June 28, 2023
Many studies on potential pathways to decarbonization and net-zero for Ontario and Canada assume the availability of hydro-electric and other renewable energy resources from Quebec for grid balancing and storage purposes.
What is the current state of Quebec’s energy and electricity systems, and what are the implications for its role in decarbonizing electricity systems in neighbouring jurisdictions?
Speakers include:
Pierre Olivier Pineau
April 14, 2023
Madeleine McPherson, Assistant Professor in the department of Civil Engineering at the University of Victoria, and a founding Executive Member of the Energy Modelling Hub will discuss stakeholder engaged modelling as a policy development tool. The “Shifting Power: Zero-Emissions Electricity Across Canada by 2035” study published in 2022 by the David Suzuki Foundation will be discussed as a case study in these approaches, along with a number of other initiatives.
Speakers include:
Madeleine McPherson, Assistant Professor in the department of Civil Engineering at the University of Victoria
March 29, 2023
Last fall the The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) released a study examining options for a net-zero electricity system for Ontario by 2035. Listen to our discussion with the authors of this important study on Ontario’s electricity future
Speakers include:
Aakash Harpalani – Director, Clean Energy – The Atmospheric Fund
Travis Lusney – Director, Power Systems – Power Advisory
March 15, 2023
The SEI at EUC Presents: Assessing the Potential for Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in Ontario
Speakers include:
October 4, 2020
The Midland Cultural Centre is proud to announce Straight Talk’s next program, Renewable Energy – The Hidden Crisis. Watch to learn what a 100% renewable future will look like, which technologies will play a crucial role in our energy future, what challenges will we face in this transition, and how we can make sure our new system is just and equitable.
Speakers include:
Mark Winfield: York University, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change
September 29, 2020
This presentation focuses on the effects the pandemic has had on human behaviour, such as reduced travel, related fossil fuel use and emissions due to remote work arrangements vs. the potential for declines in the use of low-carbon transportation options, particularly public transit, and moves in the direction of lower density urban forms. Professor Winfield will also discuss the changes in environmental law, regulations and policies that have been made in the context of the pandemic, and the extent to which they further embed unsustainable activities and behaviours or move a post-pandemic recovery in the direction of sustainability.
Speakers include:
Mark Winfield: York University, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change
May 12, 2020
Canada is unable to meet its climate-change targets in large part because emission reductions in provinces such as Ontario and Quebec are being overwhelmed by emission increases in others such as Alberta and Saskatchewan. How can we get the whole country moving on the same track of declining emissions?
The book provides comparative analysis of all attempts to date to put in place co-ordinated federal-provincial energy and climate programs, from Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program to Justin Trudeau’s Pan-Canadian Framework. Based on findings from that analysis, the book provides specific, politically viable recommendations for how we can generate more effective national climate policy without an irremediable fracturing of Confederation along the line of the West-East divide.
COVID-19 notwithstanding, such analysis is badly needed today. The October 21 2019 federal election showed a majority of voters are demanding more aggressive action to reduce emissions. But the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan, pointing to their very real economic distress and to the equally real problem of western alienation, are demanding policy actions which will increase their emissions. Must we choose between national unity and climate action? Carbon Province, Hydro Province outlines a path through these clashing imperatives.
Join us for a webinar presentation with author Douglas Macdonald followed by questions and discussion, including the issue of how the current pandemic is reshaping Canadian climate-change politics. The event will be hosted by SEI co-chair, Mark Winfield.
Speakers include: Douglas Macdonald has written extensively on Canadian climate-change policy. The Canadian Political Science Association awarded his 2007 book Business and Environmental Politics in Canada the Donald Smiley prize for the “best book published in English or French in the field relating to the study of government and politics in 2007.”
April 20, 2020
Estimates of the technologically and economically achievable potential for energy efficiency improvements in Canada are significant, offering the potential to make significant contributions to meeting Canada’s GHG emission targets. Despite their benefits, energy efficiency initiatives have struggled to achieve their full technological and economic potential to reduce to energy demand. These failures have been due to a range of market, institutional, financial, policy, regulatory, behavioural and informational barriers. In recent years, new challenges have emerged beyond these traditional and well-understood obstacles. Changes in policy direction, often flowing from changes in governments, have resulted in significant retrenchments, and in some cases wholesale dismantlings, of energy efficiency strategies in North America. The Government of Ontario’s decision to terminate its “Conservation First” strategy in March 2019 was among the most dramatic of these developments, but far from unique. York University’s Sustainable Energy Initiative recently released a study of outlining five principles for the design of effective and resilient governance of the energy efficiency components of low-carbon sustainable energy transition strategies. Join SEI Co-Chair Professor Mark Winfield for a webinar discussion of the application of these principles to the current situation in Ontario.
Speakers include:
Mark Winfield: York University, Faculty of Environmental Studies
University of Winnipeg March 10, 2020
Speakers include:
York University February 25, 2020
Blockchain as an Enabling Technology for Microgrids and DERS
Blockchain is widely discussed as a potential enabling technology for the development of microgrids and distributed energy resources (DERs). How important is blockchain to the adoption of these technologies? What might a blockchain-enabled DER development path look like for Ontario? Is the role of blockchain in DER development overstated?
Speakers include:
Tim Storus , LL.B., ICD.D. Tim is the instructor for FACC 6885: Blockchain and Crytocurrency. Tim is a non-practicing lawyer with 40 years experience in banking, corporate/commercial and securities law as general counsel, corporate secretary, and chief compliance officer.
Mark Dietrich Mark is President and Founder, Bloodstone Solutions, advising companies, organizations and governments in building digital infrastructure for research, innovation, and excellence. He is president and CEO, Compute Canada, and former CEO, Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.
Mark Winfield, Ph.D. Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, Co-Chair, Sustainable Energy Initiative.