The vice president of the Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association says she truly believes that there is growing interest in our province toward sustainable energy. Lorena Mitchell notes so many people are now aware of their impact on the environment and are wanting to learn how they can do better, particularly around building energy-efficient homes.
Mitchell applauds Canada for its very ambitious climate action plan released last month. She refers to the 271-page document as well thought out. Mitchell says one of the highlights is that Canada will be releasing a $40,000 interest-free loan this spring through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for homeowners to do deep retrofits in order to have a lower energy footprint.
The plan also calls for a 40 per cent reduction in new emissions by 2030.
"That's eight years to have 40 per cent reduction," notes Mitchell. "So I don't know, we're going to see how this rolls out, but it is an ambitious plan."
The association is holding its annual conference today in Portage, called, "On the Road to Net-Zero by 2050." Participants can expect to learn about strategies for the use of sustainable energy in reducing both carbon emissions and energy costs.
One of the guest speakers is Curt Hull, who wrote a paper based on Manitoba Hydro's estimates for how much energy would be required to heat all of our buildings and charge all of our vehicles electrically. Those estimates call for a doubling of current generation, something Hull says not only can it be done, but it must be done.
Other guest speakers include Michael Stocki with Efficiency Manitoba, Randy Webber talking about his personal experience with building and living in a passive home and Doug Barker speaking about his experience installing and operating an on-grid solar system at his home near Kleefeld.