Ottawa beats Toronto to the cleantech punch
Sorry I haven’t posted for a few days — I just bought a house and have been busy ripping up floors and knocking down walls.
I did, however, want to point out that on June 7 the mayor of Ottawa and the head of the Ontario Centre for Research and Innovation are announcing the creation of the Ottawa Clean Energy Cluster — essentially a support network for cleantech-focused companies in Ottawa and surrounding areas in eastern Ontario. The cluster program is being spearheaded by the Ottawa Cleantech Initiative (a program with OCRI).
Of course, this is what Toronto and surrounding southern Ontario communities should have done a long time ago, and which I’ve been harping on for some time now (BTW: something is in the works — stay tuned). Perhaps Mayor David Miller will realize now how much he’s been dragging his feet on this issue by not promoting local clean energy/technology companies.
That said, I’m happy to see Ottawa doing something because it will perhaps spread across the province. Coincidentally, my Clean Break column on Monday lamented the fact that Ontario (and Toronto) has done a poor job of promoting (or acknowledging the existence of) cleantech companies in its own back yard. This was brought home to me after California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Ontario last week and heavily promoted his state’s cleantech sector. He showed us how it should be done, or at the very least how we aren’t doing it.
I should point out, however, that our private sector needs to do a better job as well. This is about marketing our best, raising capital and strengthening one of the fastest growing markets we’ve seen in a long time. There are a lot of jobs on the line.
BTW: I didn’t know this, but Canada apparently does have a cleantech companies competition. Obviously, this is another thing in need of stronger marketing. Jeesh!
Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and 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 cleantech market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca
June 6th, 2007 at 6:26 am
Hi Tyler~ I’m hoping you are attempting Net Zero and write about what you are doing, esp if its an aging brick of a design typical of Toronto. “The envelope, please!”
Have fun, wear a dust mask!
June 7th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Sorry to be using a comment for this but I was unable to find a contact form or email to contact you with.
I have been reading your site for a while now, and finally figured out a way to introduce you to my readers.
http://www.blog.thesietch.org/2007/06/06/top-ten-must-read-environmental-blogs/
In an effort to improve the general readership of eco-blogs I thought it might be interesting if you did something similar doing a list of the ten eco-blogs you think are must reads, then contacting them and having them do the same.
Either way thanks for continuing to write such great and informative articles.
Shane
June 12th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Tyler,
I’ve been following your column & your blog for quite some time and I’d love to send you a copy of THE CLEAN TECH REVOLUTION (from the guys who edit cleanedge.com) for potential review.
If this piques your interest, do drop me a line.
Cheers, Felicia
June 16th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Toronto beat all the other cities to the clean greening of the taxi industry. Propane(LPG) is not natural gas(CNG) and is a liguid in the tank unlike CNG which still remains a vapour (gas) which is why propane fueled vehicles get much better miles per gallon. Propane has a very fast burn compared to diesel being about 4 times faster and also has ultra high octane of 105 which gives great performnce with the latest LPG fuel injection systems (made in Canada). The pump price of LPG is less than half of gasoline over the past 3 months and about half that of diesel. Propane is shipped to Ontario from western Canada via pipeline mixed with methane which eliminates ships and other more expensive means of shipping. None of Canada’s propane comes from any country that is considered a terrorist country unlike your local gasoline station. Quebec’s carbon tax rating system shows gasoline has a 60 percent higher carbon footprint than LPG. Taxicabs in Toronto have used propane on a massive scale for 25 years. The taxicabs here set the clean green standard for the rest of the country. I have used propane in various types of commercial vehicles including taxi’s, limo’s and trucks since 1981. Over the past 20 years, the cost per mile savings are about 40 percent. In the past 2 years, those figures are now 45% savings. LPG can be operated dual fuel, by leaving all the gasoline system in place and use it only as a backup and to start easier in the coldest 2 months of the year. Any vehicle can be converted to operate on LPG which is why most airport hotel jitney buses at Pearson have used it for the past 25 years. Why pay an extra $8,000 plus finance and taxes for a diesel in a pickup truck or cubevan when you can get a $750 grant from the Ontario government for switching to operate on LPG which costs half as much? Support Canada by using LPG in any vehicle you choose.