Green Technology

The province of Ontario is starting to take a strategic leap by promoting environmentally friendly technologies in order to tackle global warming and secure a more effective and efficient economy. The province has introduced The Green Investment Fund, which is a not-for-profit provincial agency that was created in order to help reduce energy costs in homes and businesses. (Ontario, 2016) Ontario is investing $325 million into this fund that will prove why green technology has saved Ontario's economy and has helped homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint as well as save money, allow businesses to reduce emissions, and fund local environmental organizations. Green technology is best understood as a way make to it easier for the province of Ontario to fight climate change, boost and strengthen the economy as well as create many jobs. All for a healthier, cleaner and low-carbon future (Ontario, 2016)

Green Technology will allow homeowners to save money. This will happen because the existing home energy audits and retrofit programs offered by Enbridge Gas Distribution and Union Gas will be increasingly enhanced by the investment, allowing greenhouse gas emissions to be cut, and about 37,000 homeowners across the province to experience reduced energy bills. (Ontario, 2016) For example, homeowners can start by replacing furnaces, water heaters, or even upgrading insulation. Home energy efficiency retrofits save consumers a lot more money on their energy bills and have been noted that. “Home renovations to increase energy efficiency have been shown to save natural gas consumers $1.50 to $4 for every dollar invested.” (News.Ontario.ca, 2016) Also, investing in a residential solar energy system will benefit homeowners greatly. Using Solar energy is considered Green technology because of its ability to generate power without using any emissions. This means that for every kilowatt installed, a home’s carbon footprints are lowered by over 3,000 pounds annually and is reduced by more than 15,000 pounds of CO2 every year. (ARE Solar, 2016)

Green Technology will allow many businesses to reduce emissions, making a great impact on the economy. The government is investing two things, one is $74 million in a cleantech innovation which will help to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by allowing large industrial plants to utilize leading-edge technologies, and by partnering with Ontario Centers of Excellence. (Ontario, 2016) The government is also investing $25 million in SMART Green energy efficiency program. This program will help in reducing emissions and becoming more energy efficient. It does this by selecting qualified small and medium-sized businesses and granting them up to $200,000 to cover up to 50 percent of eligible project costs in order to help the businesses invest in equipment and process upgrades. These investments will increase Ontario’s economy and its development by helping bring new jobs into existence, products, services, as well as much more technologies and businesses. (Ontario, 2016)

Green Technology has helped fund local environmental organizations. For example, Ontario is investing $1 million from the Green Investment Fund into the Sustainability CoLab Network, located in Kitchener. The organization helps businesses- small and medium, reduce their impact environmentally along with extending their competitive advantage and supporting for a more low-carbon economy. (Ontario, 2016) It has been recorded that the CoLab Network program members have collectively reduced 29,000 tones of greenhouse gases, which according to the government that is, “...The equivalent of taking 6,100 cars off the road.” (Ontario, 2016) This investment has allowed CoLab to get involved and fund other local environmental organizations in order to help encourage other businesses to introduce more energy-efficiency measures in their practices to create for green technology to keep expanding in the economy.