benson of Gridworks Energy Group has helped train more than 700 electricians and interested folks. Hear their stories! Full story: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/solar-pv-training-job
On this week's CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures podcast: How Kimberley BC began mining the sun on the site of the once largest lead-zinc mine in Canada. Learn more: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/sunmine-kimberley-bc-solar-pv
Sarah Pogue is a high school student in Calgary, Alberta with only a little singing experience. Here she is singing the song "Gravity."
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures - Mayor Gregor Robertson was elected two terms ago on a pledge to make Vancouver the "Greenest City in the World." We talk to the mayor about their latest pledge - to use 100% renewable energy in Vancouver by 2050.
TREC Education grew out of the Toronto Renewable Energy Coop after they built the first urban wind turbine in North America in the heart of Toronto's Exhibition Place. This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio feature we go to class with grade 5s at George Webster School in Toronto to learn how to capture the wind.
This week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures - Since the high school Sustainable Development Committee started students at Cochrane High School in Alberta have raised more than $149,000 and carried out more than half a dozen solar, wind and energy efficiency projects. Then came the "notorious wind project." That's when they became "A" students in politics, helping their town develop a renewable energy policy after facing angry neighbours.
Local leadership has proven to be the most effective at deploying effective sustainability solutions at all kinds. David heads to Toronto to learn how cities across the world going green.
Tillsonburg. If hearing that name brings to mind the Stomping Tom Connors song about working in the tobacco fields you're not alone. But Tillsonburg has undergone a modern makeover, the biggest employer in town isn't agriculture but Siemens. Over 400 people manufacture wind turbine blades at their Tillsonburg plant. We learn how they make these engineering marvels and the effect it's had on the town of 16,000 people.
Calgary's LRT is an electrified transport success story. Not only does it boast high ridership numbers (3rd highest LRT ridership in North America) but it's also 100 per cent powered by wind energy. Learn more at http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/c-train-success-nenshi-calgary
Net-zero is a simple but powerful idea. A house that produces as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year. Now that idea is going across Canada. Five builders are going to build five net-zero houses each across Canada. Green Energy Futures checks out one of the builders in action.
When Elon Musk gave his presentation on the Powerwall he gave the energy storage business a billion dollars worth of free press. Ontario is leading the way in Canada in energy storage deployment, we head there to learn more.
We head to Bobcaygeon, Ontario to see an off-grid, solar-powered cottage made out of steel shipping containers. Learn more at http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/sea-container-cabin-cottage-country
Ontario has successfully transitioned away from coal power and is ramping up renewable energy. It's the single largest carbon emissions reduction project ever undertaken in Canada and it deserves to be recognized.
Transportation is the average family's second biggest household expense. We talk to a location efficiency scholar and a city councillor to learn more about why buying a location efficient house might just save you a whole lot of money.
Cradle to Cradle is the evolution of recycling. Instead of turning what we recycle into a lesser version of what it was before Cradle to Cradle asks manufacturers to think of their materials as nutrients in a vibrant ecosystem. Episode here http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/cradle-cradle
LEED is everywhere but what is it worth the effort? We look into the effectiveness of this ubiquitious green building raiting system.
We find that people are genuinely curious about geothermal. From our first season one of our most popular episodes is on geothermal so we decided to follow up and make some interesting discoveries about energy efficient heating and cooling technology.
A new breed of startups is taking on a $750 billion dollar opportunity in industrial and commercial energy efficiency. They're using a mix of custom metering hardware, proprietary software and common sense to go after the 30 per cent of energy that's paid for but wasted by the industrial and commercial sectors. We talk to two of these startups in this week's episode of Green Energy Futures.
Judith Sayers is the former chief of the Hupuchasath First Nation on Vancouver Island. She was key to getting one of the first run-of-river projects that was majority owned by a First Nation built in Canada. Learn about her and the China Creek project this week at Green Energy Futures http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/judith-sayers-first-nation-run-river-hydro
On this week's CKUA episode of Green Energy Futures we've got the latest science and numbers on the actual effects that wind turbines have on birds and bats. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/wind-wildlife-impacts
Is a net-zero commercial officie building possible? You betcha. On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures episode we feature The Mosaic Centre in Edmonton, Alberta a building where geothermal heating and cooling work with solar electricity to produce an affordable, beautiful commercial building that will produce as much energy as it consumes. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/first-net-zero-office-building
Even people who research and write about energy for a living struggle with jargon and making this stuff feel real. This week we explore a couple of commonly used energy terms and try to make them understandable. And the picture? That's a kilowatt-hour's worth of coal.
Titan Clean Energy Projects is a Saskathewan based company making a very interesting product: biochar. We visit their plant and learn more about this amazing product that has a ton of different uses - including long term sequestration of carbon in the soil. Learn more at http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/biochar
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.
The town of Craik, Saskatchewan hatched a plot to increase the population of the slowly dying prairie town. An eco-village on the edge of town where people would build environmentally friendly homes on unserviced lots sold for a dollar. See if it worked and get a tour of this amazing community at http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/craik-eco-village
We check out one of the rarest electric vehicles in Canada and that spurs us to check on the state of electric vehicles in Canada - http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/electric-vehicle-canada-update
Whitecourt, Alberta has a pulp mill and a saw mill. With all that wood comes wood waste. We look at how one company is turning this wood waste into something useful - green electricity. This is Green Energy Future's CKUA Radio podcast. See video and blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/97-whitecourt-biomass-waste-energy
David Dodge of Green Energy Futures gets out of his comfort zone and jumps on a bike in the middle of an Edmonton winter. He learns about what kind of gear you need and how to stay warm for this fun, energy efficient mode of transportation. Plus we talk to Edmonton City Councillor Ben Henderson, a four-season cyclist himself.
