American company Quaise Energy is developing a new way to access the largest untapped energy source available. It will use established production methods of the fossil fuel industry, but the technology employed is new. Quaise intends to use beams of energy to vaporize bore holes through rocks and access deep geothermal heat.
Markham Hislop and Professor Mark Jacobson dive into the rarely discussed fact that the electric economy is significantly more efficient than the fossil fuel economy, and therefore, less energy is required to power it.
Months ago, I wrote Geothermal — clean, non-destructive renewable energy. It was about Calgary-based Eavor and the company’s use of unique drilling technology to realize geothermal energy. I have followed Eavor’s activities and noted recent developments, particularly in the Bavarian town of Geretsried…
The global battery market is now valued at around C$220 billion. That number is expected to be near half a trillion dollars in five years. Even that estimate may be conservative. Very conservative. China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Company (CATL), the world’s largest battery maker, recently made an astonishing announcement. One was that its new Shenxing sodium-ion battery could add 520 kilometres of driving range in just five minutes of charging time. The total range is said to be 800 km…
Canadian climate journalist Geoff Dembicki wrote an opinion piece published by the New York Times almost six years ago. Canada’s Perverse Climate Change Policy: Gas Up. It was subtitled: Pushing toward the worst scenario despite better options for the future of the environment.
British Columbia has been reliant on hydroelectricity for generations. However, climate change is threatening that supply. Persistent dry conditions have become a reality. BC Hydro has spent tens of millions of dollars to add capacity and upgrade generating equipment at its hydroelectric dams. But this 28 year record reveals a problem. The output per MW of capacity was 54% higher in fiscal year 1997 than in FY 2024.
Many people in Canada are employed in fossil fuel industries. Were production of carbon-laden, climate damaging products to decline or end, many towns would be disrupted. However, quality of life would improve since toxic contaminants are by-products of oil, gas, and coal production. Overall employment would increase and stable populations would lead to safer communities…
Large reductions in the cost of renewable technologies such as solar and wind have made them cost-competitive with fossil fuels. But to balance these intermittent sources and electrify our transport systems, we also need low-cost energy storage. Lithium-ion batteries are the most commonly used. Lithium-ion battery cells have also seen an impressive price reduction. Since 1991, prices have fallen by around 97%. Prices fall by an average of 19% for every doubling of capacity. Even more promising is that this rate of reduction does not yet appear to be slowing down.
In 2017, Site C proponents said the dam was required because British Columbia needed dispatchable electricity. According to those keen on the megaproject, low-cost wind and solar power could not be integrated into BC Hydro’s systems. At the time, 97.5 percent of the utility’s generating capacity was hydro. Like batteries, reservoirs store potential energy. When consumers use electricity from wind and solar sources, hydropower utilities keep water behind dams, ready for use when needed…
Proponents of hydroelectric dams love to talk about these as low-impact sources of clean energy. Many proponents expect to gain financially from construction of the megaprojects. To them, self-interest is always more important than public-interest. But many of the proponents expect to gain financially from construction of the megaprojects. To them, self-interest is always more important than public-interest. In British Columbia, the financial cost of electricity from Site C will be 4x to 6x that of wind and solar alternatives. Authorities choose to disregard human and environmental costs and leave them unmeasured.
The item below the separator was published in March 2018. That was three years before the Site C budget doubled to $16 billion, and we’ve now entered the fourth year since the dam budget was publicly updated. While overall inflation in Canada has been about 16% during the past four years, the non-residential construction industry experienced historic levels of inflation in 2022 and 2023. No one should be surprised when after the October 2024 provincial election, the Site C budget is revealed to be above $20 billion.
I write often about climate change and tend toward pessimism about humankind’s efforts to avoid disaster. But there are good stories that show progress. Will they be enough? Only if we have the will to go against powerful vested interests and implement 21st century technologies…
It must dishearten nuclear proponents when wind energy is shown to be a low-cost, quickly installed source of electricity.
In late January, Manitoba Hydro CEO Jay Grewal said the utility would need new sources of electricity within five or six years. She reiterated a plan to meet new demand by contracting with private electricity producers. Shortly after, the Manitoba government fired Jay Grewal.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reported that wind and solar accounted for 71 percent of U.S. electric-power capacity additions in 2022. 8.5 GW of wind power capacity was added for investments totalling C$16 billion. By comparison, Site C will cost at least C$16 billion and provide 1.1 GW of power capacity. However, the budget for the project near Fort St. John has not been updated for three years…
Private capital manager Axium Infrastructure Inc. now owns a large part of the Edwards Sanborn power facility. The company is familiar to those following private power companies that supply BC Hydro. With Manulife in 2018, Axium acquired 90% of Forrest Kerr, Volcano Creek, and McLymont Creek power generating facilities developed by AltaGas in northeast British Columbia.
Climate scientists tell us to reduce and ultimately eliminate burning of fossil fuels, products that are the dominant cause of global warming. Worldwide, the oil and gas industry and its supporters in governments and elsewhere plan for us to burn more…
Energy-systems consultant Roger Bryenton wrote an open letter to Premier David Eby, BC Hydro CEO Chris O’Riley, and BCUC Chair Mark Jaccard. It is published here with permission.
Climate change is one of the most pressing global issue in contemporary times, and dams play a substantial role in aggravating it by becoming feeding grounds for methane-producing microbes. In addition, dams fragment rivers and disrupt their natural flow, threatening the survival of aquatic fauna, especially migratory species. Dams are also culpable for disrupting the biogeochemical cycles of river ecosystems, thereby impacting their function and structure. Taking all the environmental impacts of dams into account, the apparent economic gain from them may not be worth it…
Worldwide solar energy capacity has been growing rapidly. In 2022, it was 150 times higher than in 2006 and more than double the level of 2018 when BC Hydro moved to discourage solar power systems. A tiny proportion of the utility’s accounts was feeding solar power to the grid, but BC Hydro worried about added customers embracing solar, particularly large consumers of electricity…
Among the special advantages granted to billionaires? They can create monopolies which politicians will both subsidize and protect. Are domestic…
You mention investing. Anybody remember Canada Savings Bonds? Seventy years ago it offered people worried about becoming destitute pensioners a…
A huge fan of long-eclipsed Russian military glory, Mr. Putin expected Ukraine to collapse in 3 days. Three years ago.…
One thing I think people forget is - it became a good idea to invest in real estate as an…
in-sights.ca 
Blair Fix at _Economics from the Top Down_ also wrote two very good papers on the converion of housing into…