Canada Called On To Join New Renewable Energy Agency

[dumpthemonarchy]

A new energy has been created to counter balance the International Atomic Energy Agency which is tilted toward nuclear energy, and the International Energy Agency which is tilted toward fossil fuels. The Conservatives are against joining Irena for some silly reasons. They are still afraid of offending Dick Cheney.

Canada should join Irena. It's about creating new technology. It has 98 countries in it already.


TheStar.com | Business | Canada called on to join renewable-energy agency

Canada called on to join renewable-energy agency

Cooperation crucial to developing booming sector, industry says

Jun 16, 2009 04:30 AM
Tyler Hamilton

Energy Reporter


The country's solar and wind industries, with support from federal opposition parties, are calling on the Harper government to sign up Canada to a new international agency created to promote renewable-energy technologies.
They argue that international cooperation is crucial if Canada is to take advantage of the boom in green-energy development and innovation taking place around the globe.


The Conservative government has so far ruled out membership, citing overlap with existing agencies, such as the International Energy Agency, and the fact that the United States, China and other major countries have yet to join.
A call to the federal environment ministry was not returned.


Liberal MP Stéphane Dion is forcing the issue. The former federal Liberal leader tabled a motion in May to have the government "enlist Canada as a full member" of the International Renewable Energy Agency, nicknamed Irena.
A final vote on the motion takes place tomorrow and appears to have the backing of the Bloc Québécois and NDP. Even with enough votes to pass, however, Dion said he isn't convinced it will make a difference.


"The problem is that the government is ignoring what the House is saying," he said. "They don't give a damn."


Irena was created in January as a counterbalance to the pro-nuclear International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Energy Agency, which is tilted toward conventional energy infrastructure based on coal, oil and other fossil fuels. It spends only 2 per cent of its budget on renewable energy.


Ironically, investment in renewable energy last year (excluding large-scale hydroelectric projects) was higher than both nuclear and fossil fuel investments combined, according to a report this month from the United Nations Environment Programme.


Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, said joining an agency such as Irena would help the country learn from the mistakes and successes of others.


"Canada would also have an opportunity to influence the development of the mandate and work plan for Irena, and would be able to ensure that issues of particular importance and interest to Canada are taken into account," he said.


As of yesterday 98 countries had signed on as members of Irena, including India, Germany, Denmark and France. Australia said in May it would join and Japan followed last week with a similar commitment.


China and Russia have remained silent on the issue, but the United Kingdom and the United States – previous holdouts – are expected to sign on.
"My understanding is that the United States is set to join," said Tim Weiss, a director of green-energy policy at the Pembina Institute, a Calgary-based environmental think-tank. "If you just look at all the money (U.S. President Barack) Obama has put into renewables, it would be silly to not join. Clearly this is an area they want to retool and reindustrialize around."


Compared with Canada's recent budget, the U.S. is spending nearly 14 times more per capita on renewable energy, Weiss said.


Dion said such investments make sense. "It's a booming industry, it's creating jobs and it's a tool by which we might get out of recession."

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

I spelt "Canada" wrong. How embarrassing. I don't think it hurts my point though.

 

[Liberalman]

nuclear power is a great alternatve energy.

If all homes had a small nuclear plant using non-weapons grade fuel then we could get rid of those transmission lines that create health problems for people that live close to them

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

nuclear power is a great alternatve energy.

If all homes had a small nuclear plant using non-weapons grade fuel then we could get rid of those transmission lines that create health problems for people that live close to them

Hmm, very droll. And safe from ice storms.

 

[taxslave]

Rather low tech and not particularly glamorous but the company that I work for is turning the debris left over from logging into hog fuel and sold to the local pulp mill to run in their boilers. Previously all this material was burned road side in the spring and fall in huge slash fires. Biomas can also be made into pellets and used to fire steam turbines along with domestic garbage killing two birds with one stone. The process could actually be used to heat and power individual homes, even burning composted sewage, largely eliminating another huge utility cost.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Rather low tech and not particularly glamorous but the company that I work for is turning the debris left over from logging into hog fuel and sold to the local pulp mill to run in their boilers. Previously all this material was burned road side in the spring and fall in huge slash fires. Biomas can also be made into pellets and used to fire steam turbines along with domestic garbage killing two birds with one stone. The process could actually be used to heat and power individual homes, even burning composted sewage, largely eliminating another huge utility cost.

Yeah, I heard on the radio that Canada or BC, produces enough wood waste in one year to fill tractor trailers coast to coast. This seems like a good biofuel to me, and it would create jobs and electricity outside the big city. Alotta pellets here.

