My Clean Break column in today’s Toronto Star takes a closer look at plans by SunEdison and SkyPower to build up to 50 megawatts worth of solar projects in Ontario under the new standard offer program, which goes into effect next week. The companies, under a joint venture, plan within the next few weeks to announce their first 10-megawatt project, which would be the largest solar power plant in North America when built. The piece talks about the trend in large-scale solar facilities and how establishing too many of them too early in Ontario could actually hurt the industry in Canada. The Ontario Power Authority has a near-term target of only 50 MW installed capacity for Ontario and 100 MW over the next 20 years. If we blow past those targets that could be justification for taking away the 42-cent per kilowatt-hour premium for solar power through the standard offer program.

It calls into question: How much solar do we need established before we stop paying a hefty premium for it? 

On November 27 and 28 the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition will be holding its first-annual conference in Gatineau, Quebec, a sign that the geoexchange (geothermal, earth system, ground-source heat pump, etc.) industry in Canada is maturing. Click here for the conference program.

I’ll be attending for a couple of reasons. The first is that I’ve had the honour of judging, as part of a multi-judge panel, geothermal projects from across Canada for an award that will be handed out for leadership and excellence. I want to be there to see this award handed out.

The other reason, speaking as a journalist, is that I feel it’s important to report on advances, trends and policies related to the geoexchange industry. I’ve written about this technology in the past and I can tell you there’s huge interest out there for it. The coalition has worked hard to get standards, training and awareness programs in place so that the industry can be taken to a new level.

I think this conference will be insightful, and I’ll report back — through articles in the Toronto Star and posting on this blog — upon my return.

On November 27 and 28 the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition will be holding its first-annual conference in Gatineau, Quebec, a sign that the geoexchange (geothermal, earth system, ground-source heat pump, etc.) industry in Canada is maturing. Click here for the conference program.

I’ll be attending for a couple of reasons. The first is that I’ve had the honour of judging, as part of a multi-judge panel, geothermal projects from across Canada for an award that will be handed out for leadership and excellence. I want to be there to see this award handed out.

The other reason, speaking as a journalist, is that I feel it’s important to report on advances, trends and policies related to the geoexchange industry. I’ve written about this technology in the past and I can tell you there’s huge interest out there for it. The coalition has worked hard to get standards, training and awareness programs in place so that the industry can be taken to a new level.

I think this conference will be insightful, and I’ll report back — through articles in the Toronto Star and posting on this blog — upon my return.

I’m a little late to the game in reporting on the Stern Report out of the United Kingdom, which attempts to attach an economic cost to climate change (i.e. up to $9 trillion if we don’t do anything about it). Click here for point-form highlights from the BBC, here for a short executive summary of the report, and here for the full version.

Joel Makower has a take here and some interesting links, including an authorative analysis from The Economist. New Energy Finance says the report is good news for clean energy investors because it “calls for the power sector to be up to 75 per cent decarbonized by 2050. This will require a range of clean energy technologies, including solar power, wind and biomass, biofuels and alternative fuel technologies such as fuel cells and hybrids, and those involved in demand-side saving measures such as energy efficiency.”

I’m a little late to the game in reporting on the Stern Report out of the United Kingdom, which attempts to attach an economic cost to climate change (i.e. up to $9 trillion if we don’t do anything about it). Click here for point-form highlights from the BBC, here for a short executive summary of the report, and here for the full version.

Joel Makower has a take here and some interesting links, including an authorative analysis from The Economist. New Energy Finance says the report is good news for clean energy investors because it “calls for the power sector to be up to 75 per cent decarbonized by 2050. This will require a range of clean energy technologies, including solar power, wind and biomass, biofuels and alternative fuel technologies such as fuel cells and hybrids, and those involved in demand-side saving measures such as energy efficiency.”