Podcasts about nrcan

High-profile wildfires doing substantial property damage to urban areas in B.C. and Alberta have spurred NRCan to look at creating Canadian building standards for wildfire resistance. The consultation process has just begun, but it seems likely that some day soon we may see new codes requiring resistant windows, doors and other components in wildfire-prone areas. What might these rules look like? How do we determine if a product is sufficiently resistant to external fires? And what is the science behind making frames and glass that resists fire and prevents heat transfer to the home interior? Robin Urquhart has worked on rebuilding communities destroyed by wildfires and joins the Conversation to share his deep knowledge of this topic.

High-profile wildfires doing substantial property damage to urban areas in B.C. and Alberta have spurred NRCan to look at creating Canadian building standards for wildfire resistance. The consultation process has just begun, but it seems likely that some day soon we may see new codes requiring resistant windows, doors and other components in wildfire-prone areas. What might these rules look like? How do we determine if a product is sufficiently resistant to external fires? And what is the science behind making frames and glass that resists fire and prevents heat transfer to the home interior? Robin Urquhart has worked on rebuilding communities destroyed by wildfires and joins GlassTalk to share his deep knowledge of this topic.

Natural Resources Canada is working on a new label that will be required to be displayed on manufactured window products that are shipped across provincial borders or imported into Canada. The label would display the same energy efficiency information as NFRC, CSA and Energy Star labels, and could act to replace them if the manufacturer desired. Adam Buist is helping to develop the new label and joins Fenestration Conversations to explain the work, explore the benefits and challenges, and update us on the status of the project.Adam invites questions and outreach at adam.buist@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca.Fenestration Review's article about the program here: https://www.fenestrationreview.com/one-label-to-rule-them-all/

Natural Resources Canada ("NRCan") announced conditional approval of 40-million-dollars-canadian in federal funding to undertake pre-feasibility activities to advance a high-voltage transmission line network connecting the Yukon electrical grid to the North American grid in British Columbia. Kootenay Silver reports results from an additional five drill holes at the Columba High Grade Silver Project. American Pacific Mining Corp reports drill results from the 2024 Phase 1 infill and extension drill program at its Madison Copper-Gold Project in Montana. Meridian Mining reports High-Grade Assay Results & New Geophysical Targets at its Au-Cu-Ag & Zn Santa Helena deposit in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

In this episode you'll hear Niha Shahzad speak to Denise Wong, Director of Emerging Priorities at Natural Resources Canada about her journey navigating her public service career. After achieving a hard-won accomplishment of completing an EX-01 Director-level competition, Denise faced a setback in her career. She took time to introspect and reaffirm what it was that she wanted to accomplish. She reflects on reconnecting with her values, what it means to be a racialized woman in the public service, and how she wanted to build effective teams in the public service. Through this process and the sponsorship of another public servant, Denise became a Director, and exemplifies what it means to lead as your authentic self.

In celebration of Black Excellence for this year's Black History Month, we are proud to introduce you to NRCan student employee and rugby player Brianna Martey. This episode is co-hosted by Niha Shahzad and Vishala Shembedasie.

More and more we seek brands and products to help us conserve energy, save money, and make a positive impact on the planet. Every purchase is powerful. ENERGY STAR Canada's Director of Program Support and Modernization, Burt James, joins episode 123 of thinkenergy to chat ways we can harness that power. From energy-efficient products to how ENERGY STAR programs help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save electricity, and even improve the quality of our lives. Listen to the conversation today.   Related links   ENERGY STAR Canada: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-efficiency/energy-star-canada/18953   ENERGY STAR Canada on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/energy-star-canada/  ENERGY STAR Canada on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/ENERGYSTAR_CAN  ENERGY STAR Canada on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ENERGYSTARCanada/ To subscribe using Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405   To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl   To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited   Check out our cool pics on https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa   More to Learn on https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa   Keep up with the Tweets at https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod ---- Transcript: Dan Seguin  00:06 This is Think Energy, the podcast that helps you better understand the fast changing world of energy through conversations with game changers, industry leaders, and influencers. So join me, Dan Seguin, as I explore both traditional and unconventional facets of the energy industry. Hey, everyone, welcome back. Did you know that your wallet can help you reduce your energy footprint? Energy efficient products have become powerful tools and conservation and energy reduction efforts as people around the world become more aware of the impact their purchasing choices have on the environment. Consumers increasingly want electronic devices and appliances that use less energy to help save money on their energy bills, create a more sustainable future for people and the planet and are less wasteful and subsequently reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More and more people want to do business with brands that are just as concerned about these things as they are and they're using their wallet to send that message. More than ever, we have come to realize the power our wallets hold, we are dictating what is manufactured and produced because of how we think about and use energy. Over the last few decades and perhaps this last decade in particular, more of us are concerned about our own impact and contribution towards climate change. Enter ENERGY STAR Canada, a voluntary partnership between the Government of Canada and industry to make high efficiency products readily available and visible to Canadians. Providing simple, credible and unbiased information so consumers like us can make well informed decisions in the US alone ENERGY STAR and its partners have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 4 billion metric tons since 1992. And save the equivalent of 5 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity. You likely know and recognize and have Energy Star products in your home already. Its logo has become a trusted symbol, particularly in the appliances space, but there's a lot more that they do then you may not be aware of. So here's today's big question. In what ways can we harness the power of our wallets to make a positive difference for our planet and what other opportunities exist through programs like ENERGY STAR to lessen our impact on the environment, and even human health? Joining us today is Bert James. He's the Director of Product Support and modernization at ENERGY STAR from the Office of Energy Efficiency. Hey, Bert, welcome to the podcast.   Bert James  03:10 Pleasure to be here.   Dan Seguin  03:11 Now. Maybe you can start by telling us how the ENERGY STAR brand came to be and why it's become such a trusted symbol.   Bert James  03:21 Thanks for the question, Dan. The Energy Star program was actually started in the early 1990s by the US Environmental Protection Agency, but was first brought to Canada in 2001. In an international partnership and our can through the Office of Energy Efficiency are the stewards of the program in Canada. It's a voluntary partnership between the Government of Canada and program participants to make high efficiency products, homes and buildings available and visible to consumers and businesses. The product program is probably the one that people are most familiar with. And it was the first member of the ENERGY STAR candidate family. There are more than 80 types of products available and 1000s and 1000s of products, we have over 1000 program participants in the product space alone. Later on in 2005. We brought in the ENERGY STAR for new homes program in 2017. ENERGY STAR for industry in 2018, Energy Star certification became available for commercial and institutional buildings. And how did it become such a trusted symbol, I think through consistent performance more than anything else, it's recognized by a strong majority, like more than 80% of Canadians know what that little blue star means whenever they see it. It's government backed, which I think gives it some credibility or at least I'd like to think so there are transparent and really strict efficiency specifications as well which makes the program reliable and the products themselves are subject to post market verification in that, you know, it's not just about what you say your product will do, but it's actually about how your product performs. So there are proven savings. The market is quite saturated I think with Energy Star products. In terms of a price comparison, there's no difference in Most product categories and by purchasing one provided that it fits your design style, you know, you're going to save money if you purchase an energy star product.   Dan Seguin  05:08 That's very cool. Now, how does your rating system and our guide fit into this equation?   Bert James  05:15 So the inner guide rating system does kind of dovetail with ENERGY STAR, but they are separate pieces. In the world of residential homes. There is an EnerGuide rating system that compares individual homes from an energy performance perspective against other homes and then issues a rating ENERGY STAR for new homes, by contrast, is actually a reflection of the energy performance as it relates to the building code. In the world of appliances. Energy Star has a certain technical specification or and I guess, to elaborate a little further on that each product must have a certain energy performance, whereas EnerGuide is more just a measure of that energy performance. It's not a standard per se. It's just a reading.   Dan Seguin  05:59 Thanks for the clarification. Okay, but we're seeing a trend where the residential real estate industry is moving towards multi tenant construction. In Canada, two out of three homes built today aren't multifamily. And in Ontario alone, nearly 700,000 households live in condos. Now, does this present a challenge or an opportunity for the Energy Star program?   Bert James  06:28 Well, I like to see everything as an opportunity then. So I would definitely put this into that category. I think the biggest challenge, if I may, is to kind of work within this situation where we find ourselves where we need to build more homes. I think there is a shortage of housing on the market. When we choose to build homes, we would like them to be as efficient as possible. And that's where ENERGY STAR can come in. From a certification standpoint. Many people live in multifamily homes now, or multi unit residential buildings or condo buildings. And of course, we encourage them all to use Energy Star products within their homes. But more broadly for whole buildings. We do have an Energy Star certification program for multifamily high rises in Ontario. It's a certification program for new construction that recognizes buildings that are at least 15% more efficient than those built to the provincial energy code and meet some other program requirements. But as we focus a lot on housing supply in this country, it is sometimes hard to talk about efficiency whenever we just need to get homes built. And so we you know, we see it as a challenge in terms of keeping energy efficiency in the spotlight whenever these homes get built, and also an excellent opportunity to promote the work that we do here within OEE.   Dan Seguin  07:46 Okay, the ENERGY STAR is mostly known for residential homes and appliances. But you're also in the industrial and commercial space. What programs exist to help these sectors reduce greenhouse gas emissions?   Bert James  08:02 This is a question where my answer might be long, I'm going to try and keep it as concise as I can. So there are a number of initiatives in both the commercial and industrial space. And I'll start with the commercial space energy star that has a tool called Portfolio Manager, which is a benchmarking tool. It's been with us this is actually the 10th anniversary this year is the 10th anniversary of the use of portfolio manager. And what Portfolio Manager allows you to do is measure your buildings performance as compared to other buildings that are in a similar class, it spits out a score and that score allows you to compare how your building will perform overall, in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a building that has a higher score consumes less energy and is more efficient in terms of keeping the heat in and so through the use of a portfolio manager a building owner can actually evaluate how their building performs as they construct it. But also if they were to do some retrofits to see how much better the building actually performs itself in the world of commercial residential or condo buildings. Portfolio Manager is obviously another tool that people could use but we also do have this pilot program in Ontario that does recognize buildings that are more energy efficient. So in the world of industrial players ENERGY STAR has two components. There is an energy star challenge and then a certification process. The challenge for industrial facilities is to reduce their energy consumption by 10%. Within five years, if you achieve this goal, you receive ENERGY STAR recognition and you can display the ENERGY STAR challenge for industry logo while 10% might not seem like a big achievement over the course of five years, the amount of electricity that some of the these facilities consumed is really quite substantial and a 10% drop in energy use can lead to some significant changes to the bottom line for these facilities. From a certification perspective, Natural Resources Canada recognizes the most energy efficient Canadian facilities with ENERGY STAR for industry certification. So industrial facilities located in Canada can earn the certification and display the energy star symbol. And it is done through an energy performance indicator that allows you to benchmark your facility's performance against those across Canada and the United States, it generates a score and those with the highest scores are eligible for certification.   Dan Seguin  10:28 Okay, what makes ENERGY STAR certified buildings unique?   Bert James  10:34 So ENERGY STAR certified buildings are, as I mentioned, in the residential space, the multi unit buildings they perform at least 15% better than the standard as described in the provincial energy code and ENERGY STAR certified buildings are just they are of higher energy performance. And you can feel it whenever you're in some of these buildings. And you can definitely see it through the control systems that are in place to manage energy within them. There are really some fantastic innovations happening in the building space with respect to heat and energy recovery. And these all help to improve the energy performance and ultimately improve the score through Portfolio Manager and that's what sets them apart is that they are higher performing buildings. You know, here in Ottawa, there are a couple of buildings that have recently been announced as net zero buildings whenever they are finally going to be built. That is the highest standard that we are looking at right now. But overall, you know, cut and dried, the difference between the ENERGY STAR certified building and one that is not ENERGY STAR certified is its energy performance.   Dan Seguin  11:34 Burt, are you able to unpack for listeners, what is the process to being certified?   Bert James  11:41 To be eligible for Energy Star certification, a building must earn a certain score through the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager access to Portfolio Manager is free. And I want to be clear that it does not require an engineering degree in order to operate it, it is something that a building manager can come in and use if it receives a certain score of 75. That means that it's operating better than at least 75% of similar buildings nationwide. So the entire process is done within the portfolio manager tool. Once you register for an account, you benchmark your building by using metered energy data. It's asking, you know, building operators for the data that they already have, which can be entered into the tool manually, or in some cases that can actually be automatically uploaded into the tool. Once you obtain your score. If it is 75 or higher, then you can submit an online certification application, have it verified by a licensed professional and then submit it to Natural Resources Canada, and then the last step for us is just to review that application. And if it is certified, the building receives an ENERGY STAR deckle to display on the building and also gets listed on in NRcan's online registry.   Dan Seguin  12:50 Now I'm curious about your signature program, the Canada Greener Homes Grant. What can you tell us about it, and how retrofit factors into your work?   Bert James  13:02 So the Canada Greener Homes Grant was launched in 2021. And I think in government time, that still makes it a relatively new program. It is obviously a program to incentivize home energy retrofits in the residential space across Canada. You know, the program itself was designed to improve the energy performance of home so there is a focus on improving the building envelope and also some of the equipment that exists within the home. When I say building envelope, I don't just mean you know the walls I also mean the windows and doors. And as it relates to energy star to be eligible for one of the grants, consumers or homeowners must install ENERGY STAR certified products into those spaces. There's also opportunities to add insulation to swap out furnaces for heat pumps and there are other aspects. So the retrofitting of homes is a very important factor for us as we work towards, you know, a net zero economy by 2050. The building sector accounts for a significant percentage of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions primarily related to space and water heating and retrofitting those buildings is an essential component of how we get to net zero energy star certainly plays a role in in supporting homeowners by putting high performing products in and ultimately can help us down the road of consuming less energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in cases where if you are heating with a natural gas furnace, having high efficiency Windows keeps that he didn't and you will burn less gas overall and reduce your emissions associated with it.   