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Mitigating climate change will require reduced use of fossil fuels to generate electricity. To do so while eschewing nuclear power, countries have turned to wind and solar energy. In this paper, load duration and screening curves are used to investigate the extent to which a jurisdiction should invest in intermittent (solar and wind) sources of energy, gas and nuclear power. The application is to the Alberta electricity grid because it is nearly 90 percent reliant on fossil fuels, particularly coal, and recent policy intends to eliminate coal generating capacity by 2030 and replace two-thirds of the lost capacity with renewables. Results suggest that solar and wind are unable to replace two-thirds of coal generation, and that larger than anticipated investments in natural gas capacity will be required. However, if Alberta is serious about reducing emissions, it will need to rely on nuclear energy; at high carbon prices, nuclear power could reduce CO 2 emissions by some 95% compared to only 55% when relying totally on solar and wind., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

If oil sands are to be eliminated from the energy market to protect the global environment, human health and long-term economic welfare, a significant number of workers will be displaced in the transition to renewable energy technologies. This study outlines a cost-effective and convenient path for oil and gas workers in Alberta to be retrained in the burgeoning solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. Many oil and gas workers would be able to transfer fields with no additional training required. This study examines retraining options for the remainder of workers using the most closely matching skill equivalent PV job to minimize retraining time. The costs for retraining all oil sands workers are quantified and aggregated. The results show the total costs for retaining all oil sands workers in Alberta for the PV industry ranges between CAD$91.5 m and CAD$276.2 m. Thus, only 2–6% of federal, provincial, and territorial oil and gas subsidies for a single year would need to be reallocated to provide oil and gas workers with a new career of approximately equivalent pay. The results of this study clearly show that a rapid transition to sustainable energy production is feasible as costs of retraining oil and gas workers are far from prohibitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energy is an abundant source of renewable/sustainable energy, which has an enormous potential in reducing the foot print of the greenhouse gases. In this paper, we presented a modelling framework of estimating solar energy over a portion of a residential community of Sandstone in the northwest of Calgary, Canada. We calculated the actual daily incident solar radiation as a function of latitude, day of year, and possible day light hours; and also employed high-resolution remote sensing images to calculate the effective roof area for installing photovoltaic cells. Strong relationships (r²: 0.91-0.98) were observed between the ground-based measurements and the modelled actual incident solar radiation at three test locations in Alberta. Over the portion of Sandstone, ~1706.49m² roof surface area was suitable for potential installation of the photovoltaic cells. With 15% efficient photovoltaic cells, our analysis revealed that we might be able to produce significant amount (i.e., in the range of ~67-100%) of electrical energy needs of the residents of Sandstone community during the period between April and September. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Alberta increases conventional solar power generation, land-use conflicts with agriculture increase. A solution that enables low-carbon electricity generation and continued (in some cases, increased) agricultural output is the co-locating of solar photovoltaics (PV) and agriculture: agrivoltaics. This review analyzes policies that impact the growth of agrivoltaics in Alberta. Solar PV-based electricity generation is governed by three regulations based on system capacity. In addition, agrivoltaics falls under various legislations, frameworks, and guidelines for land utilization. These include the Land Use Framework, Alberta Land Stewardship Act, Municipal Government Act, Special Areas Disposition, Bill 22, and other policies, which are reviewed in the agrivoltaics context. Several policies are recommended to support the rapid deployment of agrivoltaics. Openly accessible agrivoltaics research will help optimize agrivoltaic systems for the region, and can be coupled with public education to galvanize social acceptability of large-scale PV deployment. Clearly defining and categorizing agrivoltaics technology, developing agrivoltaics standards, making agrivoltaics technology-friendly regulations and frameworks, and developing programs and policies to incentivize agrivoltaics deployment over conventional PV will all accelerate the technology's deployment. Through these measures, Alberta can achieve conservation and sustainability in the food and energy sectors while simultaneously addressing their renewable energy and climate-related goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-based, utility-scale renewable energy (RE) systems using wind or solar resources to generate electricity is becoming a decisive solution to meet long-term carbon emission reduction goals. Local governments are responding in kind, by adopting their own goals and/or establishing