Canadian Capital Markets and Global Energy Investment

Canadian Capital Markets and Global Investment

Canadian companies raise capital on these exchanges and then invest the money in exploration globally. Some have argued that below juniors there exists a substantial sector of illegitimate companies primarily focused on manipulating stock prices.

Renewable Energy Sources

Wind Power Generation

Wind power harnesses the power of the wind to propel the blades of wind turbines. These turbines cause the rotation of magnets, which creates electricity. Wind towers are usually built together on wind farms.

Wind power is growing at the rate of 21% annually. Worldwide installed capacity reached 238 gigawatts (GW) in 2009, and it is widely used in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

• At the end of 2011, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 238 gigawatts (GW).
• Energy production was 430 TWh, which is about 2.5% of worldwide electricity usage.

Several countries have achieved relatively high levels of wind power penetration. By 2011, at times over 50% of electricity in Germany and Spain came from wind and solar power. As of 2011, 83 countries around the world are using wind power on a commercial basis.

Hydroelectric Power

In hydro energy, the gravitational descent of a river is compressed from a long run to a single location with a dam or a flume. This creates a location where concentrated pressure and flow can be used to turn turbines or water wheels, which drive a mechanical mill or an electric generator.

Unexpected Hydroelectric Results

In some cases with hydroelectric dams, there are unexpected results. One study shows that a hydroelectric dam in the Amazon has 3.6 times larger greenhouse effect per kW•h than electricity production from oil, due to large scale emission of methane from decaying organic material. This is most significant as river valleys are initially flooded, and is of much less consequence for more boreal dams. This effect applies in particular to dams created by simply flooding a large area, without first clearing it of vegetation.

Alternative Hydro Technologies

There are however investigations into underwater turbines that do not require a dam. And pumped-storage hydroelectricity can use water reservoirs at different altitudes to store wind and solar power.