Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, is harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, concentrated solar power (CSP), concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), solar architecture and artificial photosynthesis. Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air. Active solar technologies encompass solar thermal energy, using solar collectors for heating, and solar power, converting sunlight into electricity either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP).

A photovoltaic system converts light into electrical direct current (DC) by taking advantage of the photoelectric effect. Solar PV has turned into a multi-billion, fast-growing industry, continues to improve its cost-effectiveness, and has the most potential of any renewable technologies together with CSP. Concentrated solar power (CSP) systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. CSP-Stirling has by far the highest efficiency among all solar energy technologies.

In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries' energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise. These advantages are global. Hence the additional costs of the incentives for early deployment should be considered learning investments; they must be wisely spent and need to be widely shared". In 2014 global solar generation was 186 terawatt-hours, slightly less than 1% of the worlds total grid electricity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy

In 2015 hydropower generated 16.6% of the worlds total electricity and 70% of all renewable electricity. Since water is about 800 times denser than air, even a slow flowing stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can yield considerable amounts of energy. There are many forms of water energy:

• Historically hydroelectric power came from constructing large hydroelectric dams and reservoirs, which are still popular in third world countries. The largest of which is the Three Gorges Dam (2003) in China and the Itaipu Dam (1984) built by Brazil and Paraguay.

• Small hydro systems are hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 50 MW of power. They are often used on small rivers or as a low impact development on larger rivers. China is the largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world and has more than 45,000 small hydro installations.

• Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plants derive kinetic energy from rivers without the creation of a large reservoir. This style of generation may still produce a large amount of electricity, such as the Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia river in the United States.

Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 32 percent of global hydropower in 2010. For counties having the largest percentage of electricity from renewables, the top 50 are primarily hydroelectric. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010, representing around 17 percent of domestic electricity use. There are now three hydroelectricity stations larger than 10 GW: the Three Gorges Dam in China, Itaipu Dam across the Brazil/Paraguay border, and Guri Dam in Venezuela.

Wave power, which captures the energy of ocean surface waves, and tidal power, converting the energy of tides, are two forms of hydropower with future potential; however, they are not yet widely employed commercially. A demonstration project operated by the Ocean Renewable Power Company on the coast of Maine, and connected to the grid, harnesses tidal power from the Bay of Fundy, location of world's highest tidal flow. Ocean thermal energy conversion, which uses the temperature difference between cooler deep and warmer surface waters, has currently no economic feasibility.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydropower

Airflows can be used to run wind turbines. Modern utility-scale wind turbines range from around 600 kW to 5 MW of rated power, although turbines with rated output of 1.5–3 MW have become the most common for commercial use; the power available from the wind is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as wind speed increases, power output increases up to the maximum output for the particular turbine. Areas where winds are stronger and more constant, such as offshore and high altitude sites, are preferred locations for wind farms. Typically full load hours of wind turbines vary between 16 and 57 percent annually, but might be higher in particularly favorable offshore sites.

Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is believed to be five times total current global energy production, or 40 times current electricity demand, assuming all practical barriers needed were overcome. This would require wind turbines to be installed over large areas, particularly in areas of higher wind resources, such as offshore. As offshore wind speeds average ~90% greater than that of land, so offshore resources can contribute substantially more energy than land stationed turbines. In 2014 global wind generation was 706 terawatt-hours or 3% of the worlds total electricity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power

High Temperature Geothermal energy is from thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals (in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions). The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature between the core of the planet and its surface, drives a continuous conduction of thermal energy in the form of heat from the core to the surface. The adjective geothermal originates from the Greek roots geo, meaning earth, and thermos, meaning heat.

The heat that is used for geothermal energy can be from deep within the Earth, all the way down to Earth's core – 4,000 miles (6,400 km) down. At the core, temperatures may reach over 9,000 °F (5,000 °C). Heat conducts from the core to surrounding rock. Extremely high temperature and pressure cause some rock to melt, which is commonly known as magma. Magma convects upward since it is lighter than the solid rock. This magma then heats rock and water in the crust, sometimes up to 700 °F (371 °C).

