Green Energy Futures

Lewis Lix loved the oil industry but he grew weary of the boom and bust cycles and being away from his family all the time. After one false start and a great deal of discussion with his family, he eventually enrolled in the 2-year NAIT Alternative Energy Program in Edmonton, Alberta. This is the story of his long and winding journey and where he wound up. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Just a few short years ago Heather discovered the wonders of solar. She help install solar on her church, then her home and now she works promoting solar in Alberta. Solar is booming in Alberta and more than 3,800 Edmonton homes and businesses have installed solar and it's growing faster every year. GreenEnergyFutures/ca CKUA.com Podcast

In part 2 Howaida talks about what it's like living with two EVs in the family. She talks about the cost to operate and what it's like driving an EV in Canada's -30 C winters. Howaida discusses why her family decided to go all-electric and how she mixes using her EV with public transit and cycling in her day-to-day life. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Howaida's family dipped their toes into the world of EVs when they replaced their Smart Car with a short-range EV. But the big decision came when the time came to replace their second family vehicle. This is the story of their family journey going all-electric. This is part 1. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Darren and Darcy Crichton started their DIY home retrofit on their 1969 bungalow 20 years ago. At first, they simply wanted to cut drafts by adding insulation. But with careful research, they did the right renovations in the right order and today they live in a solar-powered, net-zero home. This is their story. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

In part II of our E-Bike Revolution series, we find out why e-bikes are revolutionizing the idea of the bicycle as a mode of transportation. Turns out e-bikers go further and faster than regular cyclists but is the e-bike a fitness cop-out? What we learned might surprise you! GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Seattle Architect Michael Eliason believes we can build affordable, family-friendly multifamily housing that doesn't suck and helps with the housing and climate crises. The answer he says is Point Access Blocks, single staircase buildings that have more windows, more bedrooms, better greenspace and access to well design neighbourhoods. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Learn more in our blog...

Jim Sandercock was coerced into bicycle commuting by a colleague who moved into the neighbourhood and said "Hey why don't we cycle to work?" Here's the thing - He loves it! After doing tons of research Jim bought an electric bike and became the poster boy for the E-Bike Revolution. In PART 1 of our two-part series on the E-Bike Revolution, we follow Jim's journey from bicycle agnostic to advocate...

They were told it couldn't be done affordably. Then Salvation Army Architect Michael Jones and her team reissued an RFP for a net-zero-ready 175-unit supportive housing complex and were very surprised with what happened next—an inspiring story with lessons for all mid-sized buildings. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Also see our video: https://youtu.be/HpcXhNw4TpA

Microhabitat is all about urban farming and they're bringing 30-pot container gardens to the nature deserts of the big cities. From office towers and apartments to parks, the idea is to produce local food in the most unlikely places. And people seem to love it! Since its humble beginnings in 2016, Microhabitat is installing 200 projects in 8 North American Cities this year. We tag along as they in...

How Jim Sandercock took his 1951 home and transformed it into a solar-powered net-zero home by reskinning the home by adding new super-insulated walls over the old ones. It's called an EnergieSprong Deep Energy Retrofit and it was one of the first pilots on a single-family home in Canada. The idea is to save the home's old bones and totally retrofit the home's exterior while the homeowners continu...

To some people, it's all-out war between oil and gas and renewable energy. But Alberta, Canada's oil capital also has the best renewable energy resources in the country. In this feature-length interview, Simon Dyer the author of the Pembina Institute report: Alberta's Pathway to the New Energy Economy explains the challenges Alberta faces and the opportunity that is there to create lower emissions...

Stop pitting renewable energy against oil and gas in order to develop a successful future energy economy. A new report by the Pembina Institute says Alberta must reduce carbon emissions in the oil and gas industry to remain competitive and begin investing in clean energy industries to build a successful, diversified energy economy of the future. We talk to Simon Dyer, author of "Alberta's Roadmap...

This week we're back at the net-zero home of the Brosinskis in Leduc, Alberta with Dave Butterwick to look at the key elements of a net-zero home in a cold climate. Dave covers insulation and sealing, windows, mechanical systems, solar and appliances. It's net-zero soup to nuts this week on Green Energy Futures. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

On this 53rd anniversary, we talk to Denis Hayes the coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970. Those early days helped define environmentalism as Earth Day served as a big tent for pollution, endangered species and a myriad of other issues. Sadly being green in 2023 is as hard as ever as we learn from Hayes who bemoans political populism and the incredibly challenging mother of all environmental...

In part 1 of our new Net-Zero 101 series we meet up with Kevin and Heather Brosinsky who built their dream net-zero retirement home after Kevin became quite enamoured with the idea of the passive house. We talk to them one-year-in to their new home which is solar powered, heated by a heat pump and is super energy efficient. In our next episode we will dig into the bones of this net-zero home to re...

E-Bikes are growing in popularity and Mehanaz Yakub has just prepared a guide to e-bikes for Electric Autonomy Canada. This week on GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA podcast we learn about how cool e-bikes are, why they are so popular and even some of rebate programs available. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA Podcast

Lightspark just might be the missing link for homeowners wanting to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes. On its pilot website Lightspark has produced digital energy audits of nearly every home in two cities – and that's just the beginning. You refine the assumptions and then it recommends bundles of home energy efficiency upgrades, and estimates the costs and benefits. GreenEnergyFu...

FULL INTERVIEW with Stephen Thomas about how a proposed clean energy standard could help get Canada's electricity grid to zero emissions by 2025 using renewable energy. Thomas co-authored a report entitled Shifting Power that plots a way forward using solar, wind power, energy storage and new interprovincial transmission lines that would allow provinces with big hydro to share renewable energy wit...

Stephen Thomas of the David Suzuki Foundation likes the idea of Canada creating a Clean Energy Regulation. He hopes it will inspire the addition of 18x more renewable energy, sharing electricity between provinces and Canada achieving its goal of net-zero electricity by 2035. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Hazel Thayer became convinced the "grownups" weren't dealing with climate change so she started posting video stories to TikTok and Instagram and is now reaching 120 subscribers on some unlikely platforms. Her posts are fast paced Rick Mercer like "rants" laced with humour and facts that seem to be moving the needle. This week on GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com podcast we talk to Hazel Thayer.

First the three nations of Fort Chipewyan built a 2.3 megawatt solar project to offset diesel generation. Now they want to bring the first electric vehicle to their fly-in community.

Oslo adopted the world's first city climate budget in 2016 - We set out to find out what the city is doing to slash emissions. Hint - they're killing it with home heating, electric vehicles, waste and even in construction. Part II in our series on Oslo's climate action. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

FULL INTERVIEW - Oslo has one of the most ambitious climate strategies in the world and at the heart of it is a carbon budget that works alongside the fiscal budget. We talk to Heidi Sorensen, head of the Oslo Climate Agency about how carbon budgeting is helping this northern City reduce 95% of its emissions. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com – FULL INTERVIEW

So many ambitious climate plans, so little progress. Oslo was the first city in the world to create a carbon budget and they're bucking the trend by knocking climate action out of the park. We talk to Heidi Sorensen, head of the Oslo Climate Agency to find out how it all works and why they are successful. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast