According to KPMG’s Cleantech Report Card, British Columbia (BC) may be the third largest cleantech cluster worldwide. The Canadian province has had a carbon tax since 2008 and its government became carbon-neutral in 2010. BC sits on enormous natural gas reserves, and its hydro-enabled energy prices are low. So what will drive cleantech adoption? For a major breakthrough, a two-pronged approach is needed: • Implementation of a planned cap-and-trade system, a favorable investment climate, strong R&D and incubation, and low corporate taxes • Strong public demand supported by lifestyle branding for green buildings, low-emission transportation, waste-to-energy conversion, and a sustainability-oriented consumer mindset Despite a favorable cleantech climate in Canada (the government’s posture not withstanding) the public’s concern with climate change is decreasing and adoption of new consumer paradigms is slow. Examples are NIMBY resistance to incineration and the current smart metering backlash against BC Hydro. In Europe, ...

 

OK, I’m doing my top 10 list now. Following up on AWEA’s top 10 wind energy stories and SEIA’s top 10 solar energy stories, I decided I may as well give my own opinion on the top 10 clean energy stories and energy efficiency stories of 2011 (plus one bonus story). There will be some overlap, of course.

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1. 40% drop in cost of solar. This tremendous drop in the cost of solar was, to say the least, massively influential. It helped tons of people and businesses to go solar for less, increased work for numerous solar installers, and helped to put some companies out of business who were working on alternatives to traditional solar PV. The full ramifications are still unclear, but recent reports have shown that ...

This coming March, the 10th GLOBE Awards, sponsored by The GLOBE Foundation and The Globe and Mail, will be presented at the GLOBE 2012 Conference Closing Luncheon giving you access to hundreds of international senior executives in the business of energy and environment, and providing your company the type of exposure that “makes a difference”.

Join the ranks of other finalists and winners and get the recognition your company deserves. The GLOBE Awards for Environmental Excellence will be presented to extraordinary companies from across the country that have shown an exceptional ability to balance competitive strategies and sustainable development.

Who’s already planning on applying for the GLOBE Awards?

Aqua-Guard Spill Response Inc.
Canadian Tire
M.A. Turbo/Engine Ltd.
Morgan Solar …

April 3, 2012 8:00 am

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April 4, 2012 6:00 pm

We are pleased to announce that the Ontario Feed-In Tariff Forum will take place on
April 3rd and 4th, 2012 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Following sold-out conferences in 2010 and 2011, the third Forum will bring together FIT contract holders, developers, manufacturers, suppliers, service providers and government representatives to provide critical and timely insight into the impacts of the FIT review and the new landscape for renewable energy in Ontario.

 

This focal point for the Ontario FIT industry will provide:

• Networking with all the key industry players, policymakers and infrastructure experts involved in FIT

• In-depth analysis on the outcomes of the FIT review and new market dynamics in Ontario

• 120+ speakers with dedicated streams on solar, wind, hydro and bioenergy sectors

• Critical updates on key topics including: grid connection, REA, contract rules, pricing, …

While the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline is temporarily stalled, the U.S. Navy is helping to push the market for algae biofuel. That’s good news for the U.S. biofuel industry and it could also help influence the growth of the biofuel industry internationally as well, since the Navy is coordinating its biofuel program with NATO fuel standards. In the latest development, the algae biofuel company OriginOil has announced a multinational joint venture to develop biorefineries that would supply both the U.S. and NATO.

OriginOil and International Algae Standards

The new joint venture is called Future Energy Solutions, and it’s still in the early stages of lining up investors and planning feasibility studies. In the meantime, in support of ...

Landfills are a constant reminder of all the waste we produce, but a new innovation could throw out the notion of a “dump” by turning them into solar power dynamos. energyNOW! visited Conley, Georgia to see how one company is generating renewable energy while safely covering nine million cubic yards of municipal solid waste. You can watch the full video below. Most people don’t give much thought to the science behind landfills, but they’re a highly engineered environment, designed to safely contain decomposing waste and methane while keeping out the elements. Clean energy advocates have looked at landfills for years as a ideal location for solar power installations, but encountered problems because as waste breaks down over time, their shape can shift and damage solid structures. Enter the Spectro PowerCap from Carlisle Energy, a first-of-its-kind 45-acre landfill cover combining flexible ...

Facing an uncertain future with biofuels policy under scrutiny, the advanced biofuels industry convened for a three day conference in San Francisco earlier this month. Jointly organized by Green Power Conferences and Biofuels Digest, the Advanced Biofuels Markets conference is one of the few industry events bringing together industry leaders from all shades of advanced biofuel interests – algae, cellulosic biofuels, advanced biodiesel, aviation biofuels, and others – as well as key public-sector stakeholders. Coming off several years of steady industry growth but facing a difficult 2012, Advanced Biofuels Markets 2011 was tinged with exigency. With deficit reduction at the forefront of policy objectives for Congress, a reexamination of cornerstone policies supporting biofuels growth is expected. At risk of being scrapped altogether, the checkerboard foundation of biofuels policy initiatives spanning EPA, USDA, the Department of Energy ...

With 2011 winding down, both the Canadian solar and biofuels sectors are having their annual conferences within the next two weeks, to take stalk of the past year and move forward for 2012.

The Canadian Solar Industry Association (CanSIA), coming off a proposal in October for the upcoming Canadian Federal budget, is having its conference at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario December 5-6.

One topic that industry participants will be mulling over during the two-day conference includes global market trends in supply and demand for the solar industry. Currently, the solar industry is one of the top renewable energy industries. However, trade wars between China and the US, and economic concerns within Europe, are adding some downward pressure on the industry.

Other topics that will ...

With one of the most anti-science, anti-climate-action, anti-clean-energy political parties in the world (perhaps the most), the United States Congress has been unable to move forward with any significant effort to cut our CO2 emissions. In case you missed it, though, the Supreme Court declared in 2007 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had the right and the responsibility to determine if greenhouse gas emissions were a threat to human health and safety and should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Based on the overwhelming scientific evidence showing that humans cause global warming and the effects of global warming are a huge threat to humanity, the EPA declared CO2 a public danger at the end of 2009, just before the Copenhagen climate conference.

With Republicans in recent set ...

It's an understatement to say that the business opportunities and benefits of sustainability and innovation practices have been well established. So how do we get investors to place a financial value on green business practices?