The BC Sustainable Energy Association offers a series of
monthly lunchtime teleworkshops to help us learn more about
important developments in the fields of sustainable energy
and climate change.
Next teleworkshop:
Tuesday August 19, 2008 noon-1pm
Topic: BC's Bioenergy Strategy
Presenters to be announced ...
This free workshop is limited to BCSEA members and invited
guests, with a maximum limit of 150 dial-in participants.
New BCSEA members may also join the call. Follow this link
to become a BCSEA member.
Members will receive an email notification when the August
teleworkshop is open for registration, with instructions
on how to register.
Put the date in your daytimer and plan a brown bag lunch
while you enjoy the chance for learning and discussion.
Call-in details will be sent out once you have confirmed.
The only cost is your own long-distance phone charge, ranging
from zero to $5 depending on your phone plan.
We welcome suggestions
for topics and speakers you would like to see as part of
this program.
Upcoming teleworkshops
Future teleworkshops will focus on:
- SmartGrid Technology
- The Future of Leed Buildings
- BC's Climate Action Plan
Recent Energy Solutions Teleworkshops
Tuesday, July 15 2008
Worlds on Fire - BC’s red wood fuelling 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. Click
here to see Caren's presentation slides (
PDF,
307kb).
- 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. Click
here to see Dave's presentation slides (PDF,
464kb).
An audio recording of this workshop is available to BCSEA
members by request. Please
contact us.
Tuesday, June 10 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:
Click here
to view Patrick Mazza's slideshow (PDF,
275kb), here
for Kees Schaddelee's slide presentation on food vs. fuel
(PDF,
2.39mb), and here
for Don Goodeve's slideshow (PDF,
1.03mb). Unfortunately there is no audio recording available
for this teleworkshop.
Tuesday May 13, 12 noon-1pm
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.
- Glen Armstrong, director of BC's Ministry of
Finance Tax Policy Branch, Glen led the drafting of the
Bill 37.
- Paul Flanagan, manager of income and other business
taxes with the BC Tax Policy Branch.
Tuesday April 8, 12 noon-1pm
Deep Heat: Enhanced Geothermal with guests:
- Dr. Jeff Tester, Professor of Chemical Engineering
at M.I.T.'s Laboratory for Energy and the Environment,
and
- Craig Aspinall of Western GeoPower Corporation.
Click
here to view Dr. Tester's slide presentation (PDF,
6Mb), or here
to view Mr. Aspinal's slide presentation (PDF,
1.11Mb). An audio recording of the workshop is available
for download by request (mp3 format, 25.3 MB). Please
contact us.
Tuesday March 11, 12-1pm
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 to Global Warming. 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.
Tuesday February 26, 12-1pm
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.
Tuesday December 11, 12-1pm
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. (Owing to a scheduling
conflict, The Future of LEED for Green Buildings in
BC was rescheduled to next year.)
Tuesday November 13, 12-1pm
Wind Energy in BC: With Juergen Puetter, Founder
and CEO of Aeolis
Wind Power Corp, and 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. More
...
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." More
...
Tuesday October 9, 12-1pm
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:
Tuesday September 11, 12-1pm
Solar Hot Water: “How can we Accelerate the Growth
of Solar Hot Water in BC?”
Nitya Harris, Project Leader of SolarBC, BCSEA’s
solar project, and Project Lead for the B.C. 100,000 Solar
Roofs Roadmap Project, were joined by Jeff Knapp, Solar
Program Officer, NRCan who spoke about other solar hot
water programs in Canada.
Tuesday June 5, 12-1pm
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. As our guests, we had Chris Campbell
of the Ocean
Renewable Energy Group here in BC, and Des McGinnes
of Ocean
Power Delivery in Scotland.
Presentations:
Des McGinnes: Wave
Energy - Coming to an ocean near you? (PDF,
2.09Mb)
Chris Campbell: Wave
and Tidal Energy Concepts-Opportunity for British Columbia
(PDF,
3.07Mb)
Tuesday May 8, 12-1pm
Plug-in Hybrid EVs and Vehicle-to-Grid Power from
Electric Vehicles
Guests were Felix Kramer of the California Cars Initiative
(www.calcars.org),
Jasna Tomic of University of Delaware’s Vehicle-to-Grid
Initiative (www.udel.edu/V2G),
and Lisa Braithwaite of Plug-In Partners and Austin Energy,
(www.pluginpartners.org).
Tuesday April 10, 12-1pm
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
Last Updated February 21, 2008.
PDF, 32K)