Energy is inextricably linked to a range of community issues, from health to housing. That was one message that emerged from a four-day gathering in Calgary of more than 200 young Indigenous leaders from every province and territory, organized by Disa Crow Chief of the Siksika Nation and Cory Beaver of the Stoney Nakoda Nation. […]
Energy
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Reconciling energy and Indigenous rights
In 2007, Canada was one of four countries to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (with New Zealand, the United States and Australia). With its single-minded focus on making Canada an “energy superpower,” albeit only with fossil fuels, the Harper government feared the declaration’s concept of “free, prior and informed” […]
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Nova Scotia biomass plant has been running 24/7 for months
It’s been nearly two years since the province lifted regulations requiring NS Power’s biomass plant to run around the clock. Nevertheless, the facility has been operating non-stop for over a month now due to soaring natural gas prices. Nova Scotia Power spokesperson Tiffany Chase confirms the Point Tupper plant has been running “fairly consistently” over […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Renewable energy isn’t perfect, but it’s far better than fossil fuels
In their efforts to discredit renewable energy and support continued fossil fuel burning, many anti-environmentalists have circulated a dual image purporting to compare a lithium mine with an oilsands operation. It illustrates the level of dishonesty to which some will stoop to keep us on our current polluting, climate-disrupting path (although in some cases it […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Site C exposes economic folly of flooding farmland
As many countries move away from big hydro projects, B.C.’s government must decide whether to continue work on the Site C dam. The controversial megaproject would flood a 100-kilometre stretch of the Peace River Valley and provide enough power for the equivalent of about 500,000 homes. The BC Utilities Commission, an independent body responsible for […]
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Cloudy sales for Solar City
The sun isn’t shining as brightly on Solar City these days. Phase two of Halifax’s solar energy financing project has a budget of $13 million for the next three years, but in its first six months has only managed to spend $311,257. It’s not as bad as it seems, though, cautions HRM manager Shannon Miedema. […]
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Cogswell redevelopment bucks the (energy) system
The city’s plans for the Cogswell Interchange redevelopment are centered on creating a source of renewable energy out of the wastewater coming from the nearby sewage treatment plant, though it remains unclear whether this will attract or deter potential buyers. The energy in the wastewater would be converted into thermal energy at a transfer station […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Greatness comes from moving forward, not backward
The battle lines are drawn—in some cases literally. On one side are those reaping massive profits from fossil fuels, determined to extract and sell as much as possible before the market dries up. On the other are those who see the amazing potential of energy conservation, renewable energy and other innovations to reduce pollution, greenhouse […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: We can learn so much from nature
[Image-1] If you fly over a forest and look down, you’ll see every green tree and plant reaching to the heavens to absorb the ultimate energy source: sunlight. What a contrast when you look down on a city or town with its naked roofs, asphalt roads and concrete sidewalks, all ignoring the sun’s beneficence! Research […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: South Australia sets an example for the country and the world
First-time visitors to Australia are often drawn to the big city attractions of Sydney and Melbourne, or the fabulous beaches of Queensland’s Gold Coast. I’ve always had a soft spot for Adelaide in South Australia, a city built more on a human scale, where downtown can be easily navigated on bike, foot or tram. For […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Feed-in tariffs help renewable energy grow
[Image-1] In the early 1990s, Germany launched Energiewende, or “energy revolution,” a program “to combat climate change, avoid nuclear risks, improve energy security, and guarantee competitiveness and growth.” Renewable energy grew from four percent in 1990 to more than 27 percent in 2014, including a significant increase in citizen-owned power projects, according to energy think […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Tapping into geothermal, the clean energy source under our feet
In the midst of controversy over B.C.’s Peace River Site C dam project, the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association released a study showing the province could get the same amount of energy more affordably from geothermal sources, for about half the construction costs. Unlike Site C, geothermal wouldn’t require massive transmission upgrades, would be less environmentally […]