May I Make a Suggestion?
Where’s our news? I ask because I’ve noticed that the UCP is adept at flooding the media with good news stories about what they’re going to do to help Albertans…
energy
The UK election will truly effect Alberta
The UK is going to look a lot more like Scandavia by 2030. If you look at the parties in the new Parliament, most of their platforms said the same…
Clothes Dryers are an indication of the world to come
LG is a South Korean technology company that makes amazing things. They’re a manufacturer of appliances, computers, electronics, speakers, mobile products and HVAC (heating and air conditioning) products. For the…
Alberta could start small….
What I find remarkable about “small c-” Canadian Conservatives is how reluctant, how reticent, they are to acknowledge the economic change that is going on around them. Unlike Brian Mulroney…
How Solar Supports Ukraine
In the ongoing war caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine power plants have been attacked by both sides to hurt military and civilian operations. Beyond the obvious horrors of war…
Packing Potential Power: Better Batteries Blasting Baselines
Source: Ziegler and Trancik (2021) before 2018 (end of data), BNEF Long-Term Electric Vehicle Outlook (2023) since 2018, BNEF Lithium-Ion Battery Price Survey (2023) for 2015-2023, RMI analysis. The baseline…
This 28-ton Kite Provides 1.2MW of Power
One of bizarre criticisms of solar power is that it only works when the sun hits them which means some areas are hesitant to install large solar arrays (honestly, this…
Ending fossil fuels benefits all
Many people in Canada are employed in fossil fuel industries. Were production of carbon-laden, climate damaging products to decline or end, many towns would be disrupted. However, quality of life…
Batteries…
Large reductions in the cost of renewable technologies such as solar and wind have made them cost-competitive with fossil fuels. But to balance these intermittent sources and electrify our transport…
Clean energy solutions
In 2017, Site C proponents said the dam was required because British Columbia needed dispatchable electricity. According to those keen on the megaproject, low-cost wind and solar power could not…
Renewables are the key to low emissions, but…
Proponents of hydroelectric dams love to talk about these as low-impact, clean energy. But many of the proponents expect to gain financially from construction of these megaprojects. To them, self-interest…
Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Kevin Jiang reports on the results of the largest-ever study into the effects of COVID-19 vaccines – which concludes they’ve been extremely safe…
A caterpillar turning into a butterfly?
I write often about climate change and tend toward pessimism about humankind’s efforts to avoid disaster. But there are good stories that show progress. Will they be enough? Only if…
Wind vs nuclear energy
It must dishearten nuclear proponents when wind energy is shown to be a low-cost, quickly installed source of electricity.
Let’s End Gas Subsidies
For some strange reason countries like Canada keep giving tax money to ultra wealthy oil and gas companies even though they keep killing all life on the planet. Let’s stop…
Private power’s golden egg cracked in Manitoba
In late January, Manitoba Hydro CEO Jay Grewal said the utility would need new sources of electricity within five or six years. She reiterated a plan to meet new demand…
Energy politics in BC
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reported that wind and solar accounted for 71 percent of U.S. electric-power capacity additions in 2022. 8.5 GW of wind power capacity was added…
Private power for the public = sweet deals for private capital
Private capital manager Axium Infrastructure Inc. now owns a large part of the Edwards Sanborn power facility. The company is familiar to those following private power companies that supply BC…
Everything else becomes moot
Climate scientists tell us to reduce and ultimately eliminate burning of fossil fuels, products that are the dominant cause of global warming. Worldwide, the oil and gas industry and its…
BC Hydro’s call for power is the wrong call
Energy-systems consultant Roger Bryenton wrote an open letter to Premier David Eby, BC Hydro CEO Chris O’Riley, and BCUC Chair Mark Jaccard. It is published here with permission.