Big Brother is watching… your energy efficiency

There are plenty of ways to check your energy efficiency. In Ontario, for example, you can book a Home Energy Audit, saving up to $150 on the audit itself. The federal ecoENERGY program used to offer pre-retrofit evaluations that provided rebates on energy-efficient appliances, but the ecoENERGY Retrofit program was cancelled effective March 31, 2010. And, audits or no, you can always buy more efficient appliances and ensure that drafts and other gaps in your home’s insulation are taken care of.

Still if home audits are too costly, and you don’t like the idea of someone poking around your home, perhaps you’d be more interested in a plane taking infrared photos of your house. Live like you’re in 1984… in 2010!

All right, it’s not really as frightening as George Orwell’s dystopic vision of the future, but a Belgian company has successfully used thermal maps taken by a plane flying over Antwerp to measure the heat loss from houses’ roofs. It’s an unobtrusive way of measuring the amount of energy being lost by a house, and given our existing comfort with public satellite data like the kind found on Google Maps, it’s not hard to imagine that we might eventually be able to access this kind of image from the comfort of our computer. At the same time, it begs the question of just how public we want our energy consumption habits to be.

It might not be double plus good, but it’s certainly not bad either.

Via Popular Science

Federal government suspends ecoEnergy program

The Federal Government announced March 31 that it has suspended the ecoEnergy Retrofit – Homes program. The program was designed to encourage homeowners to undertake energy efficiency improvements on existing homes to increase energy savings and reduce greenhouse gases. It consisted of grants up to $5,000 and involved pre-retrofit assessments, retrofits and post-retrofit assessments.

The entire program was originally set to run until March 31, 2011. The government will now only process grant applications from homeowners who have scheduled or completed a pre-retrofit evaluation and who will be completing energy efficiency improvements and post-retrofit assessments prior to March 31, 2011. Such participants must apply for grants prior to that date. However, the pre-retrofit phase is now closed to new applicants.

The suspension of the program came as a surprise. In its March 2010 budget, the government announced an additional $80 million (2.2MB PDF) to support retrofits by Canadian homeowners due to “unprecedented demand”. In total, the Government provided $585 million to the program under the Economic Action Plan.

In a Frequently Asked Questions section on the Office for Energy Efficiency website, the government justified the cancellation by saying “the program is confident that all eligible homeowners who previously entered the program by scheduling or completing a pre-retrofit evaluation will still have the opportunity to apply for and receive a grant.”

The Federal Government will continue to support provincial and territorial energy efficiency for homes.

“The answer is blowin’ in the wind”

Could the final words of Bob Dylan’s 1963 classic Blowin’ in the Wind, become a mantra for Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt? It certainly came across that way in her opening remarks to the 25th annual Canadian Wind Energy Association conference and trade show in September. By year’s end, wind generation capacity in Canada will top 3,000 megawatts and Raitt evidently sees this burgeoning industry as a key to enhanced energy security as it boosts the economy and creates jobs. It’s the output of nearly 100 commercial wind farms already in place. Contrast that with the mid-1980s ago when there were none.

“I can’t think of very many industries that can show that kind of growth,” Raitt said. “Wind will be . . . lighting up hundreds-of-thousands of Canadian homes and doing it without generating a single kilogram of greenhouse gas emissions. . . . It’s good to be able to look back on how far the wind industry has come in this country — and it’s also a good time to look at where it’s going.”

This year will see British Columbia and Newfoundland & Labrador commemorating the opening of their first commercial wind farms and the minister said Canada’s fundamental vastness presents tremendous opportunities, not only for wind power but also other forms of energy.

“We have the opportunity to become a living laboratory for the rest of the world,” she said. “Every province has access to wind power and this is integral for us moving forward. . . . Wind energy continues to be a priority for the Government of Canada. It has to be; we’ve made a commitment to having 90 per cent of Canada’s electricity come from clean and renewable sources by 2020.”

Out of its $1.5-billion ecoENERGY for Renewable Power program, Ottawa has invested in 75 “and counting” projects. Two-thirds are for wind power. Raitt said this is being complemented by research and development at the Wind Energy Institute of Canada and other initiatives, including accelerated capital cost allowances for machinery and equipment, elimination of tariffs on imports of machinery and equipment, improved credit facilities, and the Green Infrastructure and Clean Energy funds.

The application deadline for another federal initiative, the $200 million Fund for Renewable & Clean Energy System Demonstrations, closed in mid-September and the government now is assessing 175 proposals for projects with a total installed value of some $3.5 billion. Eighteen are for both wind and electrical storage projects and Raitt said the government hopes to begin financing discussions with a short list of project backers shortly.

