It’s been 38 years since the Chornobyl nuclear plant exploded in Ukraine. Now we’re coping with an explosion of hype and exaggeration about new nuclear technologies that still aren’t ready to deliver.
To cope with the routine spin and exaggeration we keep seeing from the nuclear energy lobby, it helps to take an over-sized, over-priced, over-hyped technology and bring it down to something more…everyday.
So imagine that you’re setting out to buy a new toaster, and your online sleuthing brings you to an offer that looks too good to be true.
Nova Scotia has announced its green hydrogen action plan, calling it an “alternative clean energy source” and adding that we’re emerging as a region with “ample opportunity” to produce the product — in part because of our potential offshore wind resource.
The government wants to help create a green hydrogen sector in Nova Scotia that “produces local benefits from both domestic and export opportunities.” There currently is no hydrogen-producing industry in the province.
Fossil fuel companies are building on right-wing protests to stop change and cut salaries.
What comes to mind when you read the slogan “I love Canadian oil and gas”? Energy independence? Royalties for government coffers? Good jobs for Canadian workers?
Farmers around the world are reigniting the less intensive agricultural practices of yesteryear—to improve soil health, raise yields, and trap carbon in the atmosphere back down in the soil.
If Canada is going to meet its climate targets, virtually everything will need to be electrified. Gas guzzlers swapped for electric vehicles and public transportation; heat pumps put in place of gas furnaces; and renewable energy moving to centre stage as coal, oil and gas power plants are phased out.
Affordable, reliable electricity grids are essential to modern life and form the backbone of Canada’s economy. Without abundant power, energy-intensive sectors like auto manufacturing or steel production fall by the wayside.
We don’t need high-tech innovation to create a sustainable future for humanity. In fact, all the tech we need to regenerate our ecosystem and provide a good life for all already exists. In the interest of exploring the already-existing technology of the ecological future, I’ve written about three of my favorites.
Oil in the North Sea is expected to be net-energy negative by 2031. This means that in 2031, it’ll cost more energy to extract the fossil fuels than we would gain by using them, rendering extraction unfeasibly expensive. Yet, rather than use our remaining years of access to these fuels to turbo-charge new energy infrastructure, fossil fuels are being extracted and burned for business as usual: quick cash. Around the world, the lights will go off in nations that don’t have back-up renewables. That’s most of them.
An open letter says plans for five new liquefied natural gas facilities do not align with global efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 C
Dozens of climate-action groups are calling on the B.C. government to halt plans to expand liquefied natural gas production because of the climate crisis.