policies to facilitate successful implementations of RE in their jurisdiction. One factor to successful RE development is to locate the most suitable lands, while continuing to sustain land-based economies and ecosystem services. Local governments often have limited resources; and this is especially true for small, land-constrained local governments. In this paper, we illustrate how a standardized RE technical mapping framework can be used by local governments to advance the implementation of RE in land-constrained areas, through a case study in the Town of Canmore, Alberta. Canmore has a limited municipal area surrounded by the Canadian Rockies, along with complex land-use bylaw and environmentally sensitive habitats. This mapping framework accounts for these conditions as it considers theoretical resources, technically recoverable lands, legally accessible lands, and the spatial capital cost of connecting new RE facilities. Different land-use planning scenarios are considered including changing setback buffers and expanding restrictions on development to all environmentally sensitive districts. The total RE potentials are then estimated based on the least-conflict lands. Technically speaking, even under restrictive land suitability scenarios, Canmore holds enough land to achieve ambitious RE targets, but opportunities and challenges to implementation remain. To eventually succeed in its long-term emission reduction goal, the most decisive step for Canmore is to balance the growth of energy demands, land-use changes, and practicable RE development. Mapping systems that can study the influence of land-use planning decisions on RE potential are critical to achieving this balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Drake Landing Solar Community in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada utilizes a solar thermal system with borehole seasonal storage to supply space heating to 52 detached energy-efficient homes through a district heating network. Systems of similar size and configuration have been constructed in Europe, however, this is the first system of this type designed to supply more than 90% of the space heating with solar energy and the first operating in such a cold climate (5200 degree C-days). Solar heat captured in 2293 m2 of flat-plate collectors, mounted on the roofs of detached garages, is stored in soil underground and later when needed for space heating, is extracted and distributed through a district system to each home in the subdivision. Independent solar domestic hot water systems installed on every house are designed to supply more than 50% of the water heating load. Annual greenhouse gas emission reductions from energy efficiency improvements and solar energy supply exceed 5 tonnes per house. The seasonal storage utilizes approximately 34,000 m3 of earth and a grid of 144 boreholes with single u-tube heat exchangers. The system is configured to maintain the centre of the field at the highest temperature to maximize heating capacity and the outer edges at the lowest temperature to minimize losses. A short -term thermal storage consisting of 240 m3 of water is used to interconnect the collection, distribution and seasonal heat storage subsystems. The system has undergone detailed monitoring since it was brought into service in July 2007 to characterize its performance and to improve the TRNSYS model employed in its design. A solar fraction of 97% in its fifth year of operation, convincingly confirms the design target, a solar fraction of more than 90% in year five, has been met. This paper describes the system and its operation, presents 5 years of measured performance and compares those results against the TRNSYS predicted performance for the same period. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Primary energy use is minimized in a district heating network with seasonal storage. • Predictive control formulation was applied to optimize variable speed pump use. • Pumping power savings of 47% are obtained. • Energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 38% and 32%, respectively. This paper investigates the development and assessment of a model-based predictive control strategy for the district heating system at the Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC), in Okotoks (Alberta, Canada). Thermal energy is collected by solar thermal collectors and stored seasonally by means of a borehole field. Two water tanks are used as short-term storage, acting as a central unit connecting solar collectors, long-term storage and a district loop. The DLSC has succeeded in using solar energy collected during the summer to provide nearly all the heating needs of this 52-home community in winter, with solar fractions consistently over 90%. The proposed predictive control strategy aims to minimize primary energy consumption while maintaining the same solar fraction. This simulation study –based on model calibrated with on-site measurements– focuses on the optimization of circulation pump speed to manage energy exchange between long-term and short-term storage systems. Minimizing pumping electricity use is a critical aspect of the community environmental impact, since fossil-fuel thermal plants are prevailing in Alberta. Simulation results indicate that the proposed strategy would save, on an annual basis, about 47% of total pump electricity use. This would result in savings in terms of cost (38%) and greenhouse gas emissions (32%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]