Scientists are pushing for cheaper solar energy, as capacity booms

WEEKLY ROUNDUP

July 19, 2023

Scientists are pushing for cheaper solar energy, as capacity-building booms

Solar energy has passed a key milestone that points to lower energy costs in future. As Corporate Knights associate editor Natalie Alcoba reports, research teams have succeeded in pushing the efficiency of perovskite and silicon “tandem” solar cells past the daunting 30% threshold – meaning they convert more than 30% of the sun’s energy into electricity. (Conventional silicon cells achieve 22% to 24% efficiency.) While solar currently accounts for just 4% to 5% of global electricity generation, its installed capacity is projected to surpass coal by 2027, making it the world’s largest.
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SUPPLY CHAIN

Canada’s corporate watchdog finally goes after alleged human rights abuses abroad

A Canadian watchdog agency set up in 2019 to probe Canadian companies’ possible abuse of human rights abroad has just launched its first investigations – into allegations that Nike Canada and mining company Dynasty Gold Corp. are benefiting from the forced labour of Uyghurs in China. As Natalie Alcoba notes, some human rights watchers are concerned that the Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) lacks sufficient clout to resolve such complex cases. But the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project applauds this news, calling it “a warning sign to other Canadian companies to review their business practices and investigate their supply chains for products tainted with forced labour.”
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LEADERSHIP

Meet the woman leading Canada’s sustainable finance reform

When Kathy Bardswick was finishing up her MBA at McMaster University in the late 1970s, her mother – unbeknownst to her – applied for a job on her daughter’s behalf. It was an underwriting position with The Co-operators Group insurance company, based in Sault Ste. Marie, and not at all what Bardswick had in mind for a career launch. Bardswick took the position and soon realized this was not just a job but a calling. Bardswick talked to journalist Naomi Buck about her trailblazing career, one marked by the changing relevance and mission of the insurance industry in an era of climate change. Now retired, but not really, she is spearheading critical reforms as chair of Canada’s Sustainable Finance Action Council. Last month, she received Corporate Knights’ 2023 Lifetime Award of Distinction.
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ENERGY

Will Ontario’s ‘clean’ battery storage be powered by a fossil fuel?

Weeks after Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) triumphantly unveiled the biggest battery storage procurement in Canadian history, persistent questions remain about how much of that storage capacity will be powered by high-emitting natural gas. The IESO is moving ahead with plans to add 1,500 megawatts of new natural gas-fired generating capacity at four existing generating stations. How much they’ll drive up climate pollution – and whether the procurement was needed in the first place – is an open question. And, as Mitchell Beer, publisher of The Energy Mix reports, the other big uncertainty is the extent to which the IESO’s battery procurement will end up depending on natural gas, a fuel whose primary component is super-polluting methane.
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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

The Canadian government has new powers to fight toxic chemicals – will it use them?

After years of advocacy from environmental groups, Canada recently updated its environmental and toxics law, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Under CEPA, write Ashley Wallis and Cassie Barker, of Environmental Defence, Canadians’ right to a healthy environment “will be recognized for the first time under federal law. This will enshrine our right to functioning ecosystems, which we all rely on for a livable planet.” After noting the new law’s many benefits, Wallis and Barker point out a big flaw: the government’s failure to address the broad use of “forever chemicals” known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). The authors suggest a more holistic response: “We should be banning all 4,000-plus PFAS in all consumer products.”

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WHAT WE’RE READING…

Arizona senator leans on astronaut past to call for climate crisis action amid blistering heat wave

As the U.S. southwest endures a weeks-long heat wave, scientists warn that 2023 could be the earth’s hottest year on record. According to the National Weather Service, heat kills more Americans than any other form of severe weather, including flooding, hurricanes or extreme cold. On Sunday, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, appeared on CNN to call for increasing climate action. When he flew into space, Kelly recalled, “I could see how thin the atmosphere is over this planet. It’s as thin as a contact lens on an eyeball, and we have got to do a better job taking care of it.”

Quebec’s Magdalen Islands, a tiny archipelago in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, are increasingly under siege from the ocean waves due to climate change. As winter’s icy grip lessens each year, the islands’ exposed sandy cliffs suffer more erosion. “The changes seem to be coming fast and furious, leaving the roughly 13,000 residents reeling, as they realize their island home will need to adapt quickly and radically in the decades to come if it is to survive.”

Emissions from this summer’s out-of-control wildfires make it even more crucial to reduce the greenhouse gases fuelling the climate crisis. But as the Environmental Defense Fund notes in this blog post, Canada has a new GHG problem: new research indicates that Saskatchewan is under-reporting the methane being emitted by its cold heavy oil production with sand (CHOPS) projects, by up to 40%. “These unreported emissions change what we know about Saskatchewan’s methane footprint,” says the EDF. “If the true amount of pollution were known to regulators, then oil and gas producers would have to do more to reduce emissions to comply with existing requirements.”

The oceans are turning greener – but not in a good way. This Nature article reports that more than half of Earth’s oceans have become greener in the past 20 years, although we’re not sure why. Researchers analyzing 20 years of data from NASA’s Aqua satellite found 56% of the world’s ocean surface changing colour, in patterns that suggest that rising greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere are to blame. The findings boost expectations for NASA’s next big mission to monitor ocean colour, set to launch next January.

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