Dan Seguin  14:40 Bert, more and more municipalities and communities are looking for ways to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions. What is the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and who is the target audience?   Bert James  14:55 So the Portfolio Manager is a free tool you know, it's run by the United States Ba, they are the ones that the custodians of the tool can have certainly modified the tool, you know, for our own context, the target audience for Portfolio Manager are building operators. And so they are the people who have access to the water consumption, the energy consumption, waste generation, all of those things come into the portfolio manager tool, and we, you know, we target our work towards, towards the building operators and the building managers to get their information into it, it is really quite something but we have more than 40% of all commercial space across Canada is already found in the portfolio manager tool, and that date that is increasing all the time. And we have some good news stories from provinces, municipalities who are actually mandating the use of the tool in order to demonstrate energy performance in their jurisdictions. So like I said, the tool itself is free, it is quite easy to use, and but it is targeted towards the people who actually have access to that information about how a building currently performs and how it operates.   Dan Seguin  16:07 That's great, Bert. Now how does the federal budgets focus on energy and decarbonisation, the economy affects your work?   Bert James  16:09 Well, it is my work in many ways. I mean, energy efficiency is a central component of how we get to net zero by 2050. I like to think that there are three pillars to this : decarbonisation, which is the actual, you know, elimination of fossil fuel build burning devices. There is electrification, which is the conversion of certain things to electricity from a fossil fuel device, but then there's also energy efficiency. And so the less energy that we can use in order to operate, you know, a building an industrial facility or a product to the easier it is to to electrify that, and ultimately here in the Office of Energy Efficiency, that's, that's our goal, we want people to use high performing devices, we have many success stories around this, you know, we the efficiency of a refrigerator built in 2023 is, you know, many multiples ahead of of a refrigerator built, you know, 25 or 30 years ago. Similarly, incandescent light bulbs are actually getting harder and harder to find, and at some point in time, they will likely be regulated out of existence. So you know, the energy is the lifeblood of our economy, how we use that energy and the efficiency with which we use that energy is, I think, going to be a major indicator of our success as we move towards a full decarbonisation of the economy and reducing our emissions from coast to coast.   Dan Seguin  17:47 Now has the main social driver to buy Energy STAR shifted from energy saving, to, let's say, planet saving?   Bert James  17:56 That's a very good question. And I would say, our focus is still on saving energy, all energy has a cost. And if we can reduce the amount of energy that we consume, then ultimately we are going to save some money along the way. In Canada, we have a very clean electricity generation grid. And so but there are certain jurisdictions where even within this country where we still burn fossil fuels in order to generate electricity, if we can consume less energy, we will burn less fossil fuels in those jurisdictions. But I would say that the focus for the Energy Star program remains on remaining within energy performance and saving money and through the savings of energy, ultimately, are we going to be saving the planet along the way, I'd like to think that we are contributing positively in that way. But for us here, the focus has always been on just increasing the efficiency of the products that we are responsible for and helping Canadians make smart decisions with respect to where they live, work and play.   Dan Seguin  19:03 Got a follow up question for you, Bert. What trends are you seeing and what are you learning from consumers through their purchasing decisions?   Bert James  19:12 We are seeing I mean, I think greener homes are an excellent example. To go back to that question. We have seen nearly a doubling of program participation in energy star as a result of the incentives that are available through the greener homes grant. So people speak with their wallet sometimes, and by putting Energy Star products into greener homes, we've seen a significant uptick in the purchasing of fenestration products or windows and doors within the ENERGY STAR space. You know, we are are very proud of what we've done in the lighting space in particular, because we you know, ENERGY STAR lighting at one point in time was it was LED lighting and I think before that it might have there might have been some other model But we have largely moved away from incandescent lighting entirely. So, you know, we see people who are interested in purchasing a product, the concern that we tend to hear from Canadians is around cost differential. So they might not want to purchase a product, even if it's going to save them energy if it costs more money. And this is where I really love the Energy Star program. Because if you're buying a ceiling fan, there's no difference in cost between an ENERGY STAR ceiling fan and another ceiling fan. And this is the same thing across products like televisions, computer monitors. And so people don't need much of a push in order to buy a more efficient product. The concern that they have is obviously if there is a cost differential, this becomes a bit more of a pressing concern whenever we start to talk about housing, because obviously we want people to buy high performance housing. But there's a limit to how much more people are going to be willing to pay for a high performing house as compared to one that might not be an ENERGY STAR certified new home.   Dan Seguin  21:04 Okay, Burt, what role does ENERGY STAR have in achieving Canada's net zero emissions by 2050?   Bert James  21:15 Well, I can give you the most recent numbers that I have in 2022. Alone, ENERGY STAR certified products saved enough energy to power over 320,000 homes for a year or the equivalent of removing 680,000 cars from the road. Improving energy efficiency contributes firsthand to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and is an important part of Canada's national approach to addressing climate change. The program supports Canadians in reducing energy consumption and improves efficiency across multiple sectors of the economy. The program assumes a multi pronged approach to advancing these environmental objectives from manufacturing, distribution and purchasing, obviously, as we have discussed residential housing both single family homes and multi unit homes promoting high efficiency and high efficiency performance in the commercial and institutional buildings and challenging industry to push efficiency even further. So I think ENERGY STAR absolutely has a role to play. It is an aspirational standard. But you know, through program participation, and through the work that we do with our various stakeholder groups, we have the power to leverage that brand to influence people to make good purchasing decisions that will ultimately lead them to, you know, reduce their energy consumption, reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and and hopefully get us towards net zero by 2050.   Dan Seguin  22:37 Now, let's move on from role to goals. What are some of your own internal goals with respect to net zero?   Bert James  22:47 Well, you know, here in the Office of Energy Efficiency, Net Zero is sort of our shining star, it's the one that we're trying to work towards, we continue to push standards higher and hire on the regulatory side of things. To make products more and more efficient. Obviously, we can't push too far too fast. Because sometimes the products just don't exist to have an energy performance that we know where they need to be. And so we are constantly seeking opportunities to identify product types to improve the standards overall. I know we work in close and close contact with the US EPA who are developing new standards for ENERGY STAR for new products that are coming ahead. And so what we want to do is, is just, we want to do everything that we can to make sure that energy efficiency stays front of mind as we are making purchasing purchasing decisions that we're providing information to people about the importance of of energy efficiency, and really supporting what is a robust labor market for energy efficiency as well, you know, the greener homes, you know, to go back to that has really helped to incentivize the retrofit market with a focus on energy efficiency, I think we we should be very proud of jobs that are created the economic activity that gets created out of that because the environment and the economy are not distinct things, more and more they are becoming one of the same in terms of you know, addressing environmental challenges are is an excellent economic opportunity. And I think ENERGY STAR has a role to play in that space.   Dan Seguin  24:25 Okay, time for a little bragging bird. What are some of Energy STARS or the office of Energy's efficiencies greatest accomplishments?   Bert James  24:35 Well, I'll start with ENERGY STAR. Certainly, there are a couple of things that I wanted to point out too. One is that we will be sunsetting the ENERGY STAR requirements for most lighting products. This is to pat ourselves on the back Mission Accomplished story we brought in the ENERGY STAR standard, which was led lights and that standard has what was originally aspirational has now become the industry standard. And we are going to be decommissioning the ENERGY STAR standard because most products are built to it anyways, the overwhelming majority of lighting products that you find meet that standard. And so that's a very good news story for us. Similarly, the EPA has indicated that we will be decommissioning standards related to the performance of fossil fuel devices and burning devices such as furnaces or hot water heaters, because the technology for electric electricity or electric heating and cooling as well as electric water heating have advanced to a point where, you know, our focus is going to become improving that energy performance and, and getting away from consideration around fossil fuels in the world of commercial buildings. Another great story for energy portfolio managers, as I mentioned, is that approximately 45% of commercial buildings by floor space are benchmarked through this through the Portfolio Manager tool, you know, the more that we can get into Portfolio Manager, it's a bit of a game, right? So for building operators, you know, whether you are operating a school or a hospital, you know, a medical clinic, you can compare your facilities, energy performance against other facilities. And the more that we can put into Portfolio Manager, the better we understand the performance of our building stock and look at ways to that we can ultimately improve if I look at the Office of Energy Efficiency, certainly, you know, we've launched a number of very successful programs over the course of the years greener Homes has issued hundreds of millions of dollars worth of grants already, but something that I would like to to advocate for is that, you know, OEE also plays a key role of as regulator, so we have saved a lot of energy, and we've phased out some poor performing products such as light bulbs, but we use our regulatory role to support building operators to support industry to support manufacturers, and we have a couple of very well known products in enter guide, both the inner guide that shows up on your appliances and enter guide for houses. These are very well known and web and highly recognized programs. And nothing beats brand recognition whenever it comes to programs such as this.   Dan Seguin  27:13 Lastly, Burt, we always end our interviews with some rapid fire questions. Are you ready?   Bert James  27:21 Okay, I guess I'm ready as ready as I'll ever be. Yes.   Dan Seguin  27:25 So what are you reading right now?   Bert James  27:28 So I have to confess, Dan, that outside of work, I'm not a big reader. I tend to listen to podcasts. I'm an auditory learner. And so I love the podcast medium, what I'm listening to on podcasts right now, and a couple of things. I love current affairs. And so I listened to Current Affairs podcast quite a bit. Most recently, I, you know, kind of dived into a couple of different topics related to the use of artificial intelligence. And one that is, you know, I would say more of a guilty pleasure than anything else, which is just listening to interminable amounts of sports podcasts. So I, so I read all day, every day for work. And whenever I get to the end of my work day, I tend to turn that skill in my brain off and I tend to listen more than read.   Dan Seguin  28:17 What would you name your boat if you had one? Or maybe you do have one?   Bert James  28:21 I do have a boat. It is a canoe and the canoe's name is Worth My While.   Dan Seguin  28:29 Who is someone that you truly admire, Bert?   Bert James  28:32 Well, the first person that comes to mind is my mother. Of course, I am a mama's boy, if you can't tell from that statement. My mother is 80 years old, and could write a book on how to fit 25 hours into your day. She is quite incredible. You know, Dan, just to just take a step back, I work with the smartest group of people I've ever known right now. And I look around me and, you know, not just within the management community that I'm part of, but people up and down throughout this organization, I really admire their commitment to the organization, their commitment to the work that they do, and the dedication that they show. So I feel very fortunate to be a public servant, and particularly in the role that I'm in right now just to be surrounded by experts in their fields, both technical experts, policy experts and just leaders in the truest sense of the word. And those are the so if I had to say pick anyone to admire would probably be them.   Dan Seguin  29:30 Now, what is the closest thing to real magic that you've witnessed?   Bert James  29:35 Well, I actually had - and you can tell me after the fact that this is something that I am not allowed to talk about on the podcast - but I had something truly amazing happen to me about a week and a half ago. I was in Algonquin Park, and I was fishing and I ended up catching a fish and he decided that we were going to have it for lunch. And so in the process of cleaning a fish, I opened it up and a live baby snapping turtle fell out of its belly. And it was the most amazing circumstance that I think I've ever been part of. And if that's not a podcast, suitable material, I've got lots of other experiences. But I cannot get over how magical it was that I happened to be on that beach at that time and to liberate it. So we named the turtle Lucky. And we put the turtle into a safe space for a little while, then we went back and checked on him for a day or so. And then the turtle had disappeared and had gone off. We assumed greener pastures, but that is the closest thing to magic that I have ever experienced. You know, but if that's not a podcast, suitable material, I've got another example for you.   Dan Seguin  30:49 Okay, now, as a result of the pandemic, many of us are guilty of watching a lot more Netflix and TV. What is your favorite movie or show?   Bert James  31:01 So similar to my answer about what I am reading, I don't tend to watch a lot. I spend my day in front of screens and a good portion of my day on camera leading meetings, et cetera. The most recent Netflix show that I really got into was Ozark which was, which was a pretty, you know, dark and brooding show at times. But I found it quite compelling in terms of television. I tend to stick to sporting events, most of the time. That's where my interest lies. It's not that I don't enjoy television. It's just that for some reason, sitting in front of yet another screen, whenever I've spent a good portion of my day in front of screens, doesn't really resonate with me.   Dan Seguin  31:48 Lastly, what's exciting you about your industry right now, Bert?   Bert James  31:53 Well, I think there is an increasing amount of media attention being paid to energy efficiency, you know, not just from a technological perspective, because there's quite a bit of information in the news right now about heat pumps and the possibilities that heat pumps bring to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What I think is really exciting about it is that it feels somewhat like a coming of age moment in that the world of energy efficiency has been creating jobs for decades. But more and more, I think people are starting to recognize the potential that this sector has from a research and development angle, you know, the potential job opportunities that it creates, and both the public and social benefits that come with energy efficiency as well. And so there does seem to be a recognition of what energy efficiency can bring to the economy. And I love talking about my work, not just with you with anyone who will listen, and I really feel like we are at a turning point, just because of, you know, some of the environmental challenges. I think climate change being the challenge of our generation, and just looking at the enormous potential that exists within this sector to make life better, measurably better for Canadians and for people around the world.   Dan Seguin  33:18 If our listeners want to learn more about you or your organization, how can they connect?   Bert James  33:23 So if you're looking for information about ENERGY STAR, if you go search online for ENERGY STAR Canada will bring you directly to our web presence. If you're looking for more information about the Office of Energy Efficiency, I would counsel people to do the same. I don't often direct people to our website. It's not something that you know, is going to wow you but there is a great amount of information in there really quite relevant information. It can help people find incentive programs within their own jurisdictions. It can help people learn about the products that they want to buy or are considering buying. And it can help greatly from an education standpoint to help people learn about the benefits of energy efficiency in their home and at their office.   Dan Seguin  34:08 Well Burt, this is it, we've reached the end of another episode of the Think Energy podcasts. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you have a lot of fun.   Bert James  34:18 I did. I did. How should I say this? It's nice to be on the other side of the speaker. I listen to a lot of podcasts, yours included, and I love to inform myself in this way and whatever I can do to promote my work, which I am intensely proud of. I am happy to do so.   Dan Seguin  34:34 Cheers. Thanks for tuning in for another episode of the think energy podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review wherever you're listening. And to find out more about today's guests or previous episodes, visit thinkenergypodcast.com I hope you'll join us again next time as we spark even more conversations about the energy of tomorrow  

