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= Fact of the Month Archives
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June 2008
More Reasons Why Nuclear Power is a Bust
Capital
Capital invested in decentralized renewable power in 2007:
$71 billion
Subsidies available to tempt nuclear investors: $13 billion
Capital invested in nuclear power in 2007: $0
Reliability
% of built nuclear plants in the US abandoned as lemons:
21%
% of built nuclear plants in the US that fail at least once
a year: 27%
Reliability of renewable energy: High, especially
with full grid integration
Reliability of nuclear energy: Low
Cost
Future price of nuclear power: Rising
Future price of renewable power: Falling
Source: Missing the Market Meltdown, by Amory Lovins
Worldchanging.com
May 30, 2008
April 2008
Solar Tariffs Around the World
These are guaranteed rates that solar producers are paid
in fixed 10-20 year contracts:
| Country/Jurisdiction |
Rate (cents/kWh) |
| South Korea |
$0.78 |
| Italy |
$0.75 |
| France |
$0.75 |
| Germany |
$0.67 |
| Czech Republic |
$0.63 |
| Austria |
$0.63 |
| Spain |
$0.60 |
| Washington State |
$0.59 |
| Ontario |
$0.40 |
Germany's 2006 solar production: 2715 MW (5,430 GWh)
Germany's share of global solar PV production: 52%
Solar workers in Germany: 35,000
Cost of Germany's Renewable Energy Feed Law Tariff per household:
$2.16 per month
(for an average household that consumes 3,500 kWh per year)
Number of years that it took Germany to grow from 7 MW to
2715 MW: 10 years
Sources:
German
Solar Feed-In Tariff. The Results Centre, #127
Paul Gipe's Wind-Works
website
March 2008
BC's Carbon Tax & Energy Upgrades
By 2012 the BC Carbon Tax will escalate up to $30 / tonne
which will only increase energy costs for a typical commercial
building by 7% per year over the current rates. If we spend
as much as yearly energy costs on one-time energy upgrades,
we will see a payback in 5 years, and ongoing positive return.
If a BC building uses $200,000 in energy per year, they
may expect a 7% increase energy costs ($14,000):
- $100,000 in natural gas = 8,000 GJ = 399 tonnes per
year = $12,000 Carbon Tax
- $100,000 in electricity = 2,000,000 kWh =7,000 GJ =
62 tonnes per year = $2,000 Carbon Tax
If we spend $200,000 in energy upgrades with a 5 year payback
= $42,760 per year savings
- $20,000 Gas Savings = 1,600 GJ = 80 tonnes per year
= $2,400 Carbon Tax savings
- $20,000 Electrical Savings = 400,000 kWh = 12 tonnes
per year = $360 Carbon Tax savings
February 2008
Factor 32: Global Consumption Rates
The average North American, Western European, Japanese
and Australian consumes 32 times more resources like oil
and metals, and produce 32 times more waste like plastics
and greenhouse gases, than someone in the developing world.
- If China caught up, world consumption rates would double.
- If India and China caught up, world consumption rates
would triple.
- If the whole developing world caught up, world consumption
rates would increase 11-fold.
It would be as if the world population had ballooned to
72 billion people.
Source: What’s Your Consumption Factor? By Jared Diamond,
New York Times, January 2nd 2008
January 2008
BC's Climate Goals in a Global Context
BC's emissions in 1990: 50.6 million tonnes (MT)
BC's emissions in 2006: 68.5 MT
BC's current goal: 33% below 2007 levels by 2020
= ~45.9 MT (based on 2006 levels)
= 10% below 1990 levels
The goal recommended by European nations at the UN Climate
Conference in Bali:
25-40% below 1990 levels
= 38.25 to 30.6 MT
= 50% below BC's 2006 levels
December 2007
CO2 Emissions from Buildings
- 33%: Share of global energy-related CO2 emissions that
are generated by energy use in buildings
- 29%: Proportion of these emissions that could be cut
by 2020, using existing technologie
- 5,000: Number of "Passive Houses" built every
year in Europe
- 65%: Reduction in CO2 emissions from Passive Houses
- Key reasons why Germany builds 2,000 Passive Houses
every year: tax breaks and low interest loans
Source: New Scientist, July 28th 2007.
November 2007
Government Support for Solar Hot Water
- California’s support for solar hot water rebates:
$250 million over 10 years.
- Intended installations: 200,000
- Equivalent support if BC adopted the same approach:
$2.7 million a year.
