Wind Blog

The refurbishment of New Brunswick’s 680 MW Candu reactor, it’s only one, is in trouble. There are three things that we can count on. Death, taxes, and nuclear cost overruns.
Read the rest of this entry »

Wow. The Ontario Power Authority, no doubt pushed by their political masters, backed down. They have announce a new compromise on pricing for small scale (<10 KW) ground mounted solar. The new price will be 64.2 cents/kWh, down from the original 80.2 cents, but up from the 58.8 cents announced earlier. But most importantly they will honour the original proposed price of 80.2 cents for all those who had submitted applications before the price change.
Read the rest of this entry »

The smoke has finally cleared from Moscow, after days of smog caused by forest and peat fires from their record hot summer. Air pollution during the crisis has been at 3 times higher than the acceptable level. And the death rate has doubled. The city’s morgues are close to full. If ever there was concrete evidence that smog kills, this is it.
Read the rest of this entry »

James Hoggan and Richard Littlemore have written a powerful book exposing the efforts of the fossil industries to confuse the public and policy makers about the science of climate change. After all, if there is scientific doubt about climate change – either the causes, or the effects – then we don’t really have to do anything, do we? “This is a story of betrayal, a story of selfishness, greed, and irresponsibility on an epic scale.” The book exposes the public relations techniques used, the players, and the funding. It is a warning to all about media manipulation, and it is a lesson in public relations.
Read the rest of this entry »

Bruce Power has announced plans to ship 16 old generators from the Bruce Plant to Sweden for recycling. The 100 tonne generators will be loaded onto a ship in the Port of Owen Sound for their passage through the Great Lakes, then on to Sweden. 90% of the material in the generators will be recycled, with the balance returned to the Bruce Plant to store as low level nuclear waste. The Mayor of Owen Sound, Sarnia, and others have expressed concerns, and believe the plan needs careful study. I think there are legitimate concerns and questions that need to be answered before this plan to move toxic material is approved.
Read the rest of this entry »

Our electricity generating plants are old. The coal and nuclear plants were built between the late 60’s and the 1980’s. Some of them need replacing, as the cost to keep them operating is becoming too high. Read the rest of this entry »

The Ontario Power Authority has proposed a major change to the MicroFIT program, and it has people hopping mad. The MicroFIT program is part of the Province’s Feed In Tariff program that allows people to generate power and sell it back to the grid. The OPA has proposed to reduce the tariff for ground mounted photo voltaic arrays to 58.8 cents/kWh from 80.2.
Read the rest of this entry »

Gideon Forman, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment made a presentation at the monthly meeting of the Bruce Peninsula Environment Group (BPEG). The topic was the impact of wind turbines on human health. It made for a lively evening.
Read the rest of this entry »

Wind turbines sometimes come under criticism for killing birds. While it is true that wind turbines kill some birds, the average turbine kills about 2 birds per year. This number needs to be kept in perspective. For ecologists, it isn’t the death of an individuals that matters – all living things will die someday. It is the impact on populations that matters. A recent story on the possible impact on birds in the US Gulf of Mexico from the BP oil spill may help to provide perspective.
Read the rest of this entry »

This is the title of a new book by Tom Rand. I have heard of Tom Rand – he is involved with Clean Tech in Toronto, and has a profile in the clean energy space. So I though I would read his book.
Read the rest of this entry »