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The public spends more time on our site than on the sites of 4 other major Canadian groups combined (David Suzuki Foundation, World Wildlife Foundation, Environmental Defence and Sierra Club) |
RenewablesWhy wind power is more complicated than people imagineTom Spears 8 Aug 2010 Expanding wind doesn’t fit with phasing out coal, says Norm Rubin of Energy Probe, a Toronto-based environmental policy organization. If these were pieces in a puzzle, “you couldn’t bang them together with a hammer.” The Ottawa Citizen Wind's bad dayLawrence Solomon 8 Jul 2010 Yesterday’s scorcher scorched wind power’s reputation and its bottom line, too. A simple analysis shows why no company can make a profit supplying wind power to the electricity system without government subsidies, and why no society can count on wind power when the power is most needed. Financial Post Forum blows hot over Scarborough wind farm Reuben Sokol 28 May 2010 Opponents of a proposed wind farm off the Scarborough Bluffs have adopted the old Bob Dylan folk classic, with their own spin, as a rallying cry: ‘the answer is not blowing in the wind.’ The Toronto Observer Green elites meet the peopleLawrence Solomon 28 May 2010 Residents try to protect their little part of the planet from clean-energy windmills. Financial Post Don't bet on the Bloom BoxLawrence Solomon 28 Mar 2010 If governments didn't so distort the energy marketplace, most of the variables that potential Bloom Box consumers and investors would need to consider would disappear, making the risks involved in a Bloom Energy IPO much more knowable. Without the distortions, in fact, the Bloom Box could already be economic in niche settings, such as in some remote regions, in some military applications, and as a backup to the grid in settings where space (but not money) is an issue. Financial Post Wind opponents blow off steam in CreemoreJoanne Saunders 9 Mar 2010 A March 6 meeting, outlining the downside of wind turbines, drew close to 200 people to Creemore's Station on the Green. Only six or eight people would have shown up 18 months ago, said one speaker, concluding that the groundswell of opposition to wind turbines is gaining momentum. The Collingwood Connection Blowing away taxpayersMichael J. Trebilcock 6 Mar 2010 Wind power is unreliable, expensive and doesn’t result in lower C02 emmissions. Why is Ontario still rushing ahead with it? Financial Post The Perils of Picking Technological Winners in Renewable Energy PolicyMichael J. Trebilcock and James S.F. Wilson 5 Mar 2010 The full report by Michael J. Trebilcock and James S.F. Wilson. Energy Probe Audit the Ontario government’s green programs, says Trebilcock-Wilson report for Energy ProbeEnergy Probe 5 Mar 2010 Ontario's strategy of picking winners likely to fail Ontario’s provincial auditor or other independent groups should periodically audit the programs and subsidies being offered through the recently passed Green Energy Act to ensure the programs are producing the promised environmental and economic benefits, says an Energy Probe report published today by Michael Trebilcock, Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Toronto, and James Wilson, a recent University of Toronto Law School Graduate. It’s pretty easy to be greenLawrence Solomon 27 Feb 2010 With more than a trillion dollars a year going towards green technology, companies, cities, countries, even whole continents are proving Kermit wrong. It’s easy to be green. Financial Post Norm Rubin discusses the Samsung deal on "The Agenda"Energy Probe News 9 Feb 2010 Energy Probe’s Norm Rubin on “The Agenda” discussing the recent Samsung deal and Ontario’s renewable energy future. Inside Ontario: Ontario Signs a Massive Green Energy Deal with SamsungMark Brosens 24 Jan 2010 A media round-up of the reactions to the renewable energy deal Ontario recently signed with Samsung. TVO Winds of changeLawrence Solomon 23 Jan 2010 Premier McGuinty has committed Ontario to a generous deal for a soon-to-be forgotten energy source. Financial Post Windmills: Bigger waste than eHealthMichael Trebilcock 1 Oct 2009 Wind reduces CO2 emissions at a subsidy cost of about $124 per tonne — one of the most expensive plans in the world. Financial Post Norman Rubin discusses solar power in OttawaEnergy Probe 12 Jul 2009 Energy Probe’s