Renewable energy sector holds significant potential for Canada to reduce our carbon emissions
The global energy economy is undergoing a great transition. Unsecure oil supplies, uncertain prices for consumers, and rapid advancements in technology are making renewable energy alternatives more and more competitive on the world stage. The new challenge of the 21st century is to build a balanced, sustainable future for Canada that uses our vast […]
Canada’s diversified energy mix critical to economic future, says NRCan Minister Oliver
Canadians are generally familiar with our government’s efforts to achieve energy security and reach new markets for our oil and gas exports. However, it is important to realize that Canada is also a global leader in renewable energy and has introduced significant new measures to improve energy efficiency on our roads, in our homes […]
Critics call Ontario’s wind farms ‘a disaster’ in rural areas but Energy Minister Chiarelli says government is working with municipalities
Ontario is the provincial leader in installed wind energy capacity with 15 operational farms and enough energy to power 600,000 homes, becoming a “mainstream resource” for the province’s power grid. But although there has been a noticeable decrease in greenhouse gas emissions within the province as the last coal-fired plant is set to close […]
Ontario still ‘ahead of the game’ internationally with commitment to renewable energy despite WTO ruling
Energy markets are fundamentally changing all over the world, and Ontario’s green energy policies “got that fire going” in terms of establishing themselves internationally, says a wind energy expert who doesn’t expect a recent World Trade Organization ruling against Canada forcing the province to alter those very policies to have any negative impacts on […]
Albertans becoming wary of coal-fired electricity, want coal plants phased-out
Although Alberta is home to a growing renewable energy market—particularly in wind power—and has been working with private companies to develop clean-coal technology, many experts say that the prospects of Alberta significantly reducing the role of coal-fired electricity in overall production any time soon remains slim. Dave Butler, executive director for the Canadian Clean […]
No time for climate policy delay: IEA
Despite rapid growth in renewable energy deployment in the coming years, further policies are needed now for the world to have a fighting chance at holding global warming to two degrees Celsius, says the International Energy Agency. IEA executive director Maria van der Hoeven said that policy uncertainty continues to be the challenge to […]
Canada ‘underselling’ renewable energy sector, say policy experts
Alberta’s oilsands continue to overshadow the renewable energy sector because the federal government doesn’t have a strategy for non- and low-emitting energy generation and is “underselling” renewables in Canada, say experts. “[O]ne of the things we’re missing in Canada, is that we’re not taking our renewable energy industry seriously and we’re not seeing the […]
Aglukkaq’s commitment to environment questionable, say critics
Leona Aglukkaq has yet to make a public statement as Environment Minister since she was appointed to the file in July, and some critics are concerned that her appointment signals a continuation of vague commitments and partisan attacks that have defined the national environmental debate in recent years. After years of intensely partisan debate over […]
Alberta stuck on coal as energy source continues to loom large in province’s energy, export sectors
As most provinces within Canada work to distance themselves from the use of coal-fired power plants for electricity production, the Alberta government is staying the course—for now—as the ancient energy source continues to account for nearly half of all electricity generated on the provincial grid. Coal mining for export to foreign markets is also […]
Natural Resources Minister Oliver defends strategy to promote Canadian oil abroad
Joe Oliver could be on the move in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s looming Cabinet shuffle, but he’s standing by the aggressive approach that the government has taken to promoting Canadian oil abroad in his two years as Natural Resources minister. The rookie MP and retired investment banker has taken a hardball approach to pitching […]