- Intended installations: 22,000
- Cost to natural gas customers on their gas utility bills
(assuming 1 million customers): $2.70 a year, or $0.22
per month
October 2007
White Paint
One of the most cost effective lighting products comes
in a tin can. It's called white paint.
Compared to today's dark coloured walls, white paint can
cut your lighting requirements by over 50%
September 2007
The Cost of Green Buildings
300%: The extent by which 1700 key players in the real estate
and construction businesses over-estimated the additional
cost of green buildings, when surveyed.
+17%: The increased cost of green buildings according to
the beliefs of the professionals surveyed
+5%: The true increased cost of green buildings. (Repaid
many times over during the life of the building.)
Source: Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Business Realities
and Opportunities
World
Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2007
August 2007
The Impact of Meat on Climate Change
- Share of greenhouse gas emissions caused by raising
livestock: 18%
- CO2e emissions produced by 1 kg of beef: 36.4kg
- Distance traveled by an average European car to produce
the same emissions as 1 kg of beef: 250 km
- Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions if the beef is
organic: 40%
Sources: Meat
is murder on the Environment. New Scientist, July 21
2007
Livestock’s
Long Shadow – Environmental Issues and Options
by H. Steinfeld et al. UN FAO, Nov 29, 2006.
July 2007
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs and Mercury
Amount of mercury in a new CFL light bulb: 4-10 milligrams
Amount of mercury in a watch, camera, calculator battery:
5 to 25 milligrams
Amount of mercury in a typical fluorescent tube: 20 milligrams
Amount of mercury in mercury amalgam dental filling: 200
milligrams
Amount of mercury in a mercury thermometer: 700 milligrams
Amount of mercury in a wall thermostat: 3000 milligrams
Amount of mercury produced per year by coal-fired electricity
to power an incandescent light bulb: 43.5 mg
Amount of mercury produced per year by coal-fired electricity
to power a CFL light bulb: 8.7 mg
Conclusion: a regular light bulb fueled by coal-fired power
produces 4 to 5 times more mercury than is released by a
broken or dead compact fluorescent bulb.
In British Columbia, 88% of our power is hydro-electric
and 12% is imported power, including coal-fired power. All
energy efficient measures taken in BC reduce imported power,
rather than “turning down the dams”, so the coal-fired
power assumptions for mercury released to the environment
still apply.
It is essential that a proper collection system be put in
place for dead compact fluorescent bulbs. If a bulb breaks,
open the windows, close the door and leave the room to air
it out for 15 minutes to let the mercury vapours dissipate,
and then collect the broken bulb up in a bag, and store
it in a labeled box for safe disposal according to whatever
system is in place locally. Some stores that sell light
bulbs accept dead bulbs back; some communities have hazardous
waste collection points. All stores that sell light bulbs
should be required by law to receive back dead bulbs, for
safe disposal.
RESEARCH NOTES:
Mercury in products: www.ec.gc.ca/MERCURY/SM/EN/sm-mcp.cfm
and www.on.ec.gc.ca/epb/fpd/fsheets/4021-e.html
Power produced by US coal-fired power plants in 2005: 2
million GWh
www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat1p1.html
Mercury produced by US coal-fired power plants in 2005:
48 tons (43.54 metric tonnes) www.epa.gov/oar/mercuryrule/basic.htm
1 kWh of coal-fired power produces 0.2175 mg of mercury
100 watt coal-fired incandescent light bulb, 5.5 hours/day
365 days = 200 kWh
= 43.5 mg mercury. Over 6 years: 261 mg mercury. If 10 hours
a day = 522 mg mercury.
20 watt coal-fired CFL light bulb, 5.5 hours/day 365 days
= 40 kWh = 8.7 mg mercury
Over 6 years: 52 mg mercury. Add 10 mg if the bulb breaks
= 62 mg mercury. If 10 hours a day = 114 mg mercury.
Over 6 years (average estimated life of a CFL bulb), burning
5 hours a day, a compact fluorescent light bulb produces
62 mg of mercury, compared to 261 mg from an incandescent
light bulb.
Mercury released each year by US coal-fired plants: 48 tons
US Electricity from coal, 2005: 2,013,179 thousand MWh =
= 2,013,179 GWh
www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat1p1.html
2,013,179 GWh = 48 tons = 43.54 tonnes mercury
2 million GWh = 43.54 tonnes mercury = 43540 kilograms =
43,540,000 grams = 43,540,000,000 milligrams
2 million GWh = 43,540,000,000 milligrams
2 million MWh = 43,540,000 milligrams
2 million kWh = 43,540 milligrams
2,000 kWh = = 43.5 milligrams
Coal-fired power 1 kWh = 0.2175 mg mercury
Data gathered by Guy Dauncey
May 2007
BC Energy Demand
BC Hydro supplies some 1.5 million residential customers,
190,000 light industrial and commercial customers and 150
large industrial customers.
