June 2021, Innovating a Bright Future

Episode 7 – Ethiopian Communities Are Finding New Opportunities Through Green Electricity with Duncan Lucas

Posted on June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 by innovatingabrightfuture_7i8tcd

Electricity is essential to a country’s development. In developing countries such as Ethiopia, connecting to a nation wide grid is incredibly expensive, and energy infrastructure can be a target for conflict and violence. Duncan Lucas is a civil engineering student attending the University of Calgary and he has been working on bringing electricity to energy impoverished communities in Ethiopia for two years now.

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Episode 6 – This Everyday Technology Could Be Changing Forever with Eric Meyerson From Turntide

Posted on June 23, 2021June 25, 2021 by innovatingabrightfuture_7i8tcd

I had no idea that electric motors consume half of global electricity. I also had no idea how outdated the majority of our motor technology is today. Turntide is changing that. Turntide is a company working on incredible new motor technology that uses much simpler electronics that allow for more versatile and efficient energy use.

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Bonus – What Does Climate Change Actually Mean?

Posted on June 18, 2021June 18, 2021 by innovatingabrightfuture_7i8tcd

This episode is honestly a really tough listen, but it’s also incredibly important, all about how we’re destroying the planet, and what that actually means for us humans. The thing is though, if you are at all concerned about climate change, you have to know about these consequences. As much as I love the polar bears and having clean forests, climate change is about more than just nature. The effects of climate change will be felt all over the world, regardless of where you live or how far away it seems.

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Episode 5 – Aluminum Cans As An Energy Source with Konstantin Pushkin From AL Technologies

Posted on June 16, 2021June 16, 2021 by innovatingabrightfuture_7i8tcd

Energy storage is absolutely essential in order to implement renewable energy on a large scale. Energy storage allows for electricity produced during high production times, to be used in low production times, when the grid may need more energy than it is producing. Konstantin Pushkin, the CEO of AL Technologies may be on to something in his pursuit of aluminum energy storage.

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Episode 4 – Thousands Of Homes Are Being Powered By Solar Energy, Here’s How with Jesse Laine

Posted on June 11, 2021June 11, 2021 by innovatingabrightfuture_7i8tcd

We need to implement widespread renewable energy, but you might not know that renewable energy projects like solar and wind are already being built around the world, with notable success. Jesse Laine is a renewable energy project director and implementation expert. He tells me about his experience in leading large scale solar plants in California which are now providing sustainable electricity to thousands of homes. We also discuss his work on commercial solar in Ontario and behind the meter energy storage that reduces energy costs for businesses and industry.

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Episode 3 – Reduce, Reuse, Li-Cycle with Chris Biederman

Posted on June 2, 2021June 2, 2021 by innovatingabrightfuture_7i8tcd

Batteries seem to be one of the biggest barriers to widespread implementation of renewable energy. Right now we primarily use lithium ion batteries, which have served us well for things like personal devices for years now, but they have their issues just like any other technology. The materials used in lithium ion batteries are scarce, expensive, and the opposite of environmentally friendly to extract. So if we are going to use more and more lithium ion batteries, we can’t continue to rely on mining alone to supply the essential materials. That’s where battery recycling and Li-Cycle come in.

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