cleantech – Alternative Energies

Tyler
canada
canadian
July 1, 2020
0 Comments

Richmond Hill to covert all street, park and parking lot lights to LED

The light has gone off in Richmond Hill. This GTA town north of Toronto is converting most of its 17,000 street, park and parking lot lights to LED as part of a contract it has just signed with Ameresco, which will supply and install the new lights. But this is more than just about high-efficiency lighting. The town will be getting a “smart lighting control system” that allows staff to remotely monitor and turn off/on the lights. Is it worth it? Hell, ya. LEDs consume up to 60 per cent less power than “high pressure sodium” lamps currently used in most infrastructure. The town is expected to spend around $8 million to convert 15,000 lights and in return will enjoy $1.5 million in energy and maintenance …

Tyler
biofuels
brazil
January 4, 2016
0 Comments

After Paris, it’s time for Canada to finally join IRENA

IRENA is the International Renewable Energy Agency, a UN-affiliated organization established in 2009 to promote awareness and growth of renewable energy technologies on the global stage. It’s a kind of counter-balance to existing agencies that have long represented the fossil fuel and nuclear industries. The idea for IRENA goes as far back as 1981, but it took a quarter century to get the political traction it needed. Today, 145 countries have officially joined IRENA and another 30 are in the process of becoming members. That would bring the total to 175. By comparison, the 42-year-old International Energy Agency has only 29 members, while the 59-year-old International Atomic Energy Agency has 167 members. Canada is a founding member of the IEA and IAEA, yet Canada is the only G8 countries …

Tyler
carbon
cleantech
December 24, 2015
0 Comments

The rise of Cli-Fi says something about our times

Four years ago, having just published a book of non-fiction, I was drawn to the idea of experimenting with fiction writing. Specifically, I wanted to write a dystopian novel that was a cross between Logan’s Run and Blade Runner. Climate change and the eventual draconian measures to keep it under control – declining country-assigned population caps, for one – would drive the narrative through characters who, in an increasingly carbon-constrained world, suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves among society’s most vulnerable. Working title: Cap and Cull. Why venture into fiction? It seemed to me like a better way to educate people about an otherwise complex – and I expect for most – boring topic. I tried to do this in my book Mad Like Tesla. …