Climate & Energy Solutions Webinars

The BC Sustainable Energy Association offers a monthly lunchtime webinar series to help us all learn more about important developments in the fields of sustainable energy and climate change.

Our Climate & Energy Solutions Webinars are open to all. We welcome your support for this and our other programs and activities through donations and memberships.

An email notification is sent out when registration opens. Once you've registered, put the date in your daytimer and plan for a brown bag lunch while you enjoy this chance for learning and discussion. Log in through your computer web browser to see and hear the presentations.

We welcome your suggestions for topics and speakers you would like to see as part of this program.

Upcoming Webinars

Please visit the Webinars page for upcoming and scheduled sessions.

Future webinars will focus on:

  • PACE Bonds: Property Assessed Clean Energy Bonds
  • BC’s Climate Action Plan 2.0
  • Investing in Public Transit
  • Proposed Site C Hydro Dam Project
  • Solar PV in BC
  • Sweden's Sustainable Suburb
  • BC's Biomass Energy Strategy
  • SmartGrid Technology
  • The Future of LEED Buildings

Past Webinars

January 2010

Electric Vehicles with Felix Kramer

There's a very fast-moving world out there, with many automakers planning to bring electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to market by 2012. What are provinces, states and cities doing to get ready - and is it enough?

Our special guest this month was Felix Kramer, the Californian entrepreneur and lifelong environmentalist who founded CalCars.org, which pioneered, popularized and led the charge for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Their work resulted in a $10 billion commitment to PHEVs by President Obama.

Felix reviewed emerging trends, opportunities and challenges for PHEVs in California, British Columbia and around the world. See his presentation here: calcars-beyond-new-plug-ins-100119.pdf

December 2009

Climate Leadership & Economic Prosperity

The David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute recently published the first Canadian study to examine the regional impacts of a strong climate policy on employment and the economy.

They found that with strong federal and provincial policies, Canada can meet the 2020 emissions reduction target designed to keep the global temperature from rising by more than 2°C and still have a strong growing economy, a quality of life higher than Canadians enjoy today, and continued steady job creation. Despite this positive message, the report received some very polarized and negative media attention.

This BCSEA Climate & Energy Solutions Webinar featured Matt Horne and Josha MacNab from the Pembina Institute presenting the report's findings, with a specific focus on BC. See their presentation here: PembinaClimateLeadershipEconomicProsperity.pdf

November 2009

District Energy & Strategies for Carbon Neutral Cities

In Sweden, 80,000 people in the Stockholm suburb of Hammarsby are being heated by District Energy - so what is happening in North America - and here in British Columbia?

November's BCSEA Climate and Energy Solutions Webinar was on District Energy - the pioneering method of providing heat to the buildings in a city neighbourhood by channelling waste heat from a nearby industry, sewage plant, or ice rink.

Our presenter was Tom Osdoba, Managing Director of the Center for Sustainable Business Practices at the University of Oregon College of Business. He gave an illustrated presentation on the emerging thinking about scale and new opportunities for capturing waste heat, and other novel sources of heat.

See Tom's presentation here: OsdobaDistrictEnergyWebinar0911.pdf

September 2009

Solar Hot Water: A Revolution for the Planet

Solar hot water is a very easy way for people to save money and reduce their carbon footprint. You may have seen a solar thermal panel on someone's home - but have you seen what's happening in Europe, where solar thermal space heating is beginning to take off? There are plans afoot that by 2030, 50% of Europe's space heating needs will be met by stored solar thermal energy.

In this webinar, SolarBC’s Nitya Harris and BCSEA’s Guy Dauncey will review what's happening, explain how solar thermal systems work, and tell you how you can benefit from the SolarBC program of grants and incentives to install a solar thermal system on your own roof.

July 2009

Leading Cycling Cities: Lessons from Victoria

Cycling is Victoria’s fastest growing mode of transportation, and not by chance. Expanding bicycle infrastructures coupled with effective promotion of commuter cycling have grown participation dramatically. During this month's webinar, our expert guests explained what Victoria has done to innovate and get new ideas about retrofitting for bicycle-friendliness.

See the event listing for more details.

June 2009

The Future of Transmission for Renewable Energy in BC

Where should BC’s future transmission lines be built? Two important planning processes - the Western Renewable Energy Zones initiative (WREZ) and the BC Utilities Commission's Inquiry into British Columbia's Long-Term Transmission Infrastructure - are underway to address this, both of which will have a significant influence on key government policy, including electricity exports and environmental protection. This month's webinar presented information on these two critical initiatives.

