Sowing seeds for a greener world

Saltspring Island resident Dan Jason is helping Canadians grow their own foods at home – naturally.

Full Story [canada.com]

This season, think inside the blue box

Give holiday e-cards instead of paper cards, and many other Christmas related enviro-tips.

Carbon auditing for vehicles the first step to reducing vehicle emissions

When it comes to moving towards a low-carbon economy, to borrow a line from Former US President Bill Clinton, it’s the cars, stupid. 

Vehicle transportation is the single-largest contributor of excess carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses.  So any serious effort to counteract climate change must tackle the problem of emissions from vehicles. But how do you know what you are facing if you can’t quantify the problem? 

That’s where Zerofootprint and Skymeter Corporation come in. The two companies have entered a partnership to measure vehicular greenhouse gas emissions.  Toronto-based Skymeter specializes in data-services and billing-delivery metering services and Zerofootprint, as their name implies, facilitates reducing our collective footprint.

Their initial applications focus on highly accurate measurement of corporate and individual carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, combining GPS and carbon-measurement tools.  The purpose of their tools is to quantify the vehicle carbon emission problem, the key to devising intelligent solutions.

One such solution is a simple one: encourage drivers to drive less. Skymeter proposes an incentive-based tolling system that offers drivers incentives to reduce driving. Drivers would be rewarded for reducing their emissions and energy consumption in the form of tax credits instead of punished with punitive taxes and user fees.

Victoria Regional Transit uses a similar method of changing driving habits. It promotes sustainable transportation with a monthly bus pass reward program. Monthly pass holders are permitted to claim a non-refundable tax credit on their income tax return for using a sustainable mode of transport.

It goes to show you that sometimes, the carrot works better than the stick.

Going green for selfish reasons

Many companies are now motivated to go green for both the environment and their bottom lines.

Full Story [Macleans]

Winter Energy Outlook

The National Energy Board recently released its annual Winter Energy Outlook (144KB PDF). If that doesn’t sound like important news, you haven’t been paying attention.  

For the uninitiated, the National Energy Board’s seasonal forecast is an invaluable tool.  It’s an independent, dispassionate and unbiased analysis of current and future trends that will impact your bottom line as an energy consumer.  

Energy trends don’t happen in a vacuum.  Whether you call it a crisis, a panic, or a simple downturn, the current global economic situation has profound effects on the cost of energy.  

There is now a volatile and uncertain environment for energy market, significantly impacting energy demand and prices. For consumers, it’s a mixture of good and bad news. The Winter Energy Outlook highlights three key trends: 

1. Crude oil prices are expected to stay between US$50 and US$75 per barrel.  That’s contrary to recent trends that saw record highs for oil. This may eventually mean cheaper fuel costs for consumers.   
2. Natural gas prices are expected to remain disconnected to the price of crude – and cheaper – assuming winter 2008/2009 sees “normal” weather.  That’s just in North America, mind you.  Europe and Asia, where the price is tied to crude, will see more expensive natural gas.  
3. Overall, the electricity situation is described as “adequate.”  That said, problems may arise in Western Canada.  Demand has outpaced supply for several years, and reserves are being depleted.  In the centre and east, demand might actually decline, as the hard-hit manufacturing industry may shut down some plants and mills. 

Prowling the Pumps – November 25, 2008

Canadian Gasoline Prices

Average across Canada

Gasoline prices are still dropping, but the rate at which they’re dropping is slowing down – 2.6¢ per litre this week compared to 3.5¢ per litre last week. The price of gasoline across Canada averaged $0.819 per litre. Our hypothetical 80-litre tank was only $2.08 less expensive to fill this week than last.

Provincial gasoline prices slid in everywhere in the country, but some cities – Kingston and Montreal – saw increases as much as 3.4¢ per litre. This week, for the second week in a row, the largest drop honours go to the Yukon at 7.5¢ per litre.

Overall, the average gasoline price in Canada has dropped 56.4¢ per litre since its all-time high of $1.383 per litre during the week of July 15. And this means that our hypothetical 80-litre tank now costs $45.12 less than it did almost four months ago – $110.64 then compared to $65.52 now.

Least Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Of the 60 cities surveyed this week, 58 enjoyed gasoline prices less that one dollar. That’s two more than last week. The number of cities paying less than 80¢ per litre grew to 10 from two. And for the first time in several weeks, Edmonton sneaks into the low-cost five, all of which were below 80¢ per litre for the first time.

Most Expensive Gasoline in Canada (per litre)

Another first this week – first time three cities in the pricey five are below $1.00 per litre. Maybe next week, all five will be under the $1.00 mark.

Last week we questioned how long our flirtation with affordable gasoline will last. We pointed out that the decline seemed to be leveling off, and that trend continued this week.

In the past week, the price of West Texas Intermediate slipped below $50 US per barrel before climbing back to the $54 US mark. That’s the lowest it’s been since the spring of 2005.

The stock markets have fared better lately with almost a week of solid gains. Will the oil markets follow suit?

We’ll see what happens next week.

Pricing by Province

	Last Week	This Week	Change
BC	0.965	0.905	-0.060
AB	0.832	0.800	-0.032
SK	0.912	0.869	-0.043
MB	0.890	0.872	-0.018
ON	0.844	0.813	-0.031
QC	0.864	0.850	-0.014
NB	0.859	0.827	-0.032
PE	0.856	0.809	-0.047
NS	0.872	0.826	-0.046
NL	0.988	0.955	-0.033
YT	1.054	0.979	-0.075
NT	1.104	1.062	-0.042

Car sharing co-op attractive option for Calgarians

The Calgary Alternative Transportation Co-operative known as CATCO is a program designed to provide Calgarians with the ability to share a vehicle without having to own one.

Full Story [canada.com]

Obama wants to make White House ‘green’

In a recent interview with Barbara Walters, president elect Barack Obama said he intends to green up the white house and use it as an example to show the American people that even a few easy steps can make a large difference.

Full Story [news.yahoo.com]

Recycled goods market plunges

Market prices for recycled items have dropped dramatically in recent months, causing concern for next year’s municipal recycling budgets.

Full Story [National Post]

‘A lot of people in the industry see pure electric vehicles as the endgame’

At the Los Angeles auto show, all of the major companies are showing off their eco-friendly products and racing to get to the final destination – a car that runs purely on electric energy.

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