Accelerating Carbon Sequestration in Alberta
July 29, 2009
The Alberta Carbon Capture and Storage Development Council have announced potential CO2 uses for helping get more oil from the ground.
Nissan Offers Sneak Peek of Electric Car
July 28, 2009
Nissan has offered a sneak peek at its new zero emissions electric car.
U of C Study Finds Positive GHG Benefits to PHEVs
July 28, 2009
Usually, in Alberta, using electric cars isn’t as green as in other provinces because the electricity needed to power them is generated by coal, oil or natural gas. However, a U of C research team is saying that with “smart” charging systems Albertans can still benefit significantly in terms of environmental impacts.
Three weeks and counting
July 28, 2009
That’s roughly how much time is left until mid-August, which is when the federal government winds up a public review of its proposal for a national carbon-offset program which would set up tradeable pollution permits. The draft version, published in the June 13 issue of the Canada Gazette Part I, is designed to elicit comments which the government will consider in putting together a final regulatory announcement of its proposed Offset System for Greenhouse Gases in the Canada Gazette Part II in the fall.
“We will be rigorous in ensuring that credits will only be issued for projects that actually reduce the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions,” Environment Minister Jim Prentice told an Economic Club of Canada audience.
Environment Canada explained that potential qualifying projects include methane capture and destruction from landfill gas, forestation projects, agricultural soil management and wind energy projects. Generation of credits would begin with a project type-specific, quantification protocol, setting the project up for registration and implementation, emissions data monitoring, reporting, verification and certification, leading to issuance of the credits.
”Once an offset credit is generated . . . it can be traded on the carbon market, banked, or used for compliance purposes,” the department added. “These credits could be sold directly to companies subject to federal greenhouse gas regulations, allowing them to meet their required reductions. Other parties will be able to acquire and use these credits to voluntarily offset greenhouse gas emissions.”
The minister said later that while eligible projects must have been started up since 2005 to be eligible for inclusion, only offsets made after 2010 would be applicable to emissions targets. “What I’m describing to you today is the gold standard of offset credits.”
The domestic market is the initial focus of the proposal, but he wants to see it eventually become part of a continental approach. Having promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent from 2006 levels by 2020, the government had already indicated a willingness to work with the United States and Mexico to develop and implement a cohesive approach by 2015.
Moreover, the plan would complement rather than supplant or duplicate regional carbon markets such as the Western Climate Initiative that includes four provinces and seven states.
Prentice had confirmed earlier that Canada’s plan to mandate caps on industrial greenhouse gases would be postponed by two years, to coincide with U.S. implementation over four years starting in 2012. The regulations originally were to have become effective next year, but Prentice said industrial competitiveness and the need to protect jobs and investments warranted a harmonized approach.
Solar paint?
July 28, 2009
Soon, the only tool needed to combat climate change could be a paintbrush.
No more need for costly solar panels. The Corus Group, a Dutch steel company, has developed a way to paint solar cells right onto steel at the time of manufacture.
Photovoltaic cells are the things in solar panels which generate a current or voltage when exposed to visible light. In other words, they’re what make a solar panel convert the sun into energy. Photovoltaic paint is a whole new type of ‘sun screen.’
The company says its paint is made into a liquid paste containing a layer of dye and a layer of electrolytes. Four coats of paint would need to be applied in total— an undercoat, a layer of dye-sensitized solar cells, a layer of electrolyte or titanium dioxide as white paint pigment and finally a protective film.
The solar technology is much like a plant’s photosynthesis and this boundary-pushing invention could have production starting by 2012.
It means that one day all building surfaces that come into contact with the sun have the potential to become a photovoltaic surface. What is really exciting is the potential for deployment on a mass scale. Made possible because the paint would cost less than a solar cell, providing clean solar electricity at a low cost.
There would also be the added advantage for cloudier climates since the painted steel would be more efficient at capturing low radiation light than conventional solar cells.
Someday all your buildings could be three sheets to the sun.
G8 emissions plan is meaningless
July 28, 2009
G8 countries seem to be floating down the GHG reduction creek without a frame of reference as a paddle.
Wind power takes a blow from the global economy
July 27, 2009
The Atlantic coast is a windy, windy place, no doubt about that.
Luckily, wind is a useful resource, and moves are being made to harness that wind and turn a profit. But, there are obstacles galore.
A $1 billion wind farm in Summerside, P.E.I. was delayed by the sudden economic downturn, as investors backed out at the last minute. Originally going forward in stages, phases one and two are now being combined. Four turbines are expected to be installed by November.
Additionally, the project has run into a strong case of NIMBY. Local residents aren’t completely sold on the project. In 2006, the first two windmills were installed on this farm. They were met with some protest. More seems likely to come.
The provincial government, led by Energy Minister Richard Brown, is trying to turn them around on the idea. He insists the money generated from projects like this will be good for the provincial economy. Given the current economic climate, “good for the economy” may translate into “necessary.”
The province receives a percentage of the revenue generated by wind power. They also get a piece of the action from lands rentals where the windmills are located, and a 16 per cent corporate income tax rate.
Wind power figures to play a prominent role in PEI’s future economic well being. 18 per cent of PEI’s electrical energy is already generated by wind. Provincially-owned wind farms already are in place on either end of the island province.
Many European firms have their eyes on P.E.I. as an excellent location for their windmills.
There’s gold in the winds?
Consumer Challenges – Count Me In!
July 24, 2009
Ah, there’s nothing that Canadians like better than a challenge.
August 14th marks the anniversary of the North American blackout in 2003. So organizers of Count Me In! thought it would be the perfect date to choose for their community challenge.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rally your community to join. The winning community is the one with the highest percentage drop in electricity consumption on August 14 or by having the highest per capita participation in the pledge drive. Count Me In is an example of how consumer challenges are raising awareness and changing habits.
And there are others. Take last year’s One Million Acts of Green.
The campaign asked Canadian residents to make one single environmentally-friendly change and track it by logging onto the site. The campaign started on October 21, 2008 and the goal of one million acts was reached in February – four months ahead of schedule, and only 105 days after the movement was launched.
It was so successful in fact, that One Million Acts of Green announced in June that it was going global. Members from other countries are now encouraged to sign on with their acts, and a U.S. viral site is also in the works.
These Canadian success stories are powered by small and simple changes. There are many ways to act Green. It can be as simple as changing light bulbs or driving less, and they are proving that one small act can make a big environmental difference.
Game on, Ontario!
Friday Facts
July 24, 2009
Approximately 500,000 people in Canada are directly and indirectly employed in the oil and gas sector and 151,800 people are employed in the utility sector, for a total of 651,800 people working in energy-related fields. That is roughly 3.5 per cent of the total labour force.
Source: Statistics Canada 2009 and Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, 2009
Are you getting a raw deal with your sushi?
July 23, 2009
When it comes to environmental sustainability, these popular TO establishments are a little fishy