But then I ask, why do we have so much wood waste? We can just cut whatever, burn it, or let it rot.

 

[Liberalman]

Methane gas is another good alternative fuel so eat a lot of beans

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Or sauerkraut.

 

[Liberalman]

even eggs and bananas

 

[taxslave]

Yeah, I heard on the radio that Canada or BC, produces enough wood waste in one year to fill tractor trailers coast to coast. This seems like a good biofuel to me, and it would create jobs and electricity outside the big city. Alotta pellets here.

But then I ask, why do we have so much wood waste? We can just cut whatever, burn it, or let it rot.

I don't know a lot about the silviculture end except that some wood waste is good fertilizer for the next crop. There is way more left behind after harvesting than is necessary though and Biofuel is a good use for it. The problem is that for about 100 years we have just burned it in situ. creating huge clouds of smoke and starting the occasional forest fire. Leaving too much wood waste on the ground is also a fire hazzard and often makes planting difficult.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

I don't know a lot about the silviculture end except that some wood waste is good fertilizer for the next crop. There is way more left behind after harvesting than is necessary though and Biofuel is a good use for it. The problem is that for about 100 years we have just burned it in situ. creating huge clouds of smoke and starting the occasional forest fire. Leaving too much wood waste on the ground is also a fire hazzard and often makes planting difficult.

Those big burning clouds of CARBON? Yeah, no worries about that to date.

It seems current management of wood waste is average due to the huge amount of it. Cheap stuff gets ignored sometimes. Good for peak oil though.

 

[DichotoMe]

The Conservative government has so far ruled out membership, citing overlap with existing agencies, such as the International Energy Agency, and the fact that the United States, China and other major countries have yet to join.

More proof Harper isn't a real leader. He can't do anything without the US.

As of yesterday 98 countries had signed on as members of Irena, including India, Germany, Denmark and France. Australia said in May it would join and Japan followed last week with a similar commitment.

His reasoning is that there is overlap? I guess the other 98 countries don't understand overlap eh Stevie. Canada has been a member of IAEA since 1957 and a founding member of the IEA in '74. If he oppose an agency dedicated to renewable energy then he opposes renewable energy. Even the chinese are into $h1t energy. Unbelievable that a PM can be so ignorant.

 

[L Gilbert]

nuclear power is a great alternatve energy.

If all homes had a small nuclear plant using non-weapons grade fuel then we could get rid of those transmission lines that create health problems for people that live close to them

Uhuh. And if a small item that's mass produced is defective in all those little homes (kinda like the little O-ring that caused one shuttle to blow up shortly after lift-off)......? If undetected would cause families loads of grief. If detected they'd be out of their homes for weeks.
Genius

 

[L Gilbert]

Solar panels on roofs, microhydro where feasible, windpower where feasible, are a lot better; easier to maintain, too. And buried lines are ok.

 

[DichotoMe]

Canada Slates $880M for Clean Energy Fund · Environmental Leader · Green Business, Sustainable Business, and Green Strategy News for Corporate Sustainability Executives
The Canadian government has announced details of the C$1-billion (approximately $882 million) Clean Energy Fund, which will go to the development and advancement of clean energy technologies including carbon capture and storage (CSS) projects.

Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, during an address to the University of Alberta, said the fund invests C$850 million (approximately $750 million) in technology development and demonstration. This includes C$650 million (approximately $575.0 million) for large-scale CCS demonstration projects and C$200 million (approximately $177 million) for smaller-scale demonstration projects for renewable and alternative energy technologies.

This is our governments agenda for clean energy. This government has little interest in renewable energy. They prefer to rely on dirty oil and finding new ways to mask its negative impact on people and the environment.

Carbon storage
Jun 19th 2008 • The Economist Print Edition

EVEN in the most alternative-friendly future imaginable, coal is unlikely to go away. It is cheap, abundant and often local. So what can be done to make coal’s use more acceptable?

One much-discussed possibility is carbon capture and storage, or CCS, which involves burying the carbon dioxide deep underground. The generating companies have high hopes of it (see chart 3). There are just two problems. No one knows if it will work (in other words, if the CO2 will stay buried). And everyone knows that, whether it works or not, it will be expensive—so much so that the alternatives start to look rather attractive. The one serious attempt to investigate its use in an actual power station, the FutureGen project, based in Illinois, was cancelled in January because the expected cost had risen from $830m to $1.8 billion. …

Secret advice to politicians: oilsands emissions hard to scrub
CBC Nov. 2008

The Canadian and Alberta governments are spending about $2.5 billion on developing carbon capture and storage, and the oilsands generally come up as the first reason for spending the money.

