While Canada lags behind in solar adoption, many places including Germany, China, Japan and even the United States are moving quickly.

In fact, on certain days, some places are generating so much energy, the price to purchase it is dropping below zero, prompting concerns about storage capacity for the abundant power source.

  • Poutinetown@lemmy.ca
    351·
    4 months ago

    I don’t think it’s fair to look at Canada as a monolith. Quebec is generating most of its energy from hydro, whereas Ontario relies on a well established nuclear energy infrastructure. Provinces that need to change are Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta.

    Edit: Manitoba actually relies on hydro for 97% of their usage. So correction: only Alberta and Saskatchewan!

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
      71·
      4 months ago

      In Alberta you can’t refuse to let someone exploit oil resources found on your property but you can’t willingly let someone develop solar energy on your property.

      Solar farms are financed by giant companies (with the biggest one being financed by Amazon) as a way to greenwash their emission numbers even though the electricity being produced isn’t used to power their own infrastructure.

      • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
        7·
        4 months ago

        I don’t think “our operations run on green energy” matters that much. Energy is energy, if you give other people green energy, you are still reducing emissions. You are just reducing other people’s instead of your own, but global warming is a global issue.

        • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
          53·
          4 months ago

          It matters if it means companies don’t actually do anything to improve their emissions and just finance production instead. All that solar energy could have been produced by a crown corporation so the state would reap the profits and it would have forced Amazon to actually improve.

      • n2burns@lemmy.ca
        3·
        4 months ago

        In Alberta you can’t refuse to let someone exploit oil resources found on your property

        TBF, I’m pretty sure that’s how it works throughout the country. The title on my home in Ontario has easements for potential minerals/resources as well.

    • ray@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      Manitoba doesn’t belong on that list. Manitoba’s electricity comes from 100% renewable sources (~97% hydro, ~3% wind, and 0% fossil fuels).

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
      1·
      4 months ago

      Isn’t Alberta just an oil interests runaway province that at this point is a damn near failed state? Every rule.coming out of that place is “how can we make it even better for our oil overlords”

  • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
    101·
    4 months ago

    They also have a lower cost of living, legalized sex work, lower crime rates including lower car theft rates and lower violent crime rates, and way better public transportation.

    • sushimi@lemmy.ca
      76·
      4 months ago

      but… our government

      • didn’t/doesn’t address housing shortage.
      • didn’t/doesn’t address inflation.
      • increases taxation as a means to get more income flow to the government
      • spends crazy(milions and bilions) on S.D.G ideals
      • makes it impossible for farmers to meet (Co2 etc)regulations
        • and government buys them out…
        • and Schiphol etc buying that land for extra CO2 credit.
      • has crazy ‘sustainability’ demains, which makes international production business move elsewhere
      • increasing poverty. People requiring food-bank support is increasing, but because of increasingly harsh business environment the food-bank actually obtains less from industrie.
      • many small/medium businesses are going bust because they can’t repay the corona-loan. (which many have warned is a slow death trap)
          • joshhsoj1902@lemmy.ca
            5·
            4 months ago

            most of it…

            • didn’t/doesn’t address housing shortage.

            Not sure what to say about this. This is a failure of every level of government, some levels are more willing to try to address part of this while other levels are actively trying to make it worse. To me this statement feels like it comes from someone who is frustrated but hasn’t taken the time to understand the problem that they are frustrated with.

            • didn’t/doesn’t address inflation.

            Inflation is being dealt with… Things are nearly back to normal levels of inflation. You can’t say that it’s not being addressed.

            • increases taxation as a means to get more income flow to the government

            This is normal and a good thing? I’m also not sure which taxes you’re referring to? Our taxes haven’t really changed much recently.

            • spends crazy(milions and bilions) on S.D.G ideals

            Unless you have meaningful examples there isn’t anything I can say here.