Low Temperature Geothermal refers to the use of the outer crust of the earth as a Thermal Battery to facilitate Renewable thermal energy for heating and cooling buildings, and other refrigeration and industrial uses. In this form of Geothermal, a Geothermal Heat Pump and Ground-coupled heat exchanger are used together to move heat energy into the earth (for cooling) and out of the earth (for heating) on a varying seasonal basis. Low temperature Geothermal (generally referred to as "GHP") is an increasingly important renewable technology because it both reduces total annual energy loads associated with heating and cooling, and it also flattens the electric demand curve eliminating the extreme summer and winter peak electric supply requirements. Thus Low Temperature Geothermal/GHP is becoming an increasing national priority with multiple tax credit support and focus as part of the ongoing movement toward Net Zero Energy. New York City has even just passed a law to require GHP anytime is shown to be economical with 20 year financing including the Socialized Cost of Carbon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy

Biomass is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms. It most often refers to plants or plant-derived materials which are specifically called lignocellulosic biomass. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly via combustion to produce heat, or indirectly after converting it to various forms of biofuel. Conversion of biomass to biofuel can be achieved by different methods which are broadly classified into: thermal, chemical, and biochemical methods. Wood remains the largest biomass energy source today; examples include forest residues – such as dead trees, branches and tree stumps – yard clippings, wood chips and even municipal solid waste. In the second sense, biomass includes plant or animal matter that can be converted into fibers or other industrial chemicals, including biofuels. Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, bamboo, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil).

Biomass, biogas and biofuels are burned to produce heat/power and in doing so harm the environment. Pollutants such as sulphurous oxides (SOx), nitrous oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) are produced from the combustion of biomass; the World Health Organisation estimates that 7 million premature deaths are caused each year by air pollution. Biomass combustion is a major contributor. The life cycle of the plants is sustainable, the lives of people less so.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass

Energy storage is a collection of methods used to store electrical energy on an electrical power grid, or off it. Electrical energy is stored during times when production (especially from intermittent power plants such as renewable electricity sources such as wind power, tidal power, solar power) exceeds consumption, and returned to the grid when production falls below consumption. Water pumped into a hydroelectric dam is the largest form of power storage.

Home energy storage is expected to become increasingly present given the growing importance of distributed generation (especially photovoltaics) and the important share of energy consumption in buildings. A household equipped with photovoltaics can achieve a maximum electricity self-sufficiency of about 40%. To reach higher levels of self-sufficiency,energy storage is needed, given the mismatch between energy consumption and energy production from photovoltaics. In 2015, multiple manufacturers announced rechargeable battery systems for storing energy, generally to hold surplus energy from home solar/wind generation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_storage

Kerry Mckenna
Practice Leader for Gasification and Coal to Liquids, Hatch

Kerry is the Global Practice Leader for Gasification and Coal to Liquids in Hatch’s Oil and Gas Energy Business Unit. The Mechanical Engineering skills learned at Queen’s have been applied since 2000 to the thermomechanical design and implementation of high temperature reactors for energy and mining applications.  Kerry is an experienced project engineering manager leading multi-disciplinary teams of engineers and designers to deliver practical and innovative solutions. 

Since 2009 Kerry has focused on gasification, leading and participated in projects focused on converting biomass, coal or municipal waste into higher value products. A significant portion of this time was devoted to the commercial development and implementation of plasma gasification technologies for waste to energy applications.

Ted Gruetzner
Vice-President, Corporate Relations & Communications, Ontario Power Generation (OPG)

Ted Gruetzner is Vice-President, Corporate Relations and Communications at Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Ontario’s publicly-owned electricity generating company.

In his role as Vice-President Ted oversees a staff 60 people based in Toronto and throughout the province. He is responsible for OPG's communications and stakeholder strategy, which includes managing the media relations, provincial, federal and international government relations, association and stakeholder relations, community relations, internal communications, branding, corporate citizenship and advertising functions.