In March, when he repeated a $240-million federal commitment to a project in Saskatchewan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said: "This new technology, carbon capture and storage, when fully commercialized ... will collect carbon dioxide emissions from oilsands operations and coal-fired electrical plants and seal them deep underground."

The briefing notes, which went to federal and provincial politicians, were produced months before Harper's announcement. The carbon capture task force issued a public version of its final report in January.

David Keith, a professor of petroleum and chemical engineering at the University of Calgary, was the lead scientist on the task force.

He says he's frustrated that politicians and the industry keep focusing on the oilsands when there are sources of greenhouse gases to capture more easily and at less cost, including coal-fired power plants.

Rational people shouldn't focus on reducing emissions in the oilsands through carbon capture and storage, Keith says.

Seems a little sketchy to use on oil.

 

[DichotoMe]

Geothermal is a great source for heating and cooling!

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Solar panels on roofs, microhydro where feasible, windpower where feasible, are a lot better; easier to maintain, too. And buried lines are ok.

There are many small solutions to the energy situation, depending on a person's location at times.

But what gets me about this about the Tories is that Canada tends to join most world organizations. A small belated nod to the Bush/Cheney/Fox news crowd here by the Harperites. Yet in 100 years, will internal combustion vehicles outnumber electric vehicles? Not likely.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

The Harper govt hasn't joined IRENA because they are still in the pocket of Big Oil and Bush cronies. Flunkies. This agency is progress in the world today and Canada needs to join it.


International agency formed on energy - UPI.com

International agency formed on energy



Published: July 31, 2009 at 11:50 AM
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[COLOR=#0072BC ! important][COLOR=#0072BC ! important]ABU [COLOR=#0072BC ! important]DHABI[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], United Arab Emirates, July 31 (UPI) -- A total of 136 nations have signed on to a wide-ranging program to promote transition toward the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy.

The International Renewable Energy Agency met recently in Egypt to announce that France's Helene Pelosse was chosen as the group's first director general and set the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi as the site of its headquarters.
Additionally Bonn, Germany, was chosen to be the host of IRENA's innovation and technology center, while [COLOR=#0072BC ! important][COLOR=#0072BC ! important]Vienna[/COLOR][/COLOR] was tabbed as the agency's office to work with other renewable energy organizations.


IRENA was mandated in January to provide "practical advice and support" for industrialized and developing countries in regards to renewable energy. The agency is to serve as a clearinghouse for information on alternative energy sources, including, IRENA said on its Web site, "best practices, effective financial mechanisms, and state-of-the-art technological expertise."


Of the 136 countries that have joined IRENA, 45 are in Africa, 36 in Europe, 32 in Asia, 14 in North and [COLOR=#0072BC ! important][COLOR=#0072BC ! important]South [COLOR=#0072BC ! important]America[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], and nine in Oceania. Representatives of member nations will eventually put together an Assembly, Council and Secretariat.
Pelosse, 39, serves as the deputy head of staff in France's Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Town and Country. A release from IRENA said Pelosse managed France's negotiations on the European Union's Climate and Energy package and was responsible for France's Renewable Energy Plan. She's worked with various international organizations on energy issues.
Steps she's taken in those roles will likely help guide IRENA.


In an interview with the Worldwatch Institute, which promotes "an environmentally sustainable society," Pelosse said: "The idea for IRENA is to do the job for everybody, at lower transaction costs and to just make things happen. We have to be innovative and creative. We have to think of novel ways to get funds. We're not there yet. We should think about activities that are growing and leverage their revenue -- maybe areas that are related to information technology."
When it was announced as IRENA's base, the United Arab Emirates promised $136 million over the next six years and said it would cover the agency's operational costs "in perpetuity."


Abu Dhabi is also scheduled to be the site of a renewable energy summit Jan. 18-21, 2010. Additionally, IRENA set a third preparatory meeting for the city in October.

 

[AnnaG]

It really isn't all that surprising. Even the Big O heaped money into research and development. Harpy? Not a chance. The dunderhead cut back on money for the future. And the future is alternative energy, not oil.

 

[taxslave]

While I'm all in favor of alternative energy I don't see the point in squandering tax dollars to hire yet more bureaucrats to do what exactly? The best thing governments can do for alternative energy is stay out of the way of industry and consumers.