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.
Europe's largest, most successful economy is successfully and aggressively transitioning away from fossil fuels and nuclear. With their success has come a host of myths, we debunk the most persistent ones and get to the bottom of why you should care about Germany's energy transition.
The great boreal forest straddles the width of Canada. We visited the largest Kraft pulp mill in North America and found 95 megawatts of green biomass electricity capacity. This huge pulp mill not only produces the vast amount of electrict it requires to operate, it also now produces electricity for Alberta's grid. It's the story of pulp mills as power plants.
Given the simplicity and effectiveness of solar air heating technology and how much we have to spend to keep ourselves warm in the winter solar air heating just makes sense. We build a demonstration model in a backyard and chat with the company behind SolarWall a scaled up version of a solar air heater for industrial and commercial buildings.
Learn how in Canada's most fossil fuel friendly province it's wind and solar energy that are driving down prices for consumers.
Kent Rathwell is a study in contrasts. He's an ambitious entrepeneur who's spending money bringing electric vehicle infrastructure to a country with around 3500 EVs. Rathwell made his money in bird seed, he is the president of Sun Country Farms, and how he's branched out into electric vehicle chargers. The connection isn't obvious at first but listen to this week's story and the connection between bird seed and the world's longest green highway will be clear. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/52-sun-country-highway
This week we break out the microscope and tell the story of cleantech startup Morgan Solar as an intriguing example of tenacity, smarts and passion. When Morgan Solar got started six years ago their goal was to get their concentrated solar pv modules down to about $1 a watt. Well, in that time the global solar market changed drastically and prices per watt are now around $0.70 a watt. That doesn't mean they folded it up and went home, no Morgan Solar, led by co-founder John Paul Morgan are now aiming to produce solar energy at $0.35 a watt. And they've got believers, they've raised $40 million in the last six years and they're planning to go to market in the summer of 2014. Learn all about their story this week on the CKUA Radio Network broadcast of Green Energy Futures. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/50-morgan-solar
Energy storage is the holy grail of a future, decentralized, clean energy grid that uses plenty of solar, wind and other intermittent forms of energy. This week we look at two Canadian startups: Temporal Power a builder of energy storing flywheels and eCamion a company that installs battery storage units in communities to even things out. This is the podcast version of the Green Energy Futures episode that played on the CKUA Radio Network. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/49-energy-storage
If you're a renewable energy nerd like us you've no doubt seen Bullfrog Power's ubiquitous green froggie at an event or on a piece of swag. They're darn good at being everywhere, but we wanted to get behind the cute logo and figure out if Bullfrog Power was for real. Learn what this green energy provider is all about in this week's Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/48-bullfrog-power-are-they-real
A rocket stove is a hyper efficient wood burning stove that was originally built for the developing world. It solved two big problems - people were dying from indoor air pollution from cooking on indoor open air fires and all of the wood needed to run these stoves was causing deforestation.
Now the rocket stove has come to North America but with a bit of a twist. Instead of cooking with it the rocket stove is being turned into a heater. It's got a cult following among the DIY and permaculture crowd and it's not hard to understand why. It uses far less wood than a conventional wood burning stove, it's cheap to build and you get some built-in furniture out of the deal.
Part of what makes the rocket stove so attractive as a heater is that running the heat through thousands of pounds worth of thermal mass you get a heat battery. That thermal mass typically takes the shape of a cob bench. Learn all about rocket stoves and how they work this week on Green Energy Futures. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/47-rocket-stoves
Medicine Hat, Alberta is about flip the switch on the first concentrated solar thermal plant in Canada. The one-megawatt, $9 million solar plant is a first this far north and it's connected to the city's natural gas combined cycle power plant. It's the culmination of the city's award-winning Hat Smart program that involved thousands of residents in energy efficient and renewable energy projects and resulted in this solar project and another 6-megawatt wind project, right inside the city. This week "The Gas City" goes solar. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/88-welcome-canadas-only-concentrated-solar-thermal-plant
We don't follow the stock market at Green Energy Futures. But Greg Schnell does. Listen as we talk to this technical stock analyst about the big things he sees coming for the solar industry.
Typical greenfield neighborhood design destroys nature, doesn't focus on energy efficiency and can make people feel isolated. Echohaven is a new neighborhood that flips all that on its head. Learn how they did it in the latest episode of Green Energy Futures.
Learn how and why smart meters can help all of us conserve energy as well as how utilites can use third party services to make your smart meter even smarter. By providing something tangible that helps customers utilities can stop the people who believe smart meters cause cancer orare monitoring their thoughts from dominating the conversation.
Alberta produces a lot of beef. And with of those cows comes cow poop. One Alberta company has taken what was formerly a waste and turned it into the backbone of a three tiered business that produces electricity, heat and ethanol. Learn how they do it this week at Green Energy Futures.
Alberta is the most energy focused province in confederation so when its minister of energy speaks, people listen. And it was a packed house for Frank Oberle's keynote at the Canadian Solar Industry Association's Solar West event. While he didn't make any committments the landscape for solar in Alberta is the most positive its ever been. Learn why this week at Green Energy Futures.
