Page 14 - Andre Mayer News Today

A plant in a former salt mine in Goderich, Ont., billed as the worlds first emission-free compressed air facility. It can feed 10 megawatts of power into the grid for up to five hours. A smaller demonstration that Flywheels Flywheels (or rotors) spin at very high rates (up to 50,000 revolutions per minute), typically in a vacuum so air friction doesnt slow them down. Power is stored as kinetic energy by using a motor to accelerate the flywheels, and energy can be discharged by reversing the p...

The Big Picture: Bitcoins energy consumption Depending on your personal stake in the cryptocurrency, bitcoin has been a source of heady profits or crushing losses, a beacon of enormous potential or profound disappointment. If nothing else, bitcoins sharp fluctuations in value have been fascinating to watch. One aspect that has received less notice is its environmental impact. The key to bitcoin is the blockchain, which is an open digital ledger of all the transactions worldwide involving bitco...

Thats prompted some pet food makers to look to lower-carbon protein sources — including insects. Studies show that producing insect-based food requires far less feed, land and water and generates far fewer greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram than meats such as beef, pork or chicken. Thats one of the reasons more and more pet foods containing insect protein are hitting the market. Purina, a brand owned by multinational Nestlé, In Canada, Montreal-based Wilder Harrier started selling dog tr...

In the past five years, the proportion of condos with this type of electric heating has more than doubled to five per cent in Ontario, Reitsma estimates.  Lloyd Jacobs, general manager of FortisBC Alternative Energy Services, which has installed geothermal systems in dozens of multi-residential buildings in B.C., said there is "a huge demand" for alternative heating systems in large buildings that might have been heated by fossil fuels or baseboard heaters in the past. Traditionally, a challen...

Last week, Lisa Johnson wrote about the environmental halo around the term natural gas and how its largely positive image might have something to do with its name. Here are some of your responses. Douglas Baker wrote, "Thank you very much for this article. We heated two homes, for 30 years, with natural gas furnaces. We then built green 10 years ago and installed a heat pump instead. But we kept our gas range (I love cooking with gas). Your article has given me very serious pause for thought. ...

proposing a ban on gas boilers in new homes, given the lower-carbon options now available. While humans have known about a flammable gas in the ground for thousands of years, the first known use of the term "natural gas" didnt come until 1825, said Trish Stewart, a science editor at the OED. It was linked to the arrival at the time of another energy innovation: manufactured gas, which was made by combusting coal, oil and other products. By the 1820s, manufactured gas was being made in gasworks ...

Last week, Molly Segal wrote about John Lyons wrote, "Carbon capture and storage is like mopping the floor while the tap is still running." Mark Shulist wrote, "Thanks for the carbon capture article. Too many people think that science will save us from our folly. Planting trees and legislating green roofs on all buildings (including schools) would be better than the industrial carbon capture deception." Lil MacPherson wrote, "There is now a new understanding from soil science all over the worl...

Similar trends are underway in other countries. In a 2020 survey by the market research publisher Packaged Facts, 36 per cent of American respondents identified as flexitarian, compared to just three and five per cent, respectively, who were vegan or vegetarian.  Flexitarianism was most common among those under 35, which is similar to findings in Buying used Manufacturing a new product typically uses up resources and generates emissions and waste, so reducing, reusing and recycling are key t...

2 lost decades: How some experts view last 20 years of Canadian climate policy In this weeks issue of our environment newsletter, we look back at 20 years of climate policy in Canada and talk to the countrys climate minister, Jonathan Wilkinson. Social Sharing CBC News · (Sködt McNalty/CBC) comments Hello, Earthlings! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. ( Sign up here to get it...

Cant decide on a real vs. fake Christmas tree? Consider a living tree In this weeks issue of our environment newsletter, we look at the benefits of a live Christmas tree and how the U.S. Clean Air Act has helped birds across the continent. Social Sharing CBC News · (Sködt McNalty/CBC) comments Hello, Earthlings! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. ( Sign up here to get it in yo...