Reducing The Global Energy Sustainability

When it comes to the government, when planning for peak oil and climate change they have to identify the expected and potential impacts so that recommendations can be tailored for maximum effect. Governments should not only look at developing public transit and other land-use and infrastructure changes that may be needed for reducing fossil-fuel use, but should also carefully evaluate large investments in roads, airports, and other infrastructure dependent on fossil fuels. At a minimum, governments need to consider scenarios with much higher fuel prices than exist today when running models to determine demand for various options.The lead government body (e.g, the city council) should establish benchmarks and continually monitor how peak oil and climate change are unfolding and affecting the community, to see what adjustments to the plan are warranted.

According Edmonton’s 2012 budget report, almost all municipalities across Canada face a significant infrastructure deficit. Neighborhood renewal occurred periodically with funding from other orders of government, yet it failed to address the full life-cycle requirements of preventative maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. Over time, the condition of roads, sidewalks and sewers deteriorated, resulting in more frequent collapsed sewers, increased sidewalk hazards, and dramatically increased maintenance like pothole repairs. The Office of Infrastructure and Funding Strategy highlighted the need for ongoing funding for neighborhood infrastructure to overcome an anticipated $2.2 billion funding gap in neighborhood roads and related infrastructure.

The Greater Golden Horseshoe is one of the fastest growing areas in Canada and the third fastest in North America. Modes of transportation and congestion due to the mass growing population has put stress on many people within the area. Additionally, 100000 people and approximately 80,000 jobs will be created yearly for the next 20 years (Transportation, 2016). The GTA West Transportation Corridor is a new initiative for the Golden Horseshoe area that will be able to cope with the growth of the areas involved. Because of this widespread project, many stakeholders are involved and are going to be affected.

One of the effects with the most impact from the use of fossil fuels is the pollution created. The United States, per the study conducted by WorldBank, is recorded as being the 10th largest contributor of carbon dioxide in the world per capita. In one year producing 17.6 metric tons, another unfathomable amount (Table). In order to dramatically cut this amount of pollutants down, another source of energy must be utilized. Today, there are many potential options available. Three of the most promising are wind, solar, and tidal energy. Solar is energy obtained from the sun, wind is energy generated by spinning

The city’s top three energy goals include increasing overall city energy efficiency by 5%, city building energy efficiency by 10%, and the renewable energy usage by 20 megawatts (City of Chicago, 2015a). Further, since 71% of carbon emissions come from the energy used by buildings in the city (City of Chicago, 2015a), it is unsurprising that government has taken notice. As stated by the City of Chicago (2015a), a goal has been set to increase renewable energy use 25% by the year 2026. Reductions in carbon emissions are not only beneficial in terms of energy efficiency, but they also reduce harm to the environment that can lead to climate change (City of Chicago, 2015a). It is also important to note that increasing energy efficiency can include building new, costly infrastructure that will pay off long-term, or can be as easy as replacing all street lights with energy efficient bulbs. In fact, updating street light energy efficiency is such a simple and cost-effective energy usage reduction tactic, it used in many of the cities we have studied this semester, such as Portland (Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2011). It is evident that the City of Chicago (2015a) believes that no sustainable effort is insignificant.

Over the last few decades South-Central Ontario has progressed from a Toronto based employment industry to a large geographic region with numerous amount of economic activity centres, employment and population (Transportation development strategy report, 2012). Due to the high increase in urbanization and urban sprawl, there is a high travel demand that is very dispersed throughout the GTA. Future population and employment growth in major urban centres will result in an increase in travel demand for both local communities and movement of goods between the areas located within the Golden Horseshoe (Transportation development strategy report, 2012).

Town of Banff has a new “environmentally innovative public transit system”(www.ecovert.ca). The purpose of these busses are to increase ridership, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support Banff’s “Environmental Stewardship Policy—to nurture a sustainable community with a balanced approach to social and economic development”(www.ecovert.ca)

The argument that the switch of lights from incandescent bulbs to light emitting diodes (LED) would help Town X reduce the electrical expense and thus save money on electrical costs in the future is a specious one as it fails to consider some compelling evidences.