Green Energy Futures podcast on an Earthship built in southern Alberta. These radically sustainable homes generate their own electricity, hot water and heat, treat their own waste and grow their own food.
This week it's Go Big or Go Home on CKUA's Green Energy Futures show. Net-zero homes debuted as a demonstration project in 2007. Today, just seven short years later one big home builder is ready to go net-zero with every home it builds. A future where your home produces as much energy as it consumes may be upon us! Learn more on this week's program. This is Part IV in our Chasing Net Zero series. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/81-chasing-net-zero-go-big-or-go-home
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures Podcast: It’s a beautiful, simple, livable, functional and successful net-zero experiment. That's how Shafraaz Kaba refers to his own net-zero ready home that was inspired by the idea of the passive house. By keeping things ridiculously simple Kaba was able to build an amazing, affordable net-zero home. Come along for a tour!
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures: Louis pereira is a home designer who believes sustainability comes from designing new and innovative forms of housing that revitalize inner city neighbourhoods and support more sustainable lifestyles. Today we visit LG house, Louis and Giselle Pereira’s home and learn how location and urban design are key to supporting more sustainable lifestyles and a much smaller energy footprint.
On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures episode we have seen the light, and it is that big ball of fire in the sky known as the sun. The idea of net-zero homes is taking off and it's thanks to copius amounts of free, passive solar energy and solar electricity all derived from the sun. They're building homes that produce as much energy as they consume and they are doing it in the most northerly big city in North America, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Could all homes be net-zero?
This is the third year that Ms Van Den Eynden's Grade 5 class at Prairie Waters elementary school in Chestermere Alberta has taken part in the the Classroom Energy Diet Challenge. It's a series of 25 different challenges that students across the country can participate in, the more you the more you learn about renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon footprints and much much more. We head to Prairie Waters to see these energetic students in action researching sustainable energy and preparing reports, making videos and finding a sustainable energy futures for all of us.
Greenfield Specialty Alcohols in Chatham, Ontario produces 200 million litres of ethanol a year. That's their main business, but beyond all the steel and pipe this plant produces animal food, CO2 for pop, heat for a tomato greenhouse, corn oil for biodiesel fuel and more! Discover this amazing industrial ecosystem on this week's CKUA episode of Green Energy Futures.
Pond Biofuels is growing algae by feeding it smoke stack emissions from the St. Marys Cement plant in Ontario. The company's founder Steve Martin hopes one day to capture between between 5 and 10% of the carbon dioxide emissions at a cement plant by commercializing the process. That's this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA episode. Also see our video and blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/75-pond-biofuels
On this weeks CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures podcast University of Calgary students on Team Zeus set out to build an electric racing motorbike. They proved their chops with a bike that ran on a washing machine motor and went 20 km/h – now they are building a full-fledged racing bike! http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/blog/zoom-zoom-university-calgary-s-team-zeus-builds-electric-racing-motorcycle
This week on our Green Energy Futures' CKUA podcast we tell the cool story of the Groundswell passive solar greenhouse that stays warm by capturing solar energy in four different ways to extend the season to 10 months of the year! We speak to Bill Swan of the Groundswell Community Network in Invermere, B.C.
On this week's Green Energy Futures CKUA Podcast come on into the Grizzly Den at GLOBE 2014 and learn about three green start-ups. We look at tiny homes, black soldier fly larvae that eat garbage, and an underwater powerplant called the Hydrokite. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/72-three-and-coming-companies-keep-eye
How Truly Green Farms and Greenfield Ethanol married a smoke stack with a greenhouse. Greg Devries is the president of Truly Green Farms a greenhouse operation in Chatham, Ontario that is set to capture the emissions from a smoke stack and grow tomatoes with the heat and CO2. This week on Green Energy Future's CKUA Radio podcast It's an amazing story of industrial symbiosis.
Solar Thermal 101 - This week on our CKUA Green Energy Futures show we head to historic Terminal 4 at the Edmonton International Airport to look at domestic solar hot water systems. Invented accidentally in the late 1700s we learn out how this technology has exploded around the world and what the best applications are today. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/70-solar-thermal-101
This week on our CKUA podcast we head to ground zero for an idea called laneway housing. These small homes are replacing garages all over Vancouver as a new form of affordable housing. We talk to Bryn Davidson of Lanefab Homes, a builder of near net zero landway homes. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/69-vancouvers-lane-homes-cheaper-more-energy-efficient-way-densify-mature-neighborhood
This week on our CKUA broadcast, Starland County started using solar to run water pumps in 2007. They are now working on a pilot program to get 10 farmers each installing a 10 kilowatt solar system. The idea is is to mix in a little farmer DIY to get the price down to the point where solar pays for itself in 10-13 years. Learn how this small Alberta county took an innovative approach to bring solar costs down and got big buy-in from the community.
Harvest Power in Richmond BC takes in 200,000 tonnes of food and organic waste and turn it into compost for your yard and electricity for your home! Take a walk with rotting organic waste this week on Green Energy Futures.