own Norman Rubin was recently quoted in an article in the Ottawa Citizen examining the approval of subsidies for a 200-acre farm in West Carleton, just west of Ottawa. As part of the program, the government will pump at least $100-million for the construction of 300,000 solar panels. Ottawa Citizen Danger overheadLawrence Solomon 17 Apr 2009 Toronto's plan to mandate green roofs on new buildings could seriously threaten the city's building stock. National Post Green Investment Opportunities Abound in TorontoGreg Davis 3 Apr 2009 Thanks to record government deficit spending, there is one economic sector that appears to be flush with money that needs to be spent: green projects. blogTO Green economics: It just doesn't add upLawrence Solomon 31 Mar 2009
A Spanish study found that every green job kills 2.2 jobs elsewhere. FP Comment Gangreen energy actLawrence Solomon 7 Mar 2009 Ontario’s new energy plan heavily subsidizes green energy projects at the expense of conservation FP Comment Blowing in the windChristopher Pollon 1 Dec 2008 BC Business Online Despite their benefits, wind farms aren't without environmental baggage, say some expertsConor Mihell 28 Jun 2008 Studies are being done to monitor the impacts of wind turbines on landscape ecology and wildlife, such as birds and bats. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources' Ontario Wind Atlas, winds off of Lake Superior blow more incessantly than anywhere else in the province. As the province ramps up its supply of "green" energy, the 126 turbines spinning in Prince Township are likely a harbinger of more to come -- and a storm of debate over the pros and cons of harvesting power from the wind. The Sault Star Here comes the sunLawrence Solomon 24 Jun 2008 Nanosolar's breakthrough technology is 10 times more powerful than a nuclear reactor and cheaper, too. The Hydrogen Debate23 Jun 2008 The CBC Radio series, "The Hydrogen Solution," features a debate between Energy Probe's Norm Rubin and hydrogen expert David Sanborn Scott. This debate is now available for download online, via podcast. To recap: THE HYDROGEN SOLUTION Ideas, CBC Radio One Energy is not just a fuel. It’s an entire system that links our civilization together, says David Sanborn Scott, a hydrogen energy Ontario's RoadmapKen Silverstein 10 Mar 2008 Energy policy isn't just consuming U.S. lawmakers. It's also dominating the Canadian agenda and particularly the province of Ontario. The current government there recently unveiled its long-term supply roadmap that plans to double the amount of renewable energy by 2025 and refurbish or replace the province's base-load nuclear capacity. But it also expects to phase-out the use of coal-fired generation by 2014 -- a strategy that had to be put off for seven years. EnergyBiz Insider The Carbon HarvestLawrence Solomon 13 Feb 2008 Global warming is the biggest threat that farmers face, and not because carbon dioxide threatens their crops -- carbon dioxide is actually a boon to crops, and increases yields. Thanks to increased carbon dioxide emissions, in fact, the world's biosphere is on an upswing, the terrestrial NPP (net primary production) growing by more than 6% in the last two decades of the century. National Post FP Comment Blown overTom Adams 22 Feb 2007 Last month, the Conservative government joined the long line of governments around the world subsidizing the production of wind power. National Post Review of Wind Power Results in Ontario: May to October 2006Tom Adams 16 Nov 2006
Summary:
More wind power viable: studyTyler Hamilton 25 Oct 2006 A study released yesterday by Ontario's electricity authorities says wind power could represent nearly 20 per cent of the province's power-generation capacity with little compromise to system reliability. Critics say the numbers are suspiciously high. Ontario has four major wind farms in service now with a potential of producing 396 megawatts of emission-free electricity. About 1,300 megawatts are to be operating by 2010. Toronto Star Small-scale plants run rings around nuclearLawrence Solomon 29 Sep 2006 'If we don't go nuclear, what type of energy will meet our future energy needs," I'm often asked. "Do you think fringe fuels such as solar energy can take the place of nuclear? Or windmills? Bio fuels? Small dams? Tidal power? Burning garbage?" National Post City company behind ethanol