Energy has been proven to be a critical enabler in all aspects of development. One out of five people in the world do not have access to energy and those people happen to live in the poorest regions of the globe. If we must attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is essential to acknowledge the correlation between lack of access to energy and poverty: energy can affect social, economic, environmental, health, educational, gender and many other aspects of human life. Therefore it is necessary to enable the access and enhance the quantity and quality of renewable energy services available in developing countries. …continue reading →

For a long while, the Japanese government had based its prosperity on its nuclear industry. As one can imagine, the catastrophes of March 2011 compelled it to rethink its energy sources in terms of sustainability. The progress in that field has been such that today the country is on its way to shutting down its last (54^th) nuclear power plant, thus achieving a complete nuclear phase-out and a “zero output”. …continue reading →

When one thinks of Calgary, the first thing that comes to mind has to be the world-renowned Calgary Stampede, never more so than this summer when it celebrates its centennial. A lesser-known fact about the city, but one that should give Calgarians as much pride as the annual rodeo, is the ‘zero waste’ metabolism exhibited by the city’s wastewater management scheme. …continue reading →