Ted also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Council of the Great Lakes Region, a Council working to collaborate with organizations in the Great Lakes region to highlight, enhance and support their projects. Ted's background with OPG gives him a unique perspective on the role energy plays in the economy of the Great Lakes, and how important it is to obtain social license to operate and build facilities.

Davin Young
Senior Engineer, Hydrostor

Davin Young P.Eng is a Queen’s Sci 11’ graduate form the Engineering Physics program. He is currently a senior engineer with Hydrostor, a start-up commercializing compressed air energy storage (CAES) with a focus on underwater air storage. Prior to Hydrostor, Davin had a brief stint with Hatch Inc., developing a feedback mechanism to improve smelter efficiency, before he transitioned into the world of green energy start-ups. The first start-up he was involved with was inMotive, developing the mechatronic variable speed drive, a novel transmission for electric motors.

George Sweetman
Director, Queen's University

George graduated from Queen’s University in 1985 with a degree in Geological Engineering. He worked as a consulting engineer in the field of stormwater management and became a partner in a civil engineering firm that practiced in the land development industry. After 15 years as a consultant, George recognized the need for engineers to develop a more multi-disciplinary approach to complex problem solving. George left the consulting firm and returned to Queen’s University to become the Director of the Integrated Learning Centre.

As Director, George contributed to changes in the engineering curriculum and to the construction of the Integrated Learning Centre (Beamish Munro Hall), a building which was selected to represent Canada at the 2005 World Sustainable Building Conference.

Next, George identified an emerging opportunity for rooftop solar development resulting from the Ontario Government’s Green Energy Act. To address this opportunity, he co-founded Greenlight Projects Inc., a company which provided due diligence and project management to the solar industry.

Furthering his consulting practice, George worked on a large-scale ground mount solar development and is currently working with a non-profit affordable housing provider. His current projects are the design and construction of two mixed-use, multi-residential, affordable housing buildings in Hamilton. In response to the need for reduced energy consumption and GHG emissions, the buildings are being designed and constructed to Passive House standards.

Since 2007, George has also been Coordinator of Undergraduate Internship Program for the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s University, providing support to both employers and students.

JoAnne Butler
Vice President, IESO

Ms. Butler is currently Vice President, Market & Resource Development at the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and was the Vice President, Electricity Resources at the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). Through amendments to the Electricity Act, the operations of the IESO and the OPA were merged on January 1, 2015, bringing together real-time operations of the grid with long-term planning, procurement and conservation efforts. Prior to joining the OPA in 2008, Ms. Butler was president of TransAlta Mexico, where she was responsible for the day-to-day management of the business, including supporting business development and contracting activities as well as the ongoing operation of the company’s two Mexican electricity generating plants.  Prior to moving to Mexico in 2001, she was TransAlta’s general manager for western operations in Calgary and was responsible for the operation of four new generating stations.

Ms. Butler also worked in the oil and gas exploration sector with Amoco Corporation for 21 years, and in her last assignment as general manager for engineering and construction and Chief Engineer, she led support teams for construction and operations in Canada and internationally. Expatriate roles included temporary assignments in Egypt and Tunisia, and a five-year assignment in the United Arab Emirates.

Ms. Butler holds a Bachelor of Science (honours) degree in civil engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston. She was an executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce for her six years in Mexico, including a two-year term as its president. She has a Chartered Director (C. Dir) designation from the Director’s College and is currently a Board member of the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby, Ontario, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) of Ontario and the Association of Power Exchanges (APEx). In 2013, Ms. Butler was one of the Top 100: Canada’s Most Powerful Women in the Public Sector Leaders category.

Kevin Gilchrist
Founder, OTB Energy

Kevin Gilchrist is the Principal and founder of OTB Energy Inc., a private advisory company that focuses on business and project development and finance within the CleanTech Energy sector.