See the event listing for more details.

April 2009

The Climate Emergency

The climate crisis is becoming more urgent with every new scientific report, leading to an emerging consensus among many that developed nations such as Canada must seek to become 100% climate-friendly by 2030, with zero emissions. How could British Columbia achieve this? What new policies and initiatives would we need? This teleworkshop presented one person's view of the ten most important initiatives that BC could take to achieve this goal.

See the event listing for more details.

March 2009

Green Landlords: Tackling the Rental Housing Energy Inefficiency Conundrum

People living in rental accommodation in BC have to put up with some of the province's most inefficient buildings and high energy bills. The problem is well known, but solving it has defeated governments all across North America because of the notorious "split incentive" and a long list of other barriers. In this workshop Jamie Abbot, Director of the BCSEA's Green Landlords project, described the nine interconnected components that could create a permanent solution to the problem.

See the event listing for more details.

December 2008

Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles

Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV) are also referred to as Low Speed Vehicles (LSV) and as Neighborhood Zero Emissions Vehicles (Neighborhood ZEV). Designed to achieve a maximum speed of 40 km/h and travel a range of up to 60 kilometers, the NEV allows you to commute and transport goods emitting zero emissions.

See the event listing for more details.

November 2008

Using Wastewater for Heating, Cooling, and Greenhouse Gas Reduction

Enlightened cities are recognizing the obvious and subtle relationships between water, energy, food and climate change. They are reducing their operational costs and environmental impacts by recovering value from wastewater. This workshop showed how cities are doing this, and discussed the greenhouse gas implications of these recovery practices.

See the event listing for more details.

October 2008

Local Government: Front Lines of the Climate War

"Local Governments: Front Lines of the Climate War" focused on the upcoming municipal elections in BC and the many tools available to mayors and councils to effect climate and energy solutions within their cities and regions.

See the event listing for more details.

September 2008

BC Climate Action Team Report

On August 6, 2008, the Climate Action Team (CAT) issued its final report with 31 recommendations to assist BC in achieving its legislated emissions reduction targets of 33% by 2020. There is a link to the CAT report, and to the full BC Climate Action Plan, at www.livesmartbc.ca.

On Tuesday September 30, BC Sustainable Energy Association members and special guests called in to learn about the CAT's work, their report and its 31 recommendations.

Our speakers:

  • Naomi Devine, CAT member, University of Victoria Common Energy founder and BCSEA board member. Download a PDF of her presentation here.
  • Nicholas Heap, Climate and Energy Policy Analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation
  • Guy Dauncey, BC Sustainable Energy Association President

This timely session was planned to help organizations and individuals meet the deadline for public comment on this report.

July 2008

Worlds on Fire: BC's Red Wood Fueling our Energy Desires

This month, BCSEA's Energy Solutions Teleworkshop brought a discussion of bioenergy & carbon budgeting: specifically, the issues raised by burning dead trees and wood waste for electricity and industrial heat. We were fortunate to have two expert guests sharing their information on the opportunities, risks and uncertainties this situation has given rise to:

  • Caren Dymond, a government scientist specializing in Forest Carbon Budget Modeling. Second author on Werner Kurz's recent article in Nature, reporting that many of BC's forests are currently a net source, rather than a sink, of carbon dioxide, severely affecting BC’s carbon balance for the next 20 years. Download a PDF of Caren Dymond's presentation here.
  • Dave Neads is a conservation and land use planning consultant and activist in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. He is vice-chair of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition, co-coordinating a conservation campaign in response to the MPB Epidemic and also a member of the Premier's Mountain Pine Beetle Provincial Task Force. Download a PDF of Dave Neads' presentation here.

June 2008

Biofuels: The Good, the Bad and the Sustainable

Initially heralded as a way to cut fossil fuel use and carbon emissions, biofuels are now condemned for threatening the destruction of native forests and vilified for provoking a world-wide food crisis. What is the skinny on these fats and oils from vegetable and animal sources?

With guests:

  • Patrick Mazza, Research Director and founding member of Seattle-based Climate Solutions. Download a PDF of his presentation here.
  • Kees Schaddelee, Biofuels Coordinator for Columbia Fuels Inc. Download a PDF of his presentation here.
  • Don Goodeve of the Island Biodiesel Coop.

