Episodes

  • 383. Virtual Power Plants - Make money, save the grid
    Jul 31 2024
    Virtual power plants are simply networks of small energy producers (solar, wind, backup generators etc.) and energy storage devices that can provide power to the grid when needed. It's the digitization of the grid. It's very efficient, costing 40% less than speaker power plants and it's absolutely essential to start managing the millions of distributed energy systems (solar, batteries, EVs) coming on to the grid each year. We talk to Dwayne Caldwell CEO of ENSPI a company that helps companies understand, manage and save energy and then network their resources into a Virtual Power Plant to make money and help the grid. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Blog GreenEnergyFutures.ca Subscribe today!
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    4 mins
  • 382B. Agrivoltaics - Saving the family farm by integrating solar and farming
    Jul 29 2024
    Farmer Shawn Morton just said "no" the first time he was approached by solar developers. But Morton found an ally in Claude Mindorff a farmer who was working for the solar company. So he cut a deal to lease 300 acres to a solar project and to keep grazing and farming that land in the lease. It's called Agrivoltaics, or the integration of solar with farming or grazing and Shawn says it just might be the thing that can help keep his 100-year family farm in the family. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Blog GreenEnergyFutures.ca
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    4 mins
  • 382A. Agrivoltaics, Keeping the farm in the solar farm
    Jul 16 2024
    Solar plus farming, called Agrivoltaics is helping farmers generate new sources of income, keep the family farm viable and keep farming in the solar farm. We meet up with farmer, former oil and gas guy and current renewable energy developer Claude Mindorf at the Joffre Solar Farm in Alberta to talk about agrivoltaics. It turns out Canada could produce all of its electricity from renewable energy that would occupy less than 1% of farmland and enhance the viability of farming itself at the same time. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Video Podcast
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    4 mins
  • 381B. The End of Coal-fired Generation in Alberta - Now What?
    Jul 3 2024
    Alberta phased out its coal-fired electricity in record time representing the largest single action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. The trouble is a lot of the coal was replaced by natural gas which produces 60% of the emissions of coal. Can the fossil fuel-infatuated province also capitalize on its amazing renewable energy resources to build the net-zero grid of the future? We talk to Scott MacDougall of the Pembina Institute to look at the challenges. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast Part 2 in our End of Coal series Subscribe today for more stories about building the sustainable future we need.
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    4 mins
  • 381A. King Coal is Dead - Alberta's last coal-fired power plant
    Jun 26 2024
    Alberta's last coal-fired power plant stopped burning coal on June 16, 2024 at 10:57 pm. The coal phase-out was originally proposed for 2061, but in 2015 a new target was set for 2030. On June 16 the last lump of coal was burned to produce electricity six years ahead of schedule. The phase-out represents the largest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of any initiative. We talk to Scott MacDougall of the Pembina Institute about what this all means for Alberta's grid. King Coal is Dead, so we set out to find out who the new king is and how long the new monarch will reign. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
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    4 mins
  • 380B. Cracking the Geothermal Nut -EAVOR building in Germany
    Jun 26 2024
    This is huge! EAVOR believes they've cracked the geothermal nut. Using closed-loop technology they have pioneered a new kind of Geothermal that can be built almost anywhere without uncertainty. We look at EAVOR's pilot project in Alberta and their full-scale geothermal plant in Germany that will provide electricity for 8,000 homes and district heating for 120,000 homes. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast
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    4 mins
  • 380A. Geothermal breakthrough - heat and power anywhere
    Jun 14 2024
    EAVOR has pioneered a new kind of geothermal that can provide heat and power almost anywhere on the planet. This could be the missing link in the energy revolution that could not only help electricity get to net-zero. It also helps solve the even bigger challenge of how to heat buildings with zero emissions. We talk to Jeanine Vany of EAVOR, a company from Calgary, Alberta that has pioneered the new technology. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast See full story at greenenergyfutures.ca
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    4 mins
  • 379B. Green Infill - A 16-Unit Passive House Ready for Northern Climates
    Jun 4 2024
    Here's what Green Infill looks like! Built to the super energy efficient Passive House standard this 16-unit townhouse style infill project replaced two underutilized single-family homes in Edmonton, Alberta. The homes require just 10% of the heating energy of a regular home, and have no natural gas or bills. We take a tour of this amazing project with developers David and Melissa Campbell of Homestretch, a multifamily developer. The project utilized an unique EPS wall system with embedded structural steel, an ICF foundation and Air Source Heat Pumps which required no backup heat in 10 of the 16 units in a City where temperatures reached -40C last year. The Coup de Gras is the homes are powered mostly by solar electricity and 10 of the 16 units are net-zero. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast See blog at GreenEnergyFutures.ca
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    4 mins