Electricity - Thoughtful Journalism About Energy's Future

The energy future is electric, but transitioning from fossil fuels to low-carbon electricity (wind, solar, batteries, hydro, nuclear, etc.) is an immense challenge. This section explores those challenges in countries around the world.

General

The 2nd Age of Electricity…this time we’re electrifying EVERYTHING – interview with economist Dr. Werner Antweiler

Wind, solar adoption will soar during 2020s – IEA – anchor story interview with Heymi Bahran, International Energy Agency

Accelerated electrification of economies is inevitable – video interview with Natasha Vidangos, head of research Alliance to Save Energy

Electric revolution by 2030? – anchor story with Tony Seba, economist and founder of Re-ThinkX

Canadian energy experts prefer wind, solar – study – video interview with Dr. Tom Green of the David Suzuki Foundation

Electricity sector responsible for all of American emissions reduction – Energi Talks podcast with Dr. Thomas Rowlands-Rees of BloombergNEF

Electricity Systems

Micro-grids part of the answer to California, Texas electricity system problems? – video interview with Peter Asmus, director of micro-grids for Guidehouse Insights

60% of electricity micro-grid projects fail in developing countries – video interview with Prof. Feyza Sahinyazan, Simon Fraser University

Canada’s energy sector vulnerable to cyber-attacks by organized crime, malicious govts, hackers – video interview with cyber-security expert David Masson

Pacific NW electricity going carbon-free without natural gas? – anchor story with Ben Kujala, director of power planning for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council

Can intermittent wind/solar be integrated into Canada’s power grids? You bet! – Zoffee with Prof. Tim Weis, industrial engineering, University of Alberta

Canada likely to meet 90% no-emissions electricity by 2030 target – video interview with economist Dave Sawyer of EnviroEconomics

Behind-the-meter applications are hit and miss – video interview with Allan Fogwill, CEO of the Canadian Energy Research Institute

Texas power outages due to frozen natural gas infrastructure, not wind turbines – video interview with Prof. Joshua Rhodes, University of Texas at Austin

How a little mistake created a big financial bubble around coal, gas, nuclear, hydropower assets – video interview with Tony Seba of RethinkX

Electricity Systems of the Future

Net-zero electricity system by 2050 is doable, but needs provinces to cooperate with Ottawa – video interview with Dr. Mark Jaccard, Simon Fraser University and co-author of, “A Zero Emission Canadian Electricity System by 2035.”

Canada, USA will need 2-3x more electricity by 2050 – video interview with Dr. Chris Bataille of Paris-based Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations

Old coal and gas power stations can become fabulous green assets, says new study – video interview with Dr. Peter Harrop of IDTechX

Integrated Canada and US power grid goal of new advocacy group – video interview with Philip Duguay, managing director, of Canada Grid

SolarAPP+ reduces US residential solar permitting times to…zero seconds? – video interview with Mark Parthum, Accela

Vancouver tech firm creates platform to help decarbonize global energy systems – Mischa Steiner, CEO of Awesense

Biden’s climate ambitions require US power grid innovation. Fortunately, the technology has arrived – video interview with Jenny Erwin of Smart Wires

Biden spending $100 billion to modernize US power grid – video interview with Rob Gramlich, executive director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid

Coming soon: The electric utility of the future – Energi Talks podcast with American utility expert Val Jensen

The future electricity system requires better markets – video interview with Dr. David Robinson of the Oxford Energy Institute

Using “grid enhancing tech” could double amount of wind, solar in electricity systems – video interview with Rob Gramlich, executive director, WATT Coalition

Alberta’s Electricity System of the Future

Batteries combined with gas turbine reduce ENMAX peaker plant GHG emissions by 80% – video interview with Lonnie Enns of ENMAX

Only in Alberta: Corporate electricity purchases big part of solar, wind growth – video interview with Rebecca Nadel, director, Business Renewables Centre Canada

New report addresses future of Alberta power grid – video interview with economist Dr. Blake Shaffer

Preparing for an uncertain future: Modernizing the Alberta power grid – video interview with Olexandr Vasetsky, director of technology and innovation at the Alberta Utilities Commission

Rebrand Alberta by focusing on electricity – Markham On Energy column

Open letter demands ENMAX adopt net-zero emissions by 2050 goal – video interview with Dr. Joe Vipond, Calgary Climate Hub

