Sustainable energy

by Guy Dauncey

Wind turbines are spinning on the hills of southern Alberta, and on a hill outside Whitehorse, in the Yukon. They are spinning in downtown Toronto, and along the shores of the St Lawrence, in Quebec. But there are no wind turbines spinning in British Columbia — yet. 

The production of electricity from the wind is making rapid progress around the world. By the end of 2003, wind turbines had 39,000 megawatts (MW)

While governments diddle around with new nuclear power and the climate crisis threatens to go over the top, you can install alternative energy yourself at home or in your business, probably for less cost than buying a hybrid car. And of course, for the householder as well as the power corporation, the “negawatt” of power saved through energy

by Carol Gray

Quadra Island, at the north end of Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland, is about to make a name for itself in the field of renewable ocean energy. Campbell River-based Canoe Pass Tidal Energy Corp. has part­nered with Focus Environmental and Calgary-based New Energy Corp. to develop a demonstration tidal-current energy project in Canoe Pass, which runs between Quadra and Maud is­lands near Seymour Narrows.

When one of Canada’s largest mainstream retail companies sells across-the-counter solar panels and has a new website devoted to all things environmental, one can safely say to Kermit the frog: “It’s no longer hard being green.”

by Leslie Gillett

“Canadian Tire recognized a growing need for environmentally sustainable choices a couple of years ago,” says head office spokesperson Sarah Rodgers.

Combining social goals and earth restoration components into a Plan B budget yields an additional annual expenditure of $190 billion, roughly one third of the current U.S. military budget or one sixth of the global military budget. In a sense this is the new defense budget, the one that addresses the most serious threats to our security.

by Lester R. Brown

Chapter 13: The Great Mobilization

by David Simms

Over the decade that my family and I spent living with a wind­mill to supply all of our electricity, we became acutely aware of exactly how much energy we used. Our appliances gobbled too much power, and many were the times we wished for the magical solutions in household technology that are now available off-the-shelf. In a sense, I now view our experience as a laboratory experiment, the findings of which could be applied to electricity use in the conventional, urban home.