Analysis tool could help companies decide which innovations are worth the investment
Environmental reclamation is necessary, but sometimes it’s expensive for industry. What materials work best? Which ones are worth the investment? University of Alberta researchers are inching closer to answering those pressing questions through a project that looks at two reclamation materials with commercial potential: chicken feathers and biochar, a blackened byproduct created from waste like cow…
UN estimates that half of 2050 emissions related to food could be cut by things like eating less meat
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided a roadmap to saving the planet. For global food security, we must become better environmental stewards. To reduce gas emissions, we need to adhere to sustainable agricultural practices if we are to meet our 2030 targets, according to the report. And, yes, changes in…
Today's guest, David Parker, discusses among other things, the importance of aligning political will, the truth and the public
The series was produced by KEI Network for Troy Media. We welcome your comments below. Bios of our moderator and today’s guest: Eric Newell Moderator Eric Newell’s career began with Imperial Oil and Esso, where his skills as an engineer and manager made him a valuable asset. He was frequently sent “on loan” to sites…
Evidence suggests laser-based fusion energy could actually be a viable
A beam of protons painlessly penetrates human tissue until it terminates inside a cancer tumour, where each particle deposits a micro-explosion of radiation energy. The beam is precisely calibrated, targeting only the tumour and leaving surrounding tissue unharmed. Called “proton therapy,” this revolutionary medical treatment is just one application of a relatively new technology using…
More than triple the next-highest industry on the list, mining and quarrying
The latest numbers show how much businesses in Canada spend on environmental protection, and it’s another year with the oil and gas sector way ahead of the pack. Statistics Canada reports that oil and gas producers spent $3.1 billion on environmental protection in 2019, the highest of all 20 industries in the annual survey. The…
The province is the only place in the world where its soon-to-be-official gem is mined commercially
Alberta may soon be getting an official gemstone, as the provincial government recently announced its intention to add ammolite to the Emblems of Alberta Act, along with current emblems such as the wild rose and petrified wood, Alberta’s official flower and stone. Though ammolite wasn’t officially recognized as a gemstone until 1981, it’s been around far longer than…
A few weeks ago, there was a violent First Nations-climate extremist attack on a Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline construction site in British Columbia. In a seemingly unrelated development, German leaders decided last year to rapidly phase out nuclear energy with nothing to replace it. Also last year, the United States chose not to approve two pipelines.…
Canada is the solution to reliable, affordable, responsible energy security
The federal government’s plan to require a 42 per cent reduction in emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector by 2030 is based on assumptions divorced from reality and will ultimately hurt Canadians. Setting aggressive targets to cap and reduce the sector’s pollution – while no other major producing nation does the same – is…
Will help answer questions related to population density, foraging patterns and more
Biologists and ecologists often need to identify individual animals in the wild to help answer questions related to population density, foraging patterns and more. But there’s an issue: many of the markers they use, such as tags with colours or numbers, are only clearly visible in daylight – which poses a challenge for studying nocturnal…
Our second episode in our 10-part series on decarbonization features Hal Kvisle, former CEO of Talisman Energy
The series was produced by KEI Network for Troy Media. We welcome your comments below. Bios of our moderator and today’s guest: Eric Newell Moderator Eric Newell’s career began with Imperial Oil and Esso, where his skills as an engineer and manager made him a valuable asset. He was frequently sent “on loan” to sites…
Economic benefits crucial to the Newfoundland and Labrador economy
With the market prices of hydrocarbons soaring, accelerated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the federal government is once again extending the deadline for making a decision about the future of the Bay du Nord project off the shore of Newfoundland. Division within the Prime Minister’s Office on this project is certainly one of the…
Teenagers have virtually no life experience and no expertise but are feted as if they were Einstein
By Mark Milke and Martin Mrazik The Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy The war on Ukraine instigated by Russian President Vladimir Putin should be a reminder that adults and their experiences and judgments matter, i.e. thinking through whether we wish to go to war with Russia. However obvious that seems, in recent years – on…
As wildfires destroy whole communities, coastal towns lose their shorelines and fisheries, and half the world’s population faces dangerous climate impacts, a contentious project sits before the Liberal cabinet. Bay du Nord is a proposed oil development 500km off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Industry lobbyists assure us of “green oil production,” low environmental…
The well-being of the animals and the benefits they provide us rarely factored in
Typically I note articles that cross my desk that report negative stories about nature. Historically, they didn’t emerge that frequently and nature, in general, was doing pretty well, despite some ongoing issues with overhunting, predator control, urbanization, pesticides and poaching. I read and keep these stories because sometimes lessons can be learned by studying other…
‘A whole world under our feet’: soil dwellers offer a fuller picture of how reclamation efforts are working
The tiny creatures teeming in the dirt under our feet don’t seem important, but University of Alberta research is starting to unearth ways some of them could help measure land reclamation efforts. Invertebrates such as worms, mites, centipedes and beetles affect the soil, but they aren’t included in current criteria that help mining, forestry, oil…