Change is… green: a year in renovations

Many of the buildings we live and work in are in need of serious changes in order to meet the challenges of a more environmentally and energy-conscious world. Commercial buildings alone, for example, are responsible for 13 per cent of Canada’s carbon emissions. And with new tools like a simulation program designed to improve a building’s efficiency and government incentives, it’s no wonder that many Canadian locations saw green renovations in 2009. Among the many high profile green renovations of 2009, Flow took a look at…

Google’s Canadian headquarters and a pair of Canadian hospitals that included technologies as progressive as a solar heating system and familiar as triple-glazed windows. And while it hasn’t been a renovation per se, the construction of Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business goes to show that green buildings are starting out fresh as well.

Internationally, Flow covered the undergo $350 million green renovations on the Sears Tower and the Utopian plan for the headquarters of The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The need for efficiency and a lower carbon footprint, after all, is a global issue. But not every green renovation is taking place in buildings.

Some of the most important green renovation projects are currently happening inside the minds of Canadian students and working professionals. As we outlined with the five top green careers for 2009, a growing “green collar” sector is emerging to fill the gap left as eco-professionals begin to retire.

Specific programs like Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy and Canada’s Green Energy Action Fund are designed to promote green careers in energy and the technology to enable them. These programs are part of a general trend toward education that reflect a broader awareness of energy as it impacts the daily world.

And if 2009 is any indication, the message is already resonating with young people across North America who invent energy innovations. If a 15-year-old Texan can create an algae-powered energy system or a 17-year-old Calgarian can invented a solar powered tracking system, there’s hope that the changes we’re making in our buildings and our ways of thinking really can change the world.

A month of Wednesdays: The best of 2009’s Wednesday Words

We all use energy, but don’t necessarily speak it. Every energy industry has its own set of technical terms and downright nonsensical jargon, so Flow’s Wednesday Words provide the definitions for energy’s complicated language.

Here are 30 of the most important energy terms we highlighted for our readers in 2009.

1. Abiogenic theory | theory of petroleum formation in which petroleum is thought to have formed from hydrocarbons trapped inside the earth while the planet was forming
2. Absorber | blackened surface in a collector that absorbs solar radiation and converts it to heat energy
3. Anemometer | wind speed is usually measured using a cup anemometer, a device that has a vertical axis and three cups which capture the wind to record the number of revolutions per minute
4. Annulus | space between two concentric lengths of pipe or between pipe and the hole in which it is located
5. Backstopping | service that provides alternate supplies of natural gas in the event that a consumer’s gas is not delivered
6. Biogenic theory | theory of petroleum formation in which the petroleum is thought to have originated from plant and animal matter that has undergone transformation by heat and pressure resulting from deep burial
7. Btu | British thermal unit is a unit of heat energy equal to the heat needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere pressure (sea level)
8. Controller | device that starts up the turbine at wind speeds of above 13 kilometres per hour and shuts the machine down at speeds over 90 kilometres per hour for safety reasons
9. Diluent | liquid used to dilute bitumen to the point where it will flow; naptha (condensate) is the most commonly used diluent in the oil sands industry
10. Dosimeter | a pen-like device that measures the cumulative dose of radiation received by the device
11. Fast breeder reactor | process that allows the extraction of up to 100 times the amount of energy from uranium than is possible using a light water reactor
12. Geophone | sensitive vibration detecting instruments used in conducting seismic surveys; marine versions are known as hydrophones
13. Green credit | new way to purchase renewable electric generation that divides the generation into two separate products: the commodity energy and the renewable attributes
14. Grid | electric utility´s system for distributing power.
15. Hog fuel | wood residues like bark, sawdust, planer shavings, wood chunks processed through a chipper or mill to produce coarse chips normally used for fuel
16. Hydrotransport | process that uses hot water to transport oil sand through a pipeline to a processing plant
17. LEED | Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the nationally accepted standard for designing and constructing green buildings with a focus on sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality
18. Mousehole | hole drilled to the side of a wellbore to hold the next joint of a drill pipe to be used; when this joint is pulled out and screwed onto the drill string, another joint of pipe is readied and slipped into the mousehole to await its turn
19. N0x | potent greenhouse gas which has a large number of natural sources and is a secondary product of the burning of organic material and fossil fuels
20. Organic theory | most widely accepted theory explaining the origins of petroleum: as organic materials become deeply buried over time, heat and pressure transform them into hydrocarbons
21. Pitch | angle of the blades on a wind turbine in such a way to keep the rotor from turning in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity
22. Plug load analysis | method of understanding the energy needs of an individual, family or group; an essential part of selecting, sizing, and designing an appropriate renewable energy system for a building
23. Range anxiety | specific to electric car operators who don’t venture past half of their car’s available range or fear to venture more than 10 miles from the closest available charger
24. Slow pyrolysis | thermal conversion of biomass to fuel by slow heating to less than 450°C in the absence of oxygen
25. Smart grid | innovations to the energy network, such as the addition of electronics and “intelligence” to the generation, distribution and consumption of electricity
26. Sour gas | raw natural gas with a relatively high concentration of sulphur compounds, such as hydrogen sulphide, and about 30 per cent of Canada’s natural gas production is sour, most of it found in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia
27. Step-up gearbox | increases turbine electricity production in stages by increasing the number of generator revolutions produced by the rotor revolutions
28. Sweet gas | raw natural gas with a relatively low concentration of sulphur compounds, such as hydrogen sulphide
29. WECS | Wind Energy Conversion System converts wind energy to mechanical energy, making it available for powering machinery and operating electrical generators
30. Wet gas | raw natural gas with a relatively high concentration of natural gas liquids (ethane, propane, butane, pentanes and condensates)

