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+\chapter{Introduction}
+
+\section{History and culture of Canada}
+
+% [nao]
+\subsection{Foundation}
+Canada is one of the largest countries on the planet, in fact, it is the fourth
+largest country by land area with approximately 9 million square kilometers
+\cite{statscan:statarea}. Located in the northern hemisphere of the American
+continent, was first discovered by Europeans in 1497 with the expedition of
+John Cabot. The name ``Canada'' seems to have appeared first in the 16th century
+when Jacques Cartier, during his 3 voyages to the new world, heard a groups of
+natives speaking the Iroquoian language referring to a village as
+``Kanada''\cite{history}. During the following centuries both French and British
+colonies were established which led to numerous conflicts the two between 
+empires and the natives. The government of Canada was created with the 
+proclamation of the Constitution Act in 1867, but the present the nationals 
+were enstablished only in 1999 because after since its first foundation the 
+dominion had expanded multiple times.
+
+\subsection{The Flag of Canada}
+\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{.4\textwidth}
+    \centering
+    \includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/flag_of_canada.pdf}
+    \caption{Current flag of Canada}
+\end{wrapfigure}
+The current flag of Canada was created in 1964, when the government had an 
+all-party parliamentary committee that prepare multiple designs. Before then 
+Canada didn't have its own official flag but instead used either the English 
+Union Jack or the Canadian Red Ensign, a red flag with a smaller Union Jack on 
+the top left and an ensign on the right side.
+\begin{figure}
+    \centering
+    \includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/canadian_red_ensign.pdf}
+    \caption{Canadia Red Ensign used before the introduction of the modern 
+    design}
+\end{figure}
+
+The simplest design was chosen by the parliament and the current flag was 
+adopted the 15 December 1964, just in time for the centennial celebration of 
+the confederation 3 years later.
+
+\section{Canadian Natives}
+Before the arrival of the Europens the northern American continent was 
+populated by various groups of indigeouns peoples which today are referred as
+First Nations or Premières Nations (in French). There were 6 major tribes and 
+each one of them lived in a particular area of the continent, but they all 
+shared a similar culture and environment. First Nations lived off mostly from 
+hunting with an advanced social sistem around it that defined territories 
+for each tribe. There was also a system of social orders 
+% tribes:
+% iroquian    south       fertile, for agricolture
+% woodland    east        boreal forest
+% plains      ???     grassland, prairies
+% plateau     south/north semi-desert, mountains, forest(north)
+% pacific coast   west        abundant salmon and shellfish, gigantic red cedar 
+% for building huge houses
+% Mackenzie and Yukon River Basins    ???     harsh environmnent, dark forests, 
+% barren lands, swampy
+
+
+\subsection{Modern Canada}
+Today Canada is a powerful country with its own currency, the Canadian Dollar 
+(CAD), As 2016 one Canadian Dollar equals 
+\href{http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=CAD&To=CHF}{
+0.76 Swiss Francs}. Canada's GDP (as Q2 2015) is more than twice ours 
+(Switzerland)\cite{swisseconomy} with a market price at 1'996'804 millions of 
+Canadian dollars \cite{statscan:ecoimpexps}. Its major economic trade partners 
+are USA, UK and Germany.
+
+
+\section{Natural resources}
+
+% [nao]
+Canada's huge land area makes it one of richest countries from a natural
+resources standpoint. Indeed Canada has the third largest reserve of crude oil
+in the world and it is the second production of Uranium
+\cite{nrcan:energyfactsbook}. But Canada is also a leader in renewable energy
+production with a 18.9\% of total energy supply coming just from renewables
+\cite{nrcan:renewables}. Even if most of the energy produced can be considered
+eco-friendly Canada still relies heavily on non-renewable energy source as we
+will see in the next paragraphs.
+
+\subsection{Non-renewable energy sources}
+
+\subsubsection{Crude Oil}
+
+% [nao]
+Oil has become has been increasingly become a valuable resource, since the 
+discovery of oil sands extraction technology. The desire for oil 
+independence from the USA and many other NATO states has given a lot of funds
+for the development of this technology.
+But for the environment this is not a good, according to a study conducted in
+2014 \cite{statscan:ghgemissions}, GHGs (Greenhouse Gases) emissions caused by
+oil extraction industries have increased by 63.5 millions of tonnes in the last
+20 years.
+
+\subsubsection{Natural Gas}
+
+% [nao]
+Natural gas is the biggest energy source in Canada, mostly produced in Alta is
+also a major cause of Nitrogen and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) pollution.