On this episode you'll hear how Faduno Ali was able to create a sanctuary space for all at DND. Faduno talks to Barbara Abbas and Niha from NRCan about how to start, who to talk to and, how to overcome some of the challenges that might come up. After listening, if you're looking for more information on how to create a Sanctuary Space in your Department, visit: Searching for tranquility? Visit the redesigned Sanctuary at NDHQ (Carling) - Canada.ca

It's safe to say Kelly Doran is one of the people driving Canada's approach to limiting the carbon dioxide emissions in our built environment. He's an architect by training who has counseled Toronto on embodied carbon standards for its Green Building Standard, worked with NRCan on its plans for meeting Canada's Paris Agreement commitments, attended UN climate conferences and is speaking to architecture and construction groups across the country. So who better to give us the heads up on what the new focus on embodied carbon may mean for those of us who build with two of the highest embodied carbon materials in the industry: glass and aluminum? Doran's perspectives give us a great insight into what the architecture and environmental community are thinking about how building design will evolve…critical information as you position your business for the changing world ahead.

The electrification of vehicles has been top of mind for not only personal use, but also commercial. What does transitioning traditionally fossil fuel-powered engines—like delivery trucks, buses, and taxis—over to electric power look like, and why are cities pushing for this change? In today's episode, we speak with Jim Pegg, Director of Infrastructure Products and Services at Envari Energy Solutions to discuss the environmental and economic benefits of fleet electrification.   Related links:  Jim Pegg, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-pegg-4b588b17/ Envari, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/envari/ Envari website: https://envari.com/   To subscribe using Apple Podcasts To subscribe using Spotify To subscribe on Libsyn --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video on YouTube Check out our cool pics on Instagram More to Learn on Facebook Keep up with the Tweets    Transcript: Dan Seguin  00:06 This is thinkenergy, the podcast that helps you better understand the fast changing world of energy through conversations with game changers, industry leaders, and influencers. So join me, Dan Seguin, as I explore both traditional and unconventional facets of the energy industry. Hey, everyone, welcome back. Today we're moving into the fast lane and talking about converting vehicles that are used for commercial purposes, such as delivery trucks, buses, and taxis away from traditional fossil fuel powered engines to electric power. That's right. We're learning about fleet electrification. So start your electric engines, they're so quiet, and fasten your seat belt because we have a great guest to explore more about this topic. So why are cities greening their fleet. Not only does this shift help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it also packs a punch in the fight against climate change. The transportation sector is one of the largest contributors of GHG emissions accounting for more than 20% of global emissions. The shift towards EVs, electric vehicles in commercial fleets can significantly reduce these emissions. In fact, the City of Ottawa finds to have an entirely zero emission bus fleet by 2036. While fleet electrification is still in its early stages, it has the potential to play a crucial role in helping Canada reach its 2050 netzero targets, especially as demand speeds up. So here's today's big question: In addition to producing fewer life cycle emissions than traditional vehicles, what are the economic benefits of fleet owners and operators? So buckle up friends today, we have Jim Pegg, Director of Infrastructure Product and Services at Envari Energy Solutions, here to talk to us about the new Star Fleet. Jim, it's a pleasure to have you on our show again. Now, we've been hearing a lot about electrification of vehicles. It's no secret that the government has set some ambitious goals, like the mandate for all new passenger vehicles and light duty trucks to be zero emissions by 2035. But here's what I'm curious about. Jim, what's the scoop when it comes to fleet? I'm talking about city buses, school buses, delivery vehicles and the likes are organizations who manage fleets making that transition as well. And most importantly, why is this shift in the fleet industry so crucial?   Jim Pegg  03:08 Well, it's a great question. So let's say more and more municipalities and large fleet operators are making the transition to electric vehicles, or at least starting to seriously plan out the change. Municipalities are definitely early adopters transitioning to electric vehicles, starting with their late duty fleets. And of course, the big buses. Buses are a big contributor to GHG emissions. So it has a big impact on their pathway. And that zero plans, converting them to zero emission vehicles. You know, it's just a big part of that whole journey. School buses are an important fleet to talk about as well, we can all agree less diesel fumes for our kids, less fumes they breathe in each day that better. There's actually a few studies out there that talk about health benefits for kids switching to electric buses. So you know, light duty fleets, such as delivery fleets are also starting to make the switch. There's definitely more vehicle options available for light duty fleets right now, making it a great place to start and get comfortable with electric vehicles. And importantly, the charging infrastructure that goes with them. And see, you know, the big driver there right now is GHG reduction. So as a result, you know, government grants are out there to accelerate the transition. So it's a good time for any fleet operator to start looking at the change and planning out when it will make the most sense for them. Not only from an environmental point of view, but also from a cost perspective. The grants aren't going to be around forever. And I think that's a big part of the business cases. Right now. There are their savings as well going to electric vehicles. We all see the price of the pumps going up. And there's also operational savings that can be seen with electric vehicles. Bottom line, I'd say fleets produce a huge amount of GHG emissions, converting them to zero emission vehicles will have a tremendously positive impact with lower total cost of ownership. So it's a win-win at the end of the day, the trick is making sure that EVs will meet your fleet's needs. And that's, that's a big part of the questions out there right now.   Dan Seguin  05:07 Now, with all of the benefits described, it sounds like a no brainer to make the transition to an electric fleet. So what's the catch? What are some of the actual challenges that municipalities and businesses are grappling with when it comes to electrifying their fleet vehicles?   Jim Pegg  05:27 Well, with any big change, there's always challenges. In this case, there are a few but with good planning, they are manageable. I'd say, you know, basic conversations we have typically there's seven or so key things that you need to consider. If I were to go through those, I'll try to be brief. But you know, let's start with cost. So electric vehicles, in most cases, do cost more initially. That is why understanding the total cost of ownership is important. Comparing things like maintenance costs over the life of the vehicle, energy cost, gas or diesel versus electricity. Understanding your current costs, versus what they will look like, is important to help justify that increased initial investment. Next up, I'd say vehicle availability. Is there an EV that is comparable to the vehicles that the fleets are using now that will provide the same or better operational functionality? At the end of the day, fleet operators need a solution that allows them to continue successful operation of their fleet, which takes us to the next point, EV charging with EVs. You need to think about how your charging infrastructures are going to work, work physically, do you have the capacity? What charging strategy will you use understanding when you can charge disrupting your operational needs, the cost of EV infrastructure is an important consideration. You know, many fleet operators will need to increase their electricity capacity from their utility. But this needs to be carefully planned, capacity upgrades evolve assets that last 40, 50 and sometimes 60 years. The last thing you want to do is make an investment only to find out you didn't install enough capacity for future projects like building GHG reduction projects, or that you oversize your new service and wasted money at the start. The good news is there are, you know, well thought out ways to approach these problems, proven steps to take you know, those were things to consider and strategies to allow for a phased approach to converting movies. The truth is I could go on for a while on this specific topic. But let's just say, you know, I'd highly recommend any fleet operator out there to talk to someone that does this every day that has an eye for the full picture, not just the EV power needs. But experience will be helpful on this topic. You will learn about things like preconditioning or vehicles in winter and to increase your range and winter for example. So from there, I'd say let's talk about range anxiety. It's another other piece that people think about, and this is a big one. The last thing fleet operators want us to have is vehicles stranded with no power. This is another good reason that the planning stage is so important. Looking at your fleets usage, dwell times, best case and worst case scenarios like winter operation when range is reduced. Modeling your fleet's usage is an important part of the planning process. Bus fleets are a great example of routes, or overall distance traveled in a day that can be somewhat managed and evaluated at the same time. Working to consider changes in fleet needs also important fleets and their usage patterns change every year. And they will, you know for many years to come. Some very good news is there are more and more chargers being installed around the country. This won't replace the need for fleets to have their own chargers, but it will help with some of the fleets that have more unpredictable usage patterns. You know, at the end of the day, let's face it, you have to get to where the work is. So there's lots of things to think about there. Next up, I'd say there's energy cost and reliability, you know, so switching from gas or diesel to electricity means you'll become dependent on your local utility providing electricity in a reliable way. That's why it's so important to connect with your local utility or have a partner that can do that on your behalf. Other strategies such as, you know, on site battery storage, which is great to support cost management, but it may not be the solution for you know, critical fleet reliability, because you know, batteries have very short duration output to them. So onsite power generation may come into play. Again, many things to consider that all work together and understanding your new electricity bill is what's going to look like and ways to reduce those costs will become an ongoing operational need. Having a good energy advisor will support this need and could save fleet operators a significant amount of money. And let's not forget the various grants and funding streams available. Two more that I'd want to touch on would be - maintenance and tooling. EVs require less overall maintenance. But some different expertise might be required. So training staff in a timely manner on how to maintain your fleet, if you do the maintenance in house is an important transition piece, right. Most importantly, how maintenance can be done safely. Electricity can be seen, but proper steps need to be taken to ensure safety. With any new technology or anything related to electricity, safety has always got to be top of mind. And that's a big piece of operators need to make sure they're thinking about depending on the size of their fleet and, and what's going to have to go in the planning around safety to make sure people go home safely at the end of the day. The last thing I think I've talked about I'd say is driver training. Driving an EV, and knowing how to manage your power usage can have a big impact on the success of your fleet. So knowing how to take advantage of regenerative braking, understanding the impacts, they have features such as heating, cooling of your battery, your battery life itself, hard accelerations versus smooth accelerations, I say simply put some of the simple lessons and training can have a really big impact on your fleet success. There's a lot of thought that goes into planning of fleet conversion to electric. But I say that is why experts you know, and maybe a little self plug here - such as Envari, can be relied upon to take on that transition and make that transition as smooth as possible. No two fleets are the same, but combining a fleet operator's knowledge of what they do with an organization that knows and understands electricity is a great way to start to change.   Dan Seguin  11:39 Jim, given these considerations, are there certain types of vehicles that are more suitable for electrification than others? And if so, why?   Jim Pegg  11:50 Well, I would say they're fleets that have vehicles ready now, for electrification. And I'd say there, there are fleets that are still a bit off in the future. You know, at the same time, converting a full fleet day one isn't always a great idea. Dipping a toe in the water sometimes works best. And parallel to that planning and working with a partner who understands the options out there listens to the fleet operators needs. And I can't stress that enough, you have to really take the time to understand the needs of the fleet and all their unique characteristics and understand how they use their fleets. That's a very important piece that needs to be a very collaborative approach. But you know, fleet operators are experts in how they run their fleet. And having someone that knows the electrical side of things is going to help them through those planning studies and implementations can make a really great recipe. Apart from that battery improvements are being developed, new Evie vehicles are on the way. And it won't be long before there are options out there for every fleet - big and small. But I'd say I'd say the vehicle selection, and that analysis is certainly a step that needs to be taken.   Dan Seguin  12:57 What is the current state of charging infrastructure for fleet vehicles? Is the technology there?   Jim Pegg  13:04 So yeah, so it's a charging technology has come a long way. You know, I can remember as far back as maybe 12 years ago installing so many chargers and and they've certainly come a long way since then. You know, the good news, too, is that they're constantly improving. I would say that the charging technology available today is in a good place to support fleet electrification. Options like parallel charging, AC charging DC charging, sequential charging, actually, for large overhead pantograph charging, which is often used on on bus fleets, there's a new standard that was just released that includes sequential charging for pantograph style chargers. And that's that's a big step in the right direction. And even talking about RFID tags, so I mean, the standards and so on are constantly evolving. And there are lots of different industry partners in that ecosystem, trying to make sure things get standardized because that benefits everyone at the end of the day. Bottom line, there are lots of charging options out there. The trick really is understanding which one will work best for your needs, and how to ensure it's flexible so that you can incorporate different chargers down the road. Being a technology agnostic organization, such as ourself [Envari] has really helped us find the best solution for specific applications. And to be clear, often there's a need for a mix of charger sizes and in a strategy behind you know, DC versus AC charging. Often with fleets, you want to rely a lot more on DC charging rather than relying on the rectification on the vehicle. DC does not have to mean big fast chargers people often think of level three, you know 100 kilowatt, 50 kilowatt chargers with DC chargers, you can get you know 24 kilowatt DC chargers there that are reliable and made by very reputable OEMs, so...   Dan Seguin  14:55 Being an EV owner myself, I can confirm that our cold Canadian winters pose certain challenges when it comes to battery life. Is this something to be aware of? And how can organizations mitigate any issues?   Jim Pegg  15:11 So I would say yes, it is true that the cold weather has an impact on batteries, you know, depending on where you are on the globe, there are different weather patterns and so on. But cold weather certainly has an impact on batteries, and the range needed of those batteries. Currently, there are a few ways to tackle this. One is something called preconditioning, meaning having your vehicle plugged in while it's warming up in the morning, and you can actually automate that to take place at a certain time. And it can help maintain the battery's range for that day. So that that can have a really big impact. The other factor, you know, is what we talked about a little bit earlier was a driver training. Simple things like understanding the impact of few degrees of heat can have or how people actually drive smooth versus hard accelerations.All those things have an impact on the range you get out of your battery. The good news is with upfront planning, these issues can be managed to a point where they're not issues at all, and if if more public chargers come along each year, the certainty around getting from point A to B, to C to D to E to F, and G o get stronger and stronger. There's also a lot of work going into battery technology itself that will help with cold climates as well as the speed at which batteries can be recharged without causing increased battery degradation. The risk right now is if you know fleets of vehicles are out there and they're constantly having to use fast chargers and higher power chargers on their vehicles on the smaller size fleets that can have a damaging impact on your battery life. But there's a lot of technology going into working on that. But again, with good planning and understanding of a fleets needs, there are certainly ways to plan around those issues.   Dan Seguin  16:56 We're all aware that electricity rates can vary based on the number of different factors such as time of day, the season, the customer class, etc. How can fleet operators effectively manage these fluctuations to optimize charging and minimize costs?   Jim Pegg  17:15 So you know, electricity rates are going to be a changing landscape over the coming years as, as I'd say, governments and regulators look for ways to encourage electrification, while at the same time managing infrastructure costs related to distributing power. So, you know, that said, we're also in a time of machine learning and in AI, meaning software is going to play a big part in optimizing charging schedules. There are some great organizations out there that specialize in this exact type of software, you know, pair that with the knowledge of the electricity rate structure in your area, and you can find some very effective ways to manage your electricity costs. The risk is also there, you know, if you do not plan for electricity costs and manage them on an ongoing basis, your cost could quickly increase versus an optimized scenario. You know, for example, in Ontario, there's something called global adjustment. And knowing how to manage your global adjustment costs will have a big impact on your electricity bill. Now, there's a balance. First, and most importantly, a fleet needs to operate as a fleet. So you know, a good partner will work with you to optimize your costs based on your fleet needs, and then work to educate and support fleet operators on what changes they could make to their fleet operations. That would result in some cost savings or significant cost savings. But with the changing landscape, it's something that has to be an ongoing effort for sure.   Dan Seguin  18:45 Okay, Jim, how do government policies and regulations impact the electrification of fleets?   Jim Pegg  18:53 Yeah, well, I guess I'd say there's a few ways one of the big ones is government noting that all vehicles sold as of a certain date and time will need to be zero emission vehicles, which means fleets will have to look at vehicles other than the gas and diesel options that they use now when as their fleets come to end of life. So as they're looking to replace their fleets, they're gonna have to think about what vehicles are actually going to be sold and available as they get to those different points in time. You know, the cost of electricity and distribution rates and rate design will have an impact on the total cost of ownership as we just talked about for EV fleets. You know, in other areas such as manufacturing, you know, different Import/Export policies, trade agreements with other countries, mining policies, all those different things can impact the production of EV vehicles. And, you know, right to its core, the availability of vehicles, which is obviously a big need.   Dan Seguin  19:50 Okay, sir, how about funding? Are there any incentive programs out there and how can they help those who might be considering like implication   Jim Pegg  20:01 There is funding out there right now for things such as charging infrastructure, and in some cases to support the cost delta between traditional vehicles and EVs. A couple of examples, I'd say we have the Zero Emission Transit Fund, which supports municipal bus fleet electrification, as well as school bus electrification. There's actually two parts to that one in particular, I believe it's up to 80% of the planning costs covered. And for your actual capital investments, I believe it's up to 50%, with some fairly high caps there. So there's quite a bit of funding available there. Another example would be the Canadian Infrastructure Bank is offering low interest loans to help with that initial upfront investment that's required. And we're seeing other various grant programs. There is NRCan, there's ZEVIP program which has had various phases to it as well to help support electric charging. So I mean, there's different programs coming out. And that is also a bit of an ongoing thing that we have to watch constantly and, and be ready for. And it can be a bit of a process to go through some of the applications. But once you understand the process, it becomes much simpler. And I mean, having someone to work with to do that with you, you can have a lot of success there. Each program has its own rules and requirements to apply. But I can say from firsthand experience, the funding is there. It is accessible, we've had great success, getting many of our customers some, some really great funding.   Dan Seguin  21:36 Okay, now, time to take out your crystal ball, Jim. What's the future of fleet electrification, and how do you see it evolving in the coming years?   Jim Pegg  21:49 Yeah, I mean, this is one that the engineering team and everyone loves to chat about while having the morning coffee. I think we'll see more and more advancement in battery technology. And I touched on that a bit earlier,  and the charging technology along with that, and more creative ways to leverage the stored energy of multiple vehicles connected at multiple locations. I really think there's going to be some sort of an overlay where we're really able to leverage all of these different, essentially battery packs, all over the place. And then on top of that, I think as we touched on earlier, more and more vehicle options and innovation and vehicles. And in some cases, people may have to think about reframing how they use their vehicles. And hopefully, it's always for the positive, right? At the end of the day, fleet operators need to be able to run their businesses, and then continue moving forward in a profitable way. So the technology needs to be there to support that, ultimately, to help with that transition.   Dan Seguin  22:51 Lastly, we always end our interviews with some rapid fire questions. Jim, are you ready?   Jim Pegg  23:00 Let's go for it.   Dan Seguin  23:01 Okay. What are you reading right now?   Jim Pegg  23:04 Spare by Prince Harry.   Dan Seguin  23:06 Jim, what would you name your boat? If you had one?   Jim Pegg  23:11 The Tin Can.   Dan Seguin  23:13 Now, who is someone that you admire?   Jim Pegg  23:17 To give a shout out here to my wife. She's an incredible spouse. She's a mother. She's a business owner, and she does it all! She does it very well.   Dan Seguin  23:26 That's cool. What is the closest thing to real magic that you've witnessed?   Jim Pegg  23:34 Oh, I think there's real magic that happens out there every day. But I'm going to fall right into the birth of my son, I think will always be at the top of my list. Seeing that happen. That's magic.   Dan Seguin  23:48 What has been the biggest challenge to you personally, since the pandemic began?   Jim Pegg  23:54 So on a personal level, I think it's probably something a lot of people can relate to that have young kids, I think it was a tough couple of years and keeping my son on track with, you know, sort of the progression of education, missing a couple of really crucial years in there was it was difficult, but happy to say we've got some awesome teachers in the school system here and he's just getting back on track. And I think that though it was a big challenge.   Dan Seguin  24:26 Okay, now, we've all been watching a lot of Netflix and TV lately. What's your favorite movie or show?   Jim Pegg  24:35 Oh, anything Star Wars, anything Star Wars at all! I watch the whole series, you know, the Mandalorian? All of it. I love it all!   Dan Seguin  24:45 Lastly, Jim, what's exciting you about your industry right now?   Jim Pegg  24:50 Yeah, this is where I would geek out a little bit and say "what's not exciting?" Right now, you know, we're going through some major transitions. I'd say with the technology that we have, and on all the changes happening, there's collaboration like never before, really. Seeing new technology coming out constantly. It's an exciting time, I'd say to be an engineer, and to work with a team of engineers. And I have to say, I have the pleasure of working with the greatest group of engineers there is. Everyone from building mechanical lighting, electrical engineers, all the drive and passion for their work like no other group I've seen. I think it's just an exciting time.   Dan Seguin  25:28 Jim, this is it. We've reached the end of another episode of the thinkenergy podcast. Thank you for joining me today. If our listeners want to learn more about you, or the organization, how can they connect?   Jim Pegg  25:42 Yeah, well, thank you for having me, I'd say check out our website: envari.com. And just reach out through there and we're happy to reach out and have conversations. Always happy to discuss this topic and many more.   Dan Seguin  25:57 Again, thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you had a lot of fun. Cheers.   Jim Pegg  26:03 Absolutely. Always a pleasure.   Dan Seguin  26:05 Thanks for tuning in for another episode of the thinkingenergy podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review wherever you're listening. And to find out more about today's guests or previous episodes, visit thinkenergypodcast.com I hope you will join us again next time as we spark even more conversations about the energy of tomorrow.

