News & Events

Ryerson’s Centre for Urban Energy (CUE) will mark Earth Day on April 22 by participating in the Billion Acts of Green® campaign, a program designed to inspire and reward both individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that further the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability.  The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.  Ryerson research represents over 32 such actions.
 
“Finding solutions to the complex problems facing today’s society is at the heart of Ryerson’s research agenda,” said Sheldon Levy, president of Ryerson University.  “Universities have the ability to create ideal environments for collaborative, innovative problem-solving.  The Centre for Urban Energy is one of those environments where the world’s leading energy experts can work together with industry and government to accelerate our progress towards sustainable energy solutions that can be commercialized for global application.”
 
Ryerson launched the CUE last September with founding partners Hydro One, Toronto Hydro, and Ontario Power Authority.  The Centre’s research projects currently share more than a $2-million investment dedicated to solving global challenges related to renewable energy generation, energy storage, power and smart systems, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, energy conservation and related business, regulation, policy and social science.  The research is focused on developing marketable solutions to improve wind and solar power generation and integration, home energy management, electric vehicle utilization, and electricity system transmission stability and security.   
 
CUE’s work comes at an important time for Canadians.  The increasing population density in Canadian urban centres is driving exponential growth in energy consumption.  Today, Canada is the second-highest consumer of energy in the world and the country’s energy consumption increased by 17 per cent between 1990 and 2003.  
 
“Ryerson’s Centre for Urban Energy is committed to developing solutions for energy challenges here at home and using those solutions to improve global energy management around the globe,” added Bala Venkatesh, CUE’s academic director.  “For example, everyone can see the practical advantage of generating revenue from their home’s heating and air conditioning systems by selling energy back to the power grid.  CUE’s research is helping to make that possible.” 
 
Two CUE projects involve integrating electric vehicles into the power system, including an investigation of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging stations and research on the electrical impact on transformer station components due to electric vehicles.  These projects link to CUE’s research into net zero homes as home recharging will be more convenient than trips to gasoline stations, with recharging costs more predictable than gas prices.  “Imagine that your electric car will even power your home during a power outage,” added Levy. 
 
The first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement and many groundbreaking environmental laws.  Today the global Earth Day Network (EDN) works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement and more than one billion people now participate in Earth Day activities annually.  
 
While Earth Day is an important opportunity to raise public awareness of environmental issues, every day is earth day for Ryerson’s CUE researchers.   Their commitment to finding innovative solutions to urban energy problems will help us keep the lights on so we can turn them off on many more Earth Days to come.  
 
Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education and a university clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societal need, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community, Ryerson offers close to 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to 28,000 students, including 2,000 master's and PhD students, nearly 2,700 tenured and tenure-track faculty and staff, and more than 130,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success and growth: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca

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For further information about CUE:
 
Dr. Bala Venkatesh
Academic Director
bala@ryerson.ca 
 
Media contact:
 
Kerry Morgan
416-500-5442
kerry.morgan@ryerson.ca