            • makes it impossible for farmers to meet (Co2 etc)regulations
              • and government buys them out…
              • and Schiphol etc buying that land for extra CO2 credit.

            Once again I need some sources on this, this sounds like something you heard and are repeating without taking the time to understand what was being talked about and now you’re trying to pass it off as fact.

            • has crazy ‘sustainability’ demains, which makes international production business move elsewhere

            Not sure what you’re talking about here. Is this referring to businesses “offshoring” the production of goods? This has been happening for a long time and I hope that we can start bring more manufacturing back “onshore”

            • increasing poverty. People requiring food-bank support is increasing, but because of increasingly harsh business environment the food-bank actually obtains less from industrie.

            Yes poverty is up, but not for the reasons you’re suggesting(unless you have some new data I haven’t seen). food inflation is going to be the new norm until the world gets the climate crisis under control. Our global agriculture system is not built to handle the rapidly changing climate we’ve created. droughts, floods and war are likely going to continue to cause price instability.

            • many small/medium businesses are going bust because they can’t repay the corona-loan. (which many have warned is a slow death trap)

            This is also normal? Many economists believe that economic downswings every 7-15 years is good for an economy because it helps wipe out under preforming businesses. if a company took out 60k in loans, and after 4 years hasn’t been able to pay back the 40k they owe (20k was already forgiving), and also can’t find a bank to move that loan to, they are likely not running a very good business.

            I’m glad that we gave these businesses a lifeline during covid, but at some point they need to prove that they can adapt to the new market conditions. No one forced them to take these loans…

            So ya, to me most of this was a mix of unsubstantiated opinion and vague concepts, which I feel is acceptable to call nonsense

            • sushimi@lemmy.ca
              11·
              4 months ago

              ps. i’m talking about the Netherlands

              didn’t/doesn’t address housing shortage.

              The minister is doing the opposite because he doesn’t know market dynamics https://www.nporadio1.nl/nieuws/politiek/6dc70657-6081-480b-a2e4-7eddf8a17c37/huurwet-van-hugo-de-jonge-rijdt-meer-woningen-bouwen-volledig-in-de-wielen

              increases taxation as a means to get more income flow to the government This is normal and a good thing? I’m also not sure which taxes you’re referring to? Our taxes haven’t really changed much recently.

              The government shouldn’t be our babysitter. They’re increasing living restricitions and costs more and more.

              Inflation is being dealt with… Things are nearly back to normal levels of inflation. You can’t say that it’s not being addressed.

              Back to what? These days mom and dad both need to work for money to make ends meet. (and one of both can’t be home properly for the kids) That was different when i was a kid.

              spends crazy(milions and bilions) on S.D.G ideals

              and only for a possible 1.5degrees according to some model?! https://nos.nl/artikel/2472948-kabinet-trekt-28-miljard-uit-voor-120-klimaatmaatregelen-zal-af-en-toe-knellen

              • makes it impossible for farmers to meet (Co2 etc)regulations
                • and government buys them out…
                • and Schiphol etc buying that land for extra CO2 credit.

              Once again I need some sources on this, this sounds like something you heard and are repeating without taking the time to understand what was being talked about and now you’re trying to pass it off as fact.

              https://nos.nl/collectie/13901/artikel/2455230-schiphol-group-koopt-meerdere-boeren-uit-voor-extra-stikstofruimte

              has crazy ‘sustainability’ demains, which makes international production business move elsewhere

              Not sure what you’re talking about here. Is this referring to businesses “offshoring” the production of goods? This has been happening for a long time and I hope that we can start bring more manufacturing back “onshore”

              https://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/duurzaamheid/10551795/energietransitie-moet-in-de-versnelling-de-industrialisatie-van-europa-dreigt

              increasing poverty. People requiring food-bank support is increasing, but because of increasingly harsh business environment the food-bank actually obtains less from industrie.

