Prepared By: Shawna Henderson
And: Abri Sustainable Design
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Concepts of Sustainability
3.0 Sustainability, Sable Island Gas and Energy Conservation
3.1 Current Energy Use and Fossil Fuels
4.0 Soft Energy Pathways Start From Fossil Fuel Use
4.1 Soft Energy Pathways: the Conserver Society and Energy Use
4.2 Soft Energy Pathways: Non-polluting Alternatives to Fossil Fuel for Energy Generation
4.3 Soft Energy Pathways: Photovoltaics (Pv), Solar Electricity Comes of Age
4.4 Soft Energy Pathways: We Make the Road As We Travel
5.0 Conclusions
6.0 References
7.0 Appendix
8.0 End Notes
This paper looks at long-term energy requirements and the need to view fossil fuel sources such as that of the Sable Island Project as limited resources in an over-consuming energy system. It suggests some alternative energy strategies which could be employed by the Province of Nova Scotia to create a more sustainable approach to energy and energy resource management, without disregarding the potential importance of natural gas as a cleaner 'bridge' fuel between truly clean, renewable energy sources and the exhaustion of the finite amount of fossil fuel (of any description) left for consumption by humanity.
The paper is written from a sustainable standpoint: concern for environmental and human health is seen as an integral part of the whole picture. In keeping with a sustainable standpoint, other facets of natural gas resource development are taken into consideration in regards to an alternative energy strategy for Nova Scotia. Other sections of this intervention will deal directly with medical health concerns.
The approach of this paper is to develop the premise that the only acceptable use of natural gas is the healthiest use of natural gas within Nova Scotia that is to distribute the gas to existing thermal electrical generation plants. This is also the use which promises the least infrastructure expenditure. This should be done without pipeline construction. Since we already have the electrical grid in place, electrical generation can occur either where the gas comes on shore or shipped in liquefied form to the existing generation plants for combustion. The gas resource should be used solely for Nova Scotia's electrical generation needs, and should be left in the ground until such time as a project so configured becomes economically, socially and environmentally viable.
Using Nova Scotian gas to power Nova Scotian generators would both keep money circulating within the provincial economy a good sustainable practice and ensure that long-term jobs related to gas production and usage could be kept in Nova Scotia for generations to come also a good sustainable practice. Potential funding sources for Nova Scotian innovation in renewable energy technology and support for a dedicated focus on a soft energy path for the province should come from a 'carbon tax' on all money generated from the sale of natural gas or natural gas-derived products (as well as from coal or other fossil fuels), similar to the Heritage Fund of Alberta. We should take advantage of excellent Canadian research and development in energy efficient housing; innovative materials and building methods, and the national model Energy Code, as well as the excellent knowledge base and proactive stance of the provincial government's Department of Natural Resources Energy Utilization Section to help move Nova Scotia and its citizens along the soft energy pathway that takes us from an energy consuming society to a true conserver society.
It will be shown how this kind of approach can work (a logistical paper on instigating an effective carbon tax is attached as an appendix) and it will also be shown how steps have already been taken by US utilities indeed instigated by those same utilities to profitably incorporate renewable energy sources into their portfolio of energy generation options.
Within the paper are examples of renewable energy sources and uses, possible policy strategies for energy resource management and potential areas in which Nova Scotia could expand on research and development in the fields of renewable energy and resource management. Given the time and financial constraints of the intervention process, it has been possible to look at only one potential renewable energy generation industry in any detail. The example is photovoltaics, and a successful model of a proactive, market-led organization dedicated to the commercialization of photovoltaics on a large scale is described.
Gas ranges offer desirable cooking performance, but venting the combustion products from the open flames is nearly impossible. Individuals with environmental illness cannot be in or around a house with this type of appliance in it. Studies quoted elsewhere in this intervention indicate that people who are healthy can become sensitized from exposure to open gas flames on cook tops. Sealed combustion gas ranges and ovens (units where the flame is contained under glass or ceramic surfaces and the combustion products are vented to the outside) are now available, which would indicate that the gas industry is aware of health concerns for even 'normal' people. However, direct vent gas cook tops and ranges may not be enough. How do gas combustion products vented to the outside impact on the health of sensitized individuals who walk around their own neighbourhoods, go to work, shop for food, etc. They may be forced out of their very houses by the gas combustion products down the street, or next door. Adding natural gas combustion products to the chemical mix of our exhaust-laden air (especially in cities), could potentially cause havoc with the health of a larger proportion of the population.
In this paper, it is assumed that the easiest, most cost- effective way of utilizing the gas that does stay in Nova Scotia is to generate electricity at the point where the gas comes on shore or to ship it liquefied to the major existing thermal generation plants to act as a 'bridge' fuel between electrical generation by fossil fuels and electrical generation by renewable energy sources. Regardless of concern for health from piping of gas to hundreds of thousands of end users, the sheer cost and logistics of laying pipe all over the province would be outrageous when compared against the cost of routing pipeline to a few major generators of electricity. Given that the electrical infrastructure is already in place; alternatives to a large pipeline directly feeding existing large thermal generation plants may be cost effective. Even if gas was shown to be inexpensively delivered to each door in Nova Scotia, were concerns for health from piping of gas to hundreds of thousands of end users to be fully evaluated, the results may well show that the socioeconomic costs far outweigh any cost savings.
What is the embodied energy cost? How local is the resource? Who will gain the greatest benefit from this resource? How much money stays in the province? In the community? In the country? What are the effects on human health? During extraction, during processing, during delivery? What are the effects on the environment? During extraction, during processing, during delivery? What is the overall efficiency, including generation and transmission costs? What other strategies are available that would decrease health and environmental affects? What level of maintenance is required to keep a system producing at its maximum potential? How many long-term jobs will be generated by this decision? (What is long term?) What is the life-expectancy of the system? How long before it is redundant or out of date? How costly will future upgrades be? Is this the right time to consume this resource? Would a later time be beneficial? What effects on other forms of energy consumption and conservation will occur if this project goes ahead now?