This week on Green Energy Future's CKUA podcast, the KidWind Challenge came to Edmonton, Alberta and seven teams from three high schools competed to build working wind turbines. More than 5,000 kids since 2009 from all over North America have participated in the KidWind Challenge designing and building micro wind turbines, testing them out in a wind tunnel and competing for prizes. See photos and our blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/66-kidwind
This week on CKUA Les Quinton is the Macgyver of energy efficiency and renewable energy in the small town of Black Diamond, Alberta. There's almost no system he hasn't optimized and with the dollars he's saved Black Diamond reinvests in solar energy and energy efficiency which saves the town even more money. Learn how Les Quinton does it all this week on Green Energy Futures. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/65-community-solar
Cogeneration is a back to the future technology. The idea is simple run a big hot engine, generate electricity right in your building and use the heat to heat it. Most modern power plants actually turn heat into a form of pollution that heats up lakes and rivers instead of our homes and buildings. This week we visit the Centennial Building in Calgary, Alberta to take a look at its 370 kilowatt generator that provides electricity and nearly all of the heat for an office tower. Payback? Very fast. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/64-urban-cogeneration
Amelie Caron is a high-performance building consultant and one of the people who helped make the Belgravia Green net-zero home in Edmonton a reality. Learn how this 1,500 square foot home gets 50 per cent of its heat from south facing windows and a polished concrete floor this week at Green Energy Futures. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/62-power-passive-solar-and-thermal-mass
Coming up next week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures: Passive solar energy can provide half of a home's heating needs from sunshine streaming through the windows for free! That's Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday on the CKUA Radio Network in Alberta.
How plain vanilla energy efficiency programs could save Albertans $1.5 billion and get Alberta 27 megatonnes of emissions reductions, halfway to its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. We talk to Jesse Row of the Alberta Energy Efficiency Alliance.
Alberta has a small carbon tax and the money collected goes into a green technology fund that invests in greenhouse gas reducing projects. This mechanism, called the Climate Change Emissions Management Corporation has achieved large emissions reductions by investing in renewable energy projects. Learn how the fund works and about some of the projects they've invested in this week on Green Energy Futures. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/61-learn-about-albertas-green-technology-fund-climate-change-emissions-management-corporatio
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. Learn all about e-bikes this week on Green Energy Futures. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/59-electric-bikes
Alberta's new associate minister of electricity and renewable energy Donna Kennedy Glans (PC), Rachel Notley (ND), Joe Anglin (Wildrose) and Dr. David Swan (Liberal) answer the question: "What timeline do you see as practical for the coal phase out in the province of Alberta." The Jan. 16, 2014 event was moderated by Colin Soskolne for the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
On January 1st the phase out of incandescent light bulbs began in Canada. In spite of what you may have heard, this is actually a good news story. Not only will we save massive amounts of energy, but money as well. We also address the myths around the true costs and mercury in CFLs. See blog: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/58-incandescent-light-bulb-phase-out-good-thing-0
Green Energy Futures looks at power-to-gas, a way to convert and store excess renewable energy such as wind and solar to make hydrogen and fuel vehicles, heat homes or generate electricity.
Green Energy Futures best of 2013 episode: Rediscover our favorite story about energy from pooh on the farm; find out which story went viral on YouTube; which City Hall is heated with biomass; and which home builder has pledged to make every home he builds net zero by 2015.
In part II of our Green Energy Futures gift guide we suggest a home energy audit, a home energy monitor that helps track down your power vampires like a detective and giving the gift of green energy! Best of the season!
Part I of our Green Energy Futures gift guide. In this episode we recommend the Pedego electric bike, the Nest thermostat and LED light bulbs.
Promo ad for Green Energy Futures Best of 2013 episode on CKUA Radio in Alberta. We pick our favorite episodes from 2013. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/56-best-stories-2013
The earth tube is a humble, simple invention. It pre-heats or pre-cools the air coming into a building by running it through an underground pipe. If you go a meter or two underground the earth is a constant 4-6 degrees. By taking advantage of that free heat you can can save a ton of money. We explore a couple earth tube projects in this episode of CKUA's Green Energy Futures.
The Eastgate office building in Edmonton is colorful, bright, energy efficient and oh yeah, has a 153 kilowatt solar system on the roof. The building, which will soon become an outpost for Environment Canada, was a developer led project that was seeking LEED Gold status. In order to get the necessary energy efficiency points they went with the simplest, cheapest, most cost effective technology - solar power. This is just the start as solar continues to get cheaper and cheaper.
The worldwide price war around solar photovoltaic modules is bad for manufacturers but great for consumers. Thirty years ago it cost $75 per watt for solar pv, now it costs $0.75 cents a watt. That downward pressure on prices means even more solar gets bought and installed. It's a virtuous cycle and one that means you might be getting a solar system sooner than you think.
Kent Rathwell is a study in contrasts. He's an ambitious entrepeneur who's spending money bringing electric vehicle infrastructure to a country with around 3500 EVs. Rathwell made his money in bird seed, he is the president of Sun Country Farms, and how he's branched out into electric vehicle chargers. The connection isn't obvious at first but listen to this week's story and the connection between bird seed and the world's longest green highway will be clear.
We break out the microscope and tell the story of just cleantech startup this week at Green Energy Futures. Morgan Solar is an intriguing example of tenacity, smarts and passion. When Morgan Solar got started six years ago their goal was to get their concentrated solar pv modules down to about $1 a watt. Well, in that time the global solar market changed drastically and prices per watt are now around $0.70 a watt. That doesn't mean they folded it up and went home, no Morgan Solar, led by co-founder John Paul Morgan are now aiming to produce solar energy at $0.35 a watt. And they've got believers, they've raised $40 million in the last six years and they're planning to go to market in the summer of 2014. Learn all about their story this week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures.