We're on the road to net zero by 2050, driven by multiple levels of government. But what about sustainable development of our natural resources, including clean energy? Is it possible to meet net-zero goals and secure a prosperous future? Natural Resources Canada thinks so, with initiatives to help provinces and territories reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support their economic priorities. Debbie Scharf, Assistant Deputy Minister at Natural Resources Canada, joins thinkenergy episode 111 to share how.   Related links   Debbie Scharf, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiescharf/  Natural Resources Canada: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/  Regional Energy and Resource Tables: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/climate-change/regional-energy-and-resource-tables/24356  Sustainable Jobs Plan: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs/training/initiatives/sustainable-jobs/plan.html  2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview/emissions-reduction-2030.html To subscribe using Apple Podcasts   To subscribe using Spotify   To subscribe on Libsyn --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video on YouTube   Check out our cool pics on Instagram   More to Learn on Facebook   Keep up with the Tweets on Twitter ------------- Transcipt: Dan Seguin  00:06 This is the think energy, the podcast that helps you better understand the fast changing world of energy through conversations with game changers, industry leaders, and influencers. So join me, Dan Seguin, as I explore both traditional and unconventional facets of the energy industry. Hey everyone, welcome back. In Canada, the energy sector is going through a major transition. As a nation, Canada has set ambitious targets to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and has made a commitment to prioritize the environment and climate action. Multiple levels of government and government agencies play an integral role in Canada's Net Zero initiative. So who is developing policies and programs to promote the sustainable development of Canada's natural resources, including clean energy? Natural Resources Canada is at the forefront of Canada's movement, working on initiatives that empower provinces and territories to decide their economic priorities while reducing greenhouse gas emissions through regional priorities and projects that align with Canada's netzero goals. Recently, the Royal Bank of Canada stated that the electricity sector is netzero already, but notes that it will require doubling, maybe even tripling the electricity output that currently exists today. This requires not only addressing the technical and economic challenges of transitioning to clean energy, but also creating social and cultural change. So here is today's big question. Can Canada successfully achieve its netzero goals, while creating a sustainable and prosperous future for all Canadians? Joining me today is Debbie Scharf, Assistant Deputy Minister at Natural Resources Canada. In her role, Debbie is responsible for spearheading one of the Government of Canada's signature Energy Initiative, the transformation of regional energy systems through the regional energy and resources tables. She also oversees the sector's electricity resources branch, and the Energy Policy and International branch, both of which are integral to the Government of Canada central energy initiatives to realize a netzero future. Debbie, so great to have you join us today. Perhaps you can start by telling our listeners about Natural Resources Canada, better known as NRCan, and its objectives.   Debbie Scharf  02:54 Yeah. So Dan, thanks so much for inviting me here today, it's really great to talk a little bit about some of these issues with yourself and for your listeners. So NRCan is one of many federal departments. But our role specifically, is to work to improve the life of Canadians by ensuring our natural resources are developed sustainably, hence the name of our department. And we do this in ways for example, supporting climate change mitigation and advancing the net to zero transition using our natural resources to provide a source of jobs prosperity and opportunity for Canadians, of course, preserving our environment and those natural resources and respecting and engaging with indigenous peoples towards economic reconciliation. And so that really sums up very much the heart of what NRCan is about.   Dan Seguin  03:38 How is Natural Resources Canada integral to Canada's initiative to achieve a netzero future?   Debbie Scharf  03:46 Yeah, well, I'd say NRCan is pretty integral because 80% plus of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions comes from producing and using energy, and NRCan Canada's the department responsible for energy, at least federally. And so we play a very, very important role in the journey to get to net zero. And we try to use all of the tools that we have available as a department, which includes things like policies and regulations, funding programs, science partnerships, to help shape and accelerate that transition. And you know what, we're not just focused on emissions, we often talk about emissions when we talk about the net zero transition. But we also think a lot at NRCan, about how to create new economic opportunities that will create jobs for Canadians, good paying sustainable jobs, and to position Canadian businesses to be the supplier of choice for energy globally, and provide those energy services and security to the rest of the world. I just will say one thing and I said the point federally is because energy is a shared jurisdiction in this country, and that is pretty important. So as a department, part of an integral role of what we do is working collaboratively with our provincial and territorial counterparts and indigenous partners to do the work that we do and of course with a variety of stakeholders across the country.   Dan Seguin  04:58 Debbie now With respect to the environment and climate action, what is Canada already doing right?   Debbie Scharf  05:07 Well, I would say the one thing that is worth noting as a starting point is that over the past few decades, we've seen a decoupling of economic growth and GHG emissions. And I think that really speaks to the fact that there are things that are going right when it comes to energy and climate. There have been a number of technology improvements that we've seen regulations that have been implemented. And of course, although not under the purview of NRCan, a pollution carbon charge or tax that has been applied across the country, all of which have helped to tackle emissions and to help get them on a different trajectory. And so I do think that we're on the right track, I do, if you don't mind, highlight three kinds of sets of things that we're doing when we talk about, are we doing things right, and the first one is putting in place a plan. Now, the Government of Canada put in place a series of climate plans, but most recently, the emissions reductions plan in 2022. Because if you don't have a roadmap, to know where you want to go, and how you're going to get there, how are you going to know if you're achieving success, and you're doing the right things? So I think putting in place a really solid plan that gives us that roadmap has been something we're doing right. The other important thing is getting the right investment? How do you attract investment into the sorts of industries and technologies that we need to see Canada prosper as we move to net zero. And the most recent federal budget with a number of tax credits, which I'm sure we'll get into over the course of our chat, is an area where we're sort of moving the bar around Investment Attraction and collaboration. As I said, before shared jurisdiction, we are not doing anything in this country, when it comes to climate and energy and less we are working in partnership with other jurisdictions and with a broad range of stakeholders, and of course, our indigenous partners.   Dan Seguin  06:41 Okay, now, you've taken a new and prominent role as the Assistant Deputy Minister for NRCan, can you tell us a bit more about your role?   Debbie Scharf  06:52 Yeah. And I feel very privileged to be in this role at NRCan and enjoying it very much. So in my particular role, I'm focused on transforming Canada's energy system, through policies, programs and regulatory solutions to try and get to that net zero economy, but very critically, while ensuring affordability, reliability, and security of energy. So it's a bit of a trifecta set of outcomes that we're driving towards, and how you bring all of that together is really at the heart of what my role is, and NRCan and I oversee a large variety of files. But just to highlight a few that may be interesting. First, I'm responsible for the electricity sector and nuclear fuel cycle issues. Within the federal family, we have our resource, regional energy and resource tables, which are new collaborative partnerships with provinces and territories. And I'm happy to talk a bit about that to advance economic opportunities. Of course, the recently launched sustainable jobs plan, very connected to how we transform our industries and create those jobs. And so we provide leadership around that we do some international work on equity, diversity and inclusion, because we want to build the right energy sector of the future. And we do things like just providing that core energy data to Canadians, like our energy Factbooks. So people can understand the energy sector in Canada. So those are all things that I do in my sector, amongst other things.   Dan Seguin  08:09 Great segue here. Okay. So you're spearheading the regional energy and resources table? What is their purpose specifically?   Debbie Scharf  08:18 So that's a great question. So the regional tables are a really different approach that the federal government is taking, and they're very focused on how do you drive economic benefit and economic prosperity in the context of transitioning to net zero? And when it comes to a country like Canada? And when it comes to energy? Where you live matters. A Quebecer is not facing the same type of issues as someone in Alberta, or British Columbia, or Prince Edward Island. And so energy is a very regional issue, the challenges that each region of the country will face in the transition is different. And frankly, the economic opportunities in each region of the country are also going to look a little bit different. And so the regional tables are really about how do we accelerate those economic opportunities on a jurisdiction or regional basis, understanding that these issues are going to be felt differently depending on where you live. And if I can quote Minister Wilkinson, just for one moment, although he's not subject to this podcast, it is, it is a very key comment. He talks about the need to be strategic, ambitious, and collaborative. And those are really the words that I would use to describe what underpins what we're trying to achieve with regional tables.   Dan Seguin  09:26 Can you help me better understand how the regional tables will empower provinces and territories to decide their economic priorities?   Debbie Scharf  09:36 Yeah, that's a great question. So the starting point for the regional tables, regardless of what jurisdiction we're talking to you, is to decide on a small number of priority areas where we think that as government's working with indigenous partners and stakeholders, we can accelerate and make demonstrable progress in the near term and into the future. So we can't do everything under the sun, but we find three or four priority sectors are priority areas where the province or the territory would like to partner with the federal government to accelerate progress. So that is really the starting point. And then the goal is as governments, how can we align our resources, our timelines, or decision making our regulatory processes to accelerate the development of those priority areas, i.e. those industries. And as governments, we have a tremendous ability to do that better, to be able to make that kind of progress. And so very tangibly, it's really about coming together and having discussions around, okay, if I'm British Columbia, and I want to build a hydrogen economy, what stands in the way of doing that? What would be our objectives around what we'd like to see happen in British Columbia? And what are the sorts of tangible actions we can take together to be able to accelerate that progress. And that is really step one, there's, there's more steps to the regional table, that there's very, that is very much step one, to be able to move these forward. And that's very much where we're focusing our efforts right now.   Dan Seguin  10:54 Okay, let's get just a bit in the weeds here. Debbie, can you tell our listeners more about who the participants are at the regional tables, besides the federal, provincial and territorial governments?   Debbie Scharf  11:06 Yeah. And so, you know, the theme of collaboration, I think, will be a thread throughout many of my answers, but collaboration isn't very there. And partnership, frankly, is a very important part of the regional tables. So, you know, you've heard me express that the starting point is this relationship between governments. The other incredibly important feature to the regional tables is a partnership with indigenous communities and partners in the jurisdiction. And you know, just like energy has a very different landscape across the country, the indigenous landscape is also very different depending on what part of the country you live in. And so we're designing very specific ways of partnering with indigenous organizations and communities in each province. So that, ultimately, we hope that we can have more of a trilateral type of discussion around how to accelerate these priorities. So that's another important feature of Who are these partners at the table. The other piece is, there's a number of stakeholder groups out there that have expertise, whether it be industry partnerships with Union and labor groups who are interested in understanding how we're going to build the jobs of the future, think tanks that are really considering so many long term challenges in this space. So universities, there's a large range of stakeholders that want to be able to participate in this process. And we're finding ways to do that as well. Because at the end of the day, we want to understand how to accelerate change. And we need to have all those perspectives brought to bear. And so we're designing that type of input and partnership into the process as well.   Dan Seguin  12:27 Okay, moving on here. Maybe you can tell us how federal funding from existing sources can be directed towards top regional priorities and projects?   Debbie Scharf  12:38 Yeah, so this is a really important piece. Because if the idea is that through these discussions you've identified, what are your priorities, what are your objectives? And therefore, what are the types of projects that we need to advance in those jurisdictions, you could start to develop a pretty clear priority list around where you want to catalyze investment, and how public and private sector dollars can be brought to bear. And that is exactly sort of when we talk about how do we align our programming, it's really about these tables, being able to provide a sense of what are those priorities that we need to invest in? And then how can we bring the programs and the federal family to bear to help facilitate those program investments. And there are a number of programs that we have that exists within the federal government, whether it be the Strategic Innovation Fund Netzero Accelerator, the soon to be brought to fruition Canada Growth Fund, the infrastructure Bank, the Critical Mineral Strategy that had quite a bit of funding attached to it. So these are all areas that we're looking at to say, how do we match, you know, where public funding can support priority investments and the tables are servicing where those priorities are?   Dan Seguin  13:41 Debbie, can you expand on how the approach to net zero emissions and in nature, a positive future will be different across the country?   Debbie Scharf  13:51 So it's really interesting, I have another thread that you'll hear throughout the discussion around regional tables as the no one size fits all approach, or where you live matters type of idea. And so what we're finding is that there's a lot of consistency in the priorities that different jurisdictions across the country are interested in, in pursuing, but they look very different depending on where you live, I'll give you a very obvious example, if you want to talk about carbon capture and storage and you live in Alberta. That's a very different conversation than if you're in Newfoundland, and you have an industry, like an oil and gas industry that exists offshore, the type of conversation you're going to have will be very different in terms of what types of actions you have to take to move that type of technology solution forward. And the same thing could be said around, you know, fuel sources like hydrogen, if you live in Alberta, or Saskatchewan, you may produce hydrogen a bit differently than if you were in Quebec, or in Manitoba. And so it's very interesting to see how common priorities can find their expression very different depending on where you live.   Dan Seguin  14:54 In Canada, where do you see the biggest opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Since in nature, and where do you see the biggest opportunities in technology?   Debbie Scharf  15:05 Yeah. Um, so I would be remiss if I didn't talk about carbon capture, and storage or carbon capture utilization and storage, CCS or CCUS. As a great example, for Canada, we have an enormous amount of natural advantages in space. And it is going to be a very important technology for Canada to be able to reduce emissions and think about those hard to abate sectors not only oil and gas, but concrete, steel, other types of industrial activities that need to capture emissions. And in Canada, we have wonderful geology, and we wonder about sort of natural strengths. And we have an amazing industry and investments have been made in this technology in years past, that really put us in an excellent position to take advantage of a technology like that. And in the vein of CCUS carbon capture as a concept is a very important opportunity area. And another example where you can capture carbon, but not necessarily through a technology is, for example, through our 2 billion trees program, where using nature to capture carbon is another very interesting way to be able to tackle this wall restoring nature and biodiversity and having a number of other positive impacts. So I'd say there's a lot to say for carbon capture technologies and a lot of reasons why it's a unique opportunity area for Canada.   Dan Seguin  16:21 Now, staying on this topic of net zero, which sectors are most likely to achieve Net Zero first?   Debbie Scharf  16:30 That's a very hard question, because it's going to be a tricky path, I think, for all sectors, because each one is going to have its own unique challenges to get to net zero. Typically, when I think about it, we talk a lot about reducing emissions in different sectors. I like to start by talking about the energy mix that actually underpins all sectors, and how do you get that energy next to be clean, reliable and affordable, because without that, you're not going to get any sector to actually adopt those clean energy sources. So it is we're starting with electricity where we've made significant headway and is probably the front runner in Canada as a sector in terms of reducing emissions with the phase out of unabated coal fired electricity generation happening in 2030. We're Canada's international leader, that sectors 83% clean and growing. And we have a commitment to get to net zero emissions in that sector by 2035. But what I will say is that's enormous progress and enormous progress that will be made going forward. And now we have to look at getting clean electricity to more people and more industries. And that will be a challenge in and of itself. And the other part of the energy system that's definitely worth attention and will be so important, are clean fuels like hydrogen, because we know that some industries and applications will not be able to use electricity or are going to need to use clean fuels. So I like to think about how do we get the energy system in the right place, have it reliable, affordable and clean, and then you have to get to adoption, and get each of the sectors to be able to adopt that. And you know, then you get into another set of challenges around technology and industrial processes, which will be a challenge. But you know, I would say electricity probably is coming up at the top.   Dan Seguin  18:06 How is NRCan enabling a clean energy future through electrification?   Debbie Scharf  18:13 Yeah, and I think electricity has made its way into your podcasts in the past. It's a very, very important topic. And that's because there are experts that have estimated that the electricity system may need to double, maybe even triple by the time 2050 comes around. And that is going to be an enormous challenge for Canada and nation building, frankly, a challenge for Canada. Think about railroads, the transmission lines of today are the railroads of the past to be able to get electricity to where it needs to get to. And that's one of the reasons why we have the regional tables where we're talking about electricity, infrastructure and investments there. And we're soon to launch the Canadian electricity Advisory Council, which was previously called the pan Canadian grid council to help help us through some of these challenges are that maybe what I will say is perhaps not NRCan, but the Government of Canada in terms of advancing electrification, I think it is worth just reiterating what was in our federal budget that was just announced a number of weeks ago, because there's some real game changers in there. For example, the introduction of a clean electricity tax credit, which is applicable to tax and non tax entities. And to not use jargon, that means you're not a private sector company, it's still okay, which means utilities can actually get access to these tax credits, which is an enormous leap forward for the application of these tax credits, which will help with the investments required in the electricity sector. There's also new and enhanced low cost financing that's being brought to bear with commitments around how the Canada Infrastructure Bank will be spending its money and the Canada Growth Fund. And then of course, the top up to NRCan programming to the tune of about $3 billion to help ensure critical projects get built. And even more important than having tax credits and strategic financing and targeted programs is that they're all going to work together and really come together in an integrated way to support investment. And I think that is a major leap forward in terms of thinking about how to catalyze investment in this sector.   Dan Seguin  20:04 Now, in your opinion, what are the biggest challenges and opportunities that you see?   Debbie Scharf  20:10 I almost feel like the challenge and the opportunity is the flip side of one another. Because huge challenge, we got to build out the system - a huge opportunity, we can build it out more flexibly, more reliably, we could bring more energy efficiency to bear which by the way, will be critical to not overbuilt the system, bring new technologies to bear - like smart grid technologies, and leverage new possibilities like vehicle to grid storage for electric vehicles. Talk about all those batteries that are going to be out there! All of those technologies are enormous opportunities. But the flip side is we need a lot of electricity. And we got to build that out. And what I would say is at the heart of the challenge, is how do you find the balance between having a clean system, an affordable system and a reliable system? And making decisions to build things out in a way that balances those three things, I think is the challenge on the opportunity   Dan Seguin  20:59 To accelerate success, what are the countries should Canada be looking to emulate or learn from?   Debbie Scharf  21:07 Yeah, that is a great point. Because we are not going to get to net zero without learning from partners and others around the world. And there are a few, I think, sort of really good models out there of other countries. And you really need to look to the ones that are tackling similar challenges that we have here in Canada to see what we can learn from them. For example, you know, there's an EU model around integrating regional electricity trade that can be really fascinating for Canada to learn from given that we have fragmented provincial jurisdictions with different market and regulatory structures. And we got to find a way to connect the system together for the collective good. And there are countries like Australia that have quite a similar type of structure to their economy, being the large energy producer, but also wanting to tackle climate and having sort of similar constitutional divisions of labour with their states. And in fact, believe it or not, Australia did something very similar to the regional energy and resource tables. It wasn't called that, but they were a model that we looked at before, before we landed the final design for that particular piece. So we do a lot of international engagement, bilaterally or multilaterally, because there's a lot to learn from others.   Dan Seguin  22:11 Debbie, is it possible to transition to a netzero future without economic hardships in a carbon heavy sector? Can you give an example on how to achieve this?   Debbie Scharf  22:23 Well, to quote another thing that someone wants once mentioned before is the best way to predict the future is to create it. So I think we have to very consciously think about the future we want to create, and how to diversify the industries that we have into new product lines, new clean energy opportunities, in the way that we think about the activities we're going to take going forward. But you know, one example that I think is worth picking up on is the work that we're doing on sustainable jobs in particular. Because this is an area that you can really get wrong, and talking about hardship is an area that you absolutely don't want to get wrong. And so really looking at where we want to see economic growth, and how do you support workers to be able to be ready for the type of opportunities that are going to be available in the future. And I would be remiss if I did not mention that we did publish a first interim Sustainable Jobs Plan earlier this year in February, and it talked about 10 key areas where we can make some demonstrable progress, and we already are making demonstrable progress to get the workforce ready for the future. And frankly, it will be a differentiator because you can't have economic activity without people working. And if you don't have the right labor market, there won't be investment decisions made by companies. And so I think that that is one area that we have to get right.   Dan Seguin  23:38 Now, the Royal Bank of Canada released the thought leadership piece last October. That said, the electricity industry is netzero already, but that we would need to double the electricity output that currently exists today. What are your thoughts on Canada's electricity sector, its readiness, and that assessment.   Debbie Scharf  23:59 So I already mentioned that Canada's grid is about 83% non emitting. Having said that, though, there are five provinces where there's still a significant reliance on unabated fossil fuels, provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan, some Atlantic provinces, Ontario. And so again, where you live matters when it comes to energy, because when it comes to being Net Zero ready, it's going to feel a bit different in those provinces than if you were Quebec or British Columbia. And so we have to really focus on how to support the jurisdictions that need to get there and will be faced with the greatest challenges. And I cannot emphasize enough like the scale of the challenge. We tend to use the word generational quite a bit, perhaps we use it a bit too much. But it is very generational in nature, just in terms of its size and scope. And so, you know, once again, to just mention that we know as a federal government, we need to be a constructive partner in the Federation around these particular issues and to help those jurisdictions that need help to get to where they need to be and the tax measures in the budget are very good exams. boasts of how we do that providing long term stable, predictable investment climate, and frankly, helping to reduce costs, which means reducing ratepayer impacts around these particular projects in the jurisdictions that are going to feel it the most. So do I think that we have the technology to get there? I do. Does that mean that it's going to be easy for those provinces and jurisdictions that have a long way to go? No, it will not be easy.   Dan Seguin  25:25 Interesting. Is there a myth or misunderstanding about the energy transition or netzero, that you wish more people understood?   Debbie Scharf  25:36 This is a great question. So I'm going to answer it a little bit more from the perspective of what I worry about the most, when I think about the work that I do. And what I worry about the most is that we don't always appreciate that Canada is an energy producing nation. So we generate an enormous amount of wealth, security, and cheap energy from our energy sectors. And in turn, we are providing the world with energy security, not every country can say that. In fact, there's a fairly small number of countries around the globe that can say that. But it puts us in a bit of a tricky position, because we're producing a lot of energy for other people. And when we think about getting to net zero, that creates an interesting dynamic for Canada about how we get there. And I look at other countries like Europe, and it makes you realize that energy affordability and energy security is actually our battle to lose, because those are things we have today. But another country, there are countries, they're not things that they have. And we definitely don't want to end up in that particular situation. So we just have to think a little, I worry that people don't appreciate the challenge unique to Canada as an energy producer. And when we're thinking about the energy transition. And when we design our policies, we have to think not just about emission reductions, but how do we continue to generate that wealth, that prosperity and that security from the energy system? And we have to solve all those complex outcomes for Canadians. Otherwise, we're not going to get it right. And we're going to lose the battle.   Dan Seguin  27:02 Finally, Debbie, how do you make the fight against climate change equitable, and accessible for everyone to participate in? What's needed for all Canadians to buy into the net zero plan?   Debbie Scharf  27:16 So a couple of things that I would say about this. The first thing is, all levels of government have to cooperate, right? Like we've got to get, we've got to get the collaborations and partnerships, right to be able to create the enabling conditions to get to where we want to go. I would say that for Canadians, and my sense is, I would feel this, and I do feel this personally. So it is a very personal experience, I need to have a job, I need to put food on the table, I need to feel like I'm making the right choices. I need to feel like the government and the country are making the right choices. And so we just have to make sure that in all the things that we're doing, we're being mindful that these are outcomes that we need to be able to deliver for Canadians, and not only for the Canadians that are employed in the workforce, but for marginalized people, underrepresented groups, like how can we create a very inclusive Canada on the path to net zero. And I think if we can develop the vision and implement a vision for an inclusive, secure, affordable, and prosperous Canada, then we're going to get the buy-in that we need. And the trick is to be able to solve all those things really well.   Dan Seguin  28:20 Lastly, we always end our interviews with some rapid fire questions. Are you ready?   Debbie Scharf  28:27 I am scared but I am ready.   Dan Seguin  28:32 Now, what are you reading right now?   Debbie Scharf  28:34 A historical fiction about World War Two.   Dan Seguin  28:36 Okay. What would you name your boat if you had one?   Debbie Scharf  28:40 Well, I am the eternal optimist. So I would name it Possibility.   Dan Seguin  28:45 Now Debbie, who is someone you truly admire?   Debbie Scharf  28:49 Easiest answer, my mother?   Dan Seguin  28:51 What is the closest thing to real magic that you've witnessed?   Debbie Scharf  28:56 And I would say watching my kids grow into adults.   Dan Seguin  29:01 What has been the biggest challenge to you personally since the pandemic began?   Debbie Scharf  29:08 Yeah, so the biggest challenge I would say is actually supporting my children who I think have borne the biggest brunt of pandemic choices in society. So I would say a real sort of personal experience around the pandemic.   Dan Seguin  29:22 Okay, we've been watching a lot more Netflix and TV lately. What's your favorite movie or even show?   Debbie Scharf  29:29 Yeah, so right now, Firefly Lane and Night Agent, which shows my bizarre ability to move between romantic comedies and action options.   Dan Seguin  29:41 Lastly, what is exciting you about your industry right now?   Debbie Scharf  29:47 Oh, that's an easy question, because I am pretty excited about this industry right now. I think we are in the middle of the most difficult but exciting time in the energy transition. And I'm actually feeling pretty privileged to play a part of on behalf of all Canadians to try and get us there.   Dan Seguin  30:03 Well, Debbie, this is it. We've reached the end of another episode of The think energy podcast. Thank you for joining me today. If our listeners want to learn more about you, how can they connect?   Debbie Scharf  30:16 Well, the easiest way to do that is to send an email Debbie Scharf, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Energy Systems Sector at Natural Resources Canada.   Dan Seguin  30:25 Thanks again for joining me today. I hope you had a lot of fun. Cheers.   Debbie Scharf  30:29 Thanks so much, Dan.   Dan Seguin  30:33 Thanks for tuning in for another episode of The think energy podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review wherever you're listening. And to find out more about today's guests or previous episodes, visit thinkenergypodcast.com. I hope you will join us again next time as we spark even more conversations about the energy of tomorrow.  

