SWITCH Open Meeting - March 6, 2026
You are invited to join the sustainable energy community of south eastern Ontario!
When: March 6, 2026 | 8:00am
Where: via Zoom
FREE Event!
The Hidden Costs of Clean Energy: Are Renewable Technologies Creating Future Environmental Liabilities?
The transition to renewable energy is widely seen as a pathway to a cleaner and more sustainable future. However, as solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage systems age, a less visible challenge is emerging, which is the growing volume of end-of-life materials and the associated costs of managing them. This presentation examines whether current energy policies in Canada and comparable jurisdictions are adequately accounting for these future waste streams and remediation obligations.
Drawing on secondary data from international and national sources, the talk highlights projected increases in renewable energy waste and evaluates existing regulatory approaches to recycling, decommissioning, and producer responsibility. It raises critical questions about who will bear the financial and environmental costs as these technologies reach the end of their lifespan.
The session will explore what these emerging liabilities mean for energy planning, infrastructure investment, and policy design. It will also discuss how integrating lifecycle thinking into today’s decisions can help avoid long-term risks and ensure that the transition to clean energy remains genuinely sustainable.
SANJO ABOLARIN
Sanjo Abolarin is a doctoral researcher in Geography at Queen’s University whose work focuses on the governance, political economy, and justice dimensions of energy transitions. His research examines how energy systems across fossil and renewable sectors produce uneven social, environmental, and financial outcomes, particularly in resource-dependent regions.
His research program spans petroleum, lithium, and coal extraction alongside comparative analyses on energy transitions in Africa and North America. Using mixed methods approaches, he investigates issues such as environmental degradation, compensation, institutional failure, and community-level impacts of extractive activities.
Across these areas, Sanjo’s work aims to inform more accountable energy governance by linking technological change to its long-term environmental and institutional consequences.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://queensu.zoom.us/j/95959154826?pwd=lBGV9YxhhDOyGdOK2x5sDsMR2crrB1.1
Meeting ID: 959 5915 4826
Passcode: 991969
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