If we get a future where we are integrating large amounts of renewable energy into the grid it won't come without some serious innovation in the energy storage space. We look at Temporal Power's flywheel technology and eCAMION's battery storage this week on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures.
Green Energy Futures #35: Reimagine is a movement started by Edmonton architectural firm Manasc Isaac to inspire the people who own aging office buildings not to knock them down but to re-insulate and replace the skin of the building while also replacing the mechanical and electrical systems. Not only do the re-skinned buildings save a ton of money on operating expenses, the example we feature now uses 70 per cent less natural gas, by re-using an existing building you save all of the energy and money that would have gone into knocking it down and starting from scratch. Green Energy Futures: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/35-reimagine-your-office-building
If you're a renewable energy nerd like us you've no doubt seen Bullfrog Power's ubiquitous green froggie at an event or on a piece of swag. They're darn good at being everywhere, but we wanted to get behind the cute logo and figure out if Bullfrog Power was for real. Learn what this green energy provider is all about in this week's Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast.
A rocket stove is a hyper efficient wood burning stove that was originally built for the developing world. It solved two big problems - people were dying from indoor air pollution from cooking on indoor open air fires and all of the wood needed to run these stoves was causing deforestation.
Now the rocket stove has come to North America but with a bit of a twist. Instead of cooking with it the rocket stove is being turned into a heater. It's got a cult following among the DIY and permaculture crowd and it's not hard to understand why. It uses far less wood than a conventional wood burning stove, it's cheap to build and you get some built-in furniture out of the deal.
Part of what makes the rocket stove so attractive as a heater is that running the heat through thousands of pounds worth of thermal mass you get a heat battery. That thermal mass typically takes the shape of a cob bench. Learn all about rocket stoves and how they work this week on Green Energy Futures.
Europe and especially Germany are loaded with biomass energy projects. They're converting their old coal fired power plants so that they'll take biomass. Axel Lambion and Harry Welling have even done projects that have turned the residue left over from the wine-making process into heat and energy. So when Sherwood Park decided to build a biomass fired district heating system it was no surprise that they ended up with a couple of Germans on the project. To them Canada is a vast, undeveloped place just brimming with potential. This week learn about a couple of Alberta projects that are the first of many to come.
The electricity industry is old and creaky. It depends on 40-50 year old powerplants to send power along 80 year old transmission lines. It's the same system that Edison used more than a hundred years ago. However the industry is being forced to modernize itself and some things are becoming self-evident - the old centralized hub and spoke model doesn't make sense anymore. Why build massive power plants and send that power over very expensive power lines when electricity can ge generated cheaply right where the demand is. Learn how distributed generation could change the way we generate elecrtricity this week at Green Energy Futures.
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we visit the Future of Transportation Symposium at NAIT. There we met the people who are driving everything from Teslas to Volts the next generation of vehicles.
We head to the Edmonton Auto Show to check out the new lineup of EVs, hybrids and even some super efficient gas vehicles. We talk to auto industry execs and check out their lineups and find out where they're headed and what they really think about these new products.
Collaborative consumption is an idea that's gained some popularity recently with the publishing of the book "What's Mine is Yours" and the rise of car sharing services like Zipcar and Car2Go. It's a phenomenon that makes a lot of sense - why own something that sits unused for the majority of its working life when you can pay for it when you need to use it. This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we head to Calgary where citizens have embraced the idea of car sharing. Learn how it works and how this idea helps cities and saves energy this week on Green Energy Futures.
Peter Amerongen is a bit of an expert when it comes to net-zero homes. What he has learned is that simplicity is the golden secret when it comes to building a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. We reveal his secrets on a visit to one of his super-insulated, airtight homes that is powered by solar energy. That's this week on Green Energy Futures on the CKUA Radio network.
Lawrence Grassi middle school in Canmore, Alberta is your typical, mid-size public school. It's home to 391 students. There is a wood shop and portables and a gym but where Grassi is different from other schools is the simple but effective steps they've taken to drastically reduce their utility bills. They replaced the old school and completed the current one in 2008 and since then they're saving $120,000 a year in utility bills. And they didn't do it with fancy, expensive technology. Learn how the meat and potatoes not only built a very energy efficient building but they did it on budget as well.
The Nanaimo Regional District is your usual mid-size Canadian municipality. There are suburbs and strip malls and regular Canadians doing regular Canadian things. With around 145,000 people there isn't anything out of the ordinary here aside from the rugged coastal beauty and consistent rain of the area. But when even smallish cities like Nanaimo have innovative programs that are turning waste into something useful it's easy to get excited about where Canada is going. Check it out this week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures.
When we visited the T'sou-ke first nation on Vancouver Island it was a grey day and the rain was coming down in steady sheets. at first blush not necessarily the best place for solar energy. But the T'sou-ke have a plan, a really good plan in fact with the force of the whole community behind it. So while the big shiny project is the 75 kilowatt solar photovoltaic installation, the largest in B.C. when it was built, the real prize is how they've managed to slash their energy use by 75 per cent. The T'sou-ke did it with solar thermal, ductless air source heat pumps and the old reliables - insulation and air sealing. Learn more about this story on this week's CKUA Radio podcast at Green Energy Futures.