Is exporting Sable Island Gas to the US the best use of a finite Canadian resource? How can we reduce our consumption of these ever-rarer energy resources? What is the energy picture going to look like in 10, 20, 30 years? 50 years? 100 years? How much can we afford to sell off precious resources while we are still reliant on those same limited resources? How much will we be paying for fossil fuels in 10, 20, 30 years? 50 years? 100 years? What can we look forward to in terms of global restrictions on the burning of fossil fuels to create electricity? How can we increase the efficiency and effectiveness of proven 'alternative' energy generation technologies such as solar, wind and tidal power? How can Nova Scotia take these 'alternative' energy technologies out of their fringe status and become a world-leader in soft energy pathways? Who is making the decisions here, and why?
Let's look at what we know:
We know that fossil fuels are in limited supply. We know that there is always a large efficiency loss along the way from the fuel source to the end use. We know that there is always a price to pay environmentally with the use of fossil fuels through every phase of the process of mining or tapping the source to burning the fuel to create electricity. We know that fossil fuels are not 'clean', only that gas burns cleaner than oil. We know that rudimentary global environmental restrictions are in place as a result of the Brundtland Commission and the Rio Summit, and that Canada has signed agreements limiting the production of greenhouse gasses. We know that there are stricter regulations in place already in European countries. We know that solar, wind, geothermal biomass and tidal power generation systems work and that there is no concern about the longevity of the energy source. We know that outside of the manufacture of components for generation and storage systems these are clean, healthy, completely renewable energy sources. We know that minimal amounts of money are dedicated to research and development into increasing the efficiencies of renewable energy generation systems, while billions of dollars are dedicated to gas, oil and coal exploration, etc. We know that regulatory and financial institutions have a clear bias in favour of fossil fuel combustion energy systems. We know that fossil fuel combustion energy systems tend to concentrate wealth and control into a relatively small group We know that renewable energy systems tend to diversify and decentralize wealth and control. We know that original design and retrofit improvements for energy efficiency and conservation are more cost effective than switching fossil fuel types. We know that Canada is a leader in energy efficient building technologies and standards.
In light of these statements, this paper will look at a more sustainable use of Sable Island gas; the different types of renewable energy generation systems and how research and development of these technologies could be funded.
Non-renewable energy is a finite resource. Strict limitation on its use should be encouraged. Following is a list of nonrenewable energy sources which summarises their problems:
Nova Scotia's high-sulphur coal is currently our primary fuel source for electrical generation. Over 66% of the power from coal is lost as waste heat at the power plant before it reaches the home in the form of electricity. Thus, it is only 34% efficient. Oil is not found in quantity in the province, and only about 40 years supply remains worldwide at present rates of use. As rates of use are not static and increase from year to year, this is probably a generous calculation.
Currently, Canada spends more money on oil and gas R&D (over 30% of the total budget for energy related R&D) than any other member of the International Energy Agency including the USA, Japan, the UK and Germany. 'Normal' levels of IEA member funding for gas and oil research is 3%. More than 40% of our total energy-related budget goes to conventional nuclear energy. Allocating more reasonable funding to the nuclear industry and to the oil and gas industries would have freed up about $223 million in 1990.
In these tight fiscal times, it is hard to imagine a resurgence of money flowing into R&D coffers of any ilk, but there are other ways to support and incubate new technologies. One of them being a 'carbon tax', or a 'dedicated pollution tax'. These types of taxes create a level playing field for renewable energy technologies by including the 'externalities' of the current economic analysis in energy costs.
"Carbon taxes coming into effect around the world are predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 - 6%. Using the 'stick' approach alone, such taxes will not be sufficiently effective in fighting global climate change [instead, we should look at] a dedicated pollution tax, in which moderate fees on greenhouse gases and other polluting emissions are balanced by financial incentives for energy efficient retrofitting or non- polluting substitutions. These incentives will vastly accelerate conversion to energy efficiency by reducing pay-back periods to acceptable levels and will lead to a 50 - 80% reduction of fossil fuel consumption at a profit.
Power companies throughout the North American continent have already proven the validity of this approach. They started to pay consumers of power for eliminating demand through increased efficiency, since they have realized that this is cheaper than adding new generation capacity in areas of growing demand."
The concept of 'carbon tax' is not novel to this paper. The Heritage Fund of Alberta is essentially a carbon tax. If the concept of gas as a 'bridge' fuel to renewable energy generation is taken as the basis of the argument presented in this paper, then a percentage of the money made from the sale of Sable Island gas is to be placed in a special fund. Money in this fund is dedicated to furthering research into soft energy pathways: solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biomass; supporting DSM measures and initiatives; and finally, but not least, decreasing the amount of energy required in the built environment in general, with special emphasis on residential energy efficiency.
Energy efficient housing has become an international trademark of Canadian building industry. The R-2000 standard is a world class program, the technology and understanding are being exported to several countries, including Japan, Belgium and Russia. However, the R2000 standard stops short of a conserver standard by several marks. Primarily, there is poor modelling of passive solar gains in the Hot 2000 computer modelling program which simulates energy consumption targets and estimated consumption rates for houses and multiple dwelling units. This is a concern for two major reasons. First, there is no way to demonstrate the effectiveness of passive solar to builders and/or their clients, nor to accurately calculate the optimal placement of windows, thermal mass and insulation levels for passive solar houses. Secondly, the national Energy Code requirements are based on the Hot2000 modelling system, which means that a house that gains up to 60% of its heat from the sun and uses electricity as a backup heat will have to 'pay' the insulation penalties of a house built with no consideration for maximizing passive solar gain.
