What is your pathway to Smart Energy Communities?
What is a Smart Energy Community?
A Smart Energy Community seamlessly integrates local, renewable, and conventional energy sources to efficiently, cleanly, and affordably meet its energy needs. It is a coveted, highly livable place to live, work, learn, and play.
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Pathways
Community Implementation
When it comes to energy, the really exciting story is unfolding at home in your community. Communities influence nearly 60 percent of all energy consumption and over half of all GHG emissions, but they are struggling with a complex combination of social, environmental, and economic challenges—think affordability, poor air quality, gridlock, and shuttered storefronts.
Publications & Resources:
Canada’s Energy Transformation – Evolution or Revolution
facebooktwitterlinkedinyoutubeMarch 2019 Energy markets in Canada are as varied as the country’s landscape. Transcending these differences is the fact that as we transform to a low-emission future, the energy industry is grappling with unprecedented technology-driven...
Toward a Positive Energy Future in Northern and Remote Communities
facebooktwitterlinkedinyoutubeQUEST, in collaboration with and with funding from Natural Resources Canada, hosted a workshop in Yellowknife to explore the unique energy challenges and opportunities of northern and remote communities. Having successfully brought...
Working Groups & Associated Atlas Locations:
New Brunswick Municipal
Working Groups & Associated Atlas Locations:
New Brunswick Municipal
Pathways
Infrastructure
Smart Energy Communities use and move energy efficiently by integrating energy into land use planning; improving the environmental performance of buildings, waste and water systems; and by maximizing the integration with electric and thermal delivery systems.
Publications & Resources:
Canada’s Energy Transformation – Evolution or Revolution
facebooktwitterlinkedinyoutubeMarch 2019 Energy markets in Canada are as varied as the country’s landscape. Transcending these differences is the fact that as we transform to a low-emission future, the energy industry is grappling with unprecedented technology-driven...
Reviewing Market Readiness For Smart Energy Solutions in Nova Scotia 2017
facebooktwitterlinkedinyoutubeReviewing Market Readiness for Smart Energy Solutions in Nova Scotia gathers information and perspectives on the current and emerging Smart Energy Communities marketplace, beginning with the proponents of existing Smart Energy Projects in...
Working Groups & Associated Atlas Locations:
Working Groups & Associated Atlas Locations:
Pathways
Technology
Communities are advancing technology options such as district energy, combined heat and power, artificial intelligence, and the IoT that enable us to prepare for a low carbon future. The rate of change taking place is unprecedented and our current policy and economic regulatory systems aren’t keeping pace and likely won’t be able to either. Multi-stakeholder collaboration is required as we learn how to best enable new technologies and facilitate project implementation.
Publications & Resources:
Canada’s Energy Transformation – Evolution or Revolution
facebooktwitterlinkedinyoutubeMarch 2019 Energy markets in Canada are as varied as the country’s landscape. Transcending these differences is the fact that as we transform to a low-emission future, the energy industry is grappling with unprecedented technology-driven...
The Atlantic Canada Energy Data Roadmap
facebooktwitterlinkedinyoutubeThe Roadmap provides a guide to changing the way we collect, manage, use, and think about energy and greenhouse gas emissions data in a world of overwhelmingly large amounts of data. While the focus of the report is on Atlantic Canada,...
Working Groups & Associated Atlas Locations:
Working Groups & Associated Atlas Locations:
Pathways
Innovation
Technological change is constant, but transformative technological change is rare and this is what we are seeing in our energy systems. As we address both structural and policy challenges in our changing energy systems policymakers, utilities and energy services providers, regulators, builders and developers, and innovators, among others all need to work together to find solutions and enable innovation.
Publications & Resources:
Canada’s Energy Transformation – Evolution or Revolution
facebooktwitterlinkedinyoutubeMarch 2019 Energy markets in Canada are as varied as the country’s landscape. Transcending these differences is the fact that as we transform to a low-emission future, the energy industry is grappling with unprecedented technology-driven...
The Atlantic Canada Energy Data Roadmap
facebooktwitterlinkedinyoutubeThe Roadmap provides a guide to changing the way we collect, manage, use, and think about energy and greenhouse gas emissions data in a world of overwhelmingly large amounts of data. While the focus of the report is on Atlantic Canada,...
Working Groups & Associated Atlas Locations:
Working Groups & Associated Atlas Locations:
Principles for Smart Energy Communities
Technical Principles
Optimize exergy – avoid using high-quality energy in low-quality applications
Manage heat – capture all feasible thermal energy and use it, rather than exhaust it
Reduce waste – use all available resources, such as landfill gas and municipal, agricultural, industrial, and forestry wastes
Use renewable energy resources – tap into local opportunities for geoexchange systems, small scale hydro, biomass, biogas, solar, wind
energy, and opportunities for inter-seasonal storage
Use energy delivery systems strategically – optimize use of energy delivery systems and use them as a resource to ensure reliability and for energy storage to meet varying demands
Policy Principles
Match energy options to local context – local climate, building on land use choices, industrial structure, availability of local sources of waste and renewables
Send clear and accurate price signals – consumers should see and pay full real costs, including external costs
Manage risks and be flexible – maintain technological and fuel diversity; pursue cost-effective opportunities first and incorporate learning; assume the need to adapt quickly to market and technological surprises
Emphasize performance and outcomes in policy and regulations – avoid prescribing fuels and technologies
Pursue policy and program stability – maintain a consistent and predictable decision making environment to sustain investor confidence