Subterra, Turnkey combine to create STS Geothermal

BIZ  Energy, Real Estate

Subterra Renewables and Turnkey Site Solutions have joined forces to launch STS Geothermal, creating what they call Canada’s first full-service geothermal drilling and shoring service. The timing couldn’t be better for companies positioning themselves within the green energy and sustainability sector.

2010 Whistler Fuel Cell Bus Project a global first

Energy  •  H2 View

2020 marked the 10-year anniversary of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the Whistler Fuel Cell Bus Project, an ambitious project to run a bus fleet made up entirely of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell electric buses as a global first.

Partnership pushes ahead with hydrogen drone project

Energy  •  H2 View

Hy-Hybrid Energy, GOLDI Mobility and Shenzhen MicroMultiCopter have joined forces to push forward the development of hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicles following on the heels of the world’s first international hydrogen aviation conference (IHAC 2020).

Electric Uber, Lyft vehicles key to emission reduction

Energy  •  Environmental Leader  •  Rocky Mountain Institute

Rocky Mountain Institute, in collaboration with General Motors, released an insight brief that reveals why the electrification of transportation network companies, such as Uber and Lyft, is crucial to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles and addressing key barriers to electrification.

SUV, pickup purchases drives up CO2 emissions

Energy  •  Environmental Leader  •  The 2020 EPA Automotive Trends Report

CO2 emissions from all new vehicles in the model year 2019 rose slightly from the record low achieved in the model year 2018 with purchasing trends towards SUVs and pickups offsetting some of the fleetwide benefits.

Quick response to Vancouver’s congestion toll

Real Estate  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Hours after Vancouver said it will charge tolls to drive downtown by 2025, an online petition was launched against the idea. Vancouver is the first city in Canada to adopt road, mobility, or transport pricing and Montreal is considering it.

Toronto needs to retrofit rental housing: ULI report

Real Estate  •  Daily Commercial News

The Urban Land Institute’s Affordability and Resilience: The Challenge of Tower Renewal in Private Rental Apartment Buildings report suggests Toronto needs to retrofit its aging stock of rental housing if the city hopes to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Energy-efficient panels solution for aging housing stock

Real Estate  •  Daily Commercial News

A million Canadian homes have been retrofitted since 1995 with new windows, insulation installations, air sealing,  HVAC upgrades, plus some exterior wall retrofits but there is still a lot to do, said Mark Carver, development project leader at NRC’s CanmetENERGY division.

CleanBC Better Homes Program max. subsidy now $6,000

Real Estate  •  CTV  •  Castanet

B.C.’s energy ministry announced homeowners may now be eligible to get as much as $6,000 back for certain home renovations as part of the CleanBC Better Homes Program depending on what changes they’re making, an increase over the previous threshold.

Vancity aims for net-zero lending portfolio by 2040

Energy  •  Globe Newswire

Building on decades of leadership on environmental sustainability and issues of social and economic inclusion, Vancity announced five ambitious commitments to address the global climate crisis including a target net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 across the credit union’s entire lending portfolio.

UVic plans 45% reduction in carbon intensity of investments

Real Estate  •  Martlet.ca

In 2020, UVic Board of Governors passed a Responsible Investment Policy and recently followed-up with a $500,000 investment in Raven Indigenous Capital Partners’ Indigenous Impact Fund implementing its plan for a 45% reduction in the carbon intensity of its capital investment portfolio.

Surrey approves bylaw banning plastic shopping bags

Real Estate  •  Vancouver Sun

Surrey residents may soon have to pay at least 25 cents for a paper bag for their groceries.

Surrey council has approved a bylaw banning plastic shopping bags, as well as polystyrene foam cups and takeout containers.

PepsiCo a ‘poster child’ for ESG reporting

Real Estate  •  Corporate Secretary

PepsiCo was the winner for Best ESG reporting, a growing field for governance teams, at the Corporate Governance Awards. “PepsiCo is a poster child for what people are trying to do” with ESG reporting, said one of the judges.

Ceres’ Climate Action 100+ sees rise in net-zero targets

Energy  •  Corporate Secretary  •  Climate Action 100+ 2020 Progress Report  •  Forbes

Carbon reporting necessary for emissions enforcement

Energy  •  GreenBiz

KPMG’s 2020 Study on Climate Accounting estimates $90 trillion is needed to finance sustainable infrastructure in U.S. cities and that after 2024 fines totalling as much as $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion will be paid to meet enforcement of climate standards for emissions reduction.

The rise of sustainability-savvy accountants

Energy  •  Eco-business

A recent study by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), titled Mainstreaming impact: Scaling a sustainable recovery, found that nine out of 10 finance professionals globally want companies to increase efforts to become more environmentally sustainable after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadian Biomass’ top 10 stories in 2020

Real Estate  •  Canadian Biomass Magazine

With the wood pellet producers declared essential early on in the pandemic, along with other energy producers, progress continues to be made in the biomass industry and the Canadian bio-economy is set to grow at a faster pace than ever.

Debt risk from environmental disasters eye-popping

Commercial, Real Estate  •  Financial Post

Financial risk assigned to companies by natural disasters keeps growing and growing. Moody’s Investors Service says 18 sectors have a combined US$7.2 trillion of debt with “high inherent exposure to physical climate risks” such as devastating wildfires, storms and other calamities.

EU’s landmark climate law nearing finalization

Energy  •  Reuters

Portugal will use its six-month presidency of the European Union to finalize a landmark law containing the bloc’s emissions-cutting targets. The bill would make the EU’s climate targets irreversible, including its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.

Europe’s community renewable energy faces challenge

Energy  •  Yale 360

In the old medieval market town of Heilbronn, in southwestern Germany, the zeal of the city’s award-winning renewable energy cooperative is on display. In the city of 126,000, solar panels adorn the roofs of homes, kindergartens, schools, municipal buildings, and factories.