FPX Nickel (TSX-V: FPX, OTCQB: FPOCF) is pleased to announce that it has received funding from the Government of Canada to accelerate demonstration of the technical and commercial viability to produce nickel sulphate and cobalt hydroxide for the electric vehicle battery supply chain from the Company's Baptiste Nickel Project in central British Columbia. On completion of a competitive application process, FPX has been awarded $725,000 by Natural Resources Canada under the Government of Canada's Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration program, designed to assist the development of critical minerals supply chains to contribute to Canada's goal of being a net-zero carbon emitter. CEO Martin Turenne stated: “We are grateful to receive this funding support from the federal government. FPX was honoured to be the only junior mining company in attendance at the December 2022 launch event for Canada's critical mineral strategy, and for NRCan's invitation to attend Minister Wilkinson's recent trade mission to Japan. We see tremendous opportunity for partnership and collaboration between industry and the federal government and First Nations on critical minerals projects such as Baptiste, and look forward to scaling up the production of battery-grade nickel sulphate and cobalt hydroxide from Baptiste and to demonstrating the technical and economic viability of producing battery materials in our upcoming preliminary feasibility study, expected in the third quarter of 2023.” 0:00 Introduction 1:37 Canadian government funds Baptiste Nickel project 5:05 Treasury C$17mm fully-funded 6:00 Revealing of corporate strategic investor 7:12 Future reception of government funds to advance Baptist deposit 8:52 Investors are sleeping on FPX Nickel 10:22 Automakers investing upstream in battery metals miners 13:13 Successful pilot plant flowsheet demonstration 14:56 Van Target exploration success 16:26 Upcoming catalysts Company website: https://fpxnickel.com/ Press release found here: https://fpxnickel.com/news/ FPX Nickel Presentation: https://fpxnickel.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/FPX-Nickel-Corporate-Presentation.pdf Sign up for our free newsletter and receive interview transcripts, stock profiles and investment ideas: http://eepurl.com/cHxJ39 FPX Nickel is an MSE sponsor. The content found on MiningStockEducation.com is for informational purposes only and is not to be considered personal legal or investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities or any other product. It is based on opinions, SEC filings, current events, press releases and interviews but is not infallible. It may contain errors and MiningStockEducation.com offers no inferred or explicit warranty as to the accuracy of the information presented. If personal advice is needed, consult a qualified legal, tax or investment professional. Do not base any investment decision on the information contained on MiningStockEducation.com or our videos. We may hold equity positions in some of the companies featured on this site and therefore are biased and hold an obvious conflict of interest. MiningStockEducation.com may provide website addresses or links to websites and we disclaim any responsibility for the content of any such other websites. The information you find on MiningStockEducation.com is to be used at your own risk. By reading MiningStockEducation.com, you agree to hold MiningStockEducation.com, its owner, associates, sponsors, affiliates, and partners harmless and to completely release them from any and all liabilities due to any and all losses, damages, or injuries (financial or otherwise) that may be incurred.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Current - At their December 7 meeting, the Strathcona Regional District Board discussed modifications to a contract for 16 Earthquake early warning stations stretching from Chatham Point, north of Campbell River, up to Haida Gwaii. The $1.8 million needed to fund this project was provided by a grant from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). As Chief Administration Officer (CAO) David Leitch explained,”NRCan would only provide the grant to local governments, so it had to be applied for through the SRD.” Wolfang Parada, Senior Manager of Engineering Services, outlined some of the details: Baylink Networks has been selected to design, supply and install 16 earthquake early warning stations or systems along the coast, all the way from north of Campbell River up to Haida Gwaii. It's being built and designed, in conjunction with the Connected Coast project. “Back in August 17, we introduced the staff report recommendation that the board have the Chair and CAO sign the contract. That resolution was passed. However, when we submitted the contract to Baylink Networks, they expressed a few concerns about the language we had in the contract.” “We've made revisions to the agreements. Some of the major changes that we made related to the construct price. We have reduced that, just to clarify what SRD will be responsible for buying when it comes to network equipment and what they're responsible for buying when it comes to the sensors.” “We have been able to have clarification on the development of the operation plan, so they will support the operations plan. We also have a reduction in the warranty period from five years to one year, which I think is reasonable for these types of equipment.” “We made revisions to schedule a DNF. The first thing we needed in the owner's statements of requirements (was what everyone) is responsible for. We provide a detailed project budget, a breakdown of materials, labor, and equipment to build the project.” “Our recommendation to the board today is to have the Chair and CAO execute the amended contract with Baylink Networks for the design, supply, and installation of 16 earthquake early warning sensors.” Martin Davis (Mayor of Tahsis): “I noticed there's quite a cluster of sensor sites for earthquakes on the North end of Vancouver Island, but there's none on the West Coast. This is one of the most tectonically active areas in the Regional District and I'm curious as to why no sensors are planned for that area.” Wolfang Parada: “So 16 stations: 4 on the North part of the Island; 12 along the BC coast. I have great news. We received a letter today. Resources Canada has approved our application and that will provide sensors to the West Coast as well. More details will be provided in upcoming meetings.” Mark Vonesch (Regional Director of Cortes Island): “The $1.8 million, that was entirely covered by the grant?” David Leitch: “Correct, yes, it's a hundred percent funded.” That's simplified things. Gerald Whalley (Regional Director of Area A): “I move the Chair and Corporate Officer be authorized to execute the amended contract with ‘Baylink Networks, Inc' as a sole source contract of the earthquake early warning system extended network. Martin Davis: “Second, Davis” Mark Baker (Chair of the SRD Board): Discussion … All in favor … Opposed. Seeing none, the motion is carried.”

Jennifer Hong, co-chair of the Visible Minorities Ambassadors Network at NRCan, explores the ways in which we can engage meaningfully with ourselves and others. Jenn also reminds us to approach life and people with curiosity to connect, learn and grow.

Summit Nanotech is developing technology to tackle the world's most daunting energy and environmental challenges. And Amanda has recently won the Women in Cleantech Challenge funded by NRCan. Join us as we catch up with Amanda and get her insights on clean technology.BioAmanda Hall is a professional geophysicist and the CEO/Founder of Summit Nanotech, a company that developed direct lithium extraction technology for the growing lithium-ion battery sector. Amanda felt the market pull away from oil & gas and towards a clean energy, electromobility future and so she followed her gut into the clean tech industry. She is a graduate from University of Toronto (Trinity College) with a BSc Biology major, Physics minor, English minor and from University of Calgary with a BSc Geophysics. She is on the Advisory Board for Canadian Energy & Climate Nexus (CECN), is a mentor for Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) and is on the Board of Directors for Calgary Opera. Amanda is identified by the Canadian government as a leading female innovator and is the winner of the National Women in Cleantech challenge. She is a mother to three beautiful daughters, endorses diversity, equality and inclusion and loves getting lost in the mountains. 

Our host, Niha Shahzad Chandrarajan speaks to Trudy Samuel, the Director of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at NRCan on her experience working in the EDI field, what made her pursue this career, and what we see for the future of EDI.

In this episode we speak with Dr. Vik Pant, the Chief Scientist and Chief Scientific Advisor for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Dr. Pant shares his priorities in his role and learnings from NRCan's digital accelerator as they work to implement new technologies. Discover how new artificial intelligence capabilities are being used to promote sustainability, from improved flood mapping and wildfire response to mining risk mitigation.  Click here for transcript of this episode.  Olivia Neal [host] | LinkedIn | Twitter  Dr. Vik Pant [guest] | LinkedIn | Twitter  Microsoft Public Sector Center of Expertise  Natural Resources Canada  Learn more about Geo-Deep-Learning  Research: Digital Approaches for Sustainability  Join Microsoft at FWD50   