Of additional concern is the fact that off gassing of synthetic building materials and chemicals stored in newer, 'airtight' construction has drastically decreased the quality of air in the built environment in general. This concern is as valid for individual houses as it is for institutional and commercial construction. Canadians now spend over 90% of their lives indoors, whether that is at school, at home, at work or in the gym, hockey arena or other venue. It is estimated that over 20% of the Canadian population is unusually sensitive to allergens or chemicals. New standards for indoor air quality must be addressed as a preventative measure.
Houses built or renovated today should pass rigorous standards for energy use, indoor air quality and potential for renewable energy use. All houses should be roughed in for both domestic solar hot water systems and for small photovoltaic arrays. This small cost up front cost could end up saving homeowners significant amounts of money in the future, as the cost of these systems comes down. Currently, a family of four has a simple payback period on a typical closed-loop solar domestic hot water system of 5 years or less, depending on water usage patterns. A small photovoltaic system can have a payback of 10 years or less. After the initial payback period, these simple but elegant systems are giving the homeowner free energy in the form of hot water or electricity and require minimal maintenance for up to 30 years.
It must be recalled that over 80% of the world does without the 'necessities' of North American 'plug- in' lifestyles, yet uses only 20% of the exploitable resources. Without veering into the ethics of this percentage, it should be noted that many developing countries rely on PV systems for their electricity, which is usually limited to lighting, and for simple solar water heating systems. Developing countries are the target of 'appropriate' technological aid from the industrialised countries. It's ironic that the 'appropriate' technologies are almost always based on the absence of a reliable source of fossil fuel, and therefore reflect the coming reality that will be faced by the whole planet in the next few decades.
We must round out our concept of 'efficiency' and 'efficient' housing to include not only energy saving devices and standards, but energy-weaning approaches which reduce the total amount of energy required in all facets of the built environment. These should include the embodied energy of materials, perhaps through the development of a code similar to the national Energy Code. Such a Code would give credits and penalties for the use of materials and methods which do or do not minimise the amount of energy used to mine/extract the primary resource, to transfer it to a processing plant, to process it into a building product or material, to then transport it to a supplier, to a site, into a house, and to the landfill or into a recycling process at the end of its useful life. Credits could be given for increased recycled content, recyclable content and reclaimed materials used in a house. Such a wholistic Energy Code would boost local economies through the need for local materials to reduce the transportation costs as well as creating innovative uses for local materials.
Wind farms, where many wind-generators are linked up, are generally used for commercial installations but could be used in smaller communities as an independent source of electricity. Like small-scale PV systems, a small-scale community wind farm could ultimately create an income for the community through selling excess power to a larger utility.
See the attached paper "Wind Energy Development As A Tool of Economic Growth in Canada" by Michael C. Bourns and Jason T. Edworthy for a discussion of this technology's potential.
4.22 Hydroelectric
Large scale hydroelectric generation is beyond the capacity of the Nova Scotian landscape, but where these projects exist, they result in the destruction of vast acres of otherwise usable land. The impact of large scale hydro on climactic change is unknown. Concrete dams are built using portland cement, which has a high in embodied energy and causes a great deal of pollution (for each ton of portland cement produced, 1.25 tones of CO2 are released). Methyl mercury, a neurotoxin naturally occurring in the soil and absorbed by plants is released into the water supply by submerged rotting vegetation and finds itself in our food chain. Large hydro projects also require roads and transmission lines being cut through otherwise inaccessible tracts of wilderness, thus opening it up to man.
4.23 Tidal & Wave Power
The use of tidal hydro power seems to be far less harmful than large scale hydroelectric projects. Nova Scotia has a modest tidal generating plant at Annapolis Royal. From 1917 to 1959, Parsons Ocean Power Plant successfully operated at Herring Cove near Halifax. It was only closed in anticipation of extremely cheap nuclear fuel, which turned out to be a pipe dream. It is regrettable that this sort of false expectation caused the closure of a sustainable form of electrical generation. Very small tidal power plants should be encouraged with comprehensive and determined methods.
Recent developments are showing the effectiveness of electrical generation through the action of waves. One such system has been invented and developed here in Nova Scotia. The long coastlines of our province offer bright prospects for the use of wave power.
4.24 Kinetic Energy Generation
Called the Underwater Electrical Kite (UEK), this system utilizes river or tidal or ocean current flow to turn a turbine placed underwater. It is best used for small scale and decentralized needs. But it can, depending on the installation, run 24 hours a day, just at certain times, or even go only seasonally. The generators can be taken out of the water in winter where warranted or where power is only needed in summer. It is classified as a Kinetic Energy Generator. Good flow can be in the 4 to 6 knot range, but it is not limited to these flows only. It was developed by Fillip Vauthier of Annapolis, MD. UEK systems have been sold in places including China, Europe, Latin America and Africa. Some countries have numbers of systems. See attachment on UEK and kinetic energy electrical generation.
4.25 Microhydro
Dedicated electrical generation at a small scale. This is becoming increasingly common due to its practicity and cost-effectiveness.
4.26 Fuel Cells
The hydrogen-oxygen cell generates electricity with water as the only by-product. Although costs are decreasing, the largest impediment to fuel cell use is the quantity of hydrogen which is easily containerised. First invented in 1839, fuel cells have many advantages. Clean, adaptable, noiseless, small and up to 60% efficient at present. Research is ongoing to develop this technology as a major energy source. However, as hydrogen does not exist in free form in nature, it is not a primary fuel. That is, it is obtained only by the expenditure of energy derived from other sources.
