Calgary — The Pembina Institute in conjunction with Calgary Transit releases the Ride the Wind! Education Supplement, featuring the Institute's highly-successful Re-Energy.ca website.
Members of the media are invited to interview students and teachers on Tuesday, Dec. 11 about wind energy and the model wind turbines they'll be building based on Calgary Transit's innovative Ride the Wind! project that was launched in September. There will be good visuals at the school as Pembina Institute staff demonstrate the model wind turbines that students will be building.
Tuesday, December 11, 2001, 11:00 am — 12:00 noon
Senator Patrick Burns Junior High School,
2155 Chilcotin Road N.W.
Phone: (403) 777-7400
"Students are very interested in learning about green power, climate change, and how they can make a difference," says Kim Bennett, a Calgary, Alberta teacher at Senator Patrick Burns School. "Ride the Wind! is an absolutely wonderful opportunity to discover what renewable energy is all about, and how it can benefit society and the students themselves. Students need to be able to make informed choices with respect to green power."
In Calgary, where students and the general public can make a green consumer choice by riding the C-Train, the Pembina Institute is showing students the connection between wind power and the transportation they choose, and explaining how Calgary's Light Rail Transit works. As well as building model wind turbines, students are learning how the power generated by Vision Quest's wind turbines is distributed through ENMAX Energy's Greenmax program and turned into transportation by Calgary Transit. See how it works at the Pembina Institute's website www.re-energy.ca.
Dave Mussell, Education Specialist with the Institute, says, "Climate change has forced us to examine the presumption of limitless growth, and has raised awareness of humanity's impacts on basic ecological processes of the planet. Ride the Wind! is an important initiative to help students understand the impacts their consumer choices will have on energy suppliers and producers in the coming decades."
Vision Quest's wind turbines supply the power to the Ride the Wind! initiative. "We are extremely proud to be collaborating with Calgary Transit and ENMAX in Ride the Wind! Calgary is now the continental leader in zero emissions transportation," says Jason Edworthy, Vision Quest's Executive Director.
Sean Durfy of ENMAX Energy says, "We were the first Canadian company to offer customers a wind-generated electricity option, and now with Ride the Wind!, we're now the first company in North America to supply wind power to fuel an entire LRT system."
Since its launch Sept. 5, Calgary Transit has received positive comments from many customers who appreciate that they can ride the C-Train virtually free of greenhouse gas emissions.
"Calgary's C-Train is North America's first wind-powered public transit system since the days of sail," notes Calgary Transit General Manager, John Hubbell. "We're pleased the Pembina Institute is using the concept to teach students about the benefits of wind energy. We're proud that our customers can ride the C-Train knowing we have taken this significant step towards reducing the environmental impact of urban transportation. Our customers feel good about the C-Train being so environmentally friendly even though they don't see a single difference in the service," Hubbell says.
For more information contact:
Dave Mussell
Education Specialist, Pembina Institute
Office: 780-542-6272
Joanne Egan
Director of Communications and Development, Pembina Institute
Office: 613-235-6288, ext. 30
Kim Bennett
Teacher, Senator Patrick Burns Junior High School
2155 Chilcotin Road N.W., Calgary
403-777-7400
Ron Collins
Calgary Transit
www.calgarytransit.com
403-537-7949
Jason Edworthy
Vision Quest Windelectric Inc.
www.greenenergy.com
403-289-4553
Theresa Howland
ENMAX Energy
www.enmax.com
403-514-2835