Top Five Posts of 2010

As 2010 draws to a close, I look back at all the blog posts in the first year of Carbon49. Judged by the highest view counts, below are the top five. They cover a range of topics including solar, sustainability as the next big trend, feed-in tariff for renewable energies, greenhouse gas professionals, and investors’ growing concern with climate change risks.

Canada’s Largest Solar Rooftop

The most read post of 2010 goes to Canada’s Largest Solar Rooftop. This four-part case study looks at how Loyalty One, operator of the popular Air Miles reward program, developed the largest solar rooftop system in Canada. The technical details covered include structural support, panel angle, and panel and inverter suppliers. The financial details covered include the startup costs, operating costs, and the projected payback period. Finally, I looked at how LoyaltyOne got their Feed-In Tariff application approved and became the first system to feed the Ontario power grid. (Full Post: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

Sustainability Is The Next Business Megatrend

The second most read posts goes to my analysis on Harvard Business Review’s May feature article, ‘The Sustainability Imperative’. HBR argues that sustainability (or climate change) is the next transformational business megatrend comparable to past megatrends like mass production, manufacturing quality movement, IT revolution, and globalization. Such a bold claim by HBR attracted many readers’ attention. While the full HBR article requires subscription for access, my post includes a brief summary. (Full Post)

Ontario Feed-In Tariff Program: $8 billion of Deals So Far

April saw Ontario, the largest province in Canada, announced the approval of 184 renewable energy projects worth $8 billion under their Feed-In Tariff program. Widely covered by the press, the announcement of the first wave of projects was greeted by climate change action supporters as an important step away from coal energy reliance, but decried by some energy-heavy industries for the impending rise in energy prices. My view is that in addition to looking at this program as an opportunity to make money while being socially responsible, Ontario businesses could also consider it as a chance to diversify the energy mix and reduce future energy pricing risks. (Full Post)

How To Find Certified Greenhouse Gas Emissions Quantification Professionals

Your business may decide to prepare a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and report for reasons such as branding, regulatory compliance, reporting to stakeholders, preparing your corporate annual report, or understanding your climate change related risks. Whatever the reasons, you will need competent people to conduct the work. I looked at how you find such people in this post in March. (Full Post)

Investors Increasingly Concerned With Climate Change Risks

Would a BP style disaster happen to a company you invest in? That’s a question increasingly asked by Canadian investors. A range of proposals and resolutions has been filed in the past two years by shareholders to management of Canadian companies in various industries. What do shareholders want? How does management respond? What are the trends? I investigated in this September post. (Full Post)

That’s the top five of 2010. To close off the last post of the year, I would like to thank all my readers for their interest and support. This blog has grown so much since its humble launch in March. The readership has increased tremendously. Many posts are now reprinted on high profile Canadian and international sites, including The Energy Collective, Environmental Leader, Globe-net, ShareGreen, Sustainable Business forum, Green Energy Cafe, and others. Thank you all for your compliments. Stay tuned … several interesting posts are lined up for early 2011 (subscribe here). Happy Holidays!