4.27 Secondary Systems
Geothermal
Geothermal refers to systems which take advantage of the stable temperature within the earth to extract low-grade heat (ie, low temperature, not poor quality) for use in various applications. The most commonly recognised type of system is a heat pump, which is basically a refrigerator in reverse. Earth-energy systems such as heat pumps (whether ground, water or air source) are not cost effective in single energy efficient homes in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick because the payback period is too long to make this technology a worthwhile investment. However, if used in a community setting, these systems are much more economical. In addition, most earth energy systems require another energy source (usually electricity) to power fans or fan coils to extract the heat. This is not an issue if the electricity required by the system is generated by solar, wind or other renewable source.
4.28 Co-generation & District Heating
Co-generation refers to systems where production of a secondary form of energy is added to an industrial application. One example would be electricity generated from industrial furnaces which primarily produce heat. District heating involves tapping into waste heat from industrial applications and moving that heat to individual buildings in a neighbourhood. For instance, the Tuft's Cove thermal electrical generation plant creates excess heat from both burning coal and from spinning turbines. This heat could be routed through a hydronic system to neighbouring houses and businesses for space heating. Although not technically a separate source of energy, these concepts are being given more attention as ways in which more efficient uses for energy can be employed within urban areas.
Possibly the simplest and least costly to maintain of the renewable energy technologies, photovoltaics is electricity generated from the light of the sun. It is important to note that PV is not as dependent on clear skies and direct sunlight as is passive solar it is light hitting the PV panel that causes the chemical reaction in the cells which results in an electrical charge being generated.
Electrical generation from the sun is accomplished mainly by using amorphous silicone cells, like those on solar calculators. There are several different arrangements of cells and materials used to enhance the efficiency of PV, which is not very high, although the upcoming generations of materials and engineering promise better collection of sunlight through concentrators and the like. Today solar cells with an efficiency of 10 to 12 % are commercially available, and experimental cells in research laboratories have demonstrated efficiencies as high as 34% . Solar cells have not caught on in Nova Scotia in any area except for single dwellings which are at a distance from the existing transmission grid, and in Coast Guard applications. However, several examples of larger-scale PV installations exist throughout North America.
One reason why PV has not caught on in Nova Scotia is the perception that in northern climates we cannot rely on the sun to produce enough light to power even one house, let alone a substation of a few megawatts! This is partially true, as we only receive 71% of the possible intensity of the sun's light at latitude 45 , and we have a seasonal variance between 38% and 92%. However, straight solar insolation values are deceptive, especially from a utility standpoint. Standard insolation maps ignore the capacity value from PV, and recent research in the US is showing that high levels of insolation are not a necessary condition for good PV sites, indeed, one study by National Renewable Energy laboratory (NREL) in the US correlated system load curves with PV production and found in 35 utilities that there were excellent capacity matches even in lower insolation areas.
Adding strength tot he argument of PV as the emerging renewable energy industry are the excerpts from the following article in the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group's journal, The UPVG Record:
"Technological improvements and manufacturing economies of mass production have dramatically reduced the costs of PV in the past 20 years. In constant 1994 dollars, the average selling price of an outdoor PV module has dropped from $52.38/watt in 1976 to $5.29/watt in 1994, a reduction of 90%. Moreover, historical cost trends for silicon PV cells show an industry-wide "experience curve" of 75% to 80%; that is, for each doubling in sales, costs have decreased by 20% to 25%.
Conventional utility economic measures are not necessarily helpful in predicting when PV will become fully competitive, because the traditional economics of power generation fail to account for consumer willingness to spend more for clean solar energy, and fail to consider the changing nature of the utility industry Surveys and polls have shown for 20 years [that] solar energy has a huge appeal to utility customers. Many consumers have already demonstrated their willingness to pay slightly more, or accept small inconveniences, for "green" products The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in California (U.S.A.) has already demonstrated that a "green market" for energy exists [with] a voluntary program called "PV Pioneer," through which the utility's participating customers permit SMUD to install 400 square feet of solar panels on the roofs of their homes. Each "PV Pioneer" agrees to pay a 10% premium (approximately $4 per month) for a period of 10 years. The Pioneers receive nothing more than the satisfaction of generating clean, renewable energy on their rooftops. More than 700 homeowners volunteered for the first 100 slots.
Finally, environmentalists maintain that conventional economics fail to account for the externalised costs of pollution from conventional power generation [including natural gas], the economic benefits that PV generates by producing non-polluting electric power, or the distributive costs of building and maintaining the electric grid. Air pollution created by fossil fuel generating plants can impose costs on human health and the environment.
Fossil fuel generation also contributes to global warming, which scientists now almost universally agree is occurring. The economic impacts of global warming could result in widespread changes in agriculture, longer and more intense storm and hurricane seasons, flooding of coastal areas, and the spread of tropical diseases to temperate latitudes.
Even when customer preference, pollution, and distribution costs are overlooked, however, PV will become fully competitive with conventional fossil-fuel power generation in the near future. According to Chris Fay, chairman and CEO of Shell UK Ltd., fossil fuel resources will probably peak around 2030 before declining slowly. Shell has also predicted that the renewable energy industry will reach $400 billion in sales by 2040, and that PV will become fully competitive with conventional power generation by around 2015.
[To counter the potential argument that it is economically viable to use up the gas supply now before PV becomes cheap and can therefore compete with gas, AEHA-NS takes the position that the gas should likely be left in the ground for now and only used later, when oil reserves are more depleted and coal cannot be used because of global conventions against the production of greenhouse gasses.]
