reminder: Michael Wiggin | Sector Coupling of Electricity and Thermal Systems: Our biggest opportunity for GHG reduction. | 12 Nov 2025 13:30 EST | CACOR Live
Art Hunter
Reminder: You are invited to a scheduled CACOR Live meeting.
Speaker: Michael Wiggin
Topic: Sector Coupling of Electricity and Thermal Systems: Our biggest opportunity for GHG reduction.
Time: Nov 12, 2025, 13:30 Eastern Standard Time (US and Canada)
Join Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89389737439?pwd=SALWc4Gy3eTe2Nhsbs5zRXfGRb1DqP.1
Meeting ID: 893 8973 7439
Passcode: 535701
Summary:
The talk will explore how thermal energy networks or modern district heating systems can provide a link between low-grade heat demands for building heating with sources of i) rejected heat from industry, data centres and thermal electric plants (including nuclear) and ii) harvest sources of renewable or decarbonized energy not accessible by individual buildings. Major developments or possibilities will be featured such as seasonal thermal energy storage and nuclear CHP. I will focus on nuclear CHP, not because I am advocating nuclear, but because we are moving ahead with nuclear generation with no provision for useful heat recovery. Pickering Nuclear Generating Station alone could heat most of Toronto.
Biography:
Michael Wiggin is a retired, but active, engineer who managed an energy systems research team at NRCan for many years and was an advisor to PWPSC in the modernization of their district heating system in Ottawa. He is still Senior Advisor to the IEA District Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Party, Deputy Chair of the OSPE (Ontario Society of Professional Engineers) Energy Task Force, and a Director of the Boltzmann Institute (bi-ib.ca). The Boltzmann Institute has recently released a major “2 Pathways” report comparing the electrification of building heating with the use of thermal networks Boltzmann Institute website. He is frequently consulted on the emerging opportunities for sector coupling.
Administration:
– The CACOR Sponsor Peter MacKinnon
– Please invite friends and colleagues.
– One brief question at a time, please. Others are waiting.
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– Suggestions for future speakers are solicited. Wednesdays starting on 04 March 2026 are available.
All future CACOR Live speakers presently scheduled:
| 12-Nov-25 | Michael Wiggin | Sector Coupling of Electricity and Thermal Systems: Our biggest opportunity for GHG reduction. |
| 19-Nov-25 | Julian Branch | Asbestos cement water pipes, and ingested asbestos |
| 26-Nov-25 | Tal Engel | Where are the Elders? The Startling Parallels Between Dying Ecosystems and Cultures. |
| 03-Dec-25 | Paul Beckwith | TBD – COP30 ?? |
| 10-Dec-25 | Dr. Brian Bedard | Musings of an Itinerant Veterinarian |
| 2025-12-17 19:00 EST in Ottawa is 2025-12-18 11:00 AEDT in Canberra | Julian Cribb | Earth System Treaty |
| 24-Dec-25 | closed | Week off |
| 31-Dec-25 | closed | Week off |
| 07-Jan-26 | Roger Hallam | Revolution in the 21st Century |
| 14-Jan-26 | Dr. David Knoke | Using Agent-Based Models to Fight Global Warming |
| 21-Jan-26 | Dr. John Sanbonmatsu | Human Domination and Capitalism: The Double Helix Encoding the End of Terrestrial Life |
| 28-Jan-26 | Elizabeth Anderson | Digital authoritarianism and the defence of democracy |
| 04-Feb-26 | Patrick Chuang | What is and is not possible in a fossil-fuel free world? |
| 11-Feb-26 | Lauren Latour | CAN-Rac Overview |
| 18-Feb-26 | Dr. Mike Brklacich | Climate Change: Hope Amid the Gloom |
| 2026-02-25 19:00 EST in Ottawa is 2025-02-26 10:30 am ACDT in Adelaide | Neil Jones | A case study of the massive Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) in South Australia: a citizen science and wide boundary perspective |
| 04-Mar-26 | ||
| 11-Mar-26 | ||
| 18-Mar-26 | ||
| 25-Mar-26 | Karen Shragg | Reaching Ecodency by Embracing Eco-history |