Canadian wins award for liquid metal batteries

BIZ  Energy  •  Technology  •  Toronto / GTA, International

Canadian electrochemist Donald Sadoway has been honoured with a 2022 European Inventor Award by the European Patent Office (EPO) for his work developing liquid metal batteries designed to store renewable energy at scale.

Hazelview makes $5.3M investment in AI design firm

BIZ  Real Estate  •  Investment, Technology  •  National

Hazelview Ventures, with participation from Ferguson Ventures and Whiteshell Group, is investing $5.3 million in Augmenta, a Toronto-based AI firm developing cutting-edge generative design technology for the construction industry.

Investors plant $7M with vertical farmer Vision Greens

BIZ  Carbon  •  Ontario

Canadian vertical farming startup Vision Greens has raised $7 million from investors to fill grocery shelves with sustainable leafy greens. Vision Greens, based in Welland, Ont., offers four varieties of lettuce, plus arugula and basil.

Behind Canada Post’s electrification transition

Transportation  •  Electric Autonomy

In an exclusive interview, Ian Kerr, vice-president of business transformation at Canada Post, offers Electric Autonomy Canada a backstage look at the corporation’s new $1-billion commitment to electrify its 14,000-vehicle fleet.

Doubt over ESG demonstrates company unpreparedness

ESG  •  Waste 360

Organizations navigating the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) reporting landscape are expressing a set of obstacles they face on their journeys to create circularity and reduce environmental impact.

New UN panel looks to ensure net-zero accountability

ESG  •  Corporate Knights

The United Nations last week launched an international panel of 16 experts, chaired by former Canadian environment minister Catherine McKenna, to recommend how best to assess, track and verify net-zero commitments from corporations, financial institutions and cities.

The sobering reality of the UN’s Global Goals

ESG  •  GreenBiz

A new United Nations report finds dismal progress made on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to tackle the world’s thorniest social, environmental and economic challenges.

Is carbon air capture an effective climate solution?

Carbon  •  Corporate Knights

The ESG Report › The ESG Report: Canfor, Hines, Trans Mountain

Tyler Choi: Writer

Calgary approves 2050 net-zero strategy

Real Estate  •  CBC

Calgary city council voted to approve a new climate strategy, replacing a 2018 strategy and following council’s decision last fall to declare a climate emergency. The plan outlines actions needed to help Calgary reach its climate target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Sask. climate goals ‘unambitious’: experts

Real Estate  •  CBC

The Saskatchewan government released its 2022 climate resilience report, touting improvements across a range of goals, but environmental experts and advocates say the targets are not ambitious enough.

Ottawa developers warn of suburban flight with new bylaw

Real Estate  •  CBC

Ottawa’s planning committee has approved a new bylaw with tougher green space requirements for some new developments — one that several developers say will make it harder to meet intensification targets and could drive people to the suburbs.

Ontario’s dilemma between housing and farmland

Real Estate  •  Narwhal

All through the spring election, Doug Ford’s incumbent government promised to build 1.5 million more homes across Ontario in the next 10 years. Having won a second term, it now has to deliver.

Heartland produces first plastic pellets

Real Estate  •  CBC

The $4.3-billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex, which has been under construction northeast of Edmonton since 2018, has produced its first plastic pellets, an important milestone en route to the expected start of full commercial operation sometime this fall.

Suncor’s ambitious net-zero plan

Carbon  •  Carbon Credits

Suncor, one of North America’s largest oil companies, vows to cut annual emissions by 10 megatonnes by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

Investors shine a satellite on oil and gas methane leaks

Energy  •  Corporate Knights

Some of the current cohort of satellites bounce signals to our phones; others gather imagery of Earth’s surface. A growing field of satellite technology will be gathering information about greenhouse gas emissions.

US petrochemical hub seeks ban on new solar farms

Real Estate  •  Bloomberg

One of the world’s thickest clusters of petrochemical and plastics factories located in Louisiana may ban new solar farms amid a boom in construction of the electricity-making arrays.

U.S. removing tariffs on Canadian solar panels

Real Estate  •  Globe and Mail

Canada and the United States have reached an agreement to remove American tariffs on Canadian-made solar products. International Trade Minister Mary Ng says the deal reflects the shared commitment to combat climate change and develop renewable energy.

The suburban lawn will never be the same

Real Estate  •  Bloomberg

Homeowners from Las Vegas to Sydney are swapping real grass for artificial turf as climate change forever alters what a normal yard looks and smells like.

Salt Lake City Confronts a future without a lake

Real Estate  •  Bloomberg

From the southern rim of the Great Salt Lake, the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, barely any of the pinkish, saline waters that used to engulf the million-acre basin are visible.