According to Strategies Unlimited, (a California-based consulting firm with expertise in renewable energy), for utility customers interested only in the cheapest energy price, regardless of environmental consequences, PV will be fully competitive with conventional energy between 2009 and 2020. The research upon which this projection is based, however, assumes an 18% price reduction with each doubling of production less than the 20-25% that has historically characterized the industry. If the 20-25% estimate is correct, fully competitive PV will arrive even sooner.
In the meantime, the photovoltaic boom has drawn strong interest from investors and foreign energy and electronics firms Venture capitalists both here and abroad are also beginning to speak enthusiastically about photovoltaic energy.
Many manufacturers are expanding their existing capacity or building new plants, and the economies of scale will drive prices further downward The solar industry has entered a positive feedback loop, where increasing demand is causing manufacturers to expand production, which is lowering product costs. Lower hardware costs in turn are expanding markets and boosting demand. In the coming years, the market will determine which PV technology becomes dominant, just as gasoline-powered engines emerged as the dominant technology over steam and electric vehicles in the early days of the auto industry."
Turning to the prospects of the Canadian PV industry, we find that most Canadian PV firms are exporting a good portion of their equipment and knowledge. In fact, about 50% of all sales are exports. A list of the countries to which exports of assembled, distributed or manufactured PV Canadian goods were reported for 1989 as follows: Bahamas, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Yugoslavia, Spain, Uganda, USA, Jamaica, Barbados, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Mexico, Belize, Bolivia, Netherlands, Ghana and Tunisia. The total value of reported PV exports from Canada in 1989 was $5.3 million. this figure is approximately 50% of the total sales for both domestic and export that were reported in an industry survey for the year 1989.
In 1989, the major PV application was communications (41% of annual sales activity), while residential and remote lighting were 32.6% of reported sales (these percentages are based on the reported Peak Watts, not dollar sales and represent information from survey respondents, without estimates for non-responders), A total if 881 systems were reported with an average selling price of $26.79 per peak watt (UPVG estimates that PV systems are profitable at the utility scale at $ per peak watt). It is also interesting to note that in 1989, activity in PV markets globally was sufficiently high that the demand for modules (not systems) exceeded production capacity. This is one contributing factor to the drop in PV module and system prices over the last several years. In fact, the increase in PV sales totals (globally ) from 1986 to 1991 was bout 100% , averaging in excess of 15% growth per year.
Canadian PV technology developers and designers are also well-respected world-wide in creating excellent design tools for PV system sizing. These include WATSUN PV, University of Waterloo; SYSTEM- SPEC, Photron Canada; PV F-CHART, F-Chart Software; PVCAD, Photovoltaic Resources International; PV FORM and SIZE PV, Sandia National Laboratories; and the PV Design Manual, EMR Canada (all but this last are PC based software tools). These tools allow commercial system designers to quickly create an effective and efficient PV system which is sized properly and economically for the end user. Another Canadian resource, the bulk of which has been performed by the University of Waterloo under contract to the Atmospheric Environment Service of Environment Canada is a Solar and building Energy Digital Resource Atlas for Canada. All this research leads to a strong foundation to increase the viability of PV and other solar applications in this country.
The gas should be used exclusively for Nova Scotian energy generation, best combusted where it comes on shore or shipped in liquefied form to the existing large thermal generation plants in the province where coal and oil use would be phased out. This would allow us to direct our energies to true conservation rather than the false economies of replacing one non-renewable and polluting energy source with another. And this will result in greater long-term reductions in total hydrocarbon emissions and other pollution. From the perspective of those persons with environmentally induced illness/chemical sensitivity, this is the only justifiable use from a health perspective.
As one example of how proactive development of renewables can be successful, we will focus on the continuing support for PhotoVoltaics in the US as a concrete example of what is already being done, with success, to make the PV industry more commercially viable and out from under the burden of the slightly dismissive label of 'alternative'. Also, Nova Scotia (and New Brunswick) feature several areas which are among the top solar climates in Canada. In addition, the following headline from the Spring 1996 issue of the UPVG Record would indicate that PV is well on it's way to being one of the most tangible soft path for electrical energy: "Shell Oil says solar will be fully competitive in 20 years or less, utilities anticipate large consumer demand for solar much sooner, cost of photovoltaics has fallen 90% since 1976". Renewable energy technologies are becoming more attractive and cost-effective for the commercial marketplace, emerging as key growth areas in the domestic [US] and global economies. However, renewable energy system installations at any scale are hamstrung by the 'chicken and egg' problem that results from the absence of an economy of scale. A manufacturer cannot lower prices to create higher volume without the higher volume being in place.
To address this problem in regards to PV (but which is central to almost every application of renewable energy technology), a national collaboration of energy policy and planning leaders in the US began working toward creating a sustainable market for PV in the domestic utility sector in 1991 as Utility Photo Voltaic Group. A chartered organization, UPVG members include investor-owned utility companies, publicly owned utilities and rural electric cooperatives. A dozen state-based collaborative working groups (Photovoltaics for Utilities or P4U) were also formed by 1993 to resolve issues vital to the adoption of PV within state and local jurisdictions. Currently, there are nearly 80 member utilities, including Ontario Hydro International Inc. and the Edmonton Power Corporation. Swiss, Italian and Australian utilities are also members.
The organization and its working groups came about because of positive, proactive roles taken by utilities and other major stake holders in developing PV as a resource option. Joint-action strategies were coordinated to facilitate the integration of PV into the portfolio of resources available to utilities. The state P4U groups focussed on identifying strategies to facilitate institutional acceptance of off-grid and grid-connected PV systems. With this focus, the P4Us are developing hardware appropriate to utility applications; identifying regulatory, policy and institutional barriers to PV deployment; and developing strategies to remove these barriers.
