Today's guest is Capital Power’s Kate Chisholm, who maintains that we need to come to terms with the fact that the goal of powering the world with 100 per cent renewables is an impossible pipe dream. The series was produced by KEI Network for Troy Media. We welcome your comments below. Bios of today’s…
The cost of zinc-air batteries is one of the biggest hurdles to making them viable
Batteries do the heavy lifting to store excess solar energy on power grids for use after sundown, but to operate, they also rely on pricey elements like platinum. University of Alberta researcher Matthew Labbe would rather leave the precious metals to the jewellers by using cheaper materials to tweak a disposable battery commonly used in…The sector will be critical to Canada, and the world, for decades to come
The idea of the need for a “just transition” for Canadian oil and gas workers is based on the false narrative that global demand is now decreasing and, therefore, Canada’s industry will no longer be profitable or essential in the very near future. This is not true. Oil and gas will continue to be critical…
Study looking at emissions suggests low-carbon fuel vehicles will offer increasing environmental advantages
In the drive to transition from conventional gasoline engines to low-carbon fuel vehicles, those that run on rechargeable batteries may have the edge – at least for a while. Battery electric vehicles are forecast to make up the largest number of low-carbon fuel vehicles on the road by 2050, University of Alberta research shows. A…
The province has the resources, infrastructure and workforce to produce the clean energy source
On the path to a decarbonized future, Alberta could become a global leader in the export of hydrogen. Amit Kumar, who advised the provincial government in developing its Hydrogen Roadmap, says the province is already well ahead of the production game, having developed large-scale hydrogen infrastructure and expertise for the oil sands industry. Alberta is, in…
Oil tankers off West coast are bad but drilling for oil off Newfoundland's coast is OK
We all know politics is the art of the possible. Perfection isn’t for the real world. We aren’t surprised when tradeoffs and the occasional compromise creep into government policies. Nor do we require elected members of government, even at the ministerial level, to be experts in their portfolio areas, although we expect them to avail…
Current climate policies ignore the long transition period required to develop reliable alternative energy systems
By Eric Newell and Perry Kinkaide Contributors Balancing energy, the environment and the economy is critical. Yet current climate policies and plans – including Canada’s – are designed to phase out fossil fuel production entirely as rapidly as possible, largely ignoring the several decades-long transition required to develop reliable alternative energy systems. To be effective,…
Longer days are coming! Cheaper solar power, not so much
We are constantly being told that wind and solar power are really cheaper than fossil-fuel power if you tot up the true costs of using each type. These arguments have always been dubious on their merits, if not outright disingenuous. Yes, the wind is free and the sunshine is free, but nothing about capturing either…
Dreams of a hydrogen future just another energy scheme to extract money from gullible governments
Once again, the world staged ClimateFest 26, aka the United Nations Conference of the Parties, where peddlers of alternative energy schemes try to plunge their dippers into the river of climate change funding that flows around the world. This funding is generated by governmental pledges cadged out of economically developed countries at prior COPs. One…
Nuclear fusion could generate millions of jobs globally
Nuclear fusion has been a science-fiction fantasy for a long time, the holy grail of energy production. But it’s rapidly moving closer to reality. The process involves combining multiple atomic nuclei to generate energy, just as the sun does. That’s the opposite of nuclear fission, in which atoms are split. Canadian and British innovators are…