An article by Jonathan Alward, Vice President, Policy.

Our mission at the Atlantica Centre for Energy is to try to improve the public’s understanding of the energy sector and energy sources used across the four Atlantic provinces. We do this by sharing news, presenting at conferences, and developing resource maps and other educational resources.

The Energy 101 articles aim to provide the public with opportunities to learn about different energy sources, technologies and concepts in a simple, fact-based format. We work hard to ensure these articles are factual, objective, balanced, and explain how the topics discussed can impact Atlantic Canada.

This is because facts matter.

The energy sector is complicated and ever-changing. Energy remains an incredibly important part of our lives, economy and environment. Everyone can have a say in their energy future, so it is important that everyone also has access to good information to help inform opinions.

What is the Energy 101 series?

We created the Energy 101 series to provide the public with a library of resources to help answer energy-related questions. New topics are added monthly and are decided based on current policies, research and news. When developing new articles, we start broad and goes through many edits to ensure the final result is accurate but concise, and technical without being too complicated for people who don’t have a background in the energy sector.

How are the Energy 101 articles fact-checked?

We uses different sources of information to draft and fact-check information provided in each article. These sources include both publicly available data and descriptions from governments, the private sector, academia, research organizations and non-government organizations (NGOs).

Once we have several sources applied to the information, the article is further fact-checked by subject matter experts working within the energy sector to ensure the information is current and relevant for Atlantic Canadians.

Are the Energy 101 articles balanced? 

The Atlantica Centre for Energy’s work is guided by its members, which include energy sector businesses, but also governments, research organizations, academia and community members. When drafting each Energy 101 article, we ensure the information is balanced between each government’s energy priorities, environmental goals, and what is possible based on current and future technologies. Other things considered include reliability standards, access to products and labour, when newer technologies will become available, economic development and affordability.  

The Energy 101 articles place an emphasis on how each topic fits into Atlantic Canada’s clean energy future, because not every energy source or technology fits the same in British Columbia as it would in Newfoundland and Labrador, for example.  Importantly, the Centre doesn’t favour any energy source or technology over another, which helps ensure our Energy 101 articles can be weighed fairly by the public. 

How can you learn more about energy in Atlantic Canada?