Alberta govt earns $26 million from renewable energy program – video interview with economist Dr. Blake Shaffer

British Columbia’s Electricity System of the Future

BC Hydro’s draft power strategy is hugely underwhelming: “a 20th century plan for the 21st century” – video interview with Dan Woynillowicz, clean energy and technology consultant, Polaris Strategy

The future of BC Hydro and the BC electricity system – Energi Talks podcast with Dr. Mark Jaccard, director of the School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University

Election question: BC Hydro status quo or more market-based electricity system?– Markham On Energy column

Western states not the solution to BC power needs – video interview with Ben Kujala, director of power planning, Northwest Power and Conservation Council

California power problems a potential migraine for BC?– Markham On Energy column

BC needs more private electricity, not less – Markham On Energy column

First Nations should be allowed to offer clean energy to BC ratepayers: SFU group – Energi Media article

Manitoba’s Electricity System of the Future

Brad Wall review of Manitoba Hydro raises privatization concerns – video interview with Dr. Christopher Adams, adjunct professor, political studies, University of Manitoba

Ontario’s Electricity System of the Future

Ontario’s broken electricity system – Energi Talks podcast with Prof. Mark Winfield, York University

Big benefits of rooftop solar for Ontario electricity system – video interview with Nicholas Gall, Canadian Renewable Energy Association

Hydrogen a fix for Ontario’s natural gas power plant problem? – video interview with Mark Kirby, CEO of the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Huge utility-scale battery project planned for SW Ontario – video interview with Jason Rioux, of NRStor Inc., about Oneida Energy Storage project

Ontario launches review of gas-fired power as nuclear plants prepare to go offline – video interview with Prof. Mark Winfield, York University

Ford govt inexplicably repealing Ontario policy prioritizing renewable energy – video interview with Prof. Mark Winfield, York University

The Lake Erie Connector: $1.7 billion boondoggle mostly paid for by Canadian taxpayers? – video interview with Prof. Mark Winfield, York University

Electricity Markets

How renewable energy certificates + markets grow European wind, solar – video interview with Tom Lindberg of Norwegian consulting firm ECHOZ

Electricity market reform: No energy transition without it – Energi Talks podcast with Prof. Joshua Rhodes, University of Texas at Austin

FERC 2222A: Will ruling “supercharge” wind, solar, and battery adoption by American power grid? – video interview with lawyer Allison Bates Wannop of Voltus

Virtual power plants and evolving electricity markets – video interview with Stanford economist Prof. Frank Wolak

Canadian prices driving changes to provincial electricity rules – video interview with economist Grant Bishop of the CD Howe Institute

Renewables/storage not economic for arbitrage (2019) – video interview with Allan Fogwill, CEO of the Canadian Energy Research Institute

Hydro

Hydropower growth is slowing just as the world needs more of it to support net-zero by 2050 – video interview with Heymi Behar, IEA analyst

Hydro’s main value is not electricity generation, but storage for renewables – Energi Talks podcast with Emil Dimanchev, PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Floating solar farms on hydrodam reservoirs an interesting niche renewables application – video interview with Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis for BloombergNEF

Site C cost balloons to $16 billion, Horgan govt ploughing ahead anyway – video interview with economist Nic Rivers, University of Ottawa

Should Site C proceed? Only under certain conditions, says new study – video interview with economist Dr. Kent Fellows

Site C bombshells in new study by American consultant – video interview with consultant Robert McCullough

Government red tape holding back American small hydro development – video interview with Hannah Cohen, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Master of Arts in Sustainable Energy program

Wind Energy

Move over Alberta gas, wind and solar now the cheapest form of energy – video interview with economist Dr. Blake Shaffer

Floating offshore wind power starting to take off – video interview with Paul Hillegiest, Quest Floating Wind Energy

Solar Energy

Rooftop solar economics: cost vs. value – Energi Talks podcast with Behnam Zakeri, research scholar with the Integrated Assessment and Climate Change Research Group

Solar-powered greenhouses in the Yukon? Even in the winter? – video interview with Henry Penn, University of Calgary and The Arctic Institute of North America’s Kluane Lake Research Station

Solar is the new king…because of engineering advantages – video interview with Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon, Colorado School of Mines

