I wrote an article about a Toronto-area entrepreneur trying to launch a green limousine service similar to services already operating in Boston and Los Angeles, where instead of your standard black or white (sometimes stretch) limo the car of choice is a Toyota Prius. But Toronto by-laws forbid such energy-efficient vehicles because they don’t fall into the standard definition of luxury, and because they can’t carry as many people or have slightly less legroom. The same roadblocks, at least with respect to legroom, apply to taxis in Toronto. What gets me is, why does the city get to decide what is “luxurious” to me or presume what I’d find a more comfortable ride. Leonardo DiCaprio took a Prius limo to the Academy Awards this year. Does this mean he was slumming it? Perhaps luxury to some people is being driven to the airport without the guilt of being hauled around in a gas-guzzling Lincoln Town Car, or even more crazy, a stretch Hummer. I think the City of Toronto needs to get its priorities straight, and here’s hoping the entrepreneur behind this new venture can talk some sense into our local politicians.

Hey Leo, if you want to give this city crap give me a call, I’ll make sure you’re heard. I’m sure you’d want to ride in a Prius limo at the next Toronto International Film Festival.

I wrote an article about a Toronto-area entrepreneur trying to launch a green limousine service similar to services already operating in Boston and Los Angeles, where instead of your standard black or white (sometimes stretch) limo the car of choice is a Toyota Prius. But Toronto by-laws forbid such energy-efficient vehicles because they don’t fall into the standard definition of luxury, and because they can’t carry as many people or have slightly less legroom. The same roadblocks, at least with respect to legroom, apply to taxis in Toronto. What gets me is, why does the city get to decide what is “luxurious” to me or presume what I’d find a more comfortable ride. Leonardo DiCaprio took a Prius limo to the Academy Awards this year. Does this mean he was slumming it? Perhaps luxury to some people is being driven to the airport without the guilt of being hauled around in a gas-guzzling Lincoln Town Car, or even more crazy, a stretch Hummer. I think the City of Toronto needs to get its priorities straight, and here’s hoping the entrepreneur behind this new venture can talk some sense into our local politicians.

Hey Leo, if you want to give this city crap give me a call, I’ll make sure you’re heard. I’m sure you’d want to ride in a Prius limo at the next Toronto International Film Festival.

Well, California made noise about it, Australia got the ball rolling, now Ontario is jumping in with its own ban on inefficient incandescent bulbs. This makes Ontario the first jurisdiction in North America to commit to a ban, though unlike the Australian target of 2010, Ontario’s regulation won’t kick in until 2012. The province has also been careful with its wording. It’s not banning incandescent bulbs. Rather, it plans to ban inefficient lighting technology that would include current incandescent bulbs. It left the door open to innovation with regards to incandescent technology. No doubt, the government wanted to be sensitive to General Electric, which claims it is working on an incandescent bulb that will be just as efficient as compact fluorscent lights and which contain zero mercury. One could argue the Ontario ban should match Australia’s timeline, but I think the fact that the province has drawn a line in the sand will have an enormous impact. It will be interesting to see how many other provinces and states follow.

First, let me start by apologizing for the recent lack of posts. I recently had to sell my house and buy a new one, then was away for most of last week at a bioenergy conference in northern Ontario. It’s been tough to keep up with happenings in the cleantech world, let alone write about them here.

On a positive note, glad to see Vinod Khosla contributing to the discussion.

On the topic of new homes, I’ve been investigating renewable energy options for my new pad. We need a new roof. We need over the next year or two a new furnace and central air conditioner. So this has me thinking that now might be the right time to go with solar or geothermal or some combination of the two. But I’m somewhat discouraged. Yes, the Ontario government has its standard offer program, which pays 42 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar electricity sold into the grid. Yes, the federal goverment is now offering a rebate of $3,500 on the installation of a ground-source heat pump (geo-exchange) system, and on top of that the province is offering a tax break. And because I need a new roof, I explored building-integrated solar products, with the hope that a new roof made with solar shingles would be affordable because I could subtract what I would normally have to pay for a new roof made of asphalt shingles.

I found a distributor of Uni-Solar shingles in Saskatchewan and asked him for some pricing. Each square foot of the shingles offers about 5.6 watts. We estimated I’d need about 178 shingles for a 3 kilowatt system, or 118 for a 2 kilowatt system. The retail cost of each shingle, however, is $198. So a 3 kilowatt system would cost about $35,000, while the 2 kilowatt system would be $23,000. Now, let’s keep in mind that this excludes installation costs and the cost of power electronics that would be required to be grid-connected. Given I could re-roof my home with regular shingles for about $6,000 to $8,000, going with BIPV is still cost prohibitive — even with the standard offer incentive.

Okay, so what about a geo-exchange system? Certainly much more affordable, but costs can range anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000 depending on the installer. Plus, there’s a huge wait time for getting someone to drill in your yard — particularly if you live in an urban area. I’m still investigating this option and will likely go this route, but it comes with all sorts of risks.

One beef I have, and I’m sure I’m not alone, is that governments are kindly offering incentives for embracing these technologies, but lack of product supply and high demand for certified installers means prices are going up, not down. Any incentives we see on the market aren’t going to the consumer, they’re going to the suppliers and installers of renewable energy systems. The whole point of incentives is to spark demand, creating volume that will ultimately lead to economies of scale that mean lower prices for consumers. We’re not seeing that happening. What we’re seeing is industries taking advantage of a tight market. It’s unfortunate, as it will turn a lot of people away from these technologies just when we need to show that costs can fall and that government incentives contribute to that goal.

Perhaps patience is the key. Perhaps, over time, we will see costs fall. But if consumers and businesses have to wait too long, the industry will be doing itself a disservice. I agree with Khosla that we should be aiming for reasonably priced higher-efficiency solar, because technology is only part of the cost. Installation costs are huge and rising. It seems to be that the best way to save on installation is to install fewer PV panels or shingles — which means we need higher efficiency. Cheap, low-efficiency products don’t help if it will cost you more to install them.

For a New York Times perspective on the cost of solar, click here. For a Canadian perspective, click here.

I came across this interesting blog post from venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, who at great length explains why he believes German environmentalist Herman Scheer is an idealist whose predictions of solar PV on every home and other distributed/renewable scenarios are unrealistic. While Scheer attacks the idea of central plants and an almighty grid, Khosla defends it as necessary. “Ardent do-gooders can do harm and set back real solutions,” writes Khosla, who says some of Scheer’s “green” solutions to the world’s energy ills probably requires more fossil energy to create. I haven’t read this lengthy post in detail, but it’s certainly to ruffle a few feathers, particularly those of Sheer loyalists. I’m currently reading Scheer’s latest book, Energy Autonomy, and on the whole I’m quite enjoying it. Will be interesting to see if Sheer replies to Khosla’s respectful, but nonetheless cutting remarks.