Reza Nasseri, the CEO of the Landmark Group of Builders, thinks the traditional house building process is a bit of a dog's breakfast. He likens it to Ford dumping 15,000 parts off in your garage and you having to hire a mechanic to put it all together. At Landmark they have an indoor house production facility that not only saves energy in the building process but they are building some of the most energy efficient new homes in the province of Alberta. Learn how this week on Green Energy Futures on CKUA Radio. See blog, video and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/37-landmark-beyond-manufactured-homes
The Cowichan Bio-Diesel cooperative has grown from a small group of volunteers selling jugs of their product at a Farmer's Market to scaling up to 150,000 litres a year and powering bus line. Learn how they did it it this week on the CKUA Radio podcast. See Green Energy Futures blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/36-micro-brewed-bio-diesel
Reimagine is a movement started by Edmonton architectural firm Manasc Isaac to inspire people who own aging office buildings not to knock them down, but to re-insulate and re-skin buildings that now save a ton of money by using 70 per cent less energy. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/35-reimagine-your-office-building
The Nest programmable thermostat can, on first blush, look a bit like the HAL9000 from Spacy Odyssey 2001. But this is a kinder, gentler computer – one that isn't worried about the pod bay doors, but about saving you money. It's internet connected with a fully featured mobile app and it even learns your habits and adjusts the temperature accordingly. Learn about the Nest and how programmable thermostats can save you money on this week's CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures podcast. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/34-nest-ipod-programmable-thermostats
There are 64 landfill gas recovery projects in Canada diverting more than seven million megatonnes of C02 equivalent a year and making money for their operators either through electricity and heat or carbon credits. On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures we explore Edmonton's landfill gas operation, a 4.8 megawatt project that can power up 4,600 homes with nothing more than methane that's collected from an old landfill. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/33-landfill-gas-how-old-garbage-can-generate-electricity
The new hot water style district heating system at UBC runs partly on biomass generated heat. It can integrate renewable energy systems like geoexchange, solar thermal and waste heat into this new low temperature heating system. It turns out you can save lots of money, and carbon emissions, by replacing those creaky old turn of the century steam pipes. See video, blog and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/ubc-district-heating-low-carbon-lego
Farmers in Ontario are diversifying into farming for biogas. It uses cow manure and grease from the restauraunt industry to create methane which is then burned to produce heat and power. James Callaghan is a fifth generation dairy farmer who is about two hours east of Toronto. He never thought he would be selling electricity to the grid as part of his business but Ontario's feed-in tariff makes it easier for him to implement this technology. See video, blog and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/31-biogas-closing-loop-cow-poop
Unbeknownst to the thousands of skiers who visit Whistler-Blackcomb every year is exactly what powers its 38 lifts, 17 restauraunts, snowmaking equipment and numerous buildings on-site. It turns out there is a 7.5 megawatt run-of-river power plant on Fitzsimmons Creek that generates the annual demand of the Whistler Blackcomb resort. Take a tour with us on CKUA Radio's Green Energy Futures. See blog, video and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/30-how-it-works-run-river-hydro-electric-power
Alive is not a word you use to describe buildings very often but this four-story 60,000 square foot CIRS building on the UBC campus in Vancouver is practically a living, breathing creature. It treats its own waste, it interacts symbiotically with its neighbors and it even gathers and cleans all of its own drinking water. Learn about what might be the greenest building in Canada this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast. See blog, video and photos http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/29-canadas-greenest-building
The False Creek Energy Centre currently heats 250,000 square metres of space with heat from the sewer system! It saves 70 per cent on greenhouse gas emissions compared to heating with natural gas and they're taking a previously unused waste product and transmogrifying it into something useful. Calvin and Hobbes would be proud. See blog, video and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/28-sewer-heat-how-vancouver-harvesting-energy-what-goes-down-your-drain
When you talk about the tipping point in Vancouver's efforts to get people cycling it was a decision to close a lane of the Burrard Street bridge to cars and make it a bike lane. That was a game changer. It opened without a hitch and Vanouver has embraced the bike. See blog, video and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/26-bike-city-what-rest-canada-can-learn-vancouver
Canada's leading cleantech entrepreneurs, academics and executives say what's needed for Canada to become a clean energy superpower is a level the playing field, a price on carbon and make it easier for entrepreneurs to access capital. Get the details from the 22 experts that were interviewed for this story on this week's podcast at Green Energy Futures in CKUA Radio. See blog, photos and video: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/what-canada-needs-become-clean-energy-superpower
This Camrose County willow biomass project is a real example of a win-win-win project. They took a potential problem - lagoons used to treat human waste - and turned it into a resource - to grow willow biomass that is used to heat their main county office.