May 2008

Pricing Carbon: BC's New Carbon Tax

Introduced in the legislature on April 28, Bill 37 put BC in the forefront of jurisdictions putting a price on carbon fuels. We heard how this tax shift is intended to change behaviour to reduce emissions that cause global warming. With guests:

  • Nic Rivers, a principal of M.K. Jaccard and Associates, is an engineer and resource manager and co-author (with Jeffrey Simpson and Mark Jaccard) of Hot Air: Meeting Canada's Climate Change Challenge. Download a PDF of his presentation here.
  • Glen Armstrong, director of BC's Ministry of Finance Tax Policy Branch, Glen led the drafting of the Bill 37. Downloads a PDF of his presentation here.
  • Paul Flanagan, manager of income and other business taxes with the BC Tax Policy Branch.

April 2008

Deep Heat: Enhanced Geothermal

With guests:

  • Dr. Jeff Tester, Professor of Chemical Engineering at M.I.T.'s Laboratory for Energy and the Environment.
  • Craig Aspinall of Western GeoPower Corporation.

March 2008

Municipal Climate Solutions

Our guest was Guy Dauncey, President of the BC Sustainable Energy Association, and author of the forthcoming book The Great Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions for a Post-Carbon World. As part of his recent research, Guy had been studying the world’s best municipal practices, and had organized them into 12 distinct sectors. He gave a web-based presentation, and then invited questions and discussion.

February 2008

The Future of Urban Transportation

After decades of taking energy for granted, we can no longer do so. Any discussion of energy must now acknowledge that supplies of fossil fuels are finite, and burning those fuels has unacceptable consequences for the world's climate. These are issues that will require changes, on an unprecedented scale, to how we produce and consume energy.

Transportation engineer and planner Stuart Ramsey explored these issues in an urban context, with a particular focus on transportation. He concluded with some strategies for dramatically reducing our oil consumption. These can be implemented quickly, at low cost, and with profound effects.

December 2007

Greening the BC Building Code

The Building and Safety Policy Branch (BSPB) was seeking public input on the following three proposals for changes to the BC Building Code. Public input was welcome until December 21, 2007. We had a government representative and a building expert to discuss the changes and the process by which we could influence future revisions.

November 2007

Wind Energy in BC

With guests:

  • Juergen Puetter, Founder and CEO of Aeolis Wind Power Corp
  • Michael Margolick, Vice President, Power and Transmission Planning, of NaiKun Wind Development Inc.

Aeolis has investigative sites in BC and Alberta, including Vancouver Island and the Peace Region. Their Bear Mountain project recently received its environmental assessment certificate for the construction and operation of a 120-megawatt wind project near Dawson Creek in the Peace River Regional District.

NaiKun proposes to construct and operate a wind energy project off BC's northwest coast. The large-scale offshore wind farm "will provide a cost-effective, clean, domestic energy source to serve the growing electricity market in British Columbia."

October 2007

Microhydro Power in BC

Attendees learned more about the technology, the development and permitting process, and the environmental issues involved. We had three guests for the workshop:

  • Steve Davis, president of the Independent Power Producers Association of BC (IPPBC)
  • Bill Irwin, director of Land and Resource Management of the Plutonic Power Corporation
  • Tanis Douglas, ecologist and restoration specialist with the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, and author of Run-of-River Hydropower in BC: A Citizen’s Guide to Understanding Approvals, Impacts, and Sustainability of Independent Power Projects
  • September 2007 - Solar Hot Water: How Can We Accelerate the Growth of Solar Hot Water in BC?

Featured guests:

  • Nitya Harris, Project Leader of SolarBC, BCSEA’s solar project, and Project Lead for the BC 100,000 Solar Roofs Project
  • Jeff Knapp, Solar Program Officer, NRCan, spoke about other solar hot water programs in Canada

June 2007

Tidal and Wave Power in BC

This was a chance to learn more about what’s happening globally, and what the prospects are for ocean power here in British Columbia. Our guests were

  • Chris Campbell of the Ocean Renewable Energy Group here in BC.
  • Des McGinnes of Ocean Power Delivery in Scotland.

May 2007

Plug-in Hybrid EVs and Vehicle-to-Grid Power from Electric Vehicles

With guests:

April 2007

The New BC Energy Plan

With Bruce Sampson, VP Sustainability, BC Hydro. Bruce Sampson was closely involved with the drafting sections of the Energy Plan relating to electricity and sustainable energy. He guided us through the new Plan, followed by time for questions and discussion. The Energy Plan can be found online at www.energyplan.gov.bc.ca