Group nominated for award

Regina’s Newton plans to be in Toronto for the Canadian Environment Awards gala on June 2.

Full Story [Regina Leader Post]

All aboard for this electrifying idea

Railways chugged 2.1 billion litres of diesel fuel in Canada last year.

Full Story [The Gazette]

Hey Ontario…this week is important!

Every year, Ontario uses about 152,000,000 megawatt hours (464KB PDF) of electricity, enough to watch your favourite 42” plasma television at 358 kilowatt hours for the next 291,563 years.

That’s a lot of Battlestar Galactica.

Ontario leads the country in its use of energy, consuming more petroleum and coal than any other Canadian province.

It’s a dubious honour, but beginning May 25, the province will be trying to curb its energy use during its first annual Energy Conservation Week, a week of province-wide events complete with simple energy-saving tips designed to make Ontarians think about the way they use energy.

Co-created by Ontario’s Power Authority (OPA), the province’s Ministry of Energy, the Electricity Distributors Association (EDA) and the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the week is designed to show businesses and individuals how they can contribute to Ontario’s conservation goals.

Of course, Ontario’s utilities and their acronym-endowed umbrella organizations don’t expect Ontarians to commit to energy savings without some kind of tangible reward, so the week also includes those two words that every frugal energy user loves to hear: free stuff!

Backyard makeovers! Free shower heads and low-flow kitchen swivel aerator! A promotional video featuring Peter Love, Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer!

Well, all right, a video with a middle-aged executive touring Ontario with stock footage of washers and dryers may not exactly be riveting stuff. But if Ontarians really do have 291 millennia worth of power for their television-watching needs, it’s an event with plenty of time to improve.

Prowling the Pumps – May 20, 2008

On the case, lurking at service stations across the country to find the lowest and highest gasoline prices in Canada.

Average across Canada

So…my short term prediction was wrong. Prices dropped $0.004 per litre from last week. Not a huge deal. It means that if you waited until this week to fill up and you have an 80-litre gas tank, you saved a whopping 32 cents.

Least Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

For the fifth week in a row, Kingston tops our list. But…as with last week, the next four in the low-cost five are all from Alberta. It’s still a battle of high throughput versus low taxes and low taxes won out again.

Most Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Looks like Quebec is making real inroads into the pricey five, but Labrador City and Yellowknife still maintain their stranglehold on the two most expensive cities in which to fill up. Again it’s all a matter of taxes. Without taxes, Trois-Rivières would crack the low-cost five and Labrador City would only be three-tenths of a cent out.

Back to my predictions. With crude oil trading above $130.00US per barrel, the price of gasoline has no where to go but up. A $0.004 drop is not a precursor to declining prices.

And speaking of predictions, American oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, Jr. predicted $150 US per barrel oil before the end of the summer. Boone is noted for his accuracy in forecasting oil prices. He reportedly predicted last year that oil would reach $80.00 US per barrel before he reached 80 years of age. Well, tomorrow, May 22 is Boone’s 80th.

Learning to live green in Regina

Sheri Florizone is showing Regina residents that it’s easy being green.

Full Story [Regina Leader Post]

Supporting alternative energy

Some causes are close to your heart.

Triumph International (Japan) is a lingerie maker known for taking that metaphor literally with its line of concept underwear. Having previously tackled issues such as encouraging voter turnout and reducing the use of disposable chopsticks, the marketing team at Triumph recently announced its support for solar power.

Their, yes, solar bra sheds light on the use of alternative energy in our everyday lives. With a photovoltaic panel, the bra generates enough electricity to charge a mobile phone or MP3 player.

Unfortunately, these undies aren’t for sale—they’re just for show. And it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that these delicates need to see the light of day to produce power. So, even if you could buy them, covering them with clothing would render them useless.

The use of renewable resources in Japan, where Triumph focuses its themed underwear line, isn’t exactly a shocking revelation. Instead, the company is tapping into the growing popularity of consumer participation in combating climate change. Their latest green undergarment dovetails nicely with the Japanese government’s campaign to cut one kilogram of carbon dioxide emissions per person every day and goal to have approximately 70 per cent of newly constructed houses to be equipped with solar panels by 2020.

While Triumph might be seeking to lift and separate its own reputation from the rest of the current wave of green announcements with their latest public relations centrepiece, they are reflecting a growing consumer desire to take action to support the environment. And that is certainly getting them out in front of some international attention.

Okotoks…painting the town green?’

Having won three environmental awards, including one from the United Nations, Okotoks, Alberta is showing just how big an impact a number of small steps can have when you put them together.