“The sooner we can get these projects running, putting shovels in the grounds and using this new technology, the closer we are to reducing our emissions and achieving our 2020 targets.”

Biofuels caravan rolling along

Federal funds continue to flow to an array of biofuel projects across the country, mainly from Natural Resources Canada’s ecoENERGY program in a determined bid to encourage production of renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel. Compared with gasoline, grain-based ethanol can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 per cent on a life-cycle basis and the difference can be as much as 60 per cent for biodiesel.

Ottawa has committed $1.5 billion over nine years for development of the renewable fuels industry in Canada.  The most recent recipient of ecoENERGY support is Husky Energy, which will receive up to $72.8 million for its ethanol plant in Minnedosa, Manitoba. Other announcements this year include up to $23.2 million for Permolex Ltd. of Red Deer, Alberta, up to $19.9 million for Western Biodiesel in High River, Alberta, and up to $72.4 million for Biox Canada in Hamilton, Ontario.

However, the main ecoENERGY beneficiary is GreenField Ethanol, Canada’s main producer of ethanol. It has federal commitments of up to $212.3 million for facilities in Ontario, including up to $117.5 million in Johnstown, up to $72.8 million in Chatham, and up to $14 million in Tiverton. The Johnstown project also is receiving $7.3 million in repayable funding from ecoAgriculture Biofuels Capital, a $200-million program run by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada.

Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is also involved in encouraging ethanol production through its NextGen Biofuels Fund. An SDTC grant of up to $1.82 million to Lignol Energy Corp. of Burnaby, B.C., will support development of an industrial-scale plant for production of cellulosic ethanol and other renewables.

Travel tip: Hypermiling can help save gas

If the car is loaded, the trailer is hitched and the price of gas has hit the summer highs: it must be time for an epic summer road trip.

Think about adopting hypermiling techniques to cut fuel costs and help the environment.

Hyper-what?

Though it sounds like a new kind of Olympic sport, hypermiling is more about just laying off the gas. We introduced it last October as a phenomenon sweeping the eco-enthusiasts of the nation. Now hypermiling is hitting the news again, but this time, as something for everyone. It uses a whole trunk-load of strategies to maximize your engine’s efficiency and minimize the energy losses that occur when you brake and accelerate. Turn your lead foot into a green foot. Think less Mario Andretti, more Driving Miss Daisy.

Keep a consistent speed, avoid Fast and the Furious-style driving, speed-racing and photo-finish starts and stops and you’ll cruise to your destination on less.  And turn off that cruise control when you’re going up a hill. Experts say that advanced hypermilers can attain the Gold Medal in fuel-economy by reaching levels comparable to hybrids and sometimes even better.

Other techniques include increasing your car’s tire pressure to at or near the maximum listed on the tire’s sidewall, which lowers its rolling resistance. This is controversial, but safe for drivers who know what they’re doing. The tires will last longer, run cooler, wear more evenly and save you fuel. And yes, you actually have to drive at or below the speed limit. Got the need for speed? Well as speeds double, the force needed quadruples. It takes four times as much engine power to move a car at 100 kph as it does at 50 kph.

So this summer’s Travel Tip: slow and steady wins the race. Coasting through your road trip will save you cash, which can otherwise be spent on ice cream and hotels with swimming pools.

Quantum of Solar?

There are few quantum leaps in technologies. The few that do occur are especially noteworthy but, for the most part, developments are the result of years, sometimes decades, of research — which is the case with modern solar power.

So-called “passive” solar heating has been around for millennia; the ancient Greeks liked to orient their homes to capture natural heat. Modern glazing and other construction developments simply enhance that use of the sun’s rays. Much the same can be said for systems which use sunlight to heat water-cycling systems.

However, despite the high-tech fascination with photovoltaics, there is still considerable interest in the hot-water technology. Hence a new Solar Water Heating Program partly funded with $1.4 million from the federal ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat initiative. Led by Bullfrog Power, which bills itself as “Canada’s leading 100 per cent green electricity provider”, the program also involves Enbridge Gas Distribution and EnerWorks.

While Bullfrog is active in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, the latest funding will cover incentives and rebates for Ontario homeowners in Enbridge markets who want to install solar water heating. These systems can supply up to 60 per cent of an average home’s hot-water needs while cutting energy costs and reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by one tonne. The systems also are eligible for the ecoENERGY Retrofit Homes Grant and the Home Renovation Tax Credit.

