Renewable energy in Canada
Canada has a large number of renewable resources in its large landmass that the country can use to generate energy. Examples include running water, win, biomass, solar and even ocean energy. Already, the country is among the top at producing and using renewable energy. This can be seen considering almost 19% of Canada¡¯s total energy supply comes from renewable sources.
The predominant source of renewable energy in Canada is running water. It provides almost 60% of electricity generation in Canada. This number is so large that it makes Canada the second largest when it comes to production of hydroelectricity. Other forms of renewable energy are also being implemented in Canada. These include:
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Wind, accounting for 3.5% of electricity generated, and -
Biomass, accounting for 1.4% of electricity generated. However, despite other renewable energy sources not having the best results at the moment, wind and solar energy have an amazing growth rate in Canada and will soon be on par with hydroelectricity as well.
Careers in renewable energy fields
Since Canada is a leader in the production and usage of renewable energy, this creates a lot of opportunities to work in this field. Since hydroelectricity is the most important source, I will be looking further into career choices in this field. One of the biggest electricity transmission and distribution services provider in Canada is Hydro One through which electricity is delivered to almost 1.4 million people in and around Ontario. Working in this field brings up career choices which have roots in various educational backgrounds including operations, IT, engineering, business/finance, and even product development. The company claims that working with hydro makes you part of a bigger story no matter which sub field you choose to integrate into. Despite being one of the largest and most diverse organizations across Canada, Hydro One promises an engaging work culture with many benefits. They aim to share knowledge among other renewable energy source companies to work on developing custom made solutions that aid the goal of fully converting to green energy options. Despite being such a large corporation Hydro One ensures perfect care for their employees to an individual level. Personally, I was very interested to see what measures a company so large could take to ensure the good health and development of their employees and I was very surprised to see the benefits they provide since we often hear of bigger companies mistreating their employees. Some of the benefits they mention (divided into financial, health, and developmental help) include: -
Comprehensive Health plans (physical health) -
Competitive compensation (financial) -
Learning and development (developmental) -
Employee Share Ownership Program (financial and developmental) -
Retirement Savings (financial) -
Pregnancy and parental leaves (physical health) -
EFAP services (mental health) -
Community investments (financial and developmental) -
A gym membership (physcial health) While not directly related to their mission to go green, I do believe that looking after people¡¯s health, development and finances to a certain extent provides motivation for people to work harder and creates strides in their fields. It provides a backbone for people to enjoy their line of work and stay attentive during working hours. This is key in a techincal field like working with renewable energy and I do believe that the good circumstances of researchers and employees is part of the reason that Canada has made so much progress working with renewable energy.
Reference
https://www.hydroone.com/careers
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