This month we have the amazing opportunity to honour our partners at Cowichan Petroleum Sales (CPS) on their 10th anniversary of hosting our the Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-op's very first bio-diesel pump with a sign-unveiling for all or their support throughout these past years. We are truly grateful for CPS' ongoing support and collaboration in helping increase locally distributed bio-diesel in the Cowichan Valley CB-DC, and it was an honour to present Darcy Pridham, CPS' owner, the new sign for him and his team at our Cowichan Biofuel Facility.

A big thank-you to Dave Hoy and the team at Peninsula Co-op for your community support and as a Sponsor of our green initiatives!

We're glad we could show our appreciation with a tour of the Cowichan Biofuel Facility followed by the unveiling of a sign in honour of our partnership. Cowichan Energy Alternatives (CEA) and the the team at Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-op look forward to continuing this co-operative relationship into the future!

We had the great opportunity to tour Dave and Christi Ravait from Scale Collaborative through our Cowichan Biofuel Facility and showing the process on how the team at CEA takes waste cooking oil and produces locally distributed bio-diesel for our co-op members. 

This past winter, in collaboration with our community partners at Cowichan Energy Alternatives Society in part of their Community Carbon Smart program, we had the incredible opportunity to host a Cowichan Secondary trades class (grades 9-12) at our Bing's Creek Facility.

It was a great hands-on experience for the students, beginning with a Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) tour of the entire recycling facility and the potential career opportunities they may have within their community. The CVRD tour was followed-up by a Biofuel facility tour lead by CEA's Education Coordinator, Dylan taking the students through the biofuel cycle from the point of when the cooking oil is dropped off to when the biofuel is ​dispensed through the Green & Go Pump. In addition, students were able to observe a bio-diesel production demonstration (picture on the bottom right) also given by Dylan.  

A big thank-you to our partners at the City of Duncan for making this event possible by providing Cowichan Energy Alternatives with an education grant of $1000 to help increase awareness through education amongst students of local sustainable and alternative energy opportunities.  

CEA offers year-round facility tours and bio-diesel for students and groups. For more information on pricing and tours in general e-mail Dylan, CEA's Education Coordinator . 

Thank-you to everyone who attended our Let's Dance! event this past Saturday, without the support of community members we would not be able to accomplish our mission of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in the Cowichan Valley. 

Here are some highlights of the evening from the incredible introductions, the auction the bands and the dancing! Once again, thank you to all those who came out and we hope to see you all soon. 

Alistair MacGregor, Member of Parliament for Cowichan-Malahat Langford, gives opening introductions. 

Sonia Furstenau, Member of Legislative Assembly gives opening introductions. 

Brian Roberts, President of the Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-op and Executive Director of Cowichan Energy Alternatives welcomes guests to kick off the event.

Brian Roberts with Alistair MacGregor and Sonia Furstenau behind. 

Great audience for our opening introductions. 

We are so grateful to have so have had so many silent auction items donated to the event - perfect for all ages! 

Kira Pike from Climate Access with David Minkow and family connecting within The Hub's Cafe. 

Fantastic to even see some our community members and our incredible Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-op members have such an incredible time.

Sonia Furstenau taking the time to connect with community members. 

Thank-you to Alderlea Vineyards for featuring your incredible Plaid wine selection! 

The night finished up with a rocking and fun set from the sounds of Bijoux Du Bayou.

We had such an incredible turnout and we thank everyone who took the time to support us and the work that we do! We look forward to continuing this momentum to helping expand our vision of creating a more resilient Cowichan Valley.