Energy statoids

A country’s wealth is a key indicator of economic performance in that it represents the potential to generate income and benefit society. Natural resources are arguably the most fundamental component of wealth and the latest quarterly Envirostat from Statistics Canada highlights the importance of the role played by resources in general and energy resources in particular.

The latest numbers show that in 2008, the value of energy, minerals and timber rose 45.3 per cent to $1,723 billion in 2008 and accounted for more than 22 per cent of Canada’s overall wealth.

Unsurprisingly, given the state of world markets last year, the value of energy in Canada soared by 72.5 per cent to $1.162 billion as higher commodity prices easily offset higher capital and operating costs. Energy assets accounted for more than 67 per cent of total natural resource assets in 2008, up 10 points from the previous year.

The value of crude bitumen nearly doubled last year, rising 97.5 per cent to $604.8 billion, which reflected increased reserves and production as well as record prices for much of the year. In dollar terms, crude oil ranked second at $256.9 billion (up 55.4 per cent from 2007), followed by natural gas at $231.8 billion (up 40.2 per cent) and coal at $68.7 billion (up 86 per cent).

Hospital upgrades

Two Ontario hospitals are undergoing renovations that will cost millions now, but save a ton of money – and emissions – over time. Partnered with Honeywell, Cambridge Memorial in Cambridge and St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton plan to decrease their overall energy costs with upgrades that will hopefully pay for themselves. A SolarWall air heating system is among the energy-efficient upgrades and retrofits planned.

Air passing through SolarWall’s perforations is heated and redirected by a fan into the building. Cambridge Memorial is using three of them to reduce their carbon footprint.  It will apparently be the largest of its kind, at five stories tall.

While hospitals are a relatively new domain, Honeywell is no stranger to eco-friendly retrofits. They’ve also been involved in a similar program of retrofits in a Pennsylvania school district, expected to save about a million dollars annually.

Recently, more hospitals have been built with an eye on energy efficiency. One prominent example is the new Alberta Children’s Hospital. Opened in 2006 in Calgary, it was built with triple-glazed windows and energy efficient, state-of-the-art mechanical systems.

Victoria’s new Royal Jubilee Hospital is set to be completed in 2010. Plans include a green roof and LEED-accepted building materials. Even the process of construction will be environmentally conscious, incorporating a sediment tank to prevent building materials from washing off the site. As a result, it has already been awarded LEED Gold status. No surprise, given British Columbia’s well-publicized mandate to make all new infrastructure projects worthy of LEED Gold.

Indeed, LEED Gold status “championship” gold worth its weight in…well, gold.

