This is an excerpt from A\J’s forthcoming Water issue. Subscribe or order the issue now for this and more great stories on fresh- and salt-water initiatives that are making waves and inspiring change in our resource-blessed country and beyond.
Efficiency
Implementing the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe
The Neptis Foundation is well known for its research reports on land use and transportation issues in the Toronto region. It is one of the few outfits currently publishing material at a regional scale of analysis in Canada. So when Neptis releases a new report, it’s a bit of an […]
The Nature of Things: The Nano Revolution
Around the year 2000, I attended a conference organized by the Council of Canadians about the risks associated with genetically modified organisms. At some point during the proceedings, an extraordinary thing happened. One of the speakers, professor Ann Clark (then of Guelph University) rose and said the following: the problem […]
Saving Energy in the Bathroom
Replacing working fixtures for the sake of getting energy efficient ones is rarely the most sustainable option, because it ignores the energy and resources that go into making them in the first place. But if you’re renovating anyway, it makes sense to purchase energy-saving fixtures over conventional ones.
Aboriginal Power: Clean Energy & The Future of Canada’s First Peoples
When breaking new ground, it’s quite common to find oneself in muddy water. Aboriginal Power is all about how Indigenous Peoples in Canada have broken new ground by entering the renewable energy foray, sometimes in a big way.
Minds Over Matter
There are SOME things you will find on almost every university campus in Canada. There are the chants of orientation week, quiet corners in libraries, goofy mascots and long lines for coffee in the mornings.
The Renewables & Desalination Dilemma
It’s an interesting fact that drinking seawater will only make you thirstier, because of all the salt. This is one of several reasons why being lost at sea would be profoundly unpleasant. Of course, if you could find a way to drink the water safely then dying of thirst would […]
Germany: Smart Grids, Efficiency and Carbon Neutrality
Ontario’s green energy plans have been modelled on the success of Germany’s national program to switch to renewable, non-carbon energy sources. The Feed-in Tariff Program, Green Energy Act legislation and decommissioning of coal generating stations are all part of the provincial government’s push to emulate similar German initiatives.
Designing Suburban Futures: New Models from Build a Better Burb
Suburban sprawl has defined much of the last half century of North American development. Suburban design and use have changed continuously throughout this period and are still evolving as suburban retrofit projects become ever more common.
Great $aves
MODERN CONCERNS about energy started with two oil-price shocks in the 1970s, coming to the fore again in the 1980s with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Then, more recently, we experienced the Deepwater Horizon and Fukushima disasters. Who knows what the future holds?
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