Green Energy Futures

At first glance, new rules for renewable energy development in Alberta seemed ready to block renewable energy from most of the province. Two weeks on some clarifications have been announced. We talk to Vittoria Bellissimo with the Canadian Renewable Energy Association about restrictions on agricultural land, near so-called "pristine viewscapes" and protected areas. Spoiler alert industry observers...

Ciel & Terre is making a splash with floating solar having installed more than 300 projects around the world. It costs just a little more than mounted solar but its helping utilities, companies and municipalities generate renewable energy where there is no land or roof space. We talk to Chris Bartle of Ciel & Terre US about this growing industry. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Alberta lifted it's six-month moratorium on renewable energy projects but some critics say new rules amount to a defacto moratorium. This is ironic since Alberta had a booming industry with up to $33 billion in projects under development at the time of the moratorium. We talk to renewable energy expert Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon of the University of Calgary about the new rules and the impacts they ma...

Part 2 in Green Energy Futures' series on RenuWell, the idea of transforming abandoned oil wells into small solar farms. In this episode, we talk to Trevor Helwig of St. Mary River Irrigation District, the owner of the two RenuWell solar pilot projects. Irrigation and solar are a good match since they both work hardest when the sun shines. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Of the 466,000 oil and gas wells in Alberta on third are active and 170,000 are suspended or abandoned. What to do? Keith Hirsche was a farm kid from Taber, Alberta and his company RenuWell wrapped up two pilot projects to transform a couple of long-abandoned well sites into small solar farms which are now owned by St. Mary's Irrigation District. We visit the sites with Daryl Bennett from RenuWell...

The town of Raymond, Alberta was told solar wouldn't work on their buildings in their town in southern Alberta. This didn't sit right with them, so they hired new consultants, installed solar everywhere and became the first community in Canada to achieve net-zero electricity. We talk to Greg Robinson of the Town of Raymond about how they did it. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Record wildfires, crazy amounts of smoke and poor air quality, droughts, and floods - municipalities are experiencing the impacts of climate change in a big way. Cutting emissions is very important to prevent even worse impacts, but what is a small town or municipality to do to adapt to and avoid some of the bigger impacts of climate change? The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre in Alberta kn...

Many small towns and municipalities want to do energy efficiency projects or install solar and save money, but most have neither the money, expertise or the capacity to figure it all out. The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre in Alberta knows this so they created a program that has helped small towns and municipalities hire 26 energy managers that are doing just what they should. This week we...

This week we head off to three small towns: Pincher Creek, Raymond and Leduc Alberta to learn about what they are doing to take climate action. We find them embracing energy efficiency, solar, electric vehicles and climate adaptation actions and it's all thanks to support from a little-known organization called the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

You may not have heard of the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC), but you may have seen their work. They have helped more than 150 communities in Alberta complete 878 climate actions including energy efficiency, installing EV chargers, solar, and electric vehicles and even climate risk assessments and resiliency plans for towns. We talk to founder Bob Hawkesworth and the current execut...

How energy storage can be used to get the grid to net-zero using mostly existing infrastructure. For folks who want to preserve the old centralized grid, the sky is falling. However according to James Bererton an expert in low-carbon energy we can get fossil fuel-based grids like Alberta's most of the way to net-zero using current infrastructure, energy storage, microgrids and and existing technol...

Decentralised Energy Canada is 20 years old. We talk to innovator and founder Anouk Kendall about how her organization went from being an advocate for decentralized energy such as solar that didn't exist then to today when its members represent billions in revenue and are busy building the resilient and affordable decentralized electricity grid of the future. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Heat pumps are the future of heating and cooling. We found them heating and cooling in net-zero homes, in water heaters and clothes dryers and now there are models rated to -35C. The reasons are quite simple: they are incredibly energy efficient, and since they run on electricity it's pretty easy to run them and produce few or no emissions. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

The Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative in Canmore, Alberta has just wrapped up its fourth solar project in just a few years. This is blazing fast progress for green energy cooperatives in Canada that must navigate a network of challenging provincial electrical systems. We talk to Jeff Roberts about the coops success getting started in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta.

FULL INTERVIEW - We sit down with Richard Allen, the chair of United Hydrogen, a conglomerate of 37 hydrogen companies working together to bring to market hydrogen solutions on the road the net-zero. We talk about the role, advantages and challenges of using hydrogen to reduce emissions in transport, buildings and industry. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

United Hydrogen is a conglomerate of 37 hydrogen companies based in Australia that has set it's sights on finding the solutions to help the world get to net-zero. Oh, they also are keen to take advantage of the hydrogen market, expected to reach $201 billion by 2025. We talk to United Hydrogen chair Richard Allen about solutions, challenges and the role of hydrogen. (PART 1) GreenEnergyFutures.ca...

The Red Deer Renewable Energy Fairs were a hit in Red Deer, Alberta until COVID deep-sixed the popular event. But the event is back reincarnated as the Energy Innovation Fair. We talk to organizers Rene Michalak of ReThink Red Deer and Chelsah Thomas of Sol Invictus Energy Services about the line-up for the free event being held on Saturday, October 21. A big theme this year is energy diversificat...

Norquest College is like many educational institutions. Budgets are tight, and capacity is often lacking, but by being smart about building new buildings, combining efforts with renovations to old buildings and by measuring energy use Norquest College is finding innovative ways to save big bucks on energy costs. We take a tour with the facilities manager Jason Schuller to learn what they are doing...

Edmonton wants to plant 2 million trees as part of its climate change strategy - so how are they doing? We take a walk in Edmonton's extensive forest canopy to find out. Turns out they're on track and it could transform Edmonton. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca

There are 162 community leagues in Edmonton. Sarah Delano is with Parkdale Cromdale and she says they are taking action for climate change in many small ways from growing and foraging for local food, creating local art and putting solar on their community league hall. We take a walk with Sarah to learn more. Changing for Climate GreenEnergyFutures.ca

We talk a lot about making electricity net-zero, but as Greg Caldwell explains 80% of the energy we use is in a gaseous form. Greg works for ATCO on hydrogen and he believes hydrogen can play a big role in decarbonizing our economy. We explore how hydrogen is made, what it can do and the role it can play. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca

Jena and Jesse Tufts had a choice: bulldoze their 1953 bungalow, move to the suburbs or retrofit it. They chose the cheaper option and took their 1953 home all the way to net-zero with a deep energy retrofit. Changing for Climate Series GreenEnergyFutures.ca

The Métis Nation of Alberta is investing heavily in solar and energy efficiency to save money and reduce emissions. The Nation has installed solar on 35 of its facilities in Alberta and is now building a 5-megawatt solar project at the Métis Crossing Culture Center near Smoky Lake, Alberta. We talk to their climate change guy and the woman in charge of the Métis Housing Corporation about their wor...

In Part 2 of our Climate Ready Home series we talk to sustainability teacher Kenton Zerbin about some of the things we can do around our homes and yards to adapt to the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. We cover yard landscaping and some of the things you can do to reduce emissions and adapt your home to a changing climate. Changing for Climate Video Series ChangeForClimate.ca GreenEn...

How making your home Climate Ready can save you money, reduce emissions and get you on a pathway to a solar-powered, net-zero energy home. Stephanie Ripley gives a tour of a model energy efficiency home display which identifies four steps involving 1. Energy Audit, 2. Insulation, 3. Electric Heating and Cooling, 4. Generate your own renewable energy. ChangingforClimate.ca Series GreenEnergyFutures...