The Government of Canada has mandated that 100 per cent of car and passenger truck sales be zero-emission by 2035. All kinds of measures will be required to support this transportation evolution. Are Canadians ready to embrace this relatively quick transition over to EVs? What are all the barriers? And, do Canadian businesses and municipalities have a role to play in the EV evolution? Cara Clairman, President and CEO at Plug'nDrive (and a prominent leader in the EV space) joins us to share her unique perspective. Related Content & Links:  Find your EV match (total cost of ownership tool): https://ev.plugndrive.ca/ Book a test drive with Plug'n Drive: https://www.plugndrive.ca/electric-vehicle-discovery-centre/ Used EV rebate program: https://www.plugndrive.ca/used-electric-vehicles/ ZEVIP (NRCan funding program for infrastructure): https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/transportation-alternative-fuels/zero-emission-vehicle-infrastructure-program/21876 Federal EV incentive program: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/innovative-technologies/zero-emission-vehicles Cara Clairman - Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cara-clairman-84967318/ --- Transcript: Dan Seguin  00:02 Hey, everyone, I'm Dan Seguin.   Rebecca Schwartz  00:04 And I'm Rebecca Schwartz, both from Hydro Ottawa.   Dan Seguin  00:07 Hey, everyone, welcome back. This is the think energy podcast. And on today's episode, we'll tackle EV-olution of transportation. I'm Dan Seguin.   Rebecca Schwartz  01:02 And I'm Rebecca Schwartz. Hey, Dan, you have an electric vehicle, right?   Dan Seguin  01:06 I sure do.   Rebecca Schwartz  01:07 I'm curious. What's your experience been? Like? Would you recommend an EV for your one and only favorite co host?   Dan Seguin  01:13 Huh? Haha. I would 100% recommend one. I love my little EV. I've actually owned two. And now my wife has just ordered her very own. I have no regrets.   Rebecca Schwartz  01:28 That's good to know. Now, if I could just get a solid pay raise, I'll be able to afford one. Hint hint nudge nudge.   Dan Seguin  01:35 Hmm. I have some great news about that, Rebecca. First. Both the feds and some provinces have great incentive programs. With these rebates, EVs are really much more affordable. In fact, as part of Canada's goal to help fight climate change, there are plans to make owning these zero emission vehicle more accessible than ever before, through addressing affordability and adequate infrastructure. Today's guest will have lots more to say about that.   Rebecca Schwartz  02:09 Whoo visions of having my very own EV are getting a little bit more clear. You have my attention go on.   Dan Seguin  02:15 In fact, the pressures on the Government of Canada has mandated 100% of car and passenger truck sales be zero emission by 2035. All kinds of measures will be required to support this transportation evolution. Everything from incentives for zero emission vehicles, to investments in infrastructure to partnerships with auto manufacturers are being pursued.   Rebecca Schwartz  02:40 Wow, that seems so soon. But that's exciting. There are so many more things I'd like to know and ask. So here's today's big questions. Are Canadians ready to embrace this relatively quick transition over to EV's? What are the barriers and do Canadian businesses and municipalities have a role to play in the EV evolution?   Dan Seguin  03:00 Joining us today we have Cara Clairman, CEO and President at Plug'n Drive, and a prominent leader in the EV space. She's here today to provide us with all of the answers. Cara, welcome to the show. Maybe you could start by telling us a bit about your organization and its mandate.   Cara Clairman  03:26 thanks so much, Dan, for for inviting me to do this. Plugn' Drive is a not for profit. So we're out there trying to educate consumers on the environmental and economic benefits of switching to an electric car. And so most of our work revolves revolves around that outreach and education to help people make the switch.   Rebecca Schwartz  03:46 The Government of Canada has set what some might call an aggressive mandate for 100% of new light duty vehicle sales to be zero emissions by 2035. Why has Canada set this mandate? And how does it play into the larger picture of net zero by 2050.   Cara Clairman  04:01 So I'm sure a lot of your listeners will know that. Transportation is actually one of the largest emitting sectors not just here in Canada, but pretty much everywhere around the world. And in fact, in many provinces of Canada, transportation is the number one largest emitter larger than industry larger than buildings. And so we really can't achieve our climate goals if we don't tackle transportation. So of course, tackling transportation is a few a few different things, not just EV but EV is a ready technology that's here that would really really help in terms of reducing emissions from consumer vehicles, as well as now some medium and even heavy duty. And this opportunity is huge because if you just take Ontario for example. You know, our number one emission source is transportation and our electricity grid is already extremely clean. We're about 95% emission reduction if we switch to EVs, because our electricity grid here is already about 90 plus percent free of greenhouse gas emissions. And that's true in many provinces of Canada. So if you look at our electricity grid across the country, you have, you know, a number of provinces that are hydro only. So it's, you know, BC, Quebec, Manitoba. And so if you look across the country, we're already about 80% GHG free pretty much. And so it's just such a perfect match with the with improving the emissions from transportation. Across Canada, we have an extremely clean energy grid. And if you think about our electricity here in Ontario, it's mostly nuclear and hydro, a little bit of solar and wind, a very small amount of natural gas. So we're already about only 5%, five to 8% fossil fuel on the grid. So plugging into our cars into that grid offers a huge emission reduction at about 90 to 95%. So as a long way of saying, you know, requiring new EV sales is a relatively easy way for the government to start making the transition for the transportation personal vehicle fleet, and would allow Canada actually to achieve the net zero by 2050, which it really can't do if it doesn't tackle transportation.   Dan Seguin  06:34 Now, Cara, are you able to expand on how Canada's zero emission vehicle mandates compare globally? Are we on par with other countries?   Cara Clairman  06:44 Well, I'll answer that question sort of in two parts. How we are now compared to the globe and other countries and how we will be right now I'd say we're a bit behind. Because we don't have an aggressive enough, set of EV policies, and we have quite a patchwork across the country in terms of provincial policies. And so our adoption rates are actually on the low side relative to a lot of other countries, I'd say we stand around 10th right now, you know, in comparison to other countries that have, you know, better policies than we have. However, the policy of zero emission new sales, right, that's just new sales, we'll still have gas cars around for quite a while. zero emission, new sales by 2035 is, is quite progressive. And I would say it's not the most aggressive policy, there are a few countries ahead of us, like Norway has, you know, a mandate for 2025. And there are a number of European countries that have set 2030. But 2035 is definitely in the pack, I would say in terms of leadership in the top, you know, 10 or 15 countries. What we really need to do though, is make this a law, you know, right now, we just have a sort of a vague commitment to it. And until it's legislated, it really doesn't have a lot of meaning.   Rebecca Schwartz  08:16 What are some of the main barriers to zero emission vehicle adoption?   Cara Clairman  08:20 Okay, well, there's lots of barriers still remaining, although we're making lots of good progress. We did a survey about four years ago. And I think the results probably would hold true today as well, asking people about about what was preventing them from choosing an electric vehicle. And actually, the number one barrier was price, which surprised us we expected people to say range or lack of public infrastructure or something like that. But three to one, they actually said, they thought EV's were too expensive. And so we know that the upfront sticker price is is a problem for people, it is still a bit more expensive than the equivalent gas car. What people don't really know is that the total cost of ownership of an EV even at today's prices is less. But it's always a challenge to help people understand you're going to pay more now and save later. And we have to help people see the advantage of doing that. So I would say you know cost and then also education because you have to help people understand that total cost of ownership over time. And actually, to help consumers on that specific point we've, we've put a really great new tool on our website called find your EV match, which really helps you see the total cost of ownership for for electric vehicles income and you can even compare an Eevee to your existing gas car that you currently drive and see your monthly savings. And so this is a really, really important point. I would also say of course, you know, we do need more infrastructure. And there still is some range hesitancy concern. But I really believe that the range issue is going away as an issue as the battery technology improves. And of course, as public infrastructure improves,   Dan Seguin  10:14 okay, Cara - How is your organization working to build consumer awareness and education to help remove consumer concerns around EVs?   Cara Clairman  10:24 Well, I mean, Dan, this is what we're doing every single day. You know, we've built our whole program around helping the consumer get over their concerns. And so we're quite accustomed to every single concern and question people have. And basically we do it in a couple of ways. We have our EV Discovery Center in Toronto, which is, you know, a bricks and mortar facility, people can come learn all about EVs, no pressure to buy anything, and test drive the latest make some models. And we have found through our research that the test drive is key to helping people get over their concerns. And that's been a bit of a challenge during COVID, although we are back to doing test drive. And then secondly, we have our mobile EV Discovery Center or our MEET, which we take two smaller cities and towns all over to sort of bring the EV Discovery Center concept to them. And so that's a great opportunity for people to learn again, and a no pressure environment is fun. And then we have our roadshow, which you know, where we go out to even further afield a locations for a day or two days to give people the chance where they may not have any, for example, and EV dealers in their community. So we're really trying to reach everyone. And so that so those are the main things that we do. And I would just add the the other program that we have that we find is really helping consumers is our used EV program, which has a rebate attached to it. And we're doing this online through webinars. But it's to help people understand who who had that idea. Oh, you know, I love TV, but I think it's just too expensive for me, to help them understand that use TVs are a great opportunity affordable and available. And in the webinar we run through a you know sort of everything you need to know to choose the use EV that's right for you. And then plug and drive is offering $1,000 rebate to anyone who lives in Ontario if you buy a used EV   Dan Seguin  12:27 Eondering if you can tell us about plugging drives electric vehicle Discovery Center, and what goes on there?   Cara Clairman  12:33 So the Discovery Center is as I said, at bricks and mortar facilities, sort of imagined Science Center meets car showroom, you want to see some photos of it, you can just check it out on plugndrive.ca. And the great thing there is it's you know, interactive fun, like I said, like a science center, people come just for fun to learn. And of course, we aren't selling cars. So people don't have that pressure that they feel they sometimes have when they go to a dealership. And then we have all the makes and models sitting right there for people to test drive. And that test drive is so key to helping someone get over their concerns. Because a lot of the times people have a preconceived notion about what an EV might be like. And they don't realize like how fun it is to drive and that these are really fantastic vehicles with great pickup. And it kind of just reminds people of the quality and the fun. And then we can run through with them how much money they're going to save then the emission reductions. And our stats tell the story. About 35% of the people after visiting the center, within six months have bought an electric car.   Rebecca Schwartz  13:41 How can Canadian businesses support the transition to electric vehicles? And how can they acquire access to the proper funding?   Cara Clairman  13:48 Yeah, we've started doing a lot of work with businesses. And what we find is, you know, number one, what they can do is look at workplace charging, we know that the home is the number one place people want to charge about 80% of us plug in our cars at home at night, take advantage of low time of use prices. It's where it's convenient, all those reasons. But the second place people want to charge is that work. And actually studies out of California have shown that if someone sees a charger at work, and then talks to a colleague who has an EV at work, they're six times more likely to adopt an electric car. So one of the great things that business can do is put in some workplace charging and then also do some education around using that charging and help their employees get on board. And some businesses are even offering an incentive to their employees to consider an EV especially companies that are looking at their own GHG reduction targets and transportation might be one of the main emitters of their organizations. So they can use those charges for their own fleet. They can electrify their own fleet that way, and they can help their employees. So those are a couple of ways businesses can help support the transition. And then you've asked about access to funding there, there is some funding through NRCan the program is called ZEVIP where businesses can apply to get some funding for workplace tight charging systems,   Dan Seguin  15:25 it would seem that municipalities across Canada have a large part to play to support the government's mandate and to make charging stations more accessible. In your experience. Has this been the case? What's your view on the role municipalities play in the electrification of transit?   Cara Clairman  15:43 Yeah, municipalities do have an important role to play and I think they are starting to recognize it more and more. So for example, one role that municipalities are playing and it's proving really important is in terms of standards for multi unit buildings. So for example, a municipality can require a certain green standard for condos or multi unit buildings being built in their territory and that will ensure that the you know Ruffin is there for the plugs in future and that new buildings will get built with you know, with the ability or sort of EV ready to help their citizens because let's face it, especially in the Greater Toronto Area, a lot of people live in multi unit and we need to make it possible for these people to plug in. There's other roles they can play for example, we're seeing a lot of municipalities set up you know their own EV policies for their you know, for public parking, for example, street parking for, for different, making certain municipal lots available for charging, there's there's lots of ways that municipalities can help. And there are, you know, through the associations, there's sharing, I know of EV policies across municipalities, they don't have to reinvent the wheel.   Rebecca Schwartz  17:06 All right, Cara, can you talk to us about Canada's electric highway? Can we actually drive our east coast to coast?   Cara Clairman  17:14 Yes, you can. It's still not that easy, I have to say. But the thing I always want to remind is that this is not a trip that many people are doing. You know, maybe some of us have done it once in our life or, you know, it's the thing that happens very rarely. So it's not as critical. It's more of again, it's it's a nice to do, it's sort of a psychological thing. People think, Oh, it's great if you can, it's still a challenge, but doable and getting easier. You know, it's something that I would say, you know, it's not a trip I'm ever going to do. And I mean, I drive my car just more locally. So I wouldn't want people to hesitate getting an EV because this isn't the easiest trip to bake.   Dan Seguin  18:02 It seems that national sales of V's are closing in on 4%. What are your recommendations to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles in Canada?   Cara Clairman  18:12 Well, there's just a whole bunch of things we need to do. So for example, right now in British Columbia, we're hovering around 10% of new sales, Quebec close to 8%. Ontario, we're down at 2%. And so you can see that the variability in the different policies are leading to very different results. And so there's a couple of things we need to make some consistency across Canada, because what happens when you have certain provinces with really aggressive policies and certain policies, provinces without it, the vehicle supply goes to those provinces with the more aggressive policies, and then it's really hard for people, for example, in Ontario, to get vehicles, and so that ZEV mandate or ZED standard that the federal government is talking about is really important for making, you know, some more consistency across the whole country. So I'm very supportive of that. I'd also like to see some consistent building codes across the country. It seems ridiculous that in 2021, where we still have condos and apartment buildings being built with no potential for EV charging in the future, and it's so much more expensive to do a retrofit than to do it when you're building a building. So the building codes need to be updated to make sure that the buildings are required to at least rough in for EV charging in the future. So that's another really, really important one. And then, you know, we, you know, I'd like to say that the time of needing incentives is over, it isn't over. We still do need incentives for the next couple of years. I think we're going to hit price parity in a few years time and then we won't need them anymore. But for now, I think we do it Because the environmental benefit is so large, I think it makes sense that governments continue to support it.   Dan Seguin  20:06 What about charging stations is charging infrastructure rolling out at the pace to support the transition to 100% zero emission vehicle sales by 2035?   Cara Clairman  20:18 Well, we do still have more work to do in the area of public charging. But again, I'm one of those people who doesn't think this is as critical to the rollout as some other things. You know, as an EV, driver, and Dan, you said, you're also an EV driver, we're charging at home, most of us are charging at home. And we are very occasionally using public charging. I only use public charging a few times a year. And I think I'm pretty typical on a road trip or work trip. And so you do need more infrastructure. We can't have single chargers out there. You know, we need to multiply those we need them to be in strategic locations. We need them to be in places where you can grab a bite to eat and use facilities and all that. So there's work to do, but I'm not of the view that this is a primary barrier to EV adoption. Really, the infrastructure you need is at home and it's ready right now.   Rebecca Schwartz  21:18 Cara, can you tell us a bit about the sentiment among automotive manufacturers? Are they embracing the transition to a EV's at all?   Cara Clairman  21:25 Well, we're certainly I mean, you really can't turn on your news or open your your apps, which is how most of us probably get our news these days without seeing a new announcement. So we certainly are seeing the commitment to EVs. In the future, where there's a bit of a struggle, I would say as sort of right now. Right now in Canada supply extremely low, it's quite difficult to get vehicles, all the manufacturers are ramping up. But that doesn't happen overnight. And so, you know, we need to do a bit more to get the vehicles in here right now. The exciting thing is, you know, here in Ontario, we're going to be making EV's in the next couple of years. And so the supply challenge will get fixed. And and then we're going to see, I think, you know, just massive changes, but for now the next year to two years, we definitely have a struggle to to bring in the vehicles. And we have to show to the automakers that Canada is a good place for EV adoption, because of course they send the vehicles where they think the best opportunity is to sell them.   Dan Seguin  22:29 Cara - Just wondering what should consumers know about zero emissions vehicles today? How has technology evolved over the past few years? And are there funding opportunities for consumers looking to purchase one?   Cara Clairman  22:43 Well, of course, I want people to know that. EVs are a fantastic option right now what I hear from a lot of consumers, which which is helpful is you know, yes, EVs are the future, I'm sure that we're all going to be driving EVs, but what I think a lot of people don't realize is that they're totally ready for primetime right now. Fantastic quality, good range, everything you really need is already there. And of course, the fun and the super great pickup and all those things too. And so I think, you know, people shouldn't hesitate, that that when they're ready for new car, this should be it in terms of funding opportunities. I would say, you know, of course, the federal government still has its $5,000 rebate available. And as we you know, in the election, we basically got the same government and they have committed to continue that so we know that will continue. Some provinces have a provincial incentive that layers on top of that. Unfortunately, we don't have that in Ontario right now, which is makes us a little bit of a laggard. Compared to other provinces, there are now six provinces with rebates, which makes it hard for Ontario to attract vehicles. So when people go looking for a vehicle, they're challenged to find one. What I would tell consumers that are looking for one and don't want to have to get on a waiting list is to look at the used market. There's a lot of great options in the used market right now. And of course, as I said, plugin drive has $1,000 incentive to buy a used EV and an extra $1,000 if you scrap an old gas car and buy used EV so so that's a great option if you can't find the new vehicle that you're looking for.   Rebecca Schwartz  24:28 In your view, Cara, what does the future of Canada look like when it comes to zero emission vehicles?   Cara Clairman  24:34 Well, I think I think pretty much everyone has realized even the most Die Hard sort of auto analysts who really really hesitated on EVs in terms of their reporting. I think even they have realized like this is coming there's no stopping it. The question mark is like how fast and I think groups like mine and other other EV sort of Advocacy type groups are really it's all about how can we get this transition to happen faster because if you agree that climate change is a crisis, we really can't wait for sort of a slow market transition, we need to do everything we can to speed it up. So if that includes incentives, that includes building codes, that includes ZEV mandate policies, that includes all sorts of local initiatives to try to encourage people to speed it up. But I do feel very optimistic that you know, we are going to see a huge swaying in the direction of EVs even by 2030.   Dan Seguin  25:37 Okay, Cara, how about we close off with some rapid fire questions?   Cara Clairman  25:42 Okay, skip the skip the favorite word. I really didn't have one.   Dan Seguin  25:46 What is the one thing you can't live without?   Cara Clairman  25:50 Coffee   Dan Seguin  25:50 What is something that challenges you?   Cara Clairman  25:53 Something that challenges me? Well, I mean, I guess the reality is in a nonprofit setting, you're always you're always having to raise money. And so that's always a challenge for anybody in the NGO sector. That's that's probably our biggest challenge.   Dan Seguin  26:09 If you could have one superpower, what would it be?   Cara Clairman  26:14 Well, I think I would love the teleportation oh my gosh, you know, I love EVs. But let's face it, there's still cars. And, you know, they still contribute to gridlock and traffic and all that and would just be so awesome to be able to just teleport to some other location.   Dan Seguin  26:32 Now, Cara, if you could turn back time and talk to your 18 year old self? What would you tell her?   Cara Clairman  26:39 I would tell her to do more public speaking. Who knew I would end up you know, doing so much public speaking in my career, I really didn't get started until I was much older. And I feel like it's a useful skill for any job just to feel confident talking in front of other people, whether that's five people or 500 people. So I would definitely say get yourself in front of an audience and practice public speaking.   Dan Seguin  27:06 And lastly, what do you currently find most interesting in your sector?   Cara Clairman  27:12 Oh, my gosh, my sector is so fascinating. You know, it's funny because I come from the electricity sector as you do. And I think there's a lot of people with this idea. That's kind of an old, stodgy, boring sector. And so I find it so exciting that there's so many opportunities for innovation. And it's not just EV, it's storage, and renewables, and there's just there's just so much of interest happening in the electricity sector. I hope young people are really looking at it for future career options.   Rebecca Schwartz  27:43 Alright, Cara, we've reached the end of another episode of The ThinkEnergy podcast. Thanks so much for joining us today. We hope you had fun.   Cara Clairman  27:50 I did. Thank you so much for having me.   Dan Seguin  27:53 We reached the end of another episode of The think energy podcast. Again, thank you for joining us today. And Rebecca. I hope you had a lot of fun.   Rebecca Schwartz  28:03 I did. Thanks for having me.   Dan Seguin  28:04 Rebecca and I will be co hosting going forward in 2021. Thanks for joining us. See you folks.

One of Canada's longest-standing radioactive contamination sites, the community of Port Hope on the shores of Lake Ontario, is presently undergoing a $1.2B federal cleanup of historic radioactive wastes. Port Hope also has two nuclear facilities operating with enriched, depleted and natural uranium within its boundaries, without a buffer zone. Faye More grew up in Port Hope and leads a volunteer citizen group advocating for independent health monitoring and real accountability to the community by the federal government and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission - the CNSC. The Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee, which Faye helped found in 1995, has their letter to the Prime Minister listed here, and their powerpoint submission to NRCan listed here

After years of discussions, roadmaps, studies and conferences, NRCan has settled on the route it wants to take to encourage Canadians to upgrade their homes for higher energy efficiency. The Greener Homes initiative was announced last fall and its online portal is now open for homeowners to register their projects. Senior director for the program, Ruth Talbot, joins Fenestration Conversations to explain the rebate program, what homeowners can get back in rebates, what projects might qualify, how the Energuide evaluations work and more. Green Homes Grants could be a powerful tool in our sales toolbox for years to come.

Recorded on Zoom in June 2021, episode 36 is the third in a series of podcasts seeking to unpack Canada's Net Zero 2050 greenhouse gas target. For this episode, Mollie Johnson, NRCan's Assistant Deputy Minister - Low Carbon Energy Sector, discusses Net Zero by 2050 from a government of Canada perspective. In my conversation with Mollie, we discuss what the Low Carbon Sector is, and the prospects for energy and electricity as Canada pursues its GHG targets. We also talk about Canadian GHG reduction aspirations in an international context, both challenges and opportunities. And, once again, the conversation wraps with a book recommendation; in this case, Mollie recommends a book for young readers.

Artificial Intelligence is being deployed to protect the environment by cleaning up abandoned mines, determining the best locations for electric vehicle charging stations, and keeping cheating appliances off the electrical grid. At Natural Resources Canada, Vik Pant is leading the charge, but he can’t do it alone. “That's not something that can be done humanly at any scale,” he says. There’s simply too much data to wade through.