ventureFiona Isaacson 9 Jun 2006 A Guelph-based company is building a $200-million grain processing plant in Saskatchewan that will also make ethanol out of production wastes. The plant will be a technological first for Canada, said Chris Findlay, president of International Debranning Inc., or IDI. "There's 100 per cent utilization; there are no waste products," he said. IDI is a private company run by four Ontario-based businessman. Guelph Mercury Harvesting the windBob Burtt 13 May 2006 Darlene Leader sits on a deck at her family farm near Shelburne, north of Orangeville in Dufferin County. She watches as the huge blades of four giant wind turbines slowly turn. Critics say they are noisy, but on this day, the sound, if there's any, is negligible. The four white towers on the 500-acre Leader property are part of a 45-tower operation in Melancthon and Amaranth townships that represents the first large-scale wind farm in Ontario. The Record.com Bullfrog wants to give city the green lightDavid Parkinson 6 May 2006 As Muppet philosopher Kermit the Frog so aptly observed, it's not easy being green. It's not cheap, either, as it turns out. But that's not stopping Margaret Atwood or David Crombie. Tragically Hip front man Gord Downie and chef Jamie Kennedy have gone green too. Globe and Mail Ontario offers to buy homemade electricityCBC News 21 Mar 2006 Ontario is offering to subsidize homeowners and businesses that switch to renewable power sources like solar panels or wind turbines. It's the first program of its type in the country and Premier Dalton McGuinty says he hopes the plan will see a quarter of a million homes powered by renewable energy within a decade. While Canada is far behind European countries like Germany in providing renewable energy, McGuinty says the incentives are the most progressive in North America. Hot air on wind powerMargaret Wente 21 Mar 2006 Up in our rural neck of the woods, where very little happens, everyone is in a tizzy. The wind companies have arrived. Suddenly, there are giant wind farms sprouting 30-storey turbines on our horizon. The wind company salesmen are knocking on doors trying to sign up the local landowners. They put a turbine in your field, and you get $7,000 a year for letting your wind blow through it. Sure beats growing potatoes. Globe and Mail Ontario must spend $40B fixing nuclear plants, $30B more on wind power, report declaresHeather Sokoloff 10 Dec 2005 Toronto: A provincially appointed body is recommending Ontario refurbish or replace its fleet of 12 nuclear power plants at a cost of $30 billion to $40 billion, according to a report released yesterday. It also recommends transforming Ontario into a North American leader in the use of wind technology, bringing the total projected cost to about $70 billion. National Post Alternative Energy: Greasing The WheelsPeter Evans 5 Dec 2005 Hurricane Katrina's destructive swath may have caused a spike in oil prices, but it also spiked interest in alternative energy technology. Take Maple Leaf Foods Inc. Though they earn their bread in the food business, the company recently announced it is set to open Canada's first large-scale biodiesel plant. Canadian Business Online Flying windmillsLawrence Solomon 19 Mar 2005 Don't like fossil fuels? Nuclear power? Hydro dams? Go fly a kite. Really. The next great energy technology may well involve implausible-sounding machines called Flying Electric Generators, windmills 30,000 feet high and tethered to the ground by power lines. National Post Province puts up $8 million for energy excellencePatrick Boake 20 Jan 2005 A fifth Centre of Excellence has been added in Ontario – this time for energy. The Centre of Excellence for Energy will receive $8 million in provincial funding over the next four years, Economic Development and Trade Minister Joseph Cordiano said earlier this month. Business Edge, Vol. 1, No. 1 News Release: Ontario government announces Centre of Excellence for EnergyOntario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade 10 Jan 2005 Toronto: Economic Development and Trade Minister Joseph Cordiano today announced $8 million in funding, over four years, to create a new Centre of Excellence for Energy. E-dialogue on economics of green buildings in Canada7 Oct 2004 Join a fascinating online dialogue on a topic that holds the possibility to