Enbridge to buy Spectra Energy in mega deal

Enbridge to buy Spectra Energy in mega deal

The $37-billion deal between Canada’s Enbridge Inc. and Houston-based Spectra Energy Corp. will create North America’s largest energy infrastructure company, an entity almost perfectly diversified between the transport of oil and natural gas.

Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Renews

Canada lags when it comes to clean energy

‘We are at a crossroads between reliance on fossil fuels of the past and the renewable energy future ahead.” It was a remarkable statement from the minister responsible for energy in Canada. Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr sent a clear signal about the opportunity clean energy represents in his keynote address at the Future of Energy Summit in New York earlier this year.

Globe and Mail

Alberta faces challenges switching to renewables

Alberta’s goal of phasing out coal-fired electricity by 2030 in favour of cleaner sources stands a better chance of succeeding if policy makers don’t take an either-or attitude about renewables and natural gas generation, a Calgary economist says.

CBC News

B.C. town aims to create “geothermal industrial park”

A forestry town is working to re-invent itself as a renewable energy leader with a project that promises community revitalization from the ground up.

Huffington Post

Alberta’s old oil wells could be geothermal gold

It’s been an awfully rough year for Alberta, with the resource-rich province currently grappling with a 31.5 per cent drop in oil prices, 39 per cent increase in unemployment and a quadrupling in the number of abandoned oil and gas wells.

Desmog Blog

Battle over wind farm underway in Ontario

The group fighting a proposed wind energy project on Amherst Island is mounting a two-pronged attack in its appeal to of a recent ruling in favour of the project. On Friday, lawyers for the Association for the Protection of Amherst Island (APAI) were in an Ottawa courtroom to file a legal challenge to last month’s Environmental Review Tribunal ruling.

Kingston Whig-Standard

CaGBC launches energy benchmark training

This September, the Canada Green Building Council^® (CaGBC) is launching new training on energy benchmarking strategies and regulation for both private and public sector stakeholders.

Canada Green Building Council

Elon Musk’s big solar bet

Elon Musk has a lot riding on his plan to merge Tesla Motors Inc. with SolarCity Corp. — including a big chunk of his US$8.3 billion fortune.

Financial Post

Will renewables replace grid electricity?

Many people are hoping for wind and solar PV to transform grid electricity in a favorable way. Is this really possible? Is it really feasible for intermittent renewables to generate a large share of grid electricity?

The Energy Collective

Utilities must combat spike in grid failures

Reliability of the electrical grid is a big piece of the “package” that franchise-owning electric companies sell their customers. Just trust the local utility.

Oil Price.com

Cyber attacks threaten energy sector

Electricity is the lifeblood of the global economy. And it is especially the thing that energizes the American economy, now that the US leads the world in oil and shale gas production, and is on well on its way to expanding its use of renewable energy. What could threaten such advances?

Environmental Leader

Natural gas now leading emitter of carbon dioxide

Natural gas is the fuel of choice. It’s also now the leading emitter of carbon dioxide emissions. That’s because natural gas has surpassed coal as the leading fuel used to generate electricity.

Environmental Leader

Media fail to recognize green energy job boom

Earlier this month, Marketplace had a weekly roundup on the economy, focusing on manufacturing jobs because of emphasis provided on this topic by both of the presidential campaigns. The guests were John Carney of The Wall Street Journal and Catherine Rampell from the Washington Post. At the third minute, Rampell weighs in on whether clean energy jobs would really help laid-off manufacturing workers.

Green Tech Media

How water scarcity impacts the energy industry

Three years ago, Wood Mackenzie reported on how water scarcity could impact global energy industries, from North American shale gas to Middle Eastern desalination.

Green Tech Media

Interest growing in use of community-scale solar power

A new option for corporations interested in fueling their operations with clean energy is arising: community-scale solar.

Rocky Mountain Institute

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Companies in the news

Swiss company focuses on microgrids

Microgrids are not a new business for ABB. In fact, while much of the world is just becoming aware of the technology, ABB has spent the last 15 years installing about 11 MW of off-grid microgrids in remote areas of the world.

Microgrid Knowledge

Government programs and policy

Montreal electrifying civic transport fleet

Political representatives from the cities in the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement (GLCN on SP) gathered this Friday for the Network’s Mayoral Second Annual Summit in Seoul. Representatives used the occasion to present their key achievements on sustainable public procurement and to announce their targets as GLCN cities.

Canada News Wire

Montreal regulates wood-burning during smog alerts

On August 18, 2015, the city adopted the by-law concerning solid-fuel-burning devices and fireplaces. The by-law is in force in all 19 boroughs and consists of prohibiting the use of solid-fuel-burning appliances during smog warnings, effective immediately.

City of Montreal

U.K. stores stock up on banned halogen lights

Little halogen spotlights were all the rage among architects and designers a few years ago; I had them all over my house, little boiling hot spots that would warm my shoes on the second floor. They caused thousands of fires over the years, and I was so happy to replace all the bulbs in my kitchen with LEDs.

Treehugger

International

E.U. ahead when it comes to cutting energy consumption

Europe has met a landmark goal of slashing its energy consumption six years ahead of time, cutting greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to switching off about 400 power stations

Guardian UK

Offshore tidal plant begins delivering energy

On Monday, energy company Nova Innovation announced that it has become the first to construct an offshore tidal plant to deliver energy to the grid via an array of turbines.

Christian Science Monitor

Solar energy

Small businesses receptive to community solar

Business people think that community solar is a great thing. That is, once they know it exists and what it is.

Energy Manager Today

Wind power

More U.S. cities choosing wind power

With over 75 per cent of the world’s energy use happening in cities, there‘s a significant opportunity for the U.S. to increase its share of clean power in urban centers across the country. A few trailblazing cities are showing us just how to do it, in many cases by choosing wind power.

Into the Wind

Energy tech, cable company partners up

AMSC, an energy solutions provider serving wind and power grid industry, and Nexans, an expert in the cable industry, have announced a partnership to market and sell AMSC’s Resilient Electric Grid (REG) system, and other high performance superconductor power cables, in the U.S. and Canada.

Wind Power Engineering & Development

Geothermal

U.S. Energy Department announces funding for geothermal projects

As part of the Obama Administration’s continued commitment to the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Energy Department today announced $29 million in funding under the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) program for projects awarded to teams at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Utah.

Energy.Gov

Electrical grids and transmission

Eastern grid ready to handle more renewable energy

With increased flexibility, the eastern grid can get more than 30 percent renewables online, and at times, can boost its renewables penetration to up to 60 percent.

Microgrid Knowledge

New technology and products

New material could speed up electric car charging

A powerful new material developed by Northwestern University chemist William Dichtel and his research team could one day speed up the charging process of electric cars and help increase their driving range.

Energy Harvesting Journal