renewable energy

THE Green Energy Act Alliance, an association of organizations and individuals, recently released Faces of Transformation, which describes how Ontario’s Green Energy & Green Economy Act is rejuvenating Ontario’s economy and helping to close polluting coal plants.

The report suggests that Ontario’s feed-in tariff (FIT) system, which favours the use of green energy, is North America’s most successful renewable energy program. And with 143 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems installed in 2010, Paul Gipe reports that Ontario took second place in solar photovoltaic rankings, second only to California.

“Ontario is a clean energy success story,” says Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence, a key Alliance member...

The summer of 2009 marked a tumultuous stage in the evolution of electricity policy in Ontario, and the future path of the province’s electricity system remains uncertain.

Enacted in 2000, Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) is proving to be the world’s most effective and efficient instrument for stimulating the renewable energy market and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, renewable energy comprises 14 per cent of Germany’s total electricity use and the industry employs over 235,000 people. Reductions in the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, 44 million tonnes in 2006 alone, and substantial domestic manufacturing, worth more than $21-billion in the same year, are directly attributable to the EEG. ...

Ontario’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program,” according to the Ontario Power Authority, the Crown corporation that administers it, “has exceeded all expectations – achieving an excess of 1000 megawatts of contracted projects – surpassing the 10-year target for renewable energy in the first year of the program!”