To date, several programs have been instigated at the state level, several surveys and programs focussed on renewable energy technologies development and commercialization include the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group's (UPVG) 'TEAM-UP' (Technology Experience to Accelerate Markets in Utility Photovoltaics) Program and the US Department of Energy's commercialization Ventures Program (CVP).
TEAM-UP is a $513 million market-led six-year program started in 1993. The program involves volume purchases of PV systems for large scale applications, aggressive expansion of grid-independent applications, and support of advanced technologies and systems, as well as support efforts to prepare the market for sustained commercialization. The TEAM-UP program consists of three complementary initiatives: 40 cost-shared large scale 100kW to 1MW grid connected applications of PV, with a target of 32 MW in new PV installations; up to 8 small scale applications (more than 10kW) with a target of 17 MW in new PV installations; and validation testing of emerging technologies and systems between 1 and 20kW in scale which are not yet ready for commercial systems but offer significant cost or efficiency breakthroughs over current technologies. Desired outcomes include doubled domestic sales within four years (1997); increased US jobs and attendant economic benefits; 2 to 5 times the current number of utilities using PV systems; and lowered system costs because of higher production rates for manufacturers.
The US Department of Energy's commercialization Ventures Program (CVP), established in 1996, is a financial assistance program within the departments' renewable energy division. Supporting five to ten projects with a budget of one to two million dollars, the 'CVP seeks to foster commercialization by easing financial barriers in the latter stages of product development and market penetration While other government programs offer assistance for R&D, this program will only assist in commericalizing technologies that are essentially technically proven." According to the UPVG Record of Fall 1996, photovoltaic applications are of specific interest in the program, although other renewable energy sources such as biomass, wind and geothermal energy as well as fuel cells will be supported by the CVP.
Both of these programs are notable in their acknowledgement of the validity of PV and other existing and/or emerging renewable energy technologies as well as the implicit understanding and concern for the 'chicken or egg' problem in which most renewable energy industries find themselves:lower cost requires large volume manufacturing, but large volumes will not be purchased without those lower costs.
These programs have been supported by market research and consumer surveys.
One project supported by the UPVG which addresses the major issue concerning PV applications in Northern climates such as ours is the installation of a grid-connected system at the 3M Company headquarters in St. Paul Minnesota. Cost-shared between Northern States Power Company, EM and ENTECH (PV manufacturer), was designed to test how well ENTECH's concentrating PV hardware works in a northern climate with many partly cloudy days and severe winter weather conditions. This system produced 648kWh in its first 12 months of operation and, other than an initial problem with the inverter, the system experienced no downtime, boding well for future northern applications of which there are several, already. Indeed, there are several Canadian studies on northern applications of PV, including one on far northern applications using Canadian-designed PV performance/sizing software which looked at bifacial solar modules (collecting surfaces on both sides) and 360 solar trackers to increase PV output in systems installed in Whitehorse, Yukon.
The most notable Canadian PV project from a commercialization potential point of view is the Hugh MacMillan Rehabilitation Centre Photovoltaic project. Instigated in 1991/92, it is the largest PV system in Canada, supplying 100kW of supplemental electrical power to the Centre. The project was funded by Energy Mines and Resources (now Natural Resources Canada), the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Ontario Hydro. Installed on the roof of a children's hospital in Toronto, the system helps to reduce peak air conditioning loads in the summer. The hospital's peak electrical demand is 500 kW in the winter rising to 700 kW in the summer. As the hospital provides services which emphasize day programs, the electrical load largely coincides with daylight, making this an excellent 'load match'. Four units of 25kW each were installed over a three year period, with each unit representing a different technology design from 'off the shelf' units to new thin film and spherical technology.
In a study carried out in 1991, Ontario Hydro, on behalf of the Canadian electrical Association showed that " the ambient temperature has a great effect on the electrical demands placed on utility in urban areas [which require air conditioning]. Local distribution systems are often overloaded during heat waves. the study also indicated a relatively high availability of solar generated electricity from PV systems during these heat waves. Using photovoltaic power to reduce peaking demands for utilities may, therefore, give it 'capacity credit', enhancing the economic prospects of this technology."
In keeping with the ideas put forth by the UPVG mandate, The Hugh MacMillan project was designed to demonstrate PV technology while providing utilities with PV system experience as well as knowledge on electrical supply profiles and the potential for matching these with their own peak demand times, on a daily and seasonal level. Testing of emerging PV technology also gives the industry valuable insight into actual performance levels and the technical support required to support utility scale electrical power systems.
The Alberta Renewable Energy Test Site, Pincher Creek, began its first test season of renewable energy water pumping systems in 1992. The site focuses on evaluating and demonstration g PV and wind turbine systems designs for pumping water for agricultural applications. The intention of the site is " to assist the development of this renewable energy industry by providing cost effective, third party testing at world standards." The site provides testing services at no charge to manufacturers in an effort to provide a legitimized marketing tool which will assist the growth and development of solar and wind water pumping industry. It is operated through funding assistance from the Alberta/Heritage Trust Fund ('Carbon Tax' money), Alberta Agriculture and Energy Mines and Resources Canada (now Natural Resources Canada).
Nova Scotia needs a thoughtful, clear and enforceable Sustainable Energy Plan.
A more inclusive process must be instigated to ensure that the concerns and issues of all stake holders public, government and business are voiced and addressed by such a plan. We have a blueprint for this type of a process already, as outlined in Building Consensus for a Sustainable Future: Guiding Principles, Canadian National Round Table on the Environment and Economics (1993)
Government energy related R&D funding priorities must be changed to reflect future energy needs at both federal and provincial levels to better reflect the future energy needs of Canada and the global environment.