For our fourth episode of the Budget Week podcast, Peterborough Currents called up Michael Papadacos, head of the City's infrastructure management division to talk about how the City approaches climate change action. The interview in this episode is an edited version of our conversation; to listen to the unedited version click here. Read an article rounding up climate change projects in the budget by clicking here. Episode transcript 0:06 Ayesha Hello you're listening to Peterborough Currents. I'm Ayesha Barmania. This is episode four of our series on the 2021 municipal budget. And in this episode, I'm diving into how climate change gets addressed in City operations. In December 2016, City Council voted to adopt the Greater Peterborough Climate Change Action Plan. It's a plan that sets out the path towards achieving 2 overarching goals: The first is called climate change mitigation. And this means reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 30%. That's for both the community living and working here as well as for the Corporation of the City of Peterborough's operations. The second goal is called climate change adaptation, and that's preparing the city for the impacts of climate change – like extreme weather events Much of the responsibility for implementing this plan falls to the infrastructure management division, since adaptation and mitigation to climate change often means rethinking what our infrastructure is capable of handling. From moving car traffic through the city more quickly to reduce idling emissions … to preparing our stormwater system for more significant rainfall, that all falls under infrastructure. So to learn more, I spoke with Michael Papadacos. He is the head of infrastructure management at the City. And he began by telling me about how the plan came out of a partnership program with other municipalities across the country. Michael Papadacos 1:19 So the climate change action plan is, you know, an overarching document that pulls together the first three milestones of the Partners for Climate Protection. So this is a program that's managed and delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and ICLEI Canada. The intention is to help Canadian municipalities take climate action. So it's a five milestone process. And the first three milestones are what are contained within that climate change action plan. So it's sort of a first creation of a baseline of the emissions inventory. Second, setting a mission reduction target. And then third, developing a local action plan to achieve that target. 2:07 Ayesha What are the fourth and fifth milestones that are missing there? 2:10 Michael Papadacos Yeah, the fourth or fifth milestones are monitoring progress, and implementation and ongoing implementation. 2:20 Ayesha How come? How come those aren't included in the plan? 2:23 Michael Papadacos Because the plan was developed in 2016. And so those milestones four and five are the kind of ongoing work. And we actually have a draft report that we're in the final stages of updating, so we're going to submit that report to FCM, and close out completion of that sort of program. 2:43 Ayesha And okay, so can you make it a bit concrete? Like how do these goals and targets and the principles laid out in the plan? How do those get utilized in your division? 2:55 Michael Papadacos Well, so the plan lays out a series of strategies for climate action. And it's grouped into six themes, you know, homes, workplaces and schools, on the move, food, land and people. And then it also is broken down into sort of two sector views, right. So there's the corporate sector. So that applies to the emissions that are created from the city of Peterborough and municipal operations and any properties that are owned by the city to deliver services for the community, and then the other part of it is the community sector. So that's the emissions created by the residents and businesses of the city. And so those strategies have a series of sort of actions or recommendations that are, you know, incorporated into not just my division, but you know, divisions across the corporation, because really, it has to be, you know, embedded across the corporation. And, and I guess it's the document that kind of, confirms and demonstrates the city and the community's commitment to climate action in those different sort of thematic areas. And so the plan kind of lays out different suggestions and actions. And then, you know, a portion of those are directed at the corporate reduction. So those are the 5% of the total emissions in the city of Peterborough are from the City of Peterborough, the municipalities actions, and then the 95% come from the community at large. So there's, they're broken down into targeting, you know, things that are more operational for city staff to implement them. The other ones are more, you know, areas that the community would need to lead or the city could potentially influence or maybe facilitate community action in that regard. 4:48 Ayesha Okay, and what monitoring do we do – like how do we know if we're on track? 4:52 Michael Papadacos We do a review of the inventory, more or less and reproduce the greenhouse gas inventory that was developed as part of that plan. So that plan, when it was first completed, did a set of baseline of the year 2011. And through, you know, some assumptions and modeling and calculations and data analysis, kind of put together a greenhouse gas emission total in 2011. And then, what we've done now in this draft report that we're working on getting completed is the update, right? So we kind of have done a check against that and looked at how things are going. 5:38 Ayesha So once that report is done we'll know for like the past 10 years, I guess, how we've been doing? 5:43 Michael Papadacos Yes, yeah, that's right. 5:44 Ayesha Okay. So and correct me if I'm wrong here. But as I understand it, there's another part of the plan that's about adapting. I think there's also an element of adapting our infrastructure and being ready for climate change events. I wondered if you could speak to what sort of events Peterborough is vulnerable to? And can you give me an example of what climate change adaptation looks like? 6:06 Michael Papadacos Yeah, sure. So the two biggest ones are in terms of climate impacts, and the things that we're at risk for here in Peterborough, and it's common for many municipalities, but it's flooding and the impact of significant weather events; and then the other one is increased number of extreme heat days would be the would be the other sort of main impact that we are looking to kind of adapt to. So in terms of like, what adaptation looks like, you know, this is actually something where, you know, the city of Peterborough is maybe a little bit ahead of the curve, because of our experience with the flood in 2004. Right. So that flood, while it wasn't centered at a time where a lot of people were thinking about climate change and adapting to climate change, it did illustrate for the residents of the city that we're vulnerable to this type of an event and in a significant way. So the the city kind of over the, you know, 5-10 years that followed, put a lot of effort into developing flood reduction master plans, that took a look at sort of the overall city and suggested a series of programs to, you know, improve the state of the existing infrastructure, as well as looking how to study and recommend further improvements into the future. You know, one of the biggest ones and sort of the centerpiece of that flood reduction masterplan is the central area flood reduction project, right. So that's the Jackson Creek diversion channel, right, that's going to protect a large portion of the downtown core from the impacts of the 100 year flood event. So that's an example of climate change action, adaptation and action. You know, actually, we had a really good example, earlier this year. Back in January, we had a significant rain event that actually caused a little bit of localized flooding in East city right along Curtis Creek, I think there were about three or four properties that were impacted where the creek spilled. And it's at that time, we were in the process of finishing a project there, where we were expanding the size of the culverts that go under all the roads there in East City to increase the hydraulic capacity of that Creek during a significant rainfall event. And, you know, we were literally a few months away from finishing the outlet. And if we'd have had that outlet finished, there's a good chance that there would have been no properties impacted. If we hadn't done the culvert work and made those adaptive projects and implemented them, we probably would have actually dozens and another significant flood event on our hands. So I guess that's a great example of adaptation and action is understanding that, you know, regardless of what happens the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years, we're going to see more of these events of higher duration, frequency and intensity. And so, you know, we need to do our part to identify where those risks are, and make, you know, the strategic investments to reduce the risks to the residents of the city. 9:33 Ayesha Hmm, it's an interesting thing to invest in, because if the investments are happening, and the work is going ahead properly, we're not going to have these extreme problems where everyone calls for action. So it has to kind of happen in the background. 9:48 Michael Papadacos Well, it's you know, there's an adage in the infrastructure world, right, which is: if you're not boring, you're not doing your job. Right. And I think there was a great John Oliver sketch of all things where he tried to make infrastructure exciting. But if infrastructure is being planned, built and managed properly, then, you know, the hope is that most people don't know that's going on, and they can go on with the other elements of their life. 10:16 Ayesha Sure. And I think we can see in a lot of the infrastructure capital projects in this year's budget, most of them have a yes or no, or just a yes (I don't think the noes are included) for climate mitigation or climate adaptation or both. Can you just walk me through a little bit of what makes the criteria for both climate mitigation and climate adaptation? 10:42 Michael Papadacos Sure. So climate mitigation, I think you'd mentioned it earlier, that's any kind of action that reduces a contributing factor to climate change. So that would be reducing primarily anything that creates greenhouse gases, right. So if it's the heating of buildings, or the powering of, of buildings, or the fuel used in our fleet, things of that nature, right. So any type of a project where completion of the project will result in a, you know, quantifiable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, that would qualify it as a climate mitigation type project. A climate adaptation project, on the other hand, would be something that helps to build some resilience into the city with respect to, you know, some climate change impacts. So primarily, Is it some kind of a flood reduction measure or improvement? Or is it some kind of a project that might help in the event of more extreme heat days? 11:46 Ayesha I see, so it's about meeting these specific targets of reducing emissions fossil fuel use, and I think the other one was energy consumption? It doesn't include things like environmental stewardship, that's just a totally different portfolio. Is that right? 12:01 Michael Papadacos Well, I guess you know, environmental stewardship, depending on what element you're looking at, will have components of one or the other or possibly both. Right? So, for instance, you know, investments that we make in our emerald ash borer program, right. So the emerald ash borer is an invasive species that is killing all ash trees in the city, we've invested money to strategically save as many of the ash trees that we can, that are in primarily, you know, street tree scenarios. And so that would be an example of a stewardship type of an initiative, right, trying to protect and save these trees that are at risk. You know, they're at risk, partially because of, it's an adaptation, it's a response, right? We're having to respond in this way. Because, you know, the ash borer is an invasive species and its growth, in some respects and spread has is accelerated by climate change. And so that would be an example of where, you know, preserving, preserving those would be some, both an adaptation action, because we're adapting to this impact, but then also, because trees, store carbon, they help, you know, reduce, reduce, you know, air pollution, local air pollution, and some of the impacts of that would be a mitigation impact as well. And then also the shade, right, trees provide shade, so that helps reduce heat island effects. So it's also that adaptation on the extreme heat side of things as well. 13:36 Ayesha Sure, it seems like an interesting lens to analyze these different projects as well, I guess on the other hand, and one project that kind of caught my eye in the budget was, and it's not seeing any money till 2023. But that's the development of the Parkway into a high use road serving the north end of the city. That is labeled in the budget as a climate mitigation project. So I guess that's just the kind of flipside reverse example of not necessarily being environmental stewardship. 14:06 Michael Papadacos Yeah, you know, a project that is underway right now is a pilot to improve the optimization and synchronization of our traffic signals, right. So, traffic congestion is a contributor to mitigation, or is a contributor to climate change in greenhouse gas emissions. So that's, yeah, that's, that's a possibly an example of where, you know, a mitigation. It would reduce traffic. But again, you know, to your point, there's probably some, you know, the devils in the details. 14:44 Ayesha Sure. Um, one thing I noticed in the capital budget, there's a line item for sustainability projects. And you can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't is that new to the budget this year? And could you speak to what those are? 14:59 Michael Papadacos Not the sustainability projects, that has been in the budget for a few years, it predates my time at the city. So I can't speak to exactly when it would have come into the budget. But the intention for that, for that bucket of money is for getting city funds in place primarily so we can access funding opportunities, you know, when there's funding opportunities, most of the time, it's not just free money, right, it's usually say 50%, or up to some percentage. So we do have to have some skin in the game as a municipality. So what that budget provides is for us to be able to undertake those types of projects. That line item in the budget is primarily for things that are hard built assets. So an example of what we've earmarked some of that money for, you know, we've made an application to the Natural Resources Canada, who's will fund up to 50% of electric vehicle charging infrastructure for employers, right, to allow for them to consider electric vehicles as part of their fleet. So we have an application into NRCan to get 50% of the funding, so we can install dual charging stations at various city facilities. So that way, you know, that takes takes away sort of that chicken and egg conundrum sometimes where, you know, a manager may want to consider when we're looking at replacing a vehicle in the fleet, you know, it might be a light duty vehicle, or there might be a suitable electric vehicle that we could consider, you know, without the charging infrastructure, right, that's a harder choice to make. So by doing this, right, we can leverage some municipal money into funding from another level of government. We are looking to build that infrastructure, it will be city owned infrastructure on city properties around the city. So that way, we could look at, at fleet considerations or electric vehicle considerations. facility. So we looked at, you know, I think we proposed some additional – because you know, there's some charger chargers that the King Street parking garage, we've proposed some additional charges, but those would be dedicated then for parking vehicles, parking enforcement vehicles, or parking division vehicles. We've looked at public works yard, having a couple installed there. Same with the wastewater treatment plant, and then another one, I think, at the, at the transit yard. So those are so the idea is to have those they'd be owned by the city, we would then have them at our facilities, and then we can use them for charging and electric vehicles that we procure in the coming years. 17:37 Ayesha I see. So this comes first, and then it opens up the possibility of moving to electric or partially electric fleet for various departments. 17:45 Michael Papadacos Right, yeah, exactly. 17:47 Ayesha Um, great. Well, okay, so I just want to – we're running out of time and I have two questions left, if you have another couple minutes? So late last year, Mayor and Council voted to declare a climate change emergency. I wondered if you could just speak to how that impacted progress on the climate change action plan and your work, if at all? 18:08 Michael Papadacos Sure, so. So I guess the emergency climate change emergency declaration provided additional sort of priority, part of a priority and focus, as seen in the budgeting, and you know, it's integrated across all city departments and divisions. You know, I think the one probably one of the biggest things that it did is it prompted council to make additional dedicated funding commitments through last year's budget where they created a climate change reserve. That has been continued in this year's draft budget, or recommended in this year's draft budget, and then those funds are helping to kind of fund some of these other some of these projects as well. So I think that, you know, I think that it provided an opportunity to focus counsel in providing some resources to be able to advance that. 18:59 Ayesha Okay, I think, yeah, sorry. I think I confused sustainability projects and the new climate change fund as the new thing in this budget. I don't think I saw any, I guess with withdrawals or any projects being financed through the reserve fund, is that right? 19:17 Michael Papadacos So yeah, when the reserve was established as part of the 2020 budget process. We brought a report forward in March of this year, I made some recommendations on how to suggest spending that or to bring forward a report to how we would spend some of that as well as making a couple recommendations. That was literally right when the onset of the pandemic happened and so council just said pause on allocating those monies until we have a better sense on where things stand. Okay, so the money is there. It's earmarked for this. They just asked us not to spend much of it. So what we did over the course of this year was we, you know, we we found other ways that we could advance projects, you know, with existing funding or, you know, again looking towards, you know, where is it that we can leverage outside outside monies or funding to be able to advance some of the objectives that are contained within there. And then if you look in this year's budget, some of these projects are being funded through the climate change reserve. 20:28 Ayesha Okay, gotcha. Well, thanks so much for taking us through this today. I really appreciate your time, Michael. 20:34 Michael Papadacos No problem, Ayesha, thank you for the questions. 20:42 Ayesha That was Michael Papadacos, head of the infrastructure management division at the City of Peterborough. We ran out of time towards the end before we could get to specific budget lines that are drafted to receive funding from the Climate Change Action Plan Reserve Fund, so I followed up by email and here's what I found out. In the draft 2021 budget there is a specific line item for implementing the Climate Change Action Plan which has a total of $1.5 million over the next 10 years and $150,000 for spending in 2021. This budget item is for seed funding climate change projects in the community. In a separate budget line, there's also half a million dollars over the next 10 years set towards Sustainability Projects for the city's corporate services – which includes the electric vehicle charging stations that Michael spoke about. In 2021 that spending is drafted at $65,000. Also the operating budget proposes to convert the Climate Change coordinator position from a contract to a full-time job. And the last budget line drawing funds from the climate change action reserve is the $250,000 drafted to be spent in 2021 on the alternative fuel study for Peterborough Transit, which would look at the implications of transitioning the bus fleet off of fossil fuels. That's all the spending that draws specifically from the climate change reserve fund that Michael was speaking about towards the end of our interview. But there's also other investments being made towards the Climate Action Plan's goals. Michael wrote that, “You can think of the Climate Change Reserve as bonus funding on top of a host of investments in climate action that are already being made. “ He notes that other initiatives like the Source Separated Organics Program, the conversion of decorative streetlights to LED, the watershed plan and many others contribute towards the climate action plan and are spread out across the budget. I know that's a lot of information – I've also prepared a write-up of this info on our website with some additional details, since it might be easier to digest by reading about it. That's all for Peterborough Currents today, thanks so much for listening. Music in this episode comes courtesy of the Mayhemingways. My name is Ayesha Barmania. City council is deliberating on the budget this week, and our next episode will bring you some of the highlights of those meetings. Talk to you soon. Bye for now.