Alberta’s solar’s moment in the sun – video interview with Ben Thibault, executive director of Solar Alberta

Turning Alberta well sites into solar farms – video interview with Keith Hirsche of RenuWell

The Alberta solar revolution – Zoffee with engineer and Canadian solar pioneer Gordon Howell

Energy Storage

ACCURE Battery Intelligence – sponsored

ACCURE Podcast: Interview with Professor Dirk Uwe Sauer

Battery Recycling: Interview with Kim Kreisköther

Batteries

Li-ion battery’s poor cousin, iron phosphate, in vogue thanks to Tesla – video interview with Dr. Kai-Philipp Karies, CEO of ACCURE Battery Science

Tesla’s “beer can” battery key to future $25,000 electric car – video interview with Ram Chandrasekeran, principal transportation and mobility analyst for Wood Mackenzie

Battery storage important for wind and solar adoption, but power grid reform also critical – video interview with Dr. Kai-Philipp Karies, CEO of ACCURE Battery Science

Ottawa, Quebec kick in $50 million for new $160 million Lion Electric battery factory – video interview with Joanna Kyriazis, EV policy analyst for Clean Energy Canada

Battery storage plays a big role helping power grid integrate wind, solar – US govt lab study – video interview with Nate Blair, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

This changes everything: Battery prices in free fall – interview with James Frith, head of BloombergNEF battery storage research

Recycle 95% of lithium-ion batteries? Canadian company leads industry – video interview with Tim Johnston of Li-cycle

Holy batteries, Batman! Pow! Bam! Right on the kisser of the internal combustion engine – video interview with Mady Tyson, senior analyst with the Rocky Mountain Institute

Compressed Air Storage

Is compressed air storage the answer to adding more wind and solar to the electricity grid? – video interview with Jon Norman, CEO of Hydrostor.

Building Electrification

Home electrification set to take off – video interview with Daniel Talero, analyst for Navigant Research

In 1960 only 2% of USA homes were heated with electricity, today it’s 38% – video interview with economist Lucas Davis, a professor at the Haas Institute, University of Berkely

Readying Canada’s buildings for the climate of tomorrow – article by Tom-Pierre Frappé-Sénéclauze, Pembina Institute

Geothermal

New Geothermal Energy Lab hopes to accelerate development of new geothermal technologies – video interview with Dr. Roman Shor, University of Calgary

Geothermal project a go after testing shows Grande Prairie well hot enough to produce electricity – video interview with Dr. Catherine Hickson, CEO of Alberta No. 1

Feds give $40.5 million for 100% indigenous-owned geothermal project in Fort Nelson, BC – video interview with John Ebell, Barkley Project Group

DEEP Earth Energy designing first geothermal power facility in Canada

Geothermal commitment by Alberta a great start – video interview with Alison Thompson of Canadian Geothermal Association

Alberta’s geothermal regulations need improvement – video interview with Alison Thompson of Canadian Geothermal Association

Nuclear

California slow to plan for 2024 Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor closure – video interview with Mark Specht, Union of Concerned Scientists

New Brunswick small modular reactor passes preliminary review – video interview with Rory O’Sullivan, North American CEO of Moltex

Nuclear power plant fuelled by old waste from CANDU reactors could be only a decade away – video interview with Simon Newton of UK-based Moltex

Small modular nuclear reactor for Ontario by 2028? OPG says it’s possible – video interview with Robin Manley, VP for nuclear development, Ontario Power Generation

Is nuclear answer to Canadian concerns about climate change? – video interview with John Gorman of the Canadian Nuclear Association

Nuclear power ready for primetime? – video interview with Marla Orenstein, director of the Natural Resources Centre, Canada West Foundation

Alberta embraces small modular nuclear reactors – video interview with Prof. Brian Livingston, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary

Small modular reactor first to receive US design approval – video interview with Dom Claudio of NuScale Power

Small modular nuclear reactors: The forgotten clean energy source? – video interview with Prof. Rudi Tschinger, faculty of law, University of Calgary

Coal

Canadians still financing dirty coal projects around the world – German study – video interview with Adam Scott, director, Shift Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health

Global coal use up in 2020 led by China, but demand rapidly slowing in rest of Asia – video interview with Dr. Christine Shearer of Global Energy Monitor