The only acceptable use of Sable Island gas is as a bridge fuel between coal and oil thermal electrical generation and clean, renewable electrical generation in Nova Scotia. Given present economic, social and environmental conditions, this resource is best conserved for later use.
It must be shown that gas certifiably, permanently and by law replaces other forms of fossil fuel combustion systems, rather than adding another form of combustion and thus total pollution levels.
Nova Scotia gas should fuel Nova Scotian innovation in the field of renewable energy for that time in the future when the supply of gas is exhausted and we have no choice but to depend on renewables.
A pipeline transporting gas out of province would compete with the establishment of a sustainable energy development policy for Nova Scotia, as there would be constant pressure to sell more and more gas for export, reducing the resource available for domestic use.
A carbon tax or dedicated pollution tax on all fossil fuel must be used to fund research and development in renewable energy R&D and energy efficiency/conservation measures as well as incubation of commercially viable renewable energy technology systems.
Canada already has world-renown expertise in building science and technology which can be further explored to create buildings which are true energy conservers, as well as ways in which existing buildings can be retrofitted to minimize purchased energy requirements. Carbon tax funds must support this work in Nova Scotia.
Passive solar design, active thermal solar and PV systems and other renewable energy technologies such as wind, tidal and geothermal are proven, viable systems. They must be supported and brought out from under the dubious shadow of the term alternative technologies.
Energy Codes should have a credit for the inclusion of renewable energy sources.
Nova Scotia should take advantage of the potential for innovation in renewables. A proactive stance will create new industries, more jobs and more economic stability for the province a much needed opportunity, given the state of the traditional industries of fishing and mining in Nova Scotia.
Optimixe: A Method for Estimating the Lifecycle and Environmental Impact of a House (report), ed. Peter Russell, CMHC, Ottawa
1993 Environmental Almanac, Information Please, 1993
State of the World, 1992, ed. Lester Brown, 1992
Green Economics, Paul Elkins, 1992
Principles of Solar Engineering, Kreith & Kreider
SESCI 1992: Renewable Energy for Today . Proceedings from the 18th Annual Conference of the Solar Energy Society of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta 1992
Endurable Housing, Sustainable Lives, T.G. Livingston, Kingsport, NS 1995 Indoor Air Quality, CMHC publication #6069, reprint 1991
Maritime Solar Shelter Manual, Shawna Henderson et a, Solar Nova Scotia, 1993l
National Geographic 'Water', November 1993
UPVG Record, Journal of the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group, Washington DC PV Vision, newsletter of the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group, Washington DC6.1 Appendices
The Utility PhotoVoltaic Group (UPVG), with funding support from the U.S. Department of Energy, is led and managed by the market itself the potential utility buyers of solar photovoltaic systems. The mission of the UPVG is to accelerate the use of cost-effective small-scale and emerging large-scale applications of PV for the benefit of electric utilities and their customers.
The UPVG program recognises that, despite a core of committed PV research engineers within some electric utilities, many utilities lack knowledge or are skeptical about the potential of PV systems. For the market to proceed to widespread commercial applications, utilities need to gain greater confidence in the technology's role.
Created in September of 1992, the UPVG now is concentrating on outreach to educate utility and other audiences and toward building the foundation for utility PV purchase commitments through its U.S. Department of Energy- sponsored TEAM-UP program.
Utility PhotoVoltaic Group 1800 M. Street, NW, suite 300 Washington, DC 20036-5802 USA Tel: 1.202.857.0898 Fax: 1.202.223.5537 email: webmaster@ttcorp.com
UPVG MEMBERS
Alabama Power Company (U.S.A.)
Nevada Power Company (U.S.A)
City of Alameda Bureau of Electricity (California, U.S.A)
New England Power Service Company (Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
American Public Power Association (Washington, D.C., U.S.A. New York Power Authority, U.S.A.)
City of Anaheim Public Utilities Department (California, U.S.A.)
New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (U.S.A.)
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (New York, U.S.A.)
Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (U.S.A.)
Arizona Public Service Company (U.S.A.)
Northeast Utilities (Connecticut, U.S.A.)
Atlantic Electric Company (New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Northern California Power Agency (U.S.A.)
City of Austin Electric Department (Texas, U.S.A.)
Northern States Power Company (Minnesota, U.S.A.)
Bryan Municipal Light & Water Utilities (Ohio, U.S.A.)
Northwest Rural Public Power District (Nebraska, U.S.A.)
City of Burbank Public Service Department (California, U.S.A.)
Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Georgia, U.S.A.)
Central & South West Services, (Oklahoma, U.S.A.)
Ontario Hydro International Inc. (Canada)
Citizens Utilities Company (Arizona, U.S.A.)
Orlando Utilities Commission (Florida, U.S.A.)
Commonwealth Edison Company (Illinois, U.S.A.)
PacifiCorp (Oregon, U.S.A.)
City of Palo Alto Electric Utility (California, U.S.A.)
Delmarva Power & Light Company (Delaware, U.S.A.)
Planergy, Inc. (Texas, U.S.A.)
Detroit Edison Company (Michigan, U.S.A.)
Portland General Electric Company (Oregon, U.S.A.)
Duke Power Company, Inc. (North Carolina, U.S.A.)
Public Service Company of Colorado (U.S.A.)
Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative (U.S.A.)
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (California, U.S.A.)
Edison Electric Institute (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.)
Edmonton Power Corporation (Canada)
Salt River Project (Arizona, U.S.A.)
Elektrizittswerk der Stadt Zrich (EWZ) (Switzerland)
San Antonio City Public Service (Texas, U.S.A.)
Empire State Electric Energy Research Corporation (New York, U.S.A.)
San Diego Gas & Electric (California, U.S.A.)