Diversity and inclusion are key drivers of innovation and success in the workplace. So, in such an innovative field like renewable energy, how can the industry attract talent? Joanna Osawe, President & CEO of Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) shares the mission behind her organization as well as what WIRE is doing to support women seeking education and employment in the renewable energy sector. Related Content & Links: www.womeninrenewableenergy.ca WiRE Report: Navigating COVID19 & The Future of Energy: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/524b6ff3e4b030f838029610/t/5f733e81a472ac56517dc033/1601388165792/FutureofEnergy_Report_WiRE.pdf Follow WiRE on www.Twitter/WiRE_Canada www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-renewable-energy-wire www.instagram.com/wire_canada/ https://www.facebook.com/WomenInRE   Transcript: Dan Seguin  00:02 Hey, everyone, welcome back. This is the ThinkEnergy podcast. RESPECT, nine to five, I will survive. Besides being some of my fave tunes, there's a reason why I'm mentioning these female empowerment songs today. Why are people always surprised to find out that I'm a Gloria Gaynor and Aretha Franklin fan? the renewable energy sector is growing. And the jobs are, to say the least exciting and interesting from wind turbine and solar technicians to a wide cross section of other technical and professional engineers and geotechnical careers. Canada's renewable energy industry is accelerating. And there's a lot of quality careers emerging, particularly in STEM. That's the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. According to the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, there are currently more than 300,000 people employed in Canada's clean energy sector. And it's continuing to grow by 5% a year. So if projections are correct, there will be more than half a million Canadians employed in the clean energy sector by 2031 side that isn't moving as fast, however, is the number of women filling these key roles. Right now. The renewable energy industry employs about 32% of women, but most are in administrative positions. We know that the energy sector remains one of the least gender diverse industries, with women making up only 22% of the workers overall. We also know that gender diverse workplaces thrive, and are more innovative and financially successful. So in such an innovative field, like renewable energy, how can the industry attract talent? Well, some barriers that women faced as identified by electricity, Human Resources Canada include discrimination, a lack of mentorship, and a non inclusive workplace culture. In order to power the future, and the country's renewable energy projects, these systemic barriers need to be addressed. And it can't come fast enough. With half of the experienced engineering workforce retiring in the next decade, there's a skill shortage on the horizon, but also a huge opportunity for change. The goal of renewable energy essentially, is to make the future better for everyone. Isn't that what the industry should stand for today as well? So here is today's big question, what is being done to boost women's renewable energy careers, from education to employment, in order to allow their talent to be fully realized? to shed some light on this, joining us today is Joanna Osawe, the President and CEO of women in renewable energy or wire. Welcome, Joanna. Are you ready to get started? Maybe you could begin by telling our listeners a bit about you and what drew you to the renewable energy sector. Joanna Osawe  04:22 So I started in the renewable sector, thanks to my mom and dad. My mom was a microbiologist and my father and mechanical engineer and through my childhood, they always promoted and really made sure that I was aware of STEM. And really what that meant. When I first started in the industry, as a matter of fact, I applied for a job that was a pharmaceutical job. And the recruiter actually, that met with me actually told me that I was there for a renewable position. And as a matter of fact, Daniel for two years prior to that I was looking to get into the sector. And this was really, you know, a huge eye opener for me. And that's when I began my career was with Gail force energy. And then it was bought out by AirTriCity and then bought out by Eon, which is the biggest private utility in the world based out of Dusseldorf, by then I had moved to Chicago. And, and, you know, really my career started when the renewable sector was very young and fresh back in the 1990s, you know, the generating coal plants are really the activity of the day, then we moved on into the year 2000s. And we saw that renewable sector, you know, started to really make an impact. Infrastructure, of course started to build up and mining took a dip. And really, you know, the activity of the day has been really to follow the market trends. And the renewable sector is something that I'm extremely passionate about. Dan Seguin  05:51 Cool, very nice journey. There's a line on your website that I really like, it's "WIRE is inclusive of all renewable energy technologies". Can you tell us about that line, the objectives of your organization? And why the focus on renewable energy versus the energy industry as a whole? Joanna Osawe  06:18 That's a great question. Thank you. So our mission is very simple. It's to advance the role and recognition of women in the energy sector. When I say when, because I started my career in the renewable sector. You know, WIRE is something that I'm very passionate about, especially the renewable side, however, we are all inclusive of all, every single type of energy. Anyone that is in the energy sector, there's a place for them to come and network with us to attend field trips, because most people don't know the difference is between a distribution line versus a transmission line. And the platform is really open to to anyone that has an interest and understanding more and getting educated. So our programming consists of networking, field trips, mentoring, speed, interviewing, student bursaries, we have a great awards program, we do blogs on different folks, we really work with indigenous community. So we're really impactful on a lot of different streams, and certainly, WIRE again, because I started my career in the renewables. And, and really, I wanted to focus on that, but we are inclusive of all different types of energies. Dan Seguin  07:29 Okay, Joanna, can you give us some examples of how your organization is closing the gap, and advancing the role and recognition of women in the sector? Joanna Osawe  07:42 Certainly, we offer a lot of mentorship, we also have networking events, I'll be bringing C suite speakers, where you know, they have the time to educate our participants, our stakeholders and what they do. And we have different  women that actually come in to us. Whether it's, you know, Michelle Brannigan from HRC, whether it's Jane Travers, from the Vice President of OPG, whether it's  Ayesha Sabouba from hydro one, I mean, we have such a plethora of amazing women in our sector. And we really highlight that, because, you know, the the energy sector is very complicated and complex sector. And it's really important to understand what an engineer does what a financier does what even an ornithologist, an archaeologist does. So it really molds everything together. Also on the gender gap, we definitely promote to support one another, and be able to be there. So we offer mentorship programs as well. And that's very important. We also work with students, because students are really the platform where they're able to elevate and really start looking into networking and understanding the energy sector. So we actually just started a student Harper student chapter at ontario Tech University. And this month, we're opening up at University of Windsor as well. Dan Seguin  09:04 Is it equally about creating a culture of belonging in the workplace, and the work organizations need to do to create welcoming, inclusive spaces? Joanna Osawe  09:19 So one is really about how we view it. It's that inclusivity it's about gender diversity and inclusion. And that means everyone here in Toronto, we have over 117 spoken languages. And we are so lucky here in Toronto, and in Canada, where we are a multicultural society. And I want to see this being inclusive of everyone. And when I mean everyone, men, women, LGBTQ to us, it's really about the diversity. I think that coming from different backgrounds and different cultures. The moment that we're seated at that executive board table, we actually are able to provide different solutions, because of our different backgrounds or different demographics, and I do believe that this is about inclusivity, that mostly about making sure that, that there's equality as well. Dan Seguin  10:12 Okay, how do you think we can attract the younger generation of girls to consider career paths and education in STEM? Can you also maybe talk about how you engage young women to think about careers in renewable energy as an exciting option? Joanna Osawe  10:32 So definitely, you know, for me, it started at home. And it was because of my parents, I think that STEM is something that even as a young child, they should be learning. We also have, like I just pointed out, you do have the student chapters now because it does give them a platform to be able to network with different people, and also be able to understand again, our industry, I think that definitely with when I was in university, we didn't have a WIRE or organization that actually helped me network. I think that the quicker that, you know, someone networks, the better off they are, because it is a very small industry, and everyone seems to know one another. I think that for children, again, there's different actually wire partners with a lot of different organizations. So there's one called skilled trades, or kick ass careers. And it's Jamie McMillan. And actually what she does, she goes to different elementary schools and high schools and actually talks about what skilled trades are, we partner with a lot of different organizations that also such as relay education that really educate children right into what they're doing. So I think it's very important to engage with partners for why or some parts, engage with different partners, that we can actually solidify our message together. And so people know that there are platforms that they can reach out. Dan Seguin  12:03 Okay, maybe you can expand on some of the barriers to entry for women in renewable in the renewable energy sector. Joanna, what advice do you have for a woman starting her career in renewable energy. Joanna Osawe  12:20 Um, I can only speak for myself. However, one of the things that when I was applying for jobs when I was my goodness, 23/24 i, there's jobs that I had no business applying for, and I've never boxed myself in, you know, requirements are there and qualifications, but I really bypass all those. And I truly wouldn't be where I am today, if it wasn't, you know, for the fact that I don't, I didn't check every single box. I think that apply for the jobs that, you know, you align with, apply for jobs that are not, you may not think they're attainable. And surprisingly, for me, it worked out. And but I also was never afraid of, of applying for jobs that were above me. And I think too often, we are segmented. And we need to check that box. So that's one advice as well. And also, you don't have to be an engineer to enter the renewable space. There's so many different opportunities, from data analysts to be an ornithologist to be an archaeologist to environmental assessments. I mean, you know, there's, there's just so many different ways that you can get engaged. So I'm not an engineer, and yet, you know, 15 plus years later, I'm sitting where I am. Dan Seguin  13:43 So you don't want you don't want to be afraid to step out of the box. Joanna Osawe  13:47 That's right. Dan Seguin  13:48 Yes. Okay. Um, well, I know that mentorship plays an important role in your organization, as you stated, what are your thoughts on how established women in the energy sector can play the role of a mentor for an upcoming generation? Joanna Osawe  14:08 Right now, I'm actually mentoring two different women, currently. One is with the Clean Energy Business Council out of Dubai, and we've partnered with them Women in clean energy, and it's a young lady that has just entered into the energy space. Another one that I mentoring is with Women for Climate which the City of Toronto has launched, and I'm mentoring this amazing young woman who's looking into sustainable textiles. And I really feel that it's important to mentor but even more importantly, to sponsor someone where you're actually taking them to that next level. I've been very fortunate in my career, that I had great male champions that believed in me and really sponsored me so to me mentorship and sponsorships are a little bit You know, I define them differently a little bit. Dan Seguin  15:04 Okay. Can you talk a bit, a bit more about your programming? What makes WIRE unique? And in ways in what ways can you create that greater awareness in the industry, and about the exciting career opportunities that actually exist? Joanna Osawe  15:25 Certainly, when I started, WIRE, this was back in 2012. And then we launched in 2013, we had started just in Toronto, we're now in every single province in Canada, as well as the territories, we have expanded in the Middle East. We are now in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Jordan, and UAE. And we actually get invited to these countries. And the reason that we're there is because Canadian embassies, I work with the Canadian embassies and consulates. And because our Prime Minister's vision is really aligned with WIRE's vision as well to make sure that we're advancing the role and recognition of women. So therefore, I like to talk about local, so be global, but act local, so some of the programming here in Canada may not necessarily coincide with Turkey, or in Jordan. So we have to be very mindful and sensitive to different demographics. When I presented or I gave my intervention of the G7, two years ago on gender diversity, the G7 countries also had, you know, have requested that we enter the market. So at this point, we are working with them as well. Some of our programming, like I said, In Canada, include some networking, which is extremely important, because I do believe, and I'm using Annette Verschuren, the president ceo, quote from from NRstor, "your network is your net worth". And I think that that's a very good, fantastic quote. And also, you know, with, with the networking, it's huge. The field trips are extremely important. We've had hundreds of them, we actually did last year with OPG at the SIR Adam back generating station, we've been to the IEA. So we've been to wind farms, solar farms, energy storage projects. So the list goes on and on. And this is open to all. So just because some of the programming is for women, you may think because of WIRE, however it is open to all. We like we have student bursaries. So students can attend conferences, because when I was a student, I can tell you, I did not have $2,000 to attend a conference. So we definitely provide that platform. We also, we also do speed mentoring, speed interviewing. So we work with different companies that are looking for talent pools that we can actually provide them so and it really diminishes the hours for human resources and they're able to shortlist really great candidates. The speed mentoring we do at different conferences we do with different companies as well, we're repair of course decision makers with students or emerging professionals. We work with indigenous communities, we do blogs, we do awards, I love our awards section because we really highlight women and champion them so we have Woman of the Year award which we presented Afro yearly woman have went which was with Can Ria, which is now Can Ria woman a solar can't see it, but now can we can see I've joined forces, they're called now Can Ria we do? Women have hydro with water power, Canada, and right now we are working with for the second year in a row with NRcan, C3C and IEA to provide organizational awards and, and also individual awards. So this was actually presented this year at the G 20. And in August, so we're consistently growing on programs and looking at different ways to make sure that we're outreaching. As mentioned earlier, we definitely have opened up student chapters. So we definitely want to make sure that students have are able to, you know, leave on with us and connect with us. And one thing that's very unique about WIRE is that we are extremely welcoming. And one thing that I even when I was younger and I did attend certain workshops or events, I would be very uncomfortable and uneasy. However I think once again, we are very open minded and we're always inclusive, and that is the way that you know, that's the feedback we get. Dan Seguin  19:32 Okay, and by the way, I will be testing your speed interview skills shortly. Okay, so how has the pandemic changed your landscape? Maybe you can elaborate on some of the impacts and how your sector has adapted. Joanna Osawe  19:55 Certainly, and I'll share this report with you we actually WIRE published a report it was called navigating COVID-19 and the future of energy. So we actually interviewed 35 plus CEOs and VPS, across Canada. And this was men, women and all that we interviewed anonymously. And, you know, it was very interesting to hear from the east coast to Central Canada to the west coast, the differences, and you know, the similarities as well. And for WIRE, but that meant is that we have to start virtually, and me not being extremely technical when it comes to technology. I have amazing volunteers, amazing support system that really came forward to assist make sure that we are still able to be outspoken, we're still able to reach out to to our stakeholders, our participants. And what's changes now that is become more on a global scale. So we're actually connecting to WIRE, Canada, two WIRE Turkey, to WIRE Azerbaijan. So I think it's really actually quite impactful. And I think that that's actually become more accessible in a lot of different ways. So that's what's changed for us. Dan Seguin  21:10 Okay, maybe you can share the link with me, and I'll put it in our show notes. So listeners can actually look into it. Joanna Osawe  21:17 Yes, perfect. Dan Seguin  21:18 Okay, so looking to a post pandemic horizon, what are some of the hard business lessons your sector was exposed to, or opportunities that were found, Joanna Osawe  21:32 I'm so used to attending events and being extremely social, and really networking and traveling. So that came to a full stop. That really impacted me personally. Because I'm so used to being around people and doing workshops, like I said, or being a panelist or a moderator. So that really stopped. You know, we were supposed to be in Chile presenting the the C3 awards this year, I mean, there's a lot of exciting opportunities or travel opportunities that we were wanting to expand as well with WIRE. So that really changed. Another thing that changes, obviously, now we're connecting through virtual platforms at all times. And I'm sure that there's a lot of zoom fatigue these days. And I think that's become a dip that's become very interesting to speak to people through your computer rather than personally, because being face to face has a different feel to it. So that's changed. However, I've adapted, you know, I think that as time passes you sort of mold into what's happened. And you know, you're, we have to be safe, and we have to be cautious. And, you know, I think that until it is safe, so we are going to protect the community at WIRE and everyone else. Dan Seguin  22:58 So, Joanna, would you say that this pandemic is an opportunity for a green recovery for the planet? Are you encouraged by the federal government's recent $10 billion infrastructure investments to support renewable energy? Joanna Osawe  23:17 Absolutely, I think the pandemic has definitely impacted climate change in a good way in a positive way. I mean, we can definitely see there was less cars driving I mean, there's, it's I think that is really has changed the landscape or for our environment, which is a positive thing. I'm sure you saw this as well, in Venice, there are dolphins found swimming, right. And we've seen such a great impact on air pollution as well. As far as this throne speech, I am so proud of our government for actually allocating the $10 billion because Canada is a leader in the renewable sector, and I'm very proud that our government is supporting and continuing to work with, you know, with our sector, I think that's a very important sector and we need to recognize that so I definitely applaud them for doing so. Dan Seguin  24:11 Okay, Joanna, are you ready to close us off with some rapid fire questions? Joanna Osawe  24:18 Yes. Dan Seguin  24:19 Okay. What is your favorite word? Joanna Osawe  24:22 gratefulness / being grateful Dan Seguin  24:25 Good, very good one. What is the one thing you can't live without? Joanna Osawe  24:31 Chocolate Dan Seguin  24:36 What habit or hobby Have you picked up during shelter in place? Joanna Osawe  24:42 I'm a terrible cook so I've been trying to cook. Dan Seguin  24:48 If you could have one superpower, what would it be Joanna Osawe  24:52 To fly! Dan Seguin  24:53 Okay, if you could turn back time and talk to your 18 year old self What would you tell her? Joanna Osawe  25:02 Not to worry. Dan Seguin  25:06 And lastly, what do you currently find most interesting in your sector? Joanna Osawe  25:12 My colleagues that have become friends. And also, you know, the energy sector for me has always not been a job in our career. It's been a lifestyle. So I think that's the way I view it. That's what's really exciting to me. Dan Seguin  25:24 Very nice. Well, Joanna, we've reached the end of another episode of The ThinkEnergy podcast last question for you. How can our listeners learn more about you? And women in renewable energy? How can they connect? Joanna Osawe  25:40 Please email us at info@womeninrenewableenergy.ca. Visit our website at womeninrenewableenergy.ca. You can follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, of course, and subscribe to our newsletter. We have great events coming up on a monthly basis, sometimes two or three as well. So we welcome you and thank you. Dan Seguin  26:02 Again, thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you had a lot of fun. Joanna Osawe  26:06 I sure did. Thanks, Dan. This is really great. Dan Seguin  26:11 Thank you for joining us today. I truly hope you enjoyed this episode of The ThinkEnergy podcast. For past episodes, make sure you visit our website hydroottawa.com/podcast. Lastly, if you found value in this podcast, be sure to subscribe. Anyway, this podcast is a wrap. Cheers, everyone.

This week’s podcast is a recording of a live stream conversation that Peter and Jackie hosted on June 22, 2020 with the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. Here are some of the questions they asked Minister O’Regan during the one hour interactive session.  How can the regionalism and antagonism in the debate (more...)

We received a lot of feedback from listeners who are interested in energy efficiency and curious about what they can do to make their existing home more energy-efficient. We decided to bring back Chris McLellan from the Office of Energy Efficiency to discuss getting better performance and comfort out of your home. The Future of Energy Efficiency for Homes (Ask NRCan) - https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science/21703 Energy efficiency for homes - https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-homes/20546 EnerGuide in Canada - https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/energuide/12523 Simply Science: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science Simply Science YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNbgD_ZfyM6lh1KbemOKfeg?view_as=subscriber%3Fsub_confirmation%3D1

Marine geoscientist Calvin Campbell joins us to talk about the importance of a specific underwater landslide that caused a massive tsunami in Newfoundland back in 1929. Calvin is part of a team studying this historical landslide, and shares with us recent findings that changed our perception of the event. Recommended Links - The 1929 Magnitude 7.2 "Grand Banks" earthquake and tsunami - http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic-historique/events/19291118-en.php - Earthquakes Canada - http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/index-en.php - GEOSCAN Database - https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/geoscan-index.html Other related products on Simply Science: - The Dangers of Underwater Landslides (Ask NRCan) - https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science/21657 Simply Science: www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science Simply Science YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNbgD_ZfyM6lh1KbemOKfeg?view_as=subscriber%3Fsub_confirmation%3D1

This episode is all about earthquakes. We are joined by seismologist John Cassidy who explains what causes earthquakes, where they are more likely to occur, and he answers the big question: “can we predict them?” Recommended Links: -Earthquakes Canada - http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/index-en.php -BC Shakeout - https://www.shakeoutbc.ca/ John Cassidy on Twitter - https://twitter.com/earthquakeguy Other earthquake-related products on Simply Science: -When the earth whispers… - https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science/20478 -The Mystery of the Missing Village - https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science/20504 -Earthquakes: shaking the foundations of popular misconceptions - https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science/21460 -Newspaper archives detail 1855 quake that shook the Maritimes - https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science/21869 Simply Science: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science Simply Science YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNbgD_ZfyM6lh1KbemOKfeg?view_as=subscriber%3Fsub_confirmation%3D1

Like many organizations, the Government of Canada is exploring ways to incorporate artificial intelligence into our work to make us more efficient and effective. On this episode, we’ll learn what artificial intelligence is, and we’ll see how it can be used to solve problems that the natural resource sectors are facing. CIFAR Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy: https://www.cifar.ca/ai/pan-canadian-artificial-intelligence-strategy Government of Canada Digital Standards: https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/digital-government/government-canada-digital-standards.html Responsible use of artificial intelligence: https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/digital-government/modern-emerging-technologies/responsible-use-ai.html Report to the Clerk of the Privy Council: A Data Strategy Roadmap for the Federal Public Service: https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/corporate/clerk/publications/data-strategy.html Plans at a glance (NRCan): https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/plans-performance-reports/dp/2018-19/20769 Intro to AI for Policymakers: Understanding the shift (Brookfield Institute): https://brookfieldinstitute.ca/report/intro-to-ai-for-policymakers/ Montreal Declaration Responsible AI: https://www.montrealdeclaration-responsibleai.com/ Simply Science: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science Simply Science YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNbgD_ZfyM6lh1KbemOKfeg?view_as=subscriber%3Fsub_confirmation%3D1

During a geological mapping expedition to the western Canadian Arctic in 2014, research scientist Rob Rainbird collected samples that yielded microfossils of a species of fungus that is about one billion years old. Rob joins us to share his experience in the field, as well as discuss his discovery. Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM): https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/resources/federal-programs/geomapping-energy-minerals/18215 Research Gate – Robert H. Rainbird: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert_Rainbird Rob’s Canoe Trip Through Time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfc5zmXJJwQ&list=PLubfjRTPezhhhKoZDyJSchIAaYIQNWezA&index=14&t=0s Simply Science: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/simply-science Simply Science YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNbgD_ZfyM6lh1KbemOKfeg?view_as=subscriber%3Fsub_confirmation%3D1 Photo courtesy of Rob Rainbird

The spruce budworm is a notorious forest pest that has been causing havoc in recent years in Eastern Canada. It feeds on new foliage from spruce and fir trees, often killing them in the process. Rob Johns from the Canadian Forest Service joins us to talk about the measures taken to slow down the spruce budworm outbreak. Healthy Forest Partnership: http://www.healthyforestpartnership.ca/

For National Electricity Month (NEM), Flux Capacitor, the podcast about the future of electricity, Episode 008, features a discussion with the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, recorded live before an audience at CEA’s Town Hall at the National Arts Centre.  Interviewed by CEA’s Government Relations Director Michael Powell, the wide-ranging discussion with Minister Sohi touches on innovation, electrification and new technologies. From the CEA team, Francis Bradley and Michael Powell talk about recent news, and Daniella Bidin drops by to talk about the NEM launch and CEA’s future scenarios as fleshed-out by author Kate Heartfield and presented as monologues by four local actors at our Electrifying Night at the Museum.

In the 1980s, scientist Kim Conway was part of an expedition to map the continental shelf in the Pacific Ocean. During this mission, he made a fascinating and unexpected discovery – unique reefs that were long thought to be extinct. Kim explains the significance of this discovery and what it means for science. Hecate Strait/Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/mpa-zpm/hecate-charlotte/index-eng.html Strait of Georgia and Howe Sound Glass Sponge Reef Conservation Initiative: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/ceccsr-cerceef/closures-fermetures-eng.html

Research scientist Peter Gogolek explains to us what is renewable hydrogen, how it is used by the energy sector, as well as how it can help Canada lower its carbon footprint.

On this episode of “Ask NRCan,” research scientist David Mosher talks about his experiences travelling to the North on a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker to map the Arctic Ocean floor.

On this episode of “Ask NRCan,” engineer Chris McLellan talks about the next generation of energy efficient homes in Canada.

Join Jason as he interviews Graham Allen of NRCan and spokesperson for the Power Forward Tech Challenge. The Cleantech industry is starting to implement a plethora of new and different technologies that have the potential for far reaching impacts. The Power Forward Challenge is a call for entrepreneurs in cleantech to design solutions for smart grid technologies in a partnership between Canada and the UK. Listen on for more details!

On this episode of “Ask NRCan,” research scientist Alexandre Normandeau talks about his work on underwater landslides and their impacts on coastal communities.

On this episode of AskNRCan, our experts explain how we’re working to increase the use of wood in non-traditional buildings like high-rises, commercial box stores, bridges and more.

Experts Peter Gogolek and Jean-François Levasseur discuss bioplastics, a type of plastic made from renewable biomass sources like vegetable fats and oils, straw, and woodchips. Are bioplastics truly better than petroleum based plastics? Listen to find out.

On this episode of AskNRCan, scientist Heather Dettman sits down with us to discuss her work with diluted bitumen to improve the transportation of crude oil and better understand how oil spills behave in water.

Rare earth elements are found in just about every type of high-tech device from smart phones to electric vehicles. In this episode of our Ask NRCan podcast, we sit down with expert Janice Zinck to discuss what rare earth elements are, why they are important and what type of research Natural Resources Canada is doing to help Canadian industry.

In this episode, Diane Cameron and Dave McCauley discuss how nuclear energy will play a key role in meeting our international climate targets.

In this episode of Ask NRCan, we talk to research scientist Peter Morse about climate change geoscience and permafrost research in the North.

In this edition of Ask NRCan, we discuss advanced material research for pipeline use with Philippe Dauphin, Director General of CanmetMATERIALS.

In this edition of Ask NRCan, researcher John Foran takes us through the basics of pipelines in Canada.

Dr. Jennifer Galloway explains how scientists rely on traditional knowledge to complement and supplement the scientific work conducted at NRCan.

Whether your company is large or small, you can become efficient, sustainable and profitable with the ISO 50001 energy management program.

Whether your company is large or small, you can become efficient, sustainable and profitable with the ISO 50001 energy management program.

From energy management and environmental initiatives to saving on operating costs, Canadian manufacturers benefit with NRCan and an ISO-50001 certification.

From energy management and environmental initiatives to saving on operating costs, Canadian manufacturers benefit with NRCan and an ISO-50001 certification.