By Roy L Hales
Vancouver’s Renewable City Strategy has been released. The city currently obtains 31% of its’ from clean energy sources. Though the Acting City Manager says he finds it “hard to imagine a city without fossil fuels,” he “enthusiastically supports” this plan. How Vancouver will adopt 100% renewable energy by 2050 .
By Roy L Hales
Though the numbers are still far from what is being reported in European cities like Copenhagen, more and more British Columbians are adopting bicycles as their principal form of transportation. According to a spokesperson from the Ministry of Transportation, 25,115 cyclists participated in Bike to Work Week in 2014. A large number of them were in one city. Cycling is Vancouver’s fastest growing transportation sector.
Continue reading Vancouver’s Fastest Growing Transportation SectorBy Roy L Hales
There are slow pockets, but most of British Columbia’s solar contractors are busier than ever before. Riverside Energy Systems, in Kamloops, is finding it difficult to keep up. Rob Baxter, of Vancouver Renewable Energy Co-operative, thinks we may have reached a tipping point, “more people want to support solar energy.” Alevtina Akbulatova, Net Metering Specialist with BC Hydro, said 90 projects were connected to the grid during 2014. She added, “There are already 99 this year and I could approve a few more by the end of the day.” Add in the 1 megawatt of capacity from SunMine, the province’s first utility scale solar project, and BC’s Solar capacity Is doubling.
One can’t help but notice the timing of the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation’s (SPEC) list ranking Canadian Cities on their Solar Energy Policy. Vancouver, which hopes to become the World’s greenest city, is hosting the Renewable Cities Global Learning Forum at the Four Seasons Hotel, May 13-15. Though Vancouver has done well in many areas, SPEC has long maintained that the city’s solar energy policy is not one of them. According to its’ survey of 17 municipalities: Vancouver ranks last for solar policy among Canadian Cities; Edmonton, Toronto & Calgary are policy leaders.
Continue reading Vancouver Ranks Last For Solar Policy Among Canadian CitiesBy Roy L Hales
In 2009, Gregor Robertson was elected mayor of Vancouver after campaigning to make it the greenest city in the World. Two years later, the Economist ranked Vancouver #2 in North America. In 2013, Vancouver was chosen as the planet’s first Global Earth Hour Capital. The judges were impressed by the city’s overall holistic approach to climate action. According to the city’s sustainability director, Amanda Pitre-Hayes, Vancouver has made significant progress.
Continue reading Vancouver Has Made Significant Progress
