Monthly Archive for January, 2012

Renewable Energy Return on Investment

Written by Kris Hodgson on January 27, 2012. 0 Comments

We here at the International Wind Energy Academy get asked several times when we are out in the community doing presentations and meeting with landowners and the public, what is your return on investment when buying renewable energy for your home?

While we can’t blame people for asking, have you ever considered the return on investment for your car also known as a bottomless money pit that continues to depreciate? How about that $500 Louis Vuitton purse or that laptop that you purchased yesterday that is now outdated?

When regarding the installation of small scale renewable energy like solar and wind, the term “quality of life” comes to mind.  The typical cost to install a wind or solar system is in the range of $15,000 to $20,000. For that kind of coin, it typically takes about 35 year payback with the amount of energy you can bring into your home. While some may be extremely discouraged by this fact, consider the unique selling feature you have in owning renewable energy and passing that onto the next homeowner if you ever decide to sell your home. In a flat real estate market, it’s one incredible advantage over other homes on the market.

There are also options like Enmax’s Generate Choice program that provide a great incentive for homeowners to adopt renewable energy with a $1,500, $2,500 or $3,500 down payment plus a $50 rental fee every month. By the end of 15 years, you own the system. With this installation, there is the opportunity to actually get credit on the amount of energy you are consuming vs. producing.

If you are purchasing a new home, you can roll the cost of renewable energy components right into your mortgage. With that, the amount you notice this minimal extra cost every month, it becomes an “out of sight, out of mind” scenario.

So when considering why some people adopt renewable energy, these are the typical answers we hear: we are doing it for our children, for the environment , and because I’d rather offset the increasing harvesting of coal, oil and natural gas and delay the onset of peak oil. Other answers include: it’s the right thing to do and why wouldn’t I do something like this?

There are an incredible amount of considerations to evaluate before putting renewable energy on your home but one of the most important things you can do first is to reduce the amount of energy you consume, also known as energy efficiency.

If you can increase the insulation factor of your home and improve the air tightness of the structure, this is one of the most effective ways you can start saving considerable dollars.

Also consider how many high tech gadgets you have, and how often they are plugged into the wall or how often you are using the dryer when a clothes line will knock your consumption down considerably. Power bars and unplugging your TV/stereo and other power draining items can also contribute to a reduced bill.

For more information on Energy efficiency workshops and sessions on Green living, please contact the International Wind Energy Academy at (403)320-3202 ext. 5489 or by checking out www.iwea.ca or www.facebook.com/lcitt

 

Educational Best Practices

Written by Kris Hodgson on January 13, 2012. 0 Comments

As it feels Alberta is just on the cusp of renewable energy being widely adopted, the key now is to look to best practices across the province.

This entry we’ll focus on schools making a difference. Let’s start in the southern part of the province and work up.

We’ll start with the latest success story Coaldale’s St. Joseph School. Just before the winter break, Science teacaher Zac Coupland had the opportunity to get a small scale Skystream wind turbine on his school property. Enmax was willing to work with the school to have it as a demonstration site so students could learn about renewable energy first hand. He invited the International Wind Energy Academy to speak at a council meeting to separate myths from fact when it comes to bird and bat fatalaties, noise and health concerns. The public got to express their thoughts on the addition. Some were negative and some were positive and in the end council approved the motion.

This bodes well for a community with just over 6,000 people as the Birds of Prey Centre has also expressed interest in a Demonstration Site for Renewable Energy. With more than 15,000 visitors between May and September including several school tours, this again opens the doors to environmental education.

The Cayley School has solar photovoltaic panels and a small wind turbine and the school’s Principal said in an article in the Nanton News that he hopes it will raise awareness of environmental issues among the kids of the school and residents in the village.

Olympic Heights School in Calgary is another great addition to this list of best practices. This Elementary School was one of the first in Alberta to have a Skystream 3.7 wind turbine in the middle of their playground. The children are able to monitor the wind turbine’s speed and how much power it produces on a daily basis through accessing a website on their smart board. The school also has a weather station that provides the opportunity to learn about wind chill,  barometric pressure, humidity, dewpoint and more. Across the Calgary School board their are other schools who have solar photovoltaic installed and students check to see how they are doing versus other schools and how much greenhouse gas emissions they are offsetting.

Moving Northwest up the province, Cochrane High School is another best practice with environmental education. It was back in 2000 that they developed a Cochrane Sustainable Development Project with volunteer members from Grades 9-12 that meet weekly to discuss a project they will accomplish annually.

They have implemented solar photovoltaic panels, solar thermal, a community garden, a small wind turbine, motion sensor lights, recycling, composting and more!

Queen Elizabeth High School is another excellent example that has been leading the way. This was one of the first schools in Edmonton to have solar photovoltaic panels on their roof. They also have a social justice club that fundraised and created solar lanterns that have been shipped to Haiti to provide light as the sun goes down around 6 p.m.

Last but not least the International Wind Energy Academy has hosted a Wind Energy Youth Camp last August, has hosted a University of Lethbridge Science Camp and has educated students on where electricity comes from, how to build a small wind turbine and more. We have one of Canada’s first trained Kid Wind Senators Kendra Gawletz.  We have a curriculum from Kid Wind called Wind Wise which focuses on wind energy for Grades 6-12 and we are looking at hosting a Kid Wind Challenge with schools from across southern Alberta making their own turbine and having a friendly competition. If you would like us to visit your school to provide renewable energy education, please do not hesitate to contact us by calling 403-320-3202 ext. 5489.

An exciting time to be involved in renewable energy

Written by Lethbridge College on January 3, 2012. 0 Comments

With the election of Premier Alison Redford last fall comes an exciting time. Never before have the words Renewable Energy been touted as a promise to the diversification of Alberta by a premier of the Wild Rose Province.

This in light of Premier McGuinty’s Green Energy Act which has created an incredible opportunity for job and the boost of the renewable energy sector in Ontario. If Alberta can learn from this aggressive adoption of wind and solar in the east, there is a great opportunity for Alberta to really shine on the world stage.

But it is not only politicians who are speaking about the benefits of renewable energy, energy superpower Enbridge invested $10 million in Ontario’s Morgan Solar company at the end of November.

This is in addition to the dynamic expansion of the wind energy sector in southern Alberta, building on the more than 800 MW the province offers. In the spring Greengate Power Corporation is planning the construction of Black Spring Ridge, the first of two 300 MW wind farms in the Carmangay area, one hour north of Lethbridge.

Shell’s Wild Steer Butte project is another exciting project with 775 MW of wind energy being developed hopefully within the next 3-5 years south of Bow Island.

With Lethbridge College offering the Wind Turbine Technician Program, there’s no better time than to invest in training.

That’s what excites the International Wind Energy Academy (IWEA) as we are offering four new courses to kickstart 2012.

Courses include Pre Employment Electrician with wind and solar installation components, Wind Park Construction, Pre-Employment Welding with pipeline assistant components as well as Introduction to the Trades which offers students the ability to learn about various trades all in one class.

To learn more about each of these new offerings, click on the hyperlinked text.

Click here to read more about the activities of IWEA in our latest newsletter: December Newsletter-radf