              Yes poverty is up, but not for the reasons you’re suggesting(unless you have some new data I haven’t seen). food inflation is going to be the new norm until the world gets the climate crisis under control. Our global agriculture system is not built to handle the rapidly changing climate we’ve created. droughts, floods and war are likely going to continue to cause price instability.

              The climate science isn’t settled to say it’s CO2 and/or Nitrogen etc. There’s documentary and books showing that there’s no actual source to claim it as facts. This books tries to find the actual basis for it but fails: https://www.amazon.nl/Niemand-Cockpit-stikstof-case-study/dp/9083271595

              droughts, floods and war are likely going to continue to cause price instability.

              Regarding droughts and floods in europe, maybe these privately subsidized parties are pulling the wrong strings…

              Regarding Price instability > How about US taking responsibility for the Nordstream pipeline bombing. Biden has said plainy that he would. Why is it not picked up?

              • many small/medium businesses are going bust because they can’t repay the corona-loan. (which many have warned is a slow death trap)

              This is also normal? Many economists believe that economic downswings every 7-15 years is good for an economy because it helps wipe out under preforming businesses. if a company took out 60k in loans, and after 4 years hasn’t been able to pay back the 40k they owe (20k was already forgiving), and also can’t find a bank to move that loan to, they are likely not running a very good business.

              I’m glad that we gave these businesses a lifeline during covid, but at some point they need to prove that they can adapt to the new market conditions. No one forced them to take these loans…

              Government imposed lockdowns without constent. (which afterwards were proven to be useless).That means owners were left without income, increasing debt and staff with similar insecurities. How is that a good thing? imo, the government should have forgiven them the money. i as a tax-payer rather give them my tax-money than all the money wasted on the 1.5degrees without any proof of actual effect.

  • nyan@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    6·
    4 months ago

    So what? It isn’t as though solar is the only clean energy option out there (and the externalities from the production and disposal of solar panels make it not as environmentally friendly as it looks at first glance, although obviously still better than fossil fuels). Wind, hydro, nuclear, and even tidal may be more appropriate for our much larger, much colder, much less dense, more northerly country. We already have a lot of hydro and (in Ontario) a lot of nuclear, and both seem to serve our needs well.

    What we really need to do is shift Alberta’s economy away from fossil fuels. That would do a lot more good than a Netherlands-sized installation of solar panels.

  • CeeBee@lemmy.world
    41·
    4 months ago

    However, unless unlike Germany, Canada has a stellar nuclear energy industry.

    Our CANDU reactors are amongst the best and the safest in the world.

      • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
        3·
        4 months ago

        And building liquified natural gas terminals to receive shipments in the US after getting caught with their pants down by Putin. I’m pretty sure Putin’s propaganda machine had a lot to do with Germany’s pullback from nuclear.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The Netherlands is known for scattered showers, abundant waterways, and actively-used agricultural land, so it took ingenuity for the small country to soar to the top of the continent’s solar pyramid.

    One in three homes has rooftop solar, commercial ventures are grabbing up space on waterways, and even old landfill sites are finding a second life as energy generators.

    While Canada lags behind in solar adoption, many places including Germany, China, Japan and even the United States are moving quickly.

    In fact, on certain days, some places are generating so much energy, the price to purchase it is dropping below zero, prompting concerns about storage capacity for the abundant power source.

    “Even if the transition is propelled by economics alone, with no further policy drivers to help, renewables could still cross a 50 per cent share of electricity generation at the end of this decade,” BloombergNEF’s 2024 New Energy Outlook states.

    Project Manager Bart Meij says using otherwise empty rooftops offers an untapped revenue stream for building owners is an easy sell.

    The original article contains 930 words, the summary contains 172 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • acargitz@lemmy.ca
    1·
    4 months ago

    I haven’t read the article but… :)

    Generally the big problem we still have to solve with reviewables is storage.

    I think that one advantage that the NL has with renewables is that they don’t have the storage problem, because they can always reroute to more pumping water out the polders.