+Even though its extractions and refinement technologies are getting better, the 
+level of pollution has not gone down since 2010. In 2014 56.6 mega tonnes of GHGs
+were released on the atmosphere. Combined with the oil extraction this economic
+sector accounts for 26\% of total nation emissions \cite{statscan:ghgemissions}.
+
+\subsubsection{Coal}
+
+% [nao]
+Despite it makes up half of the world's energy source (mostly in China) and
+there's an abundance of it, coal represents a minor element in the national
+energy production, and almost half of the final product gets exported to Japan,
+China and South Korea. Currently scientists are discouraging its usage because
+of its high level of pollution and $CO_2$ emissions. Nonetheless the research in
+the field of coal refinement, to produce what is called ``Clean Coal'', is still
+being supported by the government in order to use the enormous quantity lying
+beneath the Canadian surface.
+
+\subsection{Renewable energy sources}
+
+% [nao]
+Substantially the main energy source of Canada is from natural gas, followed
+by crude oil, while hydroelectric and the other renewables represent only a
+smaller percentage of the overall production. But recent political and economic
+trends have encouraged the Canadian government to support the development of
+these new technologies in order to increase and optimize the production per unit
+to use more efficiently every resource nature offers.
+
+\subsubsection{Wind Energy}
+
+% [alan]
+Canada's geography makes it a perfect place for ``wind farms'', or groups of
+wind turbines, to generate a lot of electricity which can be used to reduce
+reliance on energy generated from non renewable resources and, for communities
+that are not connected to the electricity grid. This method can achieve lower
+costs and greater independence. The advantage of increasing the deployment of
+wind energy include reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and air contaminants.
+However, incorporating a large amount of wind energy requires continued
+innovation to improve efficiencies, extend turbine lifetimes, and mitigate
+interconnection problems. 
+
+\subsubsection{Solar Photovoltaic}
+
+% [alan]
+Photovoltaic energy has become a favoured form of renewable energy, since the
+need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, deregulation, and the restructuring of
+electric power generating companies. Canada is very into photovoltaic researches
+both nationally and internationally, their strategy is to accelerate the
+deployment of solar generated energy.
+% [nao]
+But unfortunately the geographical northern location of Canada does not allow to
+achieve the maximum efficiency. For this reason the amount of electricity
+produced by photovoltaic is only a very small percentage. But in the extreme
+north there are places in which a day lasts for months because of the tilt of
+the earths rotation, if technological advancement will be able to access to
+these areas there is a huge potential to generate solar powered
+electricity.
+
+\subsubsection{Hydroelectric}
+
+% [alan]
+Canada is the world's second producer of hydroelectricity in the world, behind
+only to China\cite{nrcan:energyfactsbook}. The large amount of rivers flowing
+through Canada are an optimal location for building dams for energy production.
+Hydroelectric stations have been developed where the environment was favourable, 
+particularly in Quebec and N.L (Newfoundland and Labrador).
+
+\subsubsection{Solar Thermal}
+
+% [alan] edit by [nao]
+70\% of the energy used in the residential and commercial/institutional
+buildings sector is used for heating. Therefore the use of solar thermal
+technology could drastically improve the consumption level of energy nationwide.
+Like with photovoltaic panels, the light from the sun hits the earth with a
+higher slope than on souther regions. For this reason this technology is rarely
+used.
+
+\subsubsection{Marine Energy}
+
+% [alan] edit by [nao]
+Canada with large coastal and inland waters has the ideal environment for using
+the potential of the waves. This kind of energy is produced by the kinetic
+energy contained on tides, waves and river current. Tidal current energy is
+produced by the rise and fall of tides from the gravitational influence of the
+sun and moon. In Canada there are 190 tidal power sites across it's coasts with
+a total estimated capacity of 42 GW. Wave energy is generated by waves formed
+by the heat of the sun. The motion of these waves can be used to power
+turbines. But as powerful as this technology is more than double of current
+electricity demand the harsh ocean environment, power conversion losses and
+costs make this resources mostly not available.
+
+\subsection{Nuclear energy}
+
+Whether nuclear-powered energy production is a sustainable method is a 
+controversial debate. In recent years the idea of abandoning this technology has
+become popular in many countries, but renewables in the current state will never
+be able to fulfill the huge energy demand that we need every day.
+Because of this we may need to have a different take on view of nuclear
+power plants. A strong argument against anti-nuclear is technological 
+advancement, many people speculate that a new type of reactor can be less
+dangerous. This argument will be covered in more depth in its own dedicated 
+section \ref{nuclear}.