See blog, video and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/25-waste-willows
In our last Green Energy Futures CKUA podcast of 2012 we take a tour through our favourite stories, interviews and sounds. We go to Nova Scotia, Ontario, Calgary and our homebase of Edmonton and we talk to regular folks, writers and even a premier. Join us as we recount the top stories and sounds of this year. See blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/24-our-favourite-stories-2012
On an average day about 160 billion tonnes of seawater flows into the Bay of Fundy. That’s more than four times the combined flow of all of the freshwater rivers in the world. Nova Scotia could produce more electricity here than all of Nova Scotia requires-if they get it right. On this weeks Green Energy Futures CKUA podcast we visit the Minas Passage where Nova Scotia is testing the next generation of tidal technologies. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/tidal-tech-101
Université St. Anne is a small, Francophone university in Nova Scotia. It's located on the southeastern tip of Nova Scotia at St. Mary's Bay. This campus of 300 students decided to switch from fuel oil to biomass, wind and solar thermal energy and the campus is now saving $200,000/year. We tour the campus in this episode of Green Energy Futures in our CKUA Radio podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/22-greenest-little-campus-canada
Walmart might not be the most popular company among the green set, but they have taken some amazing steps in the past few years to use renewable energy, become more energy efficient and create less waste. We visit their Fresh Food Distribution Centre in Balzac, Alberta, a marvel of energy efficiency right in our backyard. That's this week in Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/unlikely-walmart-sustainability-story
When Nova Scotia instituted its feed-in tariff it had a community twist. After all this is the home of The Antigonish Movement, a turn of the century micro-finance and community development initiative that was way ahead of Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and Grameen bank. This week on Green Energy Futures we take you to Nova Scotia to look at community wind power. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/nova-scotias-community-power
A new study confirms it. Alberta has the best solar potential in all of Canada. This news was announced at the Solar West Conference put on by the Canadian Solar Industry Asssociation and there was a buzz in the air at this well-attended event. We talk to solar industry veterans to get their take on Alberta's solar resource and how best to develop it. We also talk to Alberta's minister of environment and sustainable resource development, Diana McQueen, the keynote speaker at the event about solar in Alberta. See blog, photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/sunny-solar-alberta
A home energy audit is one of the most powerful tools you have to reduce your own energy consumption. It helps you become smart about saving money and reducing your carbon emissions. Join us for a home tour with an auditor on Green Energy Futures CKUA podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/18-power-home-energy-audit
Light Up Alberta, is a program by small retailers that are paying $0.15 cents a kilowatt-hour for your excess solar electricity. Learn about LIght Up Alberta on this week's Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/17-light-alberta
The Enersaver creates electricity from the downswing of a oilfield pumpjack. With electricity being the single largest expense for a mature oilfield, saving 15 per cent on your electricity costs seems like a pretty good idea! Check out pumpjack powerplants on this week's Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/16-pumpjack-powerplants
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we visit the Canadian Solar plant in Mississauga, Ontario, the province with the most solar in Canada. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/15/house-rising-sun-solar-manufacturing-canada
Phil Dayson is a man who loves his new Chevy Volt. "I've gone 6,698 km since the beginning of December and I've now used a tank and a half of gas and maybe $30 worth of electricity," says Dayson. We talk to Dayson about his Volt on Green Energy Futures, this week's CKUA podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/14/rise-electric-car
Want to support solar energy? Buy a solar bond. "SolarShare is a cooperative that basically intends to build commercial-grade solar projects throughout Ontario and 30% of those we fund by selling public bonds," says Mike Brigham. "We’re now paying 5% per year on a 5-year bond." See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/13/solar-bonds-ethical-local-investing-solar-energy
If you have been paying attention to the wind energy debate in Ontario you might think that wind turbines have never been built in Canada before. Heidi Eijgel has lived with wind turbines in southern Alberta for more than a decade. On this week's Green Energy Futures we tell her experience living with wind and telling that story in Ontario. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/12/heidi-eigel-one-farmers-wind-story
It's the cold winter winds that drive the wind turbines in British Columbia's Peace region and it's the song Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons that kicks off this week's podcast. This week on Green Energy Futures we tell the story of two entirely different wind projects in B.C., one led by the Peace Renewable Energy Cooperative, a community organization in Dawson Creek, and the other a corporate project led by Capital Power our of Edmonton. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/11/big-wing-british-columbia
We start off this week's CKUA podcast with everyone's favourite 1967 Expo-era Ontario promotional tune. This earworm of a ditty was commissioned by the government of Ontario for the 1967 Expo in Montreal. While those Jetsonian fantasies didn’t come true Ontario is taking dramatic steps towards a renewable energy future. Imagine a place that is turning off all of its coal plants in just two years and replacing most of it with renewable energy. That is happening right now in Ontario. See Green Energy Futures video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/10/renewable-energy-revolution-ontario
Visible to hundreds of thousands of commuters and park goers every day the wind turbine at exhibition place on Toronto’s waterfront was a harbringer of the green energy revolution coming to Ontario. Developed by the TREC Renewable Energy Cooperative this was North America’s first urban wind turbine. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/09/how-torontos-waterfront-wind-turbine-kickstarted-green-energy-revolution
Dawson Creek, British Columbia has gone all-in on renewable energy. A local grassroots group helped set up the province's first large scale wind development on a ridge just outside of town and the city has even started charging itself $100 a tonne for carbon. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/08/awesome-dawson-creek-northern-oil-and-gas-town-bets-big-renewable-energy
As the Sesame Street song goes, Cooperation Makes It Happen, and it was a cooperative - the Peace Energy Energy Cooperative - that made the 104 megawatt Bear Mountain Wind Park a reality. That cooperative has also been instrumental both as a source of talent and ideas for the city of Dawson Creek as they've embarked on a radically sustainable journey. Visit Bear Mountain Wind Park in this episode of Green Energy Futures on CKUA Radio. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/08/awesome-dawson-creek-northern-oil-and-gas-town-bets-big-renewable-energy
