Last week’s two-day community power conference, hosted by the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA), was a definite success in my mind.
Not only did I make valuable connections to grow ReGenerate going forward, but I also learned a great deal, specifically about different financing models and options for community power.
There was lots of talk about the new paradigm here in Ontario and all the opportunity for community power because of the feed-in tariff program. As is common at these type of events, most of the talk was about wind and solar, but there were mentions of biogas here or there – a fair representation of where biogas is in the province right now: flying under most people’s radars.
There was also a lot for me to be excited about, some of the highlights included:
- Hearing Tom Rand from MaRS talk about Green Bonds. Canada could be the 4th jurisdiction to sponsor such a program, check out the world bank site for info on others.
- “The concept? A modern-day Victory Bond for the environment — purchased by Canadians, backed by government, managed by the private sector, and designed to accelerate the rollout of sustainable energy.” “82% of Canadians supported the idea, and 62% of Canadians said they would buy a Green Bond”
- This could be an excellent source of funding for community based biogas, Tom agreed
- Hearing outgoing minister of energy and infrastructure, George Smitherman, talk about the Green Energy Act and how the job has only just begun.
- Met with and connected to a variety of different stakeholders including people from Ontario Agri-Energy Producers Association of Ontario, Ontario Trillium Foundation, The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Toronto Renewable Energy Co-op (including the initial organizers), the Community Power Fund, solar installers, design/build engineering firms specializing in anaerobic digestors and biogas, waste management firms, and consultants involved in developing co-ops and aboriginal renewable energy projects.
- They came from across the province, the US, UK and Germany.
I’m looking forward to next year’s event; this year’s left me feeling very optimistic about ReGenerate’s future. I think the next couple of quarters will be very exciting, and I’ll have CP Conference 2009 to thank (at least, partly).
photo credit: matt carman
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