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Tom Rand, MaRS Cleantech Lead Advisor at MaRS Discovery District has written a commentary about the recent global carbon market news and how Canada could meet its 2020 GHG target.

MaRS is partnering with Carbon Foresight to help us understand our carbon footprint and its distribution among our tenants. Read the case study on our use of their service.

An exclusive look at the continent's greenest hotel: The Planet Traveler Hotel in Kensignton Market, Toronto. Tom Rand talks about Cleantech and the lessons he has learned from Building North America's Greenest Hotel in Toronto

An exclusive look at the continent's greenest hotel: The Planet Traveler Hotel in Kensignton Market, Toronto. Tom Rand talks about Cleantech and the lessons he has learned from Building North America's Greenest Hotel in Toronto.

in this Maclean's article on the home renovation tax credits, MaRS cleantech practice lead Tom Rand is quoted as an expert in cleantech and business issues. He says that making buildings more efficient through such government incentives is "low hanging fruit on the carbon tree."

"The expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline has become a lightning rod for the battle between long-term climate concerns and shorter-term economic benefit. Opponents say Canada's tarsands are one of the world's most carbon-intensive and environmentally destructive sources of oil. Proponents argue they're a politically stable source of oil in a world fraught with risk. Both are correct. A compromise on Keystone is essential if Canada is to become a responsible energy superpower in the complex 21st century world of carbon constraints. "

Planet Traveler is a Toronto-based cleantech innovation - backed by our own cleantech advisor, Tom Rand. Find out about the innovations that make this hotel the carbon-saving destination of the future!

Tom Rand, Lead Cleantech Advisor, MaRS Discovery Distric says " his hotel shows that anyone can cut carbon and make money at the same time."

The first half of the Review focuses on the impacts and risks arising from uncontrolled climate change, and on the costs and opportunities associated with action to tackle it. A sound understanding of the economics of risk is critical here. The Review emphasises that economic models over timescales of centuries do not offer precise forecasts - but they are an important way to illustrate the scale of effects we might see. The second half of the Review examines the national and international policy challenges of moving to a low-carbon global economy. Climate change is the greatest market failure the world has seen. Three elements of policy are required for an effective response.

An international study based at the University of Pittsburgh has identified a human enzyme that can biodegrade carbon nanotubes. Laboratory tests showed that it could also offset the potentially damaging health effects of being exposed to such nanotechnology.

Tom Rand, Cleantech Lead at MaRS and author of Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World says "we can make the largest investment in infrastructure in human history by building a low-carbon economy... We can start to build that infrastructure on our own timetable, or we can wait for nature to dictate the terms."

On August 25, Toronto Hyrdo launched its' easy to Conserve campaign. Tom Rand, MaRS Cleantech Advisor states "energy conservation is as much about de-carboning the economy as it is about saving money."

Four new luxury towers going up in downtown Toronto have missed the opportunity to tap into geothermal energy - and reduce their energy footprints accordingly. Tom Rand, the clean-tech adviser at MaRS (the non-profit innovation institute in Toronto's downtown hospital district) is the owner of the Planet Traveller eco-hotel soon to open just west of the MaRS complex, on College Street.Rand had grown cynical about the "greenwashing" of the hotel industry (properties trumpeting themselves as eco-friendly because they provide daily new towels and sheets only on request). He determined, instead, to create a low-carbon hostel for young travellers. Nov 6, 2009

On Nov 4, there was a presentation that took place at the MaRS Centre on Energy Storage Market. The session was moderated by Deloitte's director of research, Duncan Stewart. Other speakers were: Sankar Das Gupta, CEO of Toronto-based Electrovaya, Mark Tinkler, principal consultant of Emerging Energy Options, Kirk Washington, general partner at Yaletown Venture Partners, and Ken Rudisuela, president of Mobilogy Inc. The seminar focused on the importance of energy storage, not just to make renewable energy more practical, but also to reduce our dependency on carbon-based fuel, especially gasoline. Nov 5, 2009