The landscape of lighting is changing again! We may have just gotten used to CFLs but LEDs are now on the scene. Listen to our expert Wayne Rogers of Luminessence Lighting break down the difference between these two important energy efficient lighting technologies on our CKUA podcast this week. See Green Energy Futures video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/07/green-lighting-basics
It's not every day you can walk down to your favourite retailer and purchase a $10 million dollar light bulb, but that's what you can do with the Phillips Ambient LED. The very first winner of the $10 million L-Prize, an initiative by the US Department of Energy to accelerate the shift from inefficient, out-dated lighting to high-quality, energy efficient products. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/07/green-lighting-basics
Geothermal 101 – Leigh Bond is the president of Threshold Energy and has installed dozens of geothermal systems across western Canada. He says that in 70 per cent of the geothermal jobs he does, the customer forgoes without a natural gas hookup. See Green Energy Futures video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/06/geothermal-101
Geothermal heating isn't as complex as you would think. You drill some holes, sink some pipe and circulate water through the ground below the frost line which is a constant six degrees Celsius. That water goes through a ground source heat pump which is really just a larger, fancier version of the heat pump in your fridge. It strips three degrees off of that water, compresses it, raises the temperature to 65 degrees celsius and provides hot water and space heating like a regular furnace. See Green Energy Futures video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/06/geothermal-101
Greengate Energy isn't a typical wind developer. Instead of locating their wind farms in the windy Pincher Creek area their first project was located in central Alberta near Halkirk. The reason? Access to transmission lines. Near Pincher Creek access to transmission lines is backed up, near Halkirk? Not a problem. Learn just how innovative Greengate Power is on this week's CKUA podcast. See Green Energy Futures video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/05/meet-dan-balaban-albertas-wind-energy-cowboy
Greengate Energy is Dan Balaban's third company that he's founded. Working exclusively in Alberta, he's behind some of Alberta's biggest wind projects including the 150 megawatt Halkirk wind project near Red Deer and the 300 megawatt Blackspring Ridge project 50 km north of Lethbridge, Alberta. Going from zero experience in wind energy to these heights didn't come instantly for Balaban, it's been five years and a pretty steep learning curve. See Green Energy Futures video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/05/meet-dan-balaban-albertas-wind-energy-cowboy
Les Wold, managing partner with Effect Homes, lays out how a home can be designed to produce as much energy as it consumes. One of the key design elements is taking advantage of the free energy provided by the sun. By having a lot of south-facing glass and a thermally massive floor (in this case concrete) you can get 30 to 50 per cent of your home's heat for free. See Green Energy Futures vidoe, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/04/learn-how-second-wave-net-zero-home-builders-lowering-costs-and-making-it-more-accessible
Les Wold is part of the second wave of net-zero home builders who are bringing costs down on homes that produce as much energy as it consumes. Wold has learned some simple lessons from building one net-zero home and two net-zero ready homes right next to each other in the neighborhood of Belgravia in Edmonton. Join Green Energy Futures for a tour on this week's CKUA podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/04/learn-how-second-wave-net-zero-home-builders-lowering-costs-and-making-it-more-accessible
Enmax, the utility owned by the city of Calgary, is going where few utilities have gone before. Their Generate Choice program is aiming to put 8,300 solar systems on Alberta roofs. Learn how they plan to do it and the red tape they've already cut through in order to make it happen. Also, learn how much you get credited for when you export any excess electricity to the grid. See Green Energy Futures video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/03/simple-easy-low-cost-shelf-solar-how-enmax-making-it-reality
Karl Kovacs has been obsessed with solar since he was young. Learn how Enmax's Generate Choice program helped him go solar. That's this week on Green Energy Futures CKUA podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/03/simple-easy-low-cost-shelf-solar-how-enmax-making-it-reality
Kolton Kasur left the family farm in Bashaw, Alberta to work in the oil patch until he came across NAIT's Alternative Energy program. "I think there’s going to be a huge future in [renewable energy] for farming communities and all rural areas," says Kasur. When he graduates he will have worked with everything wind to solar to geothermal to biofuels and even fuel cells. Check out NAIT's Alternative Energy program on CKUA's Green Energy Futures this week. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/02/naits-new-alternative-energy-program-zeros-solar-wind-geothermal-
The NAIT Alternative Energy Program aims to fill a growing demand for renewable energy expertise. It’s a two-year program that teaches students how to design and install a broad range of green technologies ranging from solar to wind and even exotic technologies like fuel cells. There is a “definite knowledge gap out there regarding many of the green technologies,” explains instructor Don MacIntyre. Discover NAIT on this week's Green Energy Futures CKUA podcast. See video, blog and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/02/naits-new-alternative-energy-program-zeros-solar-wind-geothermal-and-more
This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we talk to Chris Turner, author of The Leap about how Spain went from having one of Europe's worst rail systems to one of the best and the effect it had on their carbon footprint. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/01/author-chris-turner-taking-green-energy-leap
Germany is the best example of a country that has made the leap to renewable energy. In 10 years it's gone from 6.7 per cent to 20 per cent of its electricity provided by renewable energy. What did it cost regular Germans? If they didn't take advantage of the feed-in tariff program and, for example, install solar panels on their roof, the average German paid roughly an extra $50 a year on their utility bills. This week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures we speak to Chris Turner, author of The Leap. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/01/author-chris-turner-taking-green-energy-leap
When Medicine Hat aka “The Gas City” created the Hat Smart program to inject a little sustainable energy into their natural gas-fired electricity system residents really got fired up about solar energy and energy efficiency as Alderman Ted Clugston explains in this week’s Green Energy Futures CKUA podcast. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/pilot/medicine-hats-smart-energy-revolution