International Day of Climate Action

350.org has organized this day of action to rase awareness of climate change issues. The organization’s name comes from the idea that 350 parts per million is the number some scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Organizers hope that the thousands of events today will change the negotiating environment in Copenhagen and help governments realize that the climate treaty they agree on in December pays attention to science and citizens around the world.

Organizers have confirmed that there are more than 4,000 events registered in about 170 countries. Canada was second to the United States in terms of the number of events planned, including 350 Group Photo Brownvale, Salt Spring Island, 2100 Salt Spring Island, Yasodhara Ashram, 10 Divine Light Invocations Hornby Island, B.C., 1-hour Awareness Walk through the Downtown Streets Summerside, PEI, 10 min de luz de Velas-10 min on candle lights Montreal, 10in10Diet.com Sharbot Lake, 2009 Cape Breton Eco Expo Sydney, 350 – take the bus and ride with us Peace River, 350 @ 3:50 with 350 St. Catharines, 350 Action Walk North Bay, 350 acts of green Mississauga, 350 Art Collage by Markham Arts Council Markham, 350 Awareness in Burlington! Burlington,350 Banff Day of Climate Banff, 350 Bell Ring for Climate Action Mill Bay, 350 Bell Ringings for climate change Cayuga, 350 Bells For Change Napanee, 350 Campaign-Kingston Kingston, 350 cars Napanee, 350 Climate Action Uxbridge, Ontario, 350 Climate Action Festivities Calgary AB, 350 Climate Action Gathering London, 350 Climate Action Rally Winnipeg, 350 Climate Change Awareness Walk Saskatoon, 350 Community Tree Planting with Ground Breakers Oakville,350 Concordia Student Bike to Mount Royal Montreal, 350 Day Gabriola, 350 Divine Light Invocations Kootenay Bay, 350 Event Revelstoke, 350 Film & Visual Arts community day Vancouver, 350 Flash mob Halifax, 350 Gathering Commanda, 350 Homeroom Challenge Orillia, 350 International Movement letter campaign Milford, 350 Letters to Stephen Harper Duncan, 350 Local Connections–Community Gathering Prince Rupert, 350 Mass Bike Ride Abbotsford, 350 minute of Kayaking Dunnville, 350 or bust! Red Lake, 350 Orangeville Orangeville, 350 Port Colborne Port Colborne, 350 Rally Huntsville, 350 Tree Planting Fredericton New Brunswick, 350/Kairos Climate Action event St. Stephen, 350: Cartoons against Climate Change Toronto, 3:50 p.m. Email to elected representatives. Toronto, A Bell Ring for International Day of Climate Action Lake Cowichan, A Choir of 350 for the Island Nations Ottawa, A Sea Change documentary film screening and panel discussion Victoria, A step in the right direction Flin Flon, ACER Climate Change and Forest Biodiverstiy Toronto, Action Edmonton! Edmonton, Action King’s 350 March Halifax, Alerte Rouge! Changements Climatiques Sherbrooke, Annapolis Valley & Wolfville Climate Action Wolfville, Arctic Voice. Fortrose Academy Arctic Exchange Gjoa Haven, Awareness Mill Bay, Awareness: Transport merchandise by train Sudbury, Babies for Action on Climate Change Kimberley, Balade en vélo Parti montarvillois Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Help Stop Climate Change! Burlington, Banbury Crossroads students support 350! Calgary, banner over highway lions bay, Bell Ringing Milford, Bell Ringing for Climate Action Peterborough, Bike Rally Kelowna, Bike to the Market Stratford, Bike-a-thon Charlottetown, BIKE-YES WALK-YES CAR-NO FOR 350 STONEY CREEK, Bridge to a Cool Planet www.bridgecoolplanet.Ca Vancouver, Bullfrog Power is coming to town! Halifax, Burlington’s Environmental Youth Conference Burlington, C- Day! | FREE BUS IN LONDON | 100,000 on the Hill! London, C-Day: Fill The Hill Ottawa, Calgary’s Nightmare Before Copenhagen – 350 Parade for Climate Action Calgary, Calgary: Call for action on climate change from Canada’s oil capital! Calgary, Campus Action Peterborough, Canadians for 350 Stratford, Canmore climate crusaders Canmore, Carrot Mob – Victoria organized by Small Feet Inc. Victoria, Cercle de tamtam pour la guérison de la terre