Green jobs
Opinion: Liberal win doesn’t mean all’s fine with green energy strategy
Toronto Star / Tyler Hamilton / 28 October 2011
Another fix is needed with the FIT program itself. The rate structure is terribly out of date, and the Ontario Power Authority is already late in launching its two-year review of rates paid out for solar, wind, small hydro and biomass projects.
The rates under the FIT program were first announced in early 2009 and designed to assure a “reasonable” return on investment – about 11 or 12 per cent—for developers. The problem is that technology costs shift over time, sometimes dramatically. Solar is a case in point.
A recent report from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory concluded that the average pre-incentive cost of residential and commercial solar PV systems fell 17 per cent last year and a further 11 per cent in the first half of 2011.
“Solar cell prices around the world have gone down significantly,” Paco Caudet, general manager of solar module maker Siliken Canada, told me this summer. “We have brought down costs over the last five months alone by almost 30 per cent.”
You hear the same story over at Celestica, which is manufacturing solar panels and inverters in Ontario for other companies looking to comply with local content rules.
Mike Andrade, the company’s senior vice-president, echoed Caudet’s view. He said the original solar FIT rates were based on a price for panels and inverters that is now 30 to 40 per cent lower. “Developers can make a fine return on investment at a much lower FIT rate than we have now,” he said.
Yet we continue to wait for rate adjustments. In retrospect, the two-year review was a mistake. Rate structure reviews should be done annually so the program can more quickly adapt to a changing marketplace.
We might also want to ask: should developers of multi-megawatt solar projects and large wind farms be booted out of the FIT program entirely?
After all, the program was created so community cooperatives, small businesses, farmers and homeowners could participate more easily in an electricity system previously dominated by the big developers, who were the only ones with the resources to take part in a competitive bidding process.
The level of community participation hoped for just hasn’t happened under the FIT, and this may explain why the McGuinty government had such a poor showing in rural Ontario ridings. People in many of these ridings are feeling like big projects are being imposed on them and that they have little say in the process.
Where the jobs are: Energy savers
CNN Money / Steve Hargreaves / 08 July 2011
The prospects for finding a job in most areas of the economy may be getting bleaker by the day, but one sector stands out: energy efficiency.
Over half the energy professionals surveyed recently said they cannot find enough qualified people to meet current hiring demands in this fast-growing industry.
And the problem is only set to get worse.
Kingston: Students help get city growing
Kingston Whig-Standard / Tori Stafford / 20 April 2011
They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but for local students involved in a partnership with Living Cities, it's what will replace the grass that truly embodies the term "green".
Living Cities, a Kingston-based business focused on offering urban gardening services, takes underused space and develops closed-loop agriculture systems that work with composting and waste diversion, rainwater collection and growing produce.
Begun in 2008, Living Cities is now partnering with local high schools to bring its mandate into the classroom.
Urban Agriculture
Green Communities Canada / GCNews 714 / 07 February 2011
Urban agriculture is rising steadily in the US and Canada: community and school gardens, commercial farms in suburbs, rooftop gardens, bee-keeping operations. Growing Healthy, Sustainable Places report illustrates the range of local government efforts, policies and programs both emerging and in place as they respond to the needs of the urban agriculture community … Vancouver Food Networks organize mini-farmers markets, community gardens, canning workshops, community kitchens and more … Successful UK foodhub computer systems are available free of charge … See Earth Policy Institute look on food security.
COABC Conference Webinars series is now available
The 2010 Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia (COABC) Conference Webinars series is now available online.
Ecological Farm Internships - Farmer Training in Ontario
Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training in Ontario (CRAFT Ontario)
The CRAFT 2009 season had the most enthusiastic participation of farms and apprentices yet - the sign of a vibrant agricultural life (re-)emerging! If you would like to be a part of the adventures in 2010, there is still time to apply. Many CRAFT farms are still accepting applications.
Good Green Jobs for All
Council of Canadians / Andrea Harden / 07 November 2009
I am currently attending the Good Green Jobs for All conference in Toronto organized by the Good Jobs for All, a community-labour coalition. This conference is bringing together over 550 people to discuss green jobs from the perspective of equity – how can we generate good green jobs that lead to eco-equity not eco-apartheid (a term Van Jones often uses).
