A new dawn for solar energy

A new dawn for solar energy

The assembly lines at Jinko Solar whir with the precise efficiency of a high-tech Chinese factory. Workers and robots work side by side, tending machines that take wafer-thin squares of black silicon, imprint and infuse them with chemicals before placing them onto large frames. Far from here, the completed modules will be erected in empty fields and atop buildings, facing the sun and pumping out electrons.

Globe and Mail

RMI scales community solar across the U.S.

More than a year ago, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) announced its Shine Program would focus on community-scale solar. It claimed that community-scale solar could be procured at costs close to utility-scale solar, unlocking a 5–30 GW market by 2020. However, they could not have predicted the success of the initial projects.

GreenBiz

Ottawa solar energy co-op looks to raise $2M

An Ottawa-based renewable energy organization is looking to raise a fresh round of financing so it can expand its number of solar power installations across eastern Ontario. Since launching in 2012, the Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-operative has raised $5.1 million from investors and financed 13 solar rooftop projects in Ottawa.

Ottawa Business Journal

Regina garbage dump now powering 1,000 homes

The garbage that Regina residents produce on a daily basis will now help power homes across the province. With the new landfill gas-to-energy facility, the City of Regina has the ability to generate more than one megawatt of electricity through the methane produced by waste at the landfill.

The Leader Post – CBC

Microgrids, still a small player, continue to grow

Microgrids are turning into a macro business. The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund it is investing $2 billion in a partnership with Anbaric Development Partners. Anbaric builds clean energy projects, including large microgrids, in North America. The goal is to replace eroding infrastructure.

Energy Manager Today

Constructing our future with low-carbon buildings

Canada, the energy used in homes and buildings accounts for nearly a quarter of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Left alone, inefficient, leaky buildings will suck energy and spew emissions for several decades.  Buildings have long lifespans — longer than those of power plants, cars and appliances.

Pembina Institute

The U.K.’s Land Securities plan to green its buildings

Commercial real estate giant Land Securities has announced its plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its buildings by 80 percent by 2050 have been given the seal of approval by the Science Based Targets initiative. The initiative is a partnership between the international not-for-profit organization CDP, the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute, and the WWF.

CNBC

Alberta announces rebate for solar panels on buildings

The Alberta government is putting up $36 million over two years for a rebate program to encourage rooftop solar panels on homes and businesses. Environment Minister Shannon Phillips says more details are to come and the rebates are to be available as early as this summer.

CBC – Calgary Herald

Alberta rolls out residential energy savings plan

Alberta is rolling out an energy savings program which will cover the cost of LED light bulbs, low-flow showerheads, smart thermostats and other cost savers — including installation — as part of a five-year, $645-million program funded by the province’s carbon tax.

CBC – CBC – Calgary Herald

Wind turbines head for homes again

A new type of small wind turbine for home electricity generation, intended to match the popularity and potential of solar power, is being developed in Europe. This will be the second time that attempts have been made by the European Commission (EC) to get wind turbines generally accepted for domestic and small-scale commercial use.

Globe-net.com

WorldGBC’s CEO names as leader on climate action

Terri Wills, WorldGBC’s CEO, has been named in a list of 10 women leading the global push towards climate action, gender equality and social justice for all. The list appeared in Eco-Business, a Singapore-based news website, and coincided with this year’s International Women’s Day, which took place on 8 March.

World Green Building Council

First BREEAM USA In-Use certified building

The first BREEAM USA In-Use certified building is The Oaks Shopping Center in Thousand Oaks, California. The green building standard, administered by BRE America, measures and monitors environmental performance in existing facilities. BREEAM, which has been used in the UK and Europe for almost two dozen years, launched in the US in June 2016.

Environmental Leader

As some federal energy incentives end, New York eyes substitutes

Quietly, while the United States focused on its national election, a set of federal clean-energy incentives phased out at the end of 2016. Now that they have vanished, states may seek to create replacements to keep these markets alive and help them grow.

Green Biz

Demand driving Aldi’s $1.6 billion green building remodel

Grocery chain Aldi plans to spend $1.6 billion to remodel and expand its stores, implementing green building features such as natural lighting, recycled materials, energy-saving refrigeration and LED lighting. That company says it will also focus on adding more fresh items as well as removing added MSG, certified synthetic colors and partially hydrogenated oils to its products.

Environmental Leader

Tesco launches hotline to streamline supply chain, reduce waste

Tesco has launched an online hub that it refers to as a hotline to make its supply chain operations run more efficiently. The aim of the portal, is to minimize food waste hotspots. The ‘hotline’ is accessible to over 5,000 Tesco suppliers and partners.

