Green taxis; Sky power
My Clean Break column today looks at the growing interest in hybrid vehicles in cab fleets. In Toronto, Co-Op Cabs wants to start a pilot project that will put a few hybrid cars — likely Toyota Camry hybrids — into service. Meanwhile, the Cleantech Innovation Institute (part of the Cleantech Venture Network) is trying to negotiate special leasing arrangements for cab/fleet owners to make the switch to hybrids worthwhile and less risky. Jim Harris, former federal Green Party leader and now a managing partner with the institute, says the initial focus will be on four cities — Toronto, London, New York and San Francisco — and the aim is to create enough demand for hybrid taxis that Toyota or some other automaker will boost North American output and offer bulk purchase discounts. Certainly a worthy goal and, on the surface at least, a potential win-win for all parties.
Also, my Clean Break podcast is an interview with Kerry Adler, CEO of SkyPower Corp. of Toronto, who talks about his company’s plans to build utility-scale solar farms throughout Ontario. Initially, SkyPower had targeted 50 megawatt of solar as part of a partnership announced with SunEdison of Baltimore. But Adler says as much as 120 megawatts could be in the pipeline based on the number of potential sites the company has identified for development. The first 10-megawatt farm is expected to be announced this spring. It’s ambitious, even if just a fraction of this potential gets built.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
March 13th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Love the green taxis idea. I’m proud of never having owned, needed or desired my own car. My transportation is already very green (ok, flying is a problem), and this would help: gives a good moral boost. I already make a point of asking for a hybrid whenever I’m renting, especially if I know they don’t have any…