transform our buildings and our communities - the adoption of green building practices. Economic issues must be addressed in order for green building to take hold and significantly contribute to environmental sustainability. Moderated by Dr. Ann Dale, Trudeau Fellow and Canada Research Chair on Sustainable Community Development, and Rodney C. RoyalRoads University Province looking at renewable energyRon Ryder 29 May 2004 With Prince Edward Island poised to reveal its strategy for renewable energy, Maritime Electric wants to make sure its traditional forms of power generation are part of the picture. Energy Minister Jamie Ballem is getting ready to release a report looking at the viability of renewable energy sources as a means of supplying electricity for P.E.I. needs. A more extensive study of provincial energy options as a whole is expected next year. The Guardian Corn-based fuelLawrence Solomon 9 Oct 2002 Letters re: The Corn Isn't Green, Lawrence Solomon, Sept. 25. National Post Grass Biofuel Pellets22 Sep 2002
An ecological response to North BIOENERGY 2002, Sept. 22-26, 2002, Boise, Idaho B.C. firm joins with ABB to develop wind farmPaul Vieira 20 Feb 2002 Uniterre Resources Ltd., a small Vancouver energy company, signed on to a joint venture yesterday to develop what would be one of the world's biggest wind power generating projects, in northern British Columbia. But a leading power industry expert said the project will never see the light of day unless Ottawa is prepared to dish out millions in subsidies. Financial Post Changing the energy climate: clean and green heat from grass biofuel pellets3 Oct 2001 R. Jannascha , R. Samsona, A. de Maioa, T. Adamsb and C. Ho Lemaa Resource Efficient Agricultural Production-Canada, Privatized water 'not solution'Maureen Murray 26 Sep 2001 Turning Ontario's drinking water operations over to private hands in an attempt to fix the ills in the system would be tragic, the Walkerton inquiry was told yesterday. "We are by no means arguing for the status quo. But the private sector option is not the solution," said Ron Crawley, representing the Canadian Union of Public Employees. "It would be a tragedy if water was privatized in the province," Crawley told Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor, who heads the inquiry. Toronto Star Tory cuts contributed to Walkerton tragedy, judge toldColin Perkel 24 Aug 2001 WALKERTON, ONT. -- The provincial Tories' fixation on the bottom line contributed directly to deaths from tainted-water in Ontario, a lawyer for the provincial Public Service Employees Union argued Thursday. Driven by ideological zeal, the government ignored numerous warnings about the risks its budget cuts posed to public health and the environment, lawyer Don Eady said in closing submissions to an inquiry into E. coli contamination that killed seven people and made thousands ill in Walkerton last year. Globe & Mail The real agenda in WalkertonTerence Corcoran 30 Jun 2001 Ontario Premier Mike Harris survived his appearance yesterday before the Walkerton inquiry. More than survived: He triumphed. Facing an orchestrated ambush by smirking union lawyers, hired activists and placard-carrying demonstrators, Mr. Harris rose so far above the low politically motivated smears of his prosecutors that many citizens of Ontario must now be wondering about the validity of the Harris caricature they have been fed for most of the past year. Financial Post Future now for fuel cell?Dana Flavelle 4 Jun 2001 "Around here, we call it Saudi Arabia in a box," says Andrew Stuart, patting the washing machine-sized metal box that can turn ordinary tap water and household electricity into fuel for cars. Its technical name is the "personal fuel appliance." It's like having your own personal gas station in your garage, except this one pumps hydrogen for cars that run on fuel cells. Toronto Star Coming soon: A Renewable energy future22 May 2001
Dear Friend:
Wind power has become economic, the Wall Street Journal reported recently. In areas blessed with steady winds and cursed by high gas and nuclear prices, windmills no longer need subsidies to compete against most conventional sources of electricity. In the Pacific Northwest, the Bonneville Power Administration plans to buy 1,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2003, enough to supply a city of 500,000.