Environmental Leader

Products, Technology and Design

Energy efficient windows have value – but raise questions

Fenestration in general – and windows in particular – are among the most important building blocks of energy efficiency. Constellation offers a good primer on the types of windows that are available. Casement windows, the piece says, “open outward, like a door” and are the most energy efficiency windows.

Energy Manager

Ottawa’s GBatteries Energy lands $1.2M in federal cash

An Ottawa startup that says its battery system allows electric cars to be recharged almost as quickly as gas vehicles can be refuelled has landed $1.2 million in federal funding.  GBatteries Energy Canada received the grant this week from Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s SD Tech Fund, which helps finance clean-technology projects.

Ottawa Business Journal

Market Trends and Research

Clean tech worth $1.8 billion to B.C. economy

British Columbia’s so-called clean-technology industry employs 8,560 people at 273 firms in the province that generated an estimated $1.8 billion in revenue 2016. That is a 35-per-cent increase in the number of companies and 20-per-cent gain in employment from a similar survey conducted in 2011.

Vancouver Sun

Alternative facts about the greening of existing buildings

The greening of existing buildings is all about the other kind of green: money. While some may yet debate climate change’s existence, making money off sound real estate investments is still viewed as smart, safe and trendy. And the easiest way to make real estate more valuable? By greening existing buildings.

NRE Online

Market trends and research

Environmental group slams GTA developers for sprawl

The development industry is under attack by an environmental advocacy group that blames homebuilders for the spread of urban sprawl into Ontario farm country. Environmental Defence says developers are using a loophole in the Ontario growth plan — an anti-sprawl policy — to build subdivisions in remote places beyond the Greater Toronto Area.

Toronto Star

The new normal: designing for climate resilience

There is no greater force than the force of nature, and there is no clock more relentless than the rhythm of our seasons. More than 70 percent of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050. And people like to live by the water. Our coastal cities, often our densest cities, are facing climate change impacts first. Florida residents are already feeling the effects of glacial melting and rising sea levels.

BDC Newtwork

All the sustainable ladies: 10 women who will inspire you

Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong’s popular saying proclaims that women hold up half the sky. But as the skies grow ever more unpredictable with increasingly intense rains, extreme weather events such as hurricanes and droughts, women also shoulder a disproportionate share of the impact of climate change.

Eco-business

Commercial real estate

Three New York ski resorts plan for renewable

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that three New York-owned ski resorts, Belleayre Ski Resort, Gore Mountain and Whiteface Mountain, have pledged to be powered by 100 percent renewal electricity by 2030, joining The Climate Reality Project’s I AM PRO SNOW 100% Committed campaign.

Green Lodging News

Unique approach to increasing the sustainability of old buildings

Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has recently come up with an interesting and unique solution to turning an old, 1970’s apartment building into a very sustainable complex. His plans call for the transformation of the existing concrete structure into an energy producing building with a green façade.

Jets on Green

Renewable Energy

B.C.’s biggest wind farm churning out electricty

The developer of British Columbia’s largest wind farm has completed its 61-turbine, $400-million facility north of Tumbler Ridge and is churning out electricity for B.C. Hydro, the company said Monday.

The Star Phoenix

Brookfield set to acquire TerraForm companies

Brookfield Asset Management is poised to expand its extensive solar and wind power holdings with a friendly takeover of two U.S. companies affiliated with SunEdison Inc., which has been under bankruptcy protection for nearly a year. The offer values TerraForm Power’s total equity at US$1.7 billion and TerraForm Global at US$787 million.

The Record

Enbridge Inc invests German wind park in North Sea

Canadian energy infrastructure group Enbridge Inc has bought a 49.9 per cent stake in EnBW’s 1.8 billion euro (US$1.9 billion) North Sea offshore park Hohe See, EnBW said on Friday. Enbridge said it was spending a total of around $1.7 billion, which includes some financing and transaction costs.

Financial Post

Kimberley’s SunMine solar farm shines in first full year of operation

A former lead and zinc mine in southeastern B.C. has generated a small profit in its first full year of operation as a solar farm. A report by city staff in Kimberley shows the community-owned SunMine project returned just over $12,600 in profit on annual revenues of just under $180,000 in 2016.

Vancouver Sun

Commercial Green Buildings

Amazon to mount solar panels on 50 facilities by 2020

Amazon has just laid out a bright new goal for itself. The e-commerce giant announced the launch of a clean energy initiative that calls for the installation of solar panels on 50 fulfillment and sortation centers around the world by 2020. To kick off the endeavor the company will pepper the rooftops of more than 15 U.S. locations in 2017.