Environmental concerns have been of great concern, when deciding the sources of energy. Environmental and health impacts have led to countries developing energy plans that concentrate on clean sources of energy. I tend to go along with the statement that the only choice for electricity in Ontario is clean generation. In determining the future of Ontario’s electricity, different stakeholders have considered the environmental impact of using other sources of energy other than the clean sources. The environmental impact of using energy sources such as coal has been indicated to be great compared to that of using clean sources such as wind and solar. This has made Ontario province to consider using clean sources. Ontario can be

This engagement process was facilitated by the City of Edmonton’s Office of Environment and was in partnership with Alberta Climate Change Dialogue (ABCD) and the Centre for Public Involvement (CPI) (Citizens’ Panel on Edmonton’s Energy and Climate Changes, 2013, pg. 1). The goals of the panel, the function and the process were clearly outlined in the Participants Handbook 2012 given to all the panel participants (Citizens’ Panel on Edmonton’s Energy and Climate changes Participant Handbook, 2012, pgs. 1-84). The goals of the project were to explore Edmontonians views on the importance of reducing its carbon footprint for future policy and direction. Final recommendations included that “the City of Edmonton take the measures needed to become a low Carbon City by 2050 and six goals (Citizens’ Panel on Edmonton’s Energy and Climate changes, 2013, pg. 1) were determined by this engagement process.

Canada is considered a world leader in energy production and the role that energy and power play in the Canadian and global economy is vastly important. At the present time the global energy industry is in the process of a significant world wide restructuring and the environment in Canada is at the forefront of this change. The energy system in Canada is involved in many facets of Canadian life including environmental, economic and social fabric of Canada. Due to its influences in so many arenas it is important for governments, business and industry, key stakeholders and the general public to have a clear understanding of the role energy plays and should play, in Canada as

In addition to more traffic lights, kiosks, signage, and closing gaps in the sidewalk system, the planning commission continues to improve the downtown for it’s in the midst of converting the lighting system with LED (light emitting diode) in an effort to provide suitable lighting while keeping current with standard codes. The hope is that by making Danville a pedestrian and bicycle friendly town, it will become an expanded active community, encouraging exercise, and at the same time, reducing congestion. The curb cuts are quite visible, as they are textured, also the sidewalks aren’t producing any obstructions. They are wide enough for a conversation to be had between two friends, which is seen on any

The following report will provide a critical analysis of the NAIT LRT Project. The report will provide insights into the causes that resulted in the failure of the project as well as will provide recommendations that would help in the success of the project. The reasons for the delay in the project could be classified into improper management, lack of communication and coordination, failure to test the mechanisms of the plan as well as flaws in the design and development of the project itself. The report also provides recommendations for improving the present position of the project like clear definition of roles and responsibilties especially for the top management, through review of formal documentation as well as testing the project before its actual implementation for estimates on cost and time required for its completion. This study is taken from online articles, journals, City of Edmonton website and news channels. This study helps to understand the past and the present position of the project.

CFL lightbulbs entered the market at an expensive price, yet the consumers continued to purchase them. Knowing the bulbs “paid for themselves,” the tradeoff was worth it. They used 75% less electricity than incandescent bulbs, lasted 10 times longer and emitted 450 pounds fewer greenhouse gasses. In previous years consumers relied on incandescent lights that were reliable and much less expensive than CFLs. CFLs were backed by utility companies that also wanted the product to be a success, which was obvious through their coupons, trade-ins and price promotions. Aside from the many benefits CFLs offered to consumers, market research showed there were misconceptions that caused hesitancy in consumer adoption. The original product had problems such as light flickering and buzzing, needed continual usage to result in energy savings, could not be used with a dimmer, and recycling the bulbs was not convenient as special measures were needed to dispose of the bulb.

Bilen et al., (2008:1531) predicted that global energy consumption will account for around 85% of the increase in world primary demand over 2002– 2030. The increasing of global energy demand happens the global stock of fossil fuel resources may be adequate for short term period, thus requiring the development of renewable energy sources, which would not decrease the stock of fossil fuel resources available for future generation. There is an increasing interest in the development of renewable energies such as biofuel and wind power, which have a great potential energy to produce enough power for the world’s population demand.