CCS technology – smaller pieces of Canada’s big green puzzle

While some are still puzzled by carbon capture and storage (CCS), increased funding is allowing industry to test various pieces of the technology in order to get a clearer view of the big, emissions-reducing picture. Various projects underway throughout Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan represent a broad spectrum of CCS applications and, this week, after receiving funding from Natural Resources Canada, eight of them got a little closer to realizing their vision.

On March 26, the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, came to Alberta to announce a government investment of $140 million towards eight CCS projects chosen out of 39 proposals submitted last year for the $230-million ecoENERGY Technology initiative.

The eight winning proposals were selected to represent an array of different CCS approaches, from CO2 storage in geologic formations to using CO2 in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects. According to Raitt, each proposal demonstrated a different, complementary piece in the greater challenge of bringing CCS to wide-scale commercial use.

Understanding the viability of capturing and storing carbon emissions was a particular topic of concern in 2008 when the Alberta government announced it would invest $2 billion toward CCS technology. Concerns ranged from the feasibility of implementing such an expensive technology on a mass scale, to the environmental impacts of burying CO2 without getting to the root of problem and reducing fossil fuel use all together.

“I don’t think it’s possible to overstate the importance of this technology,” said Raitt during Thursday’s announcement at Calgary’s SAIT Polytechnic. “We can’t turn our backs on the energy and the wealth that our fossil fuels generate, but we have the responsibility to make sure it is generated sustainably.”

The investments were also touted as a supporting initiative to Canada’s Economic Action Plan, which will include $2.4 billion worth of new measures to support Canada’s climate change objectives.

“While we’re doing better than a lot of others, we’re certainly not immune,” said Raitt, of Canada’s economy as it compares to the rest of the world. Raitt was forthright in her belief that Canada’s robust fossil fuel sector is largely responsible for Canada’s more salubrious economic position on the global stage.

“Without energy, economies do not grow. They don’t even move… we’re still far from replacing the energy fossil fuels provide [so] we need to find a cleaner way to produce it and consume it.”

Successful proposals were submitted by partnerships led or co-led by ARC Resources, Enhance Energy, Spectra Energy Transmission, TransCanada, TransAlta, Husky, Enbridge and EPCOR. Each of the projects will receive between $3 million and $30 million of federal money, but Raitt stressed the federal funding is only one part of the larger equation. “We need to have collaboration between governments and between government and industry,” Raitt said.

Among the eight winning companies present at the announcement was Alberta’s Enhance Energy Inc. whose project proposes to capture CO2 from a large fertilizer plant as well as an oil sands upgrading operation. The CO2 would then be transported and injected into mature oil reservoirs in central Alberta for EOR and permanent sequestration.

“The funding will allow us to accelerate implementation of the project,” explained company president and engineer Susan Cole, adding that the Alberta Industrial Heartland based project, has been in the working for four years. “The added financial support will allow the company to bring this initiative to commercialization faster,” said Cole. (diagram above: Enhance Energy)

To date, the most notable example of CO2 being used for EOR, is Saskatchwan’s Weyburn-Midale CO2 project in southeastern Saskatchewan, which is home to a depleted oil reservoir containing deep underground rock formations called saline aquifers. Transported via pipeline from a plant in Beulah North Dakota, pure streams of CO2 left over from the coal gasification process are injected into these underground formations to increase the recovery rates of sticky, stubborn oil in hard to reach places.

So how does Enhance Energy’s project complement projects already using CO2 for EOR? According to Cole, it will demonstrate the feasibility of a single network to collect CO2 from a large number of industrial emitters. It is projected that within five years, this project could capture and sequester up to 1.9 megatonnes of CO2 annually, equal to taking 358,000 cars off the road each year.

“Each of the projects really is quite different,” said Doug Bloom, President of Spectra Energy Transmission West. The company’s Fort Nelson, B.C. project presents yet another challenge of CCS technology – testing the injection of sour CO2 into these deep saline formations for permanent storage. “In our case, we’re a natural gas pipeline. Raw natural gas contains high levels of CO2 and sulphur dioxide and we want to test the feasibility of permanently storing it in deep underground formations.”

As various parts of the CCS puzzle come into sharper focus, industry and governments across the world remain aware that the technology represents only one part of the even larger puzzle of environmental sustainability. As one environmentalist said in an earlier FLOW article about CCS technology, “there is no one green bullet.”