Walkerton seems ready to hang the wrong partyTerence Corcoran 15 May 2001 The first anniversary of the Walkerton, Ont., water tragedy is approaching. Already the professional groundskeepers of public opinion are raking the town for the official laying of the blame ceremonies. They appear to have narrowed it down to two culprits, the Harris cutbacks and privatization. Despite overwhelming evidence that Walkerton is the product of gross inadequacies inherent in public sector ownership and major instances of individual public employee incompetence, opinion nevertheless appears to have gelled around the cheap political conclusions. Financial Post Power SwitchLawrence Scanlan 1 May 2001 When Tom Touzel looks up on clear nights, he can sometimes spot a seemingly new star in the firmament — the International Space Station. And he feels a small tug, for the orbiting lab and his log house in rural Ontario are both powered by the brightest of heavenly bodies: the sun. Last December, Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau helped install 74-metre-long solar panels to boost the station’s energy supply. In 1993, Touzel was among the first in Ontario to connect his solar panels to the hydro grid. Canadian Geographic Grass Biofuel Pellets: Assessing the potential to respond to North America's energy concernsR.Samson, R. Jannascha and T. Adams 23 Mar 2001 Introduction SwitchgrassCatherine Clark, Producer 13 Feb 2001 The big chill this winter is the cost of heating your home. The prices of natural gas, oil, electricity and propane have all skyrocketed. The financial strain has some homeowners looking at new ways to heat their homes. And if agricultural scientists are right, all you need to reduce your home heating bills is an acre of land. The way energy specialist Roger Samson sees it, a long, straw-like grass could be the home heating fuel of the future. Switchgrass has no has no other known commerical use. CBC-TV Marketplace Increase in gas prices a boon to pellet firms Gordon Hoekstra 17 Jan 2001 The Northern Interior's third pellet plant is set to open before the end of the month in Vanderhoof, as investors try to capitalize on a renewable energy resource that's already established in countries like Sweden. There are already pellet plants in production in Prince George and Quesnel. A partnership between L & M Lumber, Nechako Lumber and Norm Avison, the $6-million plant in Vanderhoof will employ a dozen people, and more jobs will be created in trucking and distribution. Prince George Citizen Pellet manufacturer targets energy users with cheaper productGordon Hoekstra 10 Jan 2001 A Prince George wood pellet manufacturer hopes to capture new energy users in North America who are looking for alternatives in the face of escalating natural gas prices. Right now, P.G. Pellet Flame exports 80% of its wood pellets to Sweden, where commercial consumers -- including a city of 180,000 -- take advantage of carbon tax credits for using pellets, which do not increase greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Prince George Citizen Biomass breakthrough cuts heating costs and greenhouse gas emissions18 Dec 2000 For Immediate Release STE ANNE DE BELLEVUE, QUEBEC, December 13, 2000--- A new agricultural energy system that turns fast growing grasses into a low-cost, environmentally friendly means of heat energy is set to change North American energy markets. REAP-Canada and Dell- Point Technologies made the announcement today following the successful commercial pelleting of switchgrass on the weekend at an alfalfa pellet plant in Ste. Marthe, Quebec. News Release Talking Alternative fuelsKelly Crowe 15 Oct 2000 ALLISON SMITH (CBC): If an election is indeed called in Ottawa this week you can be sure the rising cost of fuel will become an issue during the campaign. Oil prices have skyrocketed recently, especially with the crisis in the Middle East. And you've seen the results, both at the pumps and in your pocket books. Gasoline, diesel fuel and home heating oil are all more expensive. And as Kelly Crowe reports, it's forcing Canadians to take another look at alternative energy. Sunday Report, transcript White lightning: Ethanol and Iogen: Patrick Foody's 20-year ethanol itch pays off. FinallyPauline Tam 19 Mar 1998 It was an unremarkable concoction, this mealy mush of wood bits cooked in steam. Pulpy, brown bog was what it looked like. But the American scientist immediately understood the significance of Patrick Foody's discovery. Mr. Foody, a civil engineer and budding financier from Montreal, had stumbled upon a key step to making renewable energy. The Ottawa Citizen Environmentalists laud PetroCan-Iogen dealTom Spears 25 Nov 1997
Deal includes building test plant in OttawaEnvironment groups reacted ecstatically to yesterday's announcement that Petro-Canada will get into the ethanol fuel research business and hopes to start major ethanol production. "It spells the beginning of a new energy industry. Petro-Can has made a wise investment," declared Louise Comeau of the Sierra Club, which campaigns against fuels that create "greenhouse" gases, which cause global warming. The Ottawa Citizen Canada and the ethanol factory: A blend too good to be true?Richard Blackwell 31 Dec 1969 Sarnia, Ontario: It smells like a brewery, looks like a small petrochemical plant, and what comes out the back end is at the centre of a debate over Canada's energy future. |
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