Fredericton city council has been given an outline of a new municipal initiative called Sustainability By Design. Story

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan was declared a green champion at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Awards of Excellence ceremony on June 5. Story

Mitsubishi's i-MiEV goes 130 km/h and 120 km on a single charge

 Mitsubish, Nissan, Ford, Chevy and many more are all coming out with their version of the electric vehicle. And if you have had a chance to drive one (like I have) you know that they are here to stay. Speed, ranges and safety systems are all there, and for many parts of North America, very low greenhouse gas emissions too. Of most interest to me right now is the one thing I don’t hear discussed enough; the lifespan of the electric car compared to the internal combustion engine models. 

Without oil changes, transmission fluid, multiple filters, the simplicity of the EV internal systems will result in a much longer lifespan and that will result in a major shift for automakers. While those in the EV market will be ahead of the others, they must realize that they are producing cars that will not turnover as fast as they are used to. Imagine no engine service! Many discussions around EV’s touch on batteries, charging stations, power, etc., but I believe that the excellent lifespan is currently left out of the discussion and will be a key influence on maketplace. Can’t wait….

The municipality of Delta, like other BC communities, are going to council to approve community GHG reduction amendments to their community plan to meet provincial requirements set through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act by May 31, 2010. Other BC communities are in various stages of target setting and whether communities need to be concerned about the repercussions is up for debate. However, of interest here is how communities are deciding to set their targets. Do they set aspirational targets and aim high? Or bottom-up targets that are built on the current understanding of GHG reduction potential. What is the approach of other communities to this in BC and across Canada?

Would a community use taxpayer dollars to purchase offsets to become carbon neutral? In BC, most municipalities have signed on to provincial Climate Action Charter. Members of the Charter have committed to carbon neutrality by 2012, but what this really means has not be clarified yet and the province will soon have to communicate what makes a community carbon neutral. So far the carbon neutral option, despite some developmental faults, has been the best way to form a basis of carbon accounting and making real reductions. But will this be acceptable once these commnities realize they are supporting carbon reduction projects outside of their communities? When is comes down to using taxes to pay for carbon neutrality, there will be a wide range of responses and some communities who will not participate for a variety of reasons. The lingering questions of offsetting (offset quality, location, etc) will be the biggest roadblock, or you can be like Eden Mills, Ontario, and go for nuetral without offsets: http://www.goingcarbonneutral.ca/ 

Evacuated tubes collect heat that is transfered to hot water tanks

There are now 16 solar communities participating in the SolarBC program to help promote solar hot water through their regions. SolarBC has significantly raised the awareness of this technology in BC but there is a lot to learn from the communities involved. Permitting requirements is one key area of debate. These requirements vary between the communities including in the Victoria area where permitting has generally been expected by municipalities as back-flow prevention and water contamination concerns linger. Is it nessecary to have a municiapl inspector review every system or will this slow down and become a barrier for residential uptake? Do other jurisdictions in North America and world require permits and are they effective or onerous?