Peterborough Blogs
Finalists will receive support to develop their Smart Cities proposals. Winning communities will be awarded with prize money up to $50 million to help implement their programs.
$3.1 Million Investment Will Support Indigenous Clean-Tech Company Carbonix
/Paul Pede and Darren Harper, two of the co-founders of Carbonix—a Canadian Indigenous technology company—were on hand at The Gathering Space at Gzowski College/Enwayaang at Trent University on Monday (July 15th) for the announcement of an investment of $3.1 million in their company.
MP Maryam Monsef was there to announce the investment for Carbonix’s Indigenous-led clean technology pilot project it’s conducting that aims to use resources more efficiently to reduce pollution and water waste.
Carbonix Co-Founder Darren Harper speaking at announcement (Photo by Neil Morton, PTBOCanada)
HOW CARBONIX TECHNOLOGY WORKS
-> Carbonix will scale-up a project that produces active carbons from sustainably sourced feedstock, like petroleum coke and wood waste, and uses them to capture contaminants from industrial waste streams and mine tailings.
-> This project aims to accelerate the return of water used during extraction processes back to the environment and accelerate land restoration.
Carbonix Co-Founder Paul Pede speaking at announcement (Photo by Neil Morton, PTBOCanada)
“Through projects like this, the Government of Canada is finding solutions that will help reduce pollution, drive clean innovation and create good jobs,” says Monsef.
“Accelerating clean technology development is key to promoting sustainable economic growth as Canada moves toward a clean energy future, helping us meet our domestic and international commitments while helping maintain our natural resource advantage for years to come,” she adds.
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The Dam At Scotts Mills Lock 19 Is Being Replaced, Construction Starting In Spring
/Following an in-depth planning and design process, Parks Canada and partners at Public Service and Procurement Canada will move forward with construction to replace the dam at Scotts Mills Lock 19 this spring.
This project is part of a $125 million investment in Parks Canada assets in the City of Peterborough, through a five year program of infrastructure work across Parks Canada sites. Engineering inspections have demonstrated that the current dam at Lock 19 is nearing the end of its useful life.
Photo of Lock 19 courtesy Parks Canada
The Scotts Mills Dam at Lock 19 will be fully replaced with a new dam that respects the historic look of the site and has a life expectancy of more than 80 years. The new dam will optimize hydraulic capacity, increase the safety of water management operations, and be constructed in a way that allows improved access for maintenance activities.
The replacement of the dam at Lock 19 holds logistical challenges due to its location in an urban area. To manage this challenge, Parks Canada purchased four properties adjacent to the dam on the east side to use for construction staging. During the project, this space may be used to store materials, manoeuvre machinery and access the construction site.
Unique to many construction projects on the Trent-Severn Waterway, Parks Canada must maintain an ability to manage water through the dam during construction to mitigate the risk of flooding upstream and downstream of the dam, and within the City of Peterborough. For this reason, the dam will be constructed in phases, and construction will be scheduled to maximize flow capacity during the spring melt.
Residents can expect construction noise and increased construction traffic during the project.
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Trent University Is First Canadian Post-Secondary Institution To Green Light Digital Transit Passes
/Kudos to Trent University, which has become the first Canadian post-secondary institution to green light digital transit passes.
The downloadable show ‘n go pass has eliminated thousands of plastic cards and yearly student lineups. The smart technology, ease and convenience, and the added benefits of a more sustainable option were key factors in Trent taking this initiative.
Photo courtesy Trent University
This pilot project program is a collaboration between Trent University, the Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) and the City of Peterborough.
"Our new digital transit pass is an effort to keep transit service in the palm of student’s hands,” says Brandon Remmelgas, president of the TCSA. “Our goal is to prevent students from having to carry around a different card for each service they need to access, and it has the added bonus of reducing the number of plastic cards being printed on an annual basis.”
Since rolling out in September, more than 4,000 passes have been downloaded from the digital ID card app available on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Created by tech company ID 123, the passes are renewable online each year.
Click here to learn how to download the pass.
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Fleming College Among The Best In North America On Sustainability
/In a huge honour, Peterborough's Fleming College has been named as a top performer on sustainability among community colleges in North America.
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has ranked Fleming as fifth overall and second best in Ontario in its 2017 Sustainable Campus Index.
Photo courtesy Fleming College
The index recognizes top-performing colleges and universities overall, by institution type, and in 17 sustainability impact areas such as curriculum, energy, transportation, water, investment and finance, and coordination and planning.
The impact areas were measured through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS).
Photo courtesy Fleming College
“Fleming College’s feature in this report shows its significant leadership and commitment to advance sustainability,” says AASHE’s Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “We are excited to recognize Fleming for working to secure a thriving, equitable and ecologically healthy world through its comprehensive sustainability efforts.”
Photo courtesy Fleming College