cowansville, Change Shorts – [4290] 350 Climate Action Festival Rossland, Church Bell Ringing at Christ Church Cathedral – KAIROS Victoria, Church Bell Ringing at First Metropolitan United Church- KAIROS Victoria, Church Bell Ringing at St. John the Divine – KAIROS Victoria, Church Bellringing Grafton, Church bells for climate Porters Lake, Church Bells Ring for Climate Change Aurora, Church Bells ringing 350 times Cobourg, Climate (of) Change: Rally for people and the planet (Council of Canadians AGM) Saint John, Climate Action Festival Edmonton, Climate Action Rally Waterloo, Climate Awareness Project (CAP) for Youth Cornwall, Climate Change 350 Wake-Up Haliburton, Climate Change Day of Action Collingwood, Climate Change Education Burin, Climate change rally in support of 350.org Kamloops, Climate Change-International Day of Action Halifax, Climate on the Line Kingston, CO2 Toaster Widget Toronto, Community Climate Campaign Prince George, Community Tree Planting Toronto, Create a New Green Blog and Spread the Word Cobourg, Day of Climate Action Thunder Bay, Dying for Climate Leadership Edmonton, Divine Light Invocation Victoria, Divine Light Invocation Kootenay Bay, Divine Light Invocation Nanaimo, Drama – Saltfleet Action Plan -SAP Stoney Creek, Drawing the Line Hornby Island, Drumming in International Day of Climate Action Collingwood, Earth 350 Peace River, Earth Beat! Drum Jams and Discussions for Climate Change St. Catharines, Eco-music concert Joggins, Edmonton Thrill the World for 350 Edmonton, Enhance the awareness of climate change Ottawa, Enjoying beautiful Kamaniskeg Lake Barry’s Bay, Envoi de délégués de Symbiose à Powershift Ottawa, 350 Climate Action Festival Toronto ,Marcha de Acção Climática 350 Toronto ,Family festival and collective action Halifax ,farmers and Crafters Market SOKS 350 Interactive activities and booth Kelowna ,Farmers market Information Kiosk St. George, Farmers’ Market, Lethbridge Exhibition Park Lethbridge ,FILM & PANEL Edmonton, Flash Mob Alert Toronto, ON, For Whom the Bell Tolls Uxbridge, FutureFest Victoria Victoria, Gathering to Raise Awareness About Climate Change Placentia, Giant School 350 photo Kingston, Gibsons CAREs Gibsons, Giving-Back-To-The-Grid Belfountain, Global Bell-Ring Belleville, Go Green at Saugeen Saugeen Shores, Grandparents & Grandchildren take action Toronto, Green Building Workshop Port Moody, Green Campus Day of Action Ottawa, Green Finger Windsor, Greenhouse Picture! Edmonton, Hamilton 350 Challenge Dundas, Hamilton 350 Climate Action Day Hamilton, Handbell Ringing Port Hope, Here Comes the Sun |350 Solar Installations London, History Under Water? 350 or under by 2080. Shelburne, Hopscotch Cobourg, Hot Salsa, Cool Planet: the 350 Dance Party Vancouver, Hug the Legislature for Action on Climate Change Whitehorse, HUGS HALT CHANGE Movement Surrey, HUGS HALT CHANGE Movement New Westminster, I don’t know Burnaby, Indian Arm Paddle and Pedal Squamish, Inter-Faith Pot Luck Supper of Local Food Halifax, International Climate Action Rally Truro, International Climate Change Day Event Lethbridge, International Day of Climate Action Charlottetown, International Day of Climate Action – Islanders Speak Out Charlottetown, International Rally – A Better Climat Please! Moncton, Intl. Climate Action Rally / Tintamarre intl. pour le climat Dieppe, Islanders Behind 350 Now Quadra Island, B.C., Jai Ho Sudbury Science North – LU-LTSPP and Green Sudbury Sudbury, Jamdown 350 Montreal Montreal, Join the 350.org Movement! Participate! London, Jump for the future Montreal, Kenyada for 350 Winnipeg, KES 350 Event Windsor, La grande cacophonie de Harper Saguenay, La grande cacophonie de Harper sur le climat ! Quebec, LA GRANDE CACOPHONIE DE STEPHEN HARPER SUR LE CLIMAT Montreal, LA GRANDE CACOPHONIE DE STEPHEN HARPER SUR LE CLIMAT Québec, Laughing Buddha Party Sudbury, Let the Business Community Know How You Want Them To Help Montreal, Let’s do this Brandon, Let’s make a difference Toronto, Low Carbon Potluck Halifax’ Lunch and march to Commons Halifax, Macro Photography Event at Camosun College