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Hydro-Québec to launch energy storage system

3 years ago

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Hydro-Québec is launching a new subsidiary that specializes in energy storage systems in a bid to help speed up development of renewable power and commercialize technology it has developed over four decades.

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Enerkem and a group of partners, including Shell, Suncor Energy Inc. and Hydro-Quebec plan to spend $876 million to build a biofuel production plant in Varennes, Que., from non-recyclable residual materials and wood waste.

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Quebec-based clean-energy company Xebec Adsorption has agreed to buy Green Vision Holding, parent firm of HyGear, a Dutch hydrogen and nitrogen gas supplier, for about $156 million. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will invest $50 million toward the acquisition.

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Montreal will plant 500,000 trees, ban non-electric cars downtown, remove parking around métro stations, adopt the most stringent regulations in Canada for greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, and impose a “climate test” on itself according to a 10-year climate plan.

Energy Profiles

CORRECTED LINK TO ARTICLE: A three-day hackathon which asked participants to devise innovative energy, construction and circular economy solutions for Minto Communities‘ Oakvillage development in Oakville concluded with digital presentations and the selection of a winner on Nov. 26.

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Greenbuild Conference & Expo 2020 presented by the U.S. Green Building Council, put on by Informa Connect, the US Green Building Council pushed the industry closer to a regenerative future outlined by LEED Positive promoting social equity, resilience and healthy communities.

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Loblaw, Metro, Save-On-Foods, and Maple Leaf Foods have signed a global pledge alongside some of the world’s largest retailers and manufacturers promising to redesign plastic packaging to make it more recyclable an initiative by The Consumer Goods Forum.

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The human footprint stamped across the world in 2020 is greater than the impact on the planet of all other living things, research suggests. The amount of plastic alone is greater in mass than all land animals and marine creatures combined.

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Many consider mass timber construction (MTC) as an answer to the construction industry’s global challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As more MTC projects are completed, there is an increased understanding of how to use wood to its best advantage.

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RioCan REIT (REI-UN-T) has agreed to issue $500 million principal amount of Series AD senior unsecured debentures, its second Green Bond offering where the proceeds will be expenditures associated with Eligible Green Projects as described in RioCan’s Green Bond Framework.

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Allied Properties REIT (AP-UN-T) has published its Inaugural Environmental, Sustainability and Governance Report and made a commitment to independent scrutiny in order to obtain a GRESB Assessment for 2019 where Allied received a score of 64, a “strong first-year showing.”

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Mexico’s Fibra Prologis has issued a green bond worth $375 million, becoming the first REIT in the country to place such a bond, Mexican stock exchange BMV said. The REIT has a portfolio of over 200 properties focused on logistics and manufacturing.

Yardi Marketplace

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A majority of Canadians would like their buses to be greener. In a November EKOS poll, 80 per cent of respondents supported Ottawa’s plan to spend $1.5 billion to get 5,000 electric school and transit buses on Canadian roads by 2025.

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A report, by the Pembina Institute with some of Canada’s largest shipping companies, calls for Ottawa to provide financial support to help the freight transportation industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the purchase of zero-emission vehicles and charging stations.

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CPP Investments has formed a new company to boost its European investments in renewable energy. Renewable Power Capital Ltd. says it will invest in solar, onshore wind and battery storage with an investment deal size of $100 million to $500 million.

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BDC, the bank for Canadian entrepreneurs, highlighted its commitment to supporting the Canadian cleantech sector, announcing it has invested more than $500 million in Canadian cleantech firms since 2018.

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In California, for hundreds of thousands of residents, acquiring home insurance has turned into a labyrinthine quest that leaves people with expensive and bare-bones coverage as an increasing number of Californians have been dropped by their regular insurers.

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Electric car and industrial batteries sold in Europe will soon face legally binding environmental standards, the European Commission said on Thursday, as it seeks to give local producers an edge in a rapidly growing global market.

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European Union leaders reached a hard-fought deal to cut the bloc’s net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by the end of the decade compared with 1990 levels, avoiding a hugely embarrassing deadlock ahead of a UN climate meeting.

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Greenhouse gas emissions reached a new high last year, putting the world on track for an average temperature rise of 3 degrees Celsius according to a report by the United Nations Environment Program following a year of sobering weather extremes.

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