Formerly best known as the home of the world’s largest glacial erratic rock, Okotoks is now building a rock-solid reputation as a green community. From a bylaw requiring the installation of low flow toilets to construction of Canada’s first fully solar community, Okotoks is recycling environmentally-harmful practices into new, responsible approaches.

One has to wonder if Okotoks, which has put limits on just how big the town can get, can do it, why can’t every other city in Canada? Many communities have green programs in place and are taking a look at a broad range of energy and water conserving practices. Many of these programs are small and simple, though they require the engagement of the entire community, but the biggest obstacle to implementation is funding for the programs.

Back in Okotoks, as shown in its Sustainable Okotoks Green Guide, they know it’s not necessary to move the big rock all at once, but that success can come through combined, individual effort that slowly chips away at the big problem.

Electricity Gets Smarter

Just how smart can electricity get? Will it walk? Talk? Raise legions of super robots to ruthlessly conquer the planet?

All right, probably not that last one. But there’s no denying that our electricity technology is, for better or worse, getting smarter.

“Smart meters” are already changing the way that some households measure their electricity consumption. With real-time monitoring, rather than the more familiar monthly tracking, the new systems are designed to help households plan their energy consumption to avoid overwhelming the power grid during peak periods. Utilities are even offering discounted rates for using power during off-peak hours.

Smart meters (or “advanced metering infrastructure”) are already being integrated into Ontario’s utilities, but the system isn’t without its detractors. Some feel that increasing rates for peak periods is more like a disguised rate hike than a genuine attempt at saving power, with the off-peak rates looking like drops in the bucket compared with a rising tidal wave.

One possible answer, if not to the issue of higher prices then certainly to the ability to make our machines police their own energy use might lie in so-called “smart grid” technology. Providing visual cues, like an amber light, and the capability to tie all your appliances into a single energy-saving schedule, smart grid technology provides another side of communication for your energy use. Where smart meters tell your utility how much power you’re using and when, smart grids may be able to give you the same information about your utility.

Both technologies are in the early phases of implementation, so it’s difficult to know exactly how they’ll eventually pan out. But for those with fears of a post-apocalyptic future ruled by super intelligent meters, relax. After all, how smart could they possibly get?

Take me to the pilot (light)

Becoming energy-aware and taking steps to reduce our carbon-footprint doesn’t always have to break the bank. Did you know that while your home feels like a sauna and you’re roasting in 30 degree temperatures in mid-July, the gas fireplace and furnace you’ve turned down low continues to burn natural gas? Although a common mistake, not turning off the pilot light needlessly inflates your utility bill and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Yup, while you’re restlessly tossing and turning at night in search of the “cool side of the pillow”, your pilot light is adding to the unwanted heat you desperately want to avoid during those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.

According to the green living gurus at Ideal Bite, simply turning off your fireplace and furnace’s pilot light during the warm, albeit sometimes insufficiently brief, Canadian summer months can save you upwards of 50 per cent on the total gas your fireplace consumes each year, putting money back in your jeans.

Extinguishing the pilot light is just one of several simple ways to reduce your energy consumption at home. In collaboration with Natural Resources Canada, ATCO Gas provides useful pointers on better understanding your residential natural gas costs while minimizing the overall impact on our environment.

So it seems we don’t always have to fork out the big bucks to help out the environment – just a quickly doused flame can pay dividends! Pay a visit to ATCO’s EnergySense House for further details on how to save on residential gas bills in fulfilling your part to reduce energy consumption today.

Safety moment: Great care must be taken when making any adjustments to appliances or fixtures which use natural gas. Be safe! The government of Alberta has a natural gas safety brochure (36KB PDF) available for download.

Say yes to YIMBY

We’ve heard a lot about NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) when it comes to renewable energy development. For some people, the idea of using so-called green power is fabulous – as long as it’s tucked away and out of sight. But increasingly, there’s a lot more YIMBY going on as people say YES to backyard power—small, single family projects as opposed to large, city-powering generation systems.

While the move from NIMBY to YIMBY can be driven by direct benefit from living off the grid (as Royal Roads University in Victoria is attempting), it can also come from a simple love of eco-friendly power within sight of your kitchen window. In 2005, David Suzuki affirmed his belief in the beauty of wind power with an articulate defense of that oft-NIMBY’d energy source.

Whatever your motivation for saying YIMBY to backyard energy, there are more and more opportunities for making wind, solar or even ethanol energy part of your home. Do-it-yourselfers have already drawn up the plans (as featured in Canadian Home Workshop).

So, it seems the only question left is: are you ready to say YIMBY?

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