Green Energy

Ventures Green has worked on various renewable energy projects.  

Green or Renewable Energy is energy obtained from natural resources that can be naturally replenished or renewed within a human lifespan, that is, the resource is a sustainable source of energy. Some natural resources, such as moving water, wind and sunshine, are not at risk of depletion from their use for energy production. Biomass, however, is a renewable resource only if its rate of consumption does not exceed its rate of regeneration.  See more details on the Natural Resources Canada website here.

See below for details on Geothermal Power, Geo-Exchange Heating and Cooling, Biogas and Solar Photovoltaics (PV).

Geothermal Power

Did you know that as of Dec 2020 there are still no geothermal power plants in Canada?  Iceland pretty much runs on geothermal power and many other places like Europe, Africa and the US have many geothermal power projects already producing clean power using the heat from the core of the earth.  Geologically Western Canada is the best place for Geothermal power in Canada and there are a half dozen projects working their way through the approval process.  Alberta is like a pin cushion with hundreds of thousands of holes already drilled to produce oil and gas.  Many wells produce more hot water than they do oil or gas.  Many of these wells can produce water at more than 80 deg C which is all that is needed to produce power at the surface.  Alberta has the oil and gas skills needed to do these clean energy projects so we are hoping to see some soon.

Geo-Exchange Heating and Cooling (Not power)

Geo-Exchange or ground source heat pumps are able to heat and cool buildings just using the constant temperature of the ground which exists 10 feet or more below the surface.  Notice that this will not produce power but it can easily heat and cool a building.   We completed a geo-exchange system for a cabin in 2002 and it is still running perfectly without maintenance.  We drilled 3 holes to about 350 feet each to provide heating and cooling to this 7 bedroom cabin.  The system uses BC Hydro electricity to circulate the glycol but it costs less than $50 per month.   This cabin would have been spending about $6,000 per year in propane to heat and cool to the same level.  This system has already paid for itself twice over.  This cabin is in Invermere, BC where there is no natural gas available so that leads to the easy payback.

Biogas

Alberta already has the largest biogas plant in Canada in Southern Alberta.  The technology is proven so all you need is animal or food waste to make power.  Alberta also has a lot of this.  Each kilogram of waste (manure, food scraps, crop residue) can be easily converted into natural gas which can be used to produce power or heat.  The waste in affordably sequestered in an anaerobic chamber to produce natural gas within 3 weeks of entering the system.  By-products from these systems include natural fertilizer and compost.

Hydrokinetic Energy:

 The 2013 floods in Alberta exemplified the power of moving water and how that power can be exploited. We are also considering hydrokinetic or other renewable energy opportunities on this project.  The hydrokinetic industry is still in an early stage of commercial development and our group is well positioned to bring innovative and practical solutions to residential, commercial and industrial clients. 

Solar Photovoltaic (PV)  Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

 The City of Calgary has also published a solar potential map so click on this link to see if your roof has good solar potential. If your roof is yellow and you want to lower your electricity bill, email or call us for a free solar PV estimate.   Contact Us if you want a free solar electric PV assessment for your house or business. 

 The above picture shows the 30 kW solar array on top of the Hiilhurst Sunnyside Community Association in Calgary that we supported and below are a couple of pictures of Ventures Green solar PV installs in Calgary.  

 Have you heard of Floating Solar before?  A World Bank report in October  2018  "revealed that there is currently 1.1 gigawatt (GW) worth of floating solar around the globe and that the market could potentially support up to 400 GW".  Places like China, Japan, Australia, Europe and the US are leading the way on this but these systems make sense for Alberta oil sands tailings ponds as well.