Victoria, March / Rally / Letter Writing / Film Screening Yellowknife, Markham Sustainability Fair Markham, Mason’s Landing 350 Climate Action Festival Manson’s landing, Minister for Climate Action Richmond, MM high school action day Dieppe, MMR 350 Movement Burlington, Moving Collaboratively Towards 350 Kentville, Napanee Greenlights 350 Candlelight Gathering Napanee, NDSS 350 Napanee, NeighbourWoods Kelowna, Nelson Youth’s 350 March For Climate Action Nelson, NetZero Sustainable Residential Project Dawson Creek, NOTL’s 350 Shout ! Niagara on the Lake, Ocean’s 350 Vancouver, Paddlers for climate change action Greenfield, Paint Abe’s Hill! Steinbach, Paperless Church Service St. Catharines, Pender Island Climate Change Learn-In Pender Island, Penticton 350 Penticton, Petition Signing Oil Springs, Pioneer Memorial United Church Hamilton, Plant trees for the climate Qualicum Beach, Pledge for 350 Edmonton, Pollution Free North Pole Montreal, Port Alberni 350 Action on Climate Change Port Alberni, BC, Post for Climate Action Nelson, BC, Power off St. Catharines, Practical Hope Beaver -Brook, Project Karyne Ottawa, Provincial Park Cleanup Port Burwell, PSP Captain at local Walmart Strathmore, Public 350 display Gibsons, Public Transportation for 350 Fredericton, Pumpkin March and Rally Berwick, Pumpkin Party Westerose, Quest Adventure Club for 350! Tofino, Quest Students for 350! Squamish, Quit idling your stinky veichle Grande Prairie, Reception and Art Installation – 350 Time Capsule Toronto, Regina is Acting! Regina, Renewable Energy Home Tour Barrie, Ring your bell for climate justice Yarmouth, N.S., Ringing the bells for climate action Georgetown, Sackville Climate Action Day Sackville, Schoolwide launch Canmore, Show of Hands for 350 Cornwall, SOHIP Club Trip to Amish Community Mississauga, South Shore 350 Bridgewater, Squamish 350 Climate Action Festival Squamish, St George’s Chimes in OSHAWA, St. John’s Biggest Action on the World’s Biggest Issue St. John’s, St. Stephens’ Grade 6 “350″ Ambassadors Valleyview, Stop aux changements climatiques! 350 Amos, Sunshine Kayak Water babies for a 350 world! Gibsons, Support Global Climate Change at Commensal Toronto, ON, Sustainability Awareness Week Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, SWC STRINGS for 350 St Catharines, Take a Bite Out of Climate Change Caledon, Take a Chalk around the Common Halifax, Taking a bus to Parliament (‘Fill the Hill’ event in Ottawa) Cobourg, Taking a bus to Parliament (‘Fill the Hill’ event in Ottawa) Brighton, TCS Bells for 350 Port Hope, Temple Kitchen 98.6 toronto, Testing the Waters: A Water Quality Workshop Musquodoboit Harbour, The Carbon Dioxide Story Halifax, The Climate Project Canada Presentation Kelowna, The great Harper climate cacophony Montreal, The JMSB Mt. Royal Walk and Picnic Lunch for Climate Change Montreal, Tofino 350 Climate Action photo Tofino, Toronto Climate Campaign Rally on October 24th! Toronto, Transition Barrie – Steering Through Uncertain Times Barrie, Tree Planting Ceremony Niagara Falls, Tree planting event at the Purvis property Uxbridge, Vernon 350 Pledge Vernon, Vigil for the Earth Nanaimo, Whole Foods Market Oakville 350 Climate Action Day Oakville, Workshop focus on Climate Change Salt Spring Island, BC, YEA: Calgary High Schools Unite Calgary, Yellow Cedar Project Nanaimo, 350 Climate Action Festival Nanaimo, GEO350 Climate Action Event ‘09 Toronto, 350 Climate Action Festival vancouver, 350 Gateway Freeway Action Vancouver, Carolinian Canada Costume Parade Windsor, 350 Climate Action Festival Ottawa, 350 Climate Action Festival Sudbury, For the Love of Trees Bethany, 350-Guelph Climate Festival Guelph, ACTup! Missisauga, 350 Climate Action Festival Richmond, 350 Climate Action Festival Wolfville RR2, 350 Climate Action Festival Kingston, 350 Climate Action Conversations and PartyWaterloo, 350 Climate Action Festival London, Word Power for 350 Stratford, 350 Climate Action Festival Victoria, 350 Climate Action Festival Toronto, 1,000,000 Acts of Green Victoria, BC, 350 Climate Action Festival Ottawa.

And of course there is an iPhone app for this.

Athletes and Students Issue Challenge to Olympics

The Olympic motto may just be adding a fourth line: Faster, Higher, Stronger…Cleaner? 

Canadians are being invited to summon their Olympian ideals and join Project Blue Sky. The goal? One billion human-powered kilometers logged before the closing ceremonies of the Paralympic Games in March 2010.

It’s essentially an online carbon offset project. In conjunction with the Vancouver games, ordinary people alike are encouraged to join Canadian athletes in using Blue Sky’s widget. It logs distance walking, cycling, transit riding, hurdling – basically any travel that’s not driving or flying. 

The project was masterminded by Canadian Olympic Committee’s Athlete Council and Masters students at the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver. After consulting Offsetters Clean Technology Inc. – official Carbon Offset Supplier of the Olympics for the website’s CO2 calculations – the company joined as a sponsor.

The website is billed as a “meeting place” for athletes and participants. Like other networking sites, registration is necessary but free. You can track your favourite participating athletes, share photos, and compete in the CO2 footprint event. Like golf, smaller numbers win. 

That said, you don’t have to visit the site every time you want to add a km or two. You don’t need to register in order to submit your own man-powered kilometers, and the widget can be moved to other social networking pages.

Membership does have its privileges, though. Athlete profile pages list their favourite movies, artists, and most importantly, why they were motivated to join the Blue Sky Project.

Hi Norm

This month, the Centre for Energy commissioned a survey to test Canadians’ knowledge of their energy system and gauge their opinions about the importance of our energy industry. The survey’s results suggested two conclusions. First, that Canadians believe the energy industry is important and second, that Canadians’ knowledge of their energy sources is good.

But there is always room for improvement.

So starting today, the Centre for Energy is hosting a virtual tour of Canada’s energy system – 75 stops across the country in 75 days – and Norm is your tour guide. From hydro dams to nuclear power plants to oil sands to wind farms, Canada’s diverse energy system is a mosaic of sources working together to power the movement and growth of day-to-day life. And we are all connected to it.

The complexity of Canada’s energy system can be difficult to capture, yet more and more, the perspectives and habits of energy consumers within and beyond our borders are shaping energy policy and regulation. So come along for the ride and take the trip with Norm.

He could become your new best friend.

Biofuels caravan rolling along

Federal funds continue to flow to an array of biofuel projects across the country, mainly from Natural Resources Canada’s ecoENERGY program in a determined bid to encourage production of renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel. Compared with gasoline, grain-based ethanol can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 per cent on a life-cycle basis and the difference can be as much as 60 per cent for biodiesel.

Ottawa has committed $1.5 billion over nine years for development of the renewable fuels industry in Canada.  The most recent recipient of ecoENERGY support is Husky Energy, which will receive up to $72.8 million for its ethanol plant in Minnedosa, Manitoba. Other announcements this year include up to $23.2 million for Permolex Ltd. of Red Deer, Alberta, up to $19.9 million for Western Biodiesel in High River, Alberta, and up to $72.4 million for Biox Canada in Hamilton, Ontario.

