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When former U.S. vice-president Al Gore shared "An Inconvenient Truth" with the world, people everywhere started thinking differently about climate change and the looming environmental crisis spawned largely by urbanization and human consumption of fossil fuels.

Ryerson is responding to Gore's call to action through the Centre for Urban Energy (CUE). Last June, the university launched the CUE in partnership with Ontario Hydro, Toronto Hydro and Ontario Power Authority to help find solutions to the world's energy crisis. Today, the Centre has established $1.4 million in research projects seeking to increase green energy solutions and improve the sustainability and environmental impact of current energy sources, thanks to the generous investment of its partners.

Another step forward in Ryerson's innovation strategy, the CUE is bringing together students, faculty, researchers and private sector partners to collaborate, innovate, discover, develop and commercialize urban energy products and solutions in five areas of research focus: renewable energy generation, energy storage, electrical power systems, smart grid systems including demand response, and related business and social science policy issues.   

The CUE's 11 inaugural projects will be developed in the CUE's new labs, scheduled to open later this year. They range from an investigation into transmission supply diversification in Toronto, to improvements in electric vehicles, to reducing the carbon footprint at Hydro One. (See full list of research projects below). Much of the research work will be focused on discovering, patenting and commercializing practical solutions that will have global application.

Bala Venkatesh, CUE's academic director and associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, explains: "More than 50 per cent of the planet's population now lives in urban environments. It is critical that we work to discover renewable energy sources and new energy management solutions to help fuel the world's cities and reduce our environmental impact. Ryerson is harnessing the talent and innovation of our university community to collaborate with governments and the private sector in finding those solutions and getting them into the marketplace sooner."

CUE researchers know that the race against depleting energy resources is also a race against time. The world's need for energy is increasing daily as urban populations continue to grow. Today, over 400 of the world's cities have one million inhabitants and 19 megacities have populations exceeding 10 million. In Canada, 80.7 per cent of our population lives in cities. The number of people living in Tokyo is greater than Canada's entire population.  Population density and urban intensification are on the rise and there is little being done to curb it - there are 4,000 people per square kilometre living in the Toronto census metropolitan area compared to 24,812 people per kilometre who live in Greater Mumbai in India. As humans increasingly gravitate to cities, urban environments must address significant energy challenges:  public appreciation for 'green' energy, building and embracing new energy sources, managing greenhouse gases, ensuring reliable energy transmission and integrating renewable energy into existing systems. 

Here in Ontario, over 8,400 megawatts of new electricity has been generated through new or refurbished facilities since 2003. In 2010, two per cent of Ontario's energy was derived from wind power, with little solar power. By 2030, it is projected that wind will provide 10 per cent of the province's energy and solar power 1.5 per cent. Nuclear power will grow from 42 to 46 per cent of energy generation, while gas will be reduced from 15 to seven per cent, and coal reduced from eight per cent to none. Homeowners and businesses will be encouraged to take steps both to use less energy and to generate power to return to the electricity grid. 

Achieving these changes will require new science, new public policy and new consumer attitudes toward energy consumption and climate change. It is a challenge that will require research, vision and leadership - a challenge that Ryerson's Centre for Urban Energy is well positioned to meet.

CUE Research Projects as of March 2011: