Themes:
Energy Conscious Communities Defined
November 10, 2020
What is an energy conscious community? There are lots of technical ways to describe it, but I believe it comes down to this. An energy conscious community understands its local energy system. When we relied on a pre-industrial energy system – when we burned wood for warmth and to cook our food, raised working animals to plow the land...
London Underground heat warms homes
September 17, 2020
The Bunhill 2 Energy Centre Waste heat from the London Underground network is being captured in a new energy centre to heat 1350 homes, a school and two recreational centres. The Bunhill 2 Energy Centre is described as the first of its kind in the world and is the result of considerable public and private sector collaboration. Heat is generated by...
Transforming urban energy systems post-COVID 19
April 29, 2020
Many have noted the opportunity to link the COVID-19 economic recovery with robust climate action. We have an unanticipated opportunity to accelerate the transition to low carbon urban energy infrastructure like district energy systems. Modern district energy systems supply hot and chilled water to buildings through underground pipes for space heating, domestic hot water, air conditioning and industrial process...
Oakville endorses Community Energy Strategy
February 26, 2020
Oakville’s Town Council endorsed a Community Energy Strategy last night. It was an important milestone in their community energy planning journey and their response to the climate emergency. The key building blocks of the strategy were as one might have expected. Objectives and targets for home and building, industrial and transportation efficiency as well as local energy generation and distribution...
The Energy Transition is 50 years-old
October 29, 2019
Canadians are beginning to wake up to the energy transition that is underway in our country. An energy transition is a long-term structural change in an energy system. In the last two centuries, Canada has experienced two. Early European settlers relied on a pre-industrial energy system. They burned wood to stay warm, used work animals to lighten their load and...
The Energy Conscious Community - Calling All Planners
September 24, 2019
International Energy Association research confirms that successful urban energy planning is only possible if energy is integrated in the entire urban planning process. But in many countries, including Canada, consideration of energy issues is missing in land use planning processes. The problem A natural connection should exist between urban development and energy development, but the legacy of siloed urban...
The Future of Mobility
August 12, 2019
Financial institutions are beginning to take notice of the mobility revolution. Insurance companies are planning for decline in personal automobile insurance while some credit unions and banks brace for a decline in car loans. The future of mobility is being described as autonomous, connected, electric and shared. The convergence of electric vehicles (EVs), artificial intelligence and the cloud are...
Alignment to act
May 23, 2019
Communities and organizations don’t transform – their leaders do. If leaders mistake talking about an issue as action, the issue might be taken seriously but nothing will change. In Canada, we have been on a climate change merry-go-round for thirty years – talking about it and taking it seriously and failing to act. We have the data. We know how...
Of course, it's a climate emergency
April 30, 2019
There is a campaign underway to have all Canadian municipal governments declare a climate emergency. Offering a critique of this campaign puts you at risk of being labelled a climate denier – which is part of the point of this post. So, let me begin by saying I agree climate change is an emergency. However, the predictable backlash to...
Ontario's energy transition history
January 28, 2019
Many lessons can be learned from history; that is true of energy transitions. An energy transition is a long-term structural change in an energy system and Ontario has experienced several over the last two hundred years. Our first energy sources were local. Early European settlers in Upper Canada relied on a pre-industrial system for their energy. They burned wood...
Municipal Mayhem
July 30, 2018
Healthy and prosperous communities need good governance, but we seemed determined to do the opposite in Ontario. Ford’s recent meddling in Toronto's election demonstrates that he is more than willing to put his own political interests ahead of the health and prosperity of Toronto, regardless of how you feel about the size of its council. Wynne did the same when...
Stop wasting energy
July 13, 2018
Action on climate change has increased in all parts of Canadian society – individuals, business, civil society and government. The expected backlash from usual suspects is probably the best evidence of this activity, because it sure it isn’t a decline in national greenhouse gas emissions. Paradoxically, I wonder whether our focus on climate change might be getting in the way...
Generation Energy
July 7, 2018
Generation Energy is a national energy dialogue. Launched last year by the federal government, it was charged to sort out what a low carbon future would look like in Canada. Not an easy task in a country tied to a resource-based economy, in our hearts and mines. The Generation Energy Council has just released a report with its vision for Canada’s...
Make it informed, inclusive and democratic, please
July 4, 2018
A well-designed decision-making process is central to accountable local government. If you design a process that ensures all necessary data is provided up front, you will make a more informed decision. If you design a process that engages the right people, at the right time and in the right way, you will make a more inclusive decision. And if you...
Local legacy makers
May 8, 2018
Sustainability transitions are not easy. They are disruptive, by nature. So, when you try to accelerate them, regardless how noble your intentions, it puts a target on your back. People like things the way they are, even when it is not good for them. That is why there are particles of plastic in ninety percent of some of world’s popular...
Elephants and local democracy
April 15, 2018
I have always appreciated the ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant that originated from the Indian subcontinent, many centuries ago. I was first introduced to the fable in an eastern philosophy course during university and it has frequently come to mind over the years. It goes, a little like this: Several blind men come upon an elephant...
Nature-based disruption
March 22, 2018
World Water Day is celebrated today, and this year’s theme is Nature for Water and explores nature-based solutions to the urban water challenges we face in the 21st century. Nature-based solutions take advantage of the natural functions and services provided by trees, plants, wetlands and microbes. The application of nature-based solutions is called green infrastructure which can provide similar...
Using the past to build the future energy system
January 18, 2018
Brooklyn Microgrid was the first use of blockchain technology to support neighbourhood-owned renewable energy that I learned about. The platform has allowed homeowners to see their excess solar power to neighbours. They host Let’s Build a Microgrid Community workshops with the goal to revolutionize the way a community thinks about, produces and uses energy in a sustainable way. They...
Urban planners' changing worldview
January 10, 2018
International Energy Association research confirms that successful urban energy planning is only possible, if energy is integrated in the entire urban planning process. But in many countries, including Canada, consideration of energy issues is still largely absent in the land use planning process. Community energy plans, developed under the leadership of municipal governments, are emerging as a standardized and...
Navigating the Energy Future
November 21, 2017
I was delighted to be asked to introduce Jan Vrins who was the opening speaker at the annual conference of the Association of Power Producers of Ontario. Jan Vrins is the leader of Navigant’s global energy practice. His team is at the forefront of a global energy transformation that is a changing the energy sector into a cleaner, smarter, distributed...