CP Executive

Residential Real Estate

Bob Chelmick’s solar-powered cabin in the woods

Bob Chelmick is in his natural environment at the Cabin in the Woods, an hour northwest of Edmonton, home of solar powered radio, the landmark CKUA Radio series The Road Home.

Pembina Institute

Cancer scare inspires Sask. man to promote ‘healthy’ homes

When Ian Loughran was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma in 2005, he was given roughly two weeks to live. Twelve years later, he remembers a comment made by the medical team that changed the course of his career. Loughran set about educating himself on energy-efficient building, renewable energy and alternative energy vehicles.

CBC

Green building ratings

USGBC’s Greenbuild conference coming to Mumbai

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)—the creators of the LEED green building rating system—have announced that Greenbuild, the world’s largest green building conference and expo, will be held in Mumbai, India November 2 to 4, 2017.

Green Lodging News

Government Programs and Incentives

Canada should stick to its own path in clean tech

 Since American voters saw fit to elect Donald Trump as President, a chorus in this country has called for sharp pullbacks in spending and policies directed at advancing green technologies. It is off-key. Mr. Trump is not the environmentalist’s friend, but that is no reason for Canada to follow his path.

Globe and Mail

The first smart state? The quest to link up the Land of Lincoln

Name a U.S. hot spot for tech innovation. The first name on your lips probably isn’t Illinois, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, but it’s time to emancipate yourself from that skepticism. This is, after all, the land that helped invent plasma displays, graphical web browsers and the cell phones that most of us clutch every day.

Green Biz

Corporate Sustainability

Fashion join efforts to halt destruction of endangered forests

Major clothing brands like Timberland, Vans, Nautica and The North Face say they will no longer make products derived from ancient, endangered forests. VF Corporation announced Monday it will no longer buy pulp from “sources that contribute to the loss of ancient and endangered forests or rights taken from Indigenous people and local communities.”

CBC.ca

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

Charlottetown sewage plant to get a green overhaul

The City of Charlottetown has plans to turn its sewage treatment plant into a showcase for green technology. City officials announced Tuesday they are working with Carleton University in Ottawa to harness solar, wind and tidal energy on the waterfront site.

CBC

Cities learning from each other to adapt to climate change

Municipalities across Europe increasingly acknowledge the need to adapt to climate change and have begun to adopt various measures. Meeting the costs of adaptation measures for climate change is, however, a major challenge. Despite budgetary challenges, cities and towns are taking action to put in place measures that will help them adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Globe-net.com

City strategies to make buildings more energy efficient

Improving the energy efficiency of buildings lacks the glamour of headline-grabbing urban innovations such as drone-based delivery and elevated bicycle highways. Yet for cities determined to achieve sustainable growth, it’s a must. Buildings account for about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions and it’s more like half in many big cities.

Eco Business

Transit, bikes and transportation

Chinese city gets bike highway in the sky

Copenhagen’s Bicycle Snake is a wonderful ride and a fun design by Dissing + Weitling Architecture. Now the firm has completed a 7.6 km (4.7 mi) elevated bicycle path in Xiamen, China that they claim was developed “with a vision to inspire people to prioritize green alternatives, such as the bicycle, instead of the automobile.”

TreeHugger

Vancouver’s bike economy: the hottest thing on two wheels

The proliferation of green-painted bike lanes around downtown Vancouver may be the surest sign of the power of the local cycling lobby, but behind store windows and in offices and garages, another revolution is underway. As residents ride their bicycles more—trips climbed 32 per cent from 2014 to 2015, according to the city’s 2015 Transportation Panel Survey.

BC Business

Water Management

Global water forum on climate and water policy

As World Water Day on March 22nd approaches, water leaders around the world are planning next steps in global water and climate policy and action. Water leaders are focused on ensuring that the water-energy nexus is considered in the next round of negotiations.

Water Canada

Waste Management

Group hopes to grow composting pilot project

The City of Winnipeg may have given up on curbside compost pickup but a non-profit group is busy getting a few apartment blocks and condos composting in a pilot project it hopes will grow throughout the city. ON SITE Multi-Family Composting Project is offering all the tools and support to get apartment and condo dwellers set up to compost where they live.

Winnipeg Free Press

Companies find new ways to use captured carbon

It has been derided as an expensive excuse to burn coal. But now, carbon capture technology may be leading to new commercial uses that could end up in your mouth. While business case questions have swirled over carbon capture and storage, companies are increasingly looking to turn emissions that would otherwise be buried in the ground.

Financial Post