When asked by one reporter if Canada has a “plan B” for meeting reduction targets, Raitt replied that she doesn’t view CCS support in terms of a plan A or a plan B, calling it a scientifically viable solution in fossil fuel emissions mitigation. “We’re well on our way,” said Raitt adding that the ecoENERGY Technology initiative includes funding research on renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The funding announcement also coincided with the province of Alberta being recognized for its great strides in CCS research by The Aspen Institute, a U.S. energy and environment organization. The Aspen Institute awards recognize organizations for excellence in innovation, implementation and communication of energy and environmental solutions.

ecoEnergy Awards

You’d think that the Smart Car and Chevrolet Express Cargo wouldn’t have much in common other than engines, wheels and the usual other components.

In fact, as different as they are, they top and tail the spectrum of 2009 ecoENERGY for Vehicles Awards, announced by Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt at the Canadian International Auto Show.

“Fuel-efficient vehicles are good for the environment and help drivers save money on gas,” she said. “By recognizing those manufacturers who are leading the charge to improve fuel efficiency, we are also providing consumers with better information on the options that are available.”

The vehicle awards are a part of the federal government $3.6-billion ecoENERGY package of measures designed to promote more efficient user of energy in general while enhancing renewable energy supplies and developing cleaner technologies.

The winners of the 2009 awards in each of 10 classes are:
Two-seat car: Smart fortwo/cabriolet.
Subcompact: Toyota Yaris and MINI Cooper in its various iterations.
Compact: Honda Civic hybrid.
Mid-size: Toyota Prius hybrid.
Full-size: Honda Accord and Hyundai Sonata sedans.
Wagon: Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI.
Pickup: Ford Ranger and Mazda B2300.
Special purpose: Ford Escape hybrid.
Minivan: Mazda 5.
Large van: Chevrolet Express Cargo and GMC Savana Cargo

Minister Raitt’s department also has released its latest Fuel Consumption Guide. Details on it and the vehicle awards are available at www.ecoaction.gc.ca.

Renewables support not renewed

The Jan. 27 federal budget effectively ends major support for new renewable energy development in Canada, says Tim Weis, Director of Renewable Energy and Efficiency at the Pembina Institute.

Ottawa’s main vehicle has been the ecoEnergy for Renewable Power program which, since its inception in, has been massively oversubscribed – to the point where it will run out of funding two years earlier than expected.

Weis says that Ottawa’s failure to renew and expand the program jeopardizes at least 1,500 megawatts of “shovel ready” wind energy projects and puts the brakes on billions of dollars of potential investment.

Noting that ecoENERGY has leveraged seven dollars in private funding for every dollar of public money, he said the renewables sector had hoped for a five-year extension which which would have attracted more than $6 billion in additional investment with concomitant job creation.

South of the border, meanwhile, President Barack Obama wasted no time in announcing more that $55 billion worth of support for renewables and efficiency in a “recovery and re-investment” package which is a key element of his new administration’s economic resuscitation effort.

“Canada’s failure to continue to support renewable power is a huge missed opportunity to be a part of a transition to a global sustainable economy,” Weis says, pointing out that Canada also is not a founding member of the new International Renewable Energy Agency, an initiative endorsed in December by delegates to the 14th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Poznan, Poland.

IRENA’s founding conference wound up in Bonn, Germany, the day before Flaherty tabled his budget. Canada wasn’t the only major country not among the 75 signatories; also absent were China, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom. However, the membership roster did include Austria, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden as well as a range of less-developed countries.

“Canada risks being left out of the green economy of the 21st century – which is bad for our economy and bad for the environment,” Weis warns.

Retrofit your wallet after the renos

Thinking about renovating? If so, putting $5,000 back in your wallet at the same time probably sounds pretty good. It’s possible with Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program. The program gives federal grants as incentive for energy-efficient improvements and renovations to homes contributing to a cleaner environment.

Launched in April 2007, the $220-million program was designed to help owners of homes and owners of existing low-rise properties make smart decisions to decrease the impact their buildings have on the environment. In return, property owners can receive federal grants up to $5,000 per home or multi-unit residential building.

Sound good so far? So, how do you get your hands on the cash?

The first step is to contact an energy adviser in your community. Your adviser will do a pre-retrofit assessment, or action checklist, of the home and provide you a personalized checklist of recommendations for upgrades that will reduce your energy consumption.

The grant is determined by the total amount of retrofits you have completed based on the action checklist from your energy adviser.

And it doesn’t need to end there. Maximize your profit by looking into similar financial assistance programs based on the ecoENERGY Retrofit program. Some provinces, territories and municipalities offer complimentary programs that can be used in conjunction with NRCan’s federal program.

It takes some work and careful planning to fully take advantage of these programs, but anything that offsets the cost of a pricey renovation is worth checking out.