With more that 20 years in the fields of natural gas, power generation and electrical energy distribution and markets, Mr. Gilchrist has now focused on taking this broad experience and playing it to the CleanTech space where he has lead the development and execution of projects and companies deploying cogeneration, solar, wind, biogas and energy storage technologies.

In 2002, he was a Founding Partner of Pristine Power Inc., a successful IPP start-up based in Calgary that was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and originated more than 2,200 MW of project opportunities before being sold in 2010.

Mr. Gilchrist resides in Toronto, Ontario, where he is currently actively engaged in various CleanTech enterprises through OTB Energy Inc., and through his volunteer advisor work with the MaRS Discovery District.

Kipp Horton
President & CEO, WindRiver Power

Kipp Horton is President and CEO of WindRiver Power Corporation. The organization’s focus is on developing, constructing and operating renewable energy projects in Western Canada. A professional engineer with 20 years of experience, his career has included diverse assignments ranging from rural development in the Bolivian Andes, to water resource management on behalf of Albertan irrigators to, most recently, leading the private investment of over $150 million in hydro and wind power projects in British Columbia and Alberta. Along the way, Kipp has become a passionate believer in success through partnership and collaboration.

Kris Smith
Vice President, Suncor

As executive vice president, Downstream, Kris is responsible for the operations of Suncor’s refining network in North America, as well as industrial, commercial and retail marketing of refined products under the Petro-Canada brand. Kris is also accountable for Suncor's global lubricant business, renewable energy porfolio, and energy supply and trading activities. Since joining Suncor in 2000, Kris has held a variety of roles. Most recently, he served as Suncor’s senior vice president, Supply Trading & Corporate Development, where he was responsible for marketing, logistics and energy trading, corporate strategic planning and development, and the company’s business process and information services. Kris has also held positions in the General Counsel’s office, the U.S. downstream business and at Suncor’s Oil Sands operation.

Kris obtained his bachelor of arts with honours from the University of Alberta in 1992, and his bachelor of laws from Dalhousie University in 1995. He is a member of the Alberta and Colorado bars. Prior to joining Suncor, Kris was a lawyer at a respected law firm in Calgary, Alta.

Kris sits on the board of directors for the Canadian Fuels Association, as well as on the board of directors of Actua, Canada’s largest science, technology, engineering and mathematics youth outreach organization. He is also Chair of the 2016 United Way Region of Peel Campaign.

Rob Harvey
Director of Energy Storage, Hydrogenics

Rob Harvey is the Director, Energyo Storage at Hydrogenics, a leading hydrogen cleantech company company which designs and builds MW scale electrolysers for Power-to-Gas plants which produce renewable hydrogen and provide grid services. In his business development role, Rob is responsible for market analytics, project proposals, advocacy work through association, and being the "voice of the customer" to define future needs for the company's product platform and control system development.

As a former Principle with PHB Hagler Bailly and energy consultant with Oliver Wyman, Rob worked with several leading North American electric utilities in the areas of scenario-based planning, businessmodel analytics and change management. He has also worked with startup ventures in waste-to-energy and biogas CHP developing business plans and engaging project stakeholders.

Rob currently serves as Board Chair of Energy Storage Canada.

Shivani Chotalia
Analyst, NRStor

Shivani graduated with a dual degree in Green Process Engineering and Business Administration from Western University, and now works as an Analyst with NRStor - a Canadian developer of energy storage projects. Shivani was also selected as a Venture for Canada Fellow; she is one of top 30 recent grads in Canada showing an aptitude for entrepreneurship and leadership.

Shivani discovered her passion for cleantech while working at a plastics recycling startup. Prior to that, Shivani worked in finance as an investment banking summer analyst in Calgary, and in R&D doing polymer engineering research in China. Shivani has been involved with Engineers Without Borders for 6 years and acted as the President of the Western Chapter. She is excited about the intersection of "for profit" and "for good", and is interested in exploring innovative models making this happen.

Her love of travelling and learning languages has taken her from waitressing in Quebec to watching the sunrise from the Great Wall of China. One of her latest adventures was teaching an Ivey case-based business class in Ghana.