However, the main ecoENERGY beneficiary is GreenField Ethanol, Canada’s main producer of ethanol. It has federal commitments of up to $212.3 million for facilities in Ontario, including up to $117.5 million in Johnstown, up to $72.8 million in Chatham, and up to $14 million in Tiverton. The Johnstown project also is receiving $7.3 million in repayable funding from ecoAgriculture Biofuels Capital, a $200-million program run by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada.

Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is also involved in encouraging ethanol production through its NextGen Biofuels Fund. An SDTC grant of up to $1.82 million to Lignol Energy Corp. of Burnaby, B.C., will support development of an industrial-scale plant for production of cellulosic ethanol and other renewables.

Simple solutions to a pressing challenge

The folks who thought up Project Porchlight, a highly-successful home-grown campaign promoting compact fluorescent light bulbs for the sake of energy efficiency; have turned their attention to the automobile. Their driving force is Stuart Hickox of Ottawa, whose One Change organization, has teamed up with private- and public-sector partners to promote tire gauges and oil changes as significant vehicle efficiency improvements.

The additional benefit of properly-inflated tires, of course, is improved road safety. 

One Change volunteers and staff handed out 1,000 keychain-size digital tire gauges and $30 Canadian Tire oil and filter change coupons at the recent 2009 SuperEX. Other partners in the venture were Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The goal is to distribute 12,000 gauges and discount coupons in the Ottawa area. 

Hickox, founder and executive director of One Change said the expected annual savings on fuel and auto-service costs should average about $90. That’s based on a formula that uses data developed by NRCan and assumes that at least 40 per cent of cars have at least one underinflated tire. Hickox also said that more efficient cars should curb their annual carbon dioxide emissions by an average 740 kilograms. 

“We are trying to convert awareness to action,” he said, agreeing that while tire pressure may be “deep in the back of everyone’s mind,” it’s something too many motorists ignore. “Simple actions matter.” 

That was the philosophy he espoused with Project Porchlight, the first project Stuart, his wife and some friends began in the Hickox family’s basement in 2005. It quickly spread across the country and into the U.S., where millions of light bulbs have been distributed in Washington state and New Jersey. 

“We’re not your typical environmental group in that we have no political agenda,” Hickox said. “No single source provides all funding; we have partnerships with businesses, non-profit groups and governments. 

“It’s not the old joke about how many people it takes to change a light bulb,” Stuart said, “It’s a question of how many light bulbs it takes to change society!”

Ethanol regulations

There are 12 ethanol producers in Canada spanning the country from the Prairie Provinces to Quebec. Doesn’t sound like very many, does it? Maybe not, but these companies are responsible for the production of 1390 million litres a year (MMly) of ethanol. 

From the corn-based ethanol plants in Ontario to the wheat and corn plants in the Prairies, the diversity of raw material reflects the availability of local materials. The smallest of the country’s producers, the Iogen Corporation located in Ottawa produces a mere 2 MMly. The country’s largest producer of ethanol is GreenField, whose four plants in Ontario and Quebec produce a total of 496 MMly. 

Why is this important? 

Recent government regulations are requiring refiners to include at least 5 per cent ethanol in their gasoline by September 2010. This 5-per-cent increase would create a market for approximately two billion litres of ethanol annually, a substantially higher volume than what Canada is currently churning out. 

Building new plants and creating jobs sounds great, but there’s a catch: ethanol can be as ‘dirty’ as gasoline. The biofuel industry has been highly controversial because deforestation and increased land cultivation are causing increased greenhouse gas emissions. 

All Canadian producers use natural gas in their production process, which cause fewer emissions than coal-fired ethanol, which actually creates 34 per cent more emissions per gallon of fuel than gasoline producers over a 30-year period. 

The Canadian government claims that grain-based biofuels can reduce emissions by 40 per cent compared to gasoline. But Natural Resources Canada’s calculations do not include indirect land use emissions. 

Over the longer term, as the one-time impacts of greater land cultivation fade, it is estimated that corn ethanol using natural gas will produce 16 per cent fewer emissions than gasoline. 

So is it worth it? Only time will tell.

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