Southern California Edison (U.S.A.) ENEL, SpA (Italy) Entergy Corporation (Arkansas, U.S.A.)
Southern Company Services, Inc. (Alabama, U.S.A.)
Eugene Water and Electric Board (Oregon, U.S.A.)
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (U.S.A.)
Florida Municipal Power Agency (U.S.A.)
Southwestern Public Service Company (Texas, U.S.A.)
Gainesville Regional Utilities (Florida, U.S.A.)
City of Tallahassee Electric Department (Florida, U.S.A.)
Georgia Power Company (Georgia, U.S.A.)
Tampa Electric Company (Florida, U.S.A.)
Global Energy Group (New York, U.S.A.)
Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant (Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
GPU Service Corporation (New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Tennessee Valley Authority (U.S.A.)
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. (U.S.A.)
Tucson Electric Power Company (Arizona, U.S.A.)
Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (U.S.A.)
TU Electric (Texas, U.S.A.)
Houston Lighting & Power Company (Texas, U.S.A.)
Union Electric Company (Missouri, U.S.A.)
Idaho Power Company (U.S.A.)
United Power Association (Minnesota, U.S.A.)
Integral Environmental Energies (Australia)
UtiliCorp United (Missouri, U.S.A.)
Kansas City Power & Light (Missouri, U.S.A.)
Kansas Electric Utilities Research Program (U.S.A.)
Western Area Power Administration (Colorado, U.S.A.)
Long Island Lighting Company (New York, U.S.A.)
Wisconsin Public Service Company (U.S.A.)
Lower Colorado River Authority (Texas, U.S.A.)
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (Virginia, U.S.A.)
Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (Arizona, U.S.A.)
HONORARY MEMBER
Electric Power Research Institute (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.)
2 - The Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, 1987
3 - Optimixe: A Method for Estimating the Lifecycle Energy and Environmental Impact of a House (report), ed. Peter Russell, CMHC, Ottawa, 1991, p.10
4 - Sources: Information Please 1993 Environmental Almanac, p72 & State of the World 1992, ed. Lester R. Brown, 1992 & Elkins, Paul Green Economics, 1992
5 - Kreith & Kreider, Principles of Solar Engineering, p27
6 - "Canadian Research and Development Spending", paper presented by Anthony Newton (Sunton Engineering Ltd.), 1992 SESCI Conference, Edmonton, Alberta.
7 - Some paths just weren't meant to be followed, and dead end technologies such as conventional nuclear power, with it's exorbitant problem of spent fuel disposal' is one great example of throwing good money after bad: "There is a precedent for governments to abandon an inappropriate technology after wasting billions of taxpayers' dollarsthe US government stopped funding breeder reactor research [in 1987] after wasting more than a billion dollars a year in the late 1970's. "Canadian Research and Development Spending", paper presented by Anthony Newton (Sunton Engineering Ltd.), 1992 SESCI Conference, Edmonton, Alberta.
8 - "A Dedicated Pollution Tax: The Motor for Change", by Eckhart Stoyke and Godo Stoyke. This paper was presented at the 1992 Solar Energy Society of Canada Conference in Edmonton, Alberta. The thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of creating incentives for accelerating conversion to energy efficiency and reduced fossil fuel consumption at a profit are compelling.
9 - Livingston, T.G., Endurable Housing, Sustainable Lives, 1995, p1
10 - Indoor Air Quality, CMHC publication #6069, reprint 1991, p1
12 - Various sources stemming from Rio Summit, Brundtland Commission, etc.
13 - The term embodied energy refers to the total amount of energy required to mine/extract ever material, used in a product, and includes the energy used in each manufacturing process, the transportation costs involved in distributing it, the energy used to install, operate, dismantle and discard it after its useful life is finished.
14 - National Geographic Special Edition, November 1993, "Water", p, 74
16 - Printed from information on the website of the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group, "What is PV?", 1995
17 - "Shell Oil Says Solar Will be Fully Competitive in 20 Years or Less", The UPVG Record, Spring 1996
18- Printed from information on the website of the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group, "What is PV?", 1995
19- The UPVG Record, Spring 1996, from the website of UPVG
20 - Information about 1989 PV market activities are from the paper "Canadian Photovoltaic Commercial Activity Review", presented by Donald Adkinson (Adkinson & Assoc.) and Jimmy Royer(Solener) at the 1992 SESCI Conference, Edmonton, Alberta. Further information on PV market trends for the period 1985 to 1988 can be found in the report by the Peat Marwick Consulting Group, "Analysis of Commercial Activity in Photovoltaics", Energy Mines & Resources Canada, 1989.
21 - Maritime Solar Shelter Manual, Solar Nova Scotia,1993, p9
22 - The UPVG Record, Spring 1996
23 - Weissman, Jane M. Photovoltaics for Utilities: Commercialization Through Collaboration', Solar Today, March/April 1993, pp. 31-32
24 - These are just a few project which are affiliated with UPVG. There are many interesting and potential breakthrough technologies being developed for PV in Japan as well, including an electricity-generating window (Popular Science, 1993 or 1994)
25 - See Appendix for more information on UPVG, member utilities and partners
26 - The TEAM-UP Proposal Submitted' PV Vision, the newsletter of the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group
27 - "DOE Commericalization Ventures Program Funds Renewable Energy Projects" The UPVG Record, Fall 1996.
28 - The Hugh MacMillan Rehabilitation Centre Photovoltaic Project' paper presented by Per Drewes, Alternate Energy Design Specialist, Ontario Hydro, at the 1992 Solar Energy Society of Canada (SESCI) Conference, Edmonton, Alberta
30 - "Introducing the Alberta Renewable Energy Test Site", presented at the 1992 SESCI Conference, Edmonton Alberta