Eco-Logic Sustainable Lifestyle Show

There is an exciting trade show at Exhibition Park in Halifax this weekend. The green lifestyle is becoming more and more popular, so much so that there can be a trade show of associated businesses and organizations. If you are in the Halifax area this weekend, come out to Exhibition Park and have a look at all of the great organizations making a difference in Nova Scotia. While you are there, make sure you stop by booth 144, I'll be there all weekend.

Nuclear Harper

Stephen Harper is certainly making his positions regarding climate change and energy clear to Canadians to week.
First, Harper announced that he would delay the opening of the House of Commons until the Throne Speech in October. What this means is that any unpassed pieces of legislation will "die on the house floor". Even though Canadians have repeatedly said that the environment is at the top of their priorities, the revised Bill C-30 - The Clean Air and Climate Change Act (fresh with the efforts of the three opposition parties... who as I've said before represent a majority of Canadians) will be lost. Therefore, this brings the total accomplishments of Canada's New Government to two items: 1) canceling and repackaging the programs of the previous government, while making them more expensive for Canadians and 2) shoveling a small amount of money to the provinces to deal with the problem. Canada needs a strong national program so that all emitters are treated equally. The main argument for the Conservative government has always been that the Kyoto Targets are too steep. However, in a preliminary meeting held in Vienna recently to discuss post-Kyoto targets the targets discussed were 25%-30% below 1990 levels by 2020. This represents a 15%-20% more than Kyoto. Therefore, wouldn't the best plan to avoid the "economic collapse" the Conservatives have continually warned us about be to start reducing emissions and encouraging new technology now???

On top of Harper's negligence regarding GHG Emissions on the domestic front, he is also secretly considering committing Canada to join George Bush's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership on the international front. Press stories earlier this week show that although nothing has been said to parliament or the public, Harper has been working on committing Canada to this group for over a year. The basics of this group would give Canada stronger markets to export its Uranium, however, it would commit Canada to taking the spent radioactive fuel back for storage within Canada. The main reason for this is that the US is running out of room in it's existing nuclear waste storage facility (Yucca Mountain).

Despite how Harper's plan to turn Canada into a storage bin for Bush's radioactive pollution might turn your stomach, the biggest concern about Nuclear energy is the amount of water it uses. According to the Sierra Club of Canada, Nuclear reactors use at least 2.3L of water per kWh. With the Great Lakes at an all time low and much of North America suffering from severe drought, we need to take care of our fresh water sources the best we can. Although Nuclear reactors do emit less GHG's, Canada does not need to destroy its last great resource, fresh water, in order to reduce emissions.

Here in Nova Scotia, there has been a "No-Nuclear" act since the 70's. We need to make sure it stays that way, so that when the change from coal happens, that it's to renewable energy, not nuclear energy.

First Round of Renewable Energy Proposals

On a somewhat historic day, Friday was the deadline for submissions in response to NS Power's Request for Proposals (RFP) of 130MW of renewable energy. This RFP is the first step from NS Power to address the Renewable Standards Portfolio that the NS Government implemented, which states that NS Power must increase the proportion of energy it gets from renewable sources by 10%. At the time, NS Power got 8.3% of its electricity from renewable sources, 7.3% of this was from small hydro energy, and 1% was from wind energy. It is commonly reported that NS Power has to increase it's renewable sources to 20%, but it is in fact only 18.3%. Read the story from the front page of the Chronicle Herald business section here

Projects from all over the province were proposed, and to my knowledge these projects were almost exclusively based on wind energy. The main reason for this, is that although NS Power was told to increase the amount of renewable energy it used, they were told how they had to procure that electricity. Once their legislative requirements are met, NS Power is responsible for the best interests of its shareholders. In order to maximize the profitability of their newly acquired renewable energy, NS Power will be deciding the results from this RFP almost exclusively on a "lowest cost basis". The Ecology Action Centre issued a great press release on the downfalls of this tendering process which was picked up by the Chronicle Herald here. Wind energy is the most cost effective source of renewable electricity, therefore, it is the renewable source of choice under this system. One issue that isn't addressed in the EAC article is that if we are truly committed to moving towards a completely renewable electricity system, we will have to develop a diverse portfolio of renewable energies such as wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and sustainable biomass. What is most cost effective today doesn't relate to what is most sustainable for the future.

Despite these drawbacks, this is generally still a positive step for Nova Scotia. Currently, there is about 60MW of wind energy installed in Nova Scotia, and projects from this RFP will add over twice that. These new projects will be enough to power 40,000 homes. NS Power has publicly committed to announcing the successful projects by October 1st.

I imagine that NS Power will try to use these new projects to promote themselves as being "green" or environmentally friendly. Their public image could certainly use some work. In a recent national survey, NS Power ranked second last in the country. Read all about it here. Despite all of these new projects, the new electricity will only be used to match the increase in electricity in this province, which is approximately 3%/year. NS Power's four coal burning thermal plants will continue to operate uninhibited, emitting enough Greenhouse Gases to make NS Power the 6th largest polluter in Canada.

Stay tuned to NS Power's promotional efforts surrounding these projects, as I'm sure it will be entertaining. October promises to be an exciting month.