Hydro's residential customers drew some 16,300 gigawatt-hours
of electricity in 2006; light industrial and commercial
customers drew 17,900 GWh; and heavy industrial customers
drew some 16,400 GWh.
BC Hydro expects its customer load to grow by 30% to 44%
over the next 20 years.
April 2007
The Oil We Use in BC
Annual CO2 emissions from transport in BC: 25 million tonnes
One litre of oil releases 2.34 kg CO2
25 million tonnes of CO2 come from 63 million barrels of
oil
Diameter of the Earth: 40,000 km
63 million barrels of oil laid end to end: 80,000 km
Conclusion: If stored in 1.275 metre high barrels, laid
end to end, BC's annual use of oil would stretch twice
around the Earth's equator.
Source: Guy Dauncey; BC's Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2004
February 2007
Wind energy available in the Hecate Energy Field, off Haida
Gwaii: 55,000 GWh/year
Energy produced by BC Hydro, annually: 55,000 GWh/year
Number of electric vehicles that could be powered by this
energy (@20,000 km a year): 11 million cars*
Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) produced by an average car,
per year: 5 tonnes
GHG per year reduced if 11 million cars used electricity,
not oil: 55 million tonnes
Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, 2006: 800 million tonnes.
* Assumes an average 250 watt-hours per kilometer
January 2007
"The sun, with its by-products (wind, water, biomass,
waves) supplies our planet with 15,000 times more energy
per day than humans consume."
- Herman Scheer, Chairman of the World Council on
Renewable Energy, June 2006
November 2006
-
Cost to the planet of each tonne of CO2, if we do not
act to control our emissions: $85+
-
Estimated annual emissions from BC's two planned coal-fire
power plants: 1.8 million tonnes of CO2
- Planetary cost of burning that coal: $155 million a
year
-
Cost to the Earth over a 40 year life expectancy: $6.2
billion
-
Cost per kilowatt hour of energy produced: 7.75 cents
per kWh.
Sources: The Stern Report, and Adam James (BCSEA
West Kootenay Chapter)
October 2006
The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank
with ethanol could feed one person for a year.
Source: Lester Brown, Worldwatch Institute
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/08/21/8383659/index.htm
August 2006
Greenhouse gases that will be produced by the two coal-fired
projects
(assumes 0.90 tonnes of CO2 per MWh of power)
184 MW AES Wapiti Energy Corporation, near Dawson Creek:
1612 GWh/yr:
= 1.45 million tonnes of CO2 a year
(less potential for 5-10% biomass if it can be obtained;
but the biomass itself must account for the fuel used to
truck it to the power plant)
56 MW Compliance Power Corporation, near Princeton: 421
GWh/yr:
= 379,000 tonnes of CO2 a year (less potential for up to
70% biomass if it can be obtained)
Total: Up to 1.83 million tonnes of CO2.
A family car produces (on average) 6 tonnes of CO2 a year,
so this is the equivalent of putting 300,000 new cars on
the road.
Power that will be obtained from BC Hydro's new power
contracts, when complete:
Water: 2,851 Gigawatt hours a year
Coal*: 2,033 Gigawatt hours a year
Biomass**: 1,186 Gigawatt hours a year
Wind: 979 Gigawatt hours a year
* May include some use of biomass from forest wastes
** May include some garbage as biomass
July 2006
What do Canadians think about energy, climate change,
and the solutions?
% of Canadians who believe:
- climate change is “very serious” or “somewhat
serious”: 90% [1]
- this was true 3 years ago: 81% [2]
- global warming will be the greatest crisis facing mankind
by the year 2020: 72% [3]
- energy conservation and new technologies will improve
the environment by 2020: 68% [4]
- our energy production is harming the climate and the
environment: 91% [5]
% of Canadians who support:
- creating tax incentives for renewable energy: 91%
[6]
- requiring automakers to increase fuel efficiency: 78%
[7]
- increasing energy taxes: 47% [8]
- building new nuclear power plants: 51% [9]
Compiled by Guy Dauncey, President, BC Sustainable Energy
Association.
[1] PIPA Global Scan poll, April 24, 2006
[2] Ibid
[3] Dominion Institute national poll, June 29th 2006. www.twenty-twenty.ca
[4] Ibid
[5] BBC World Service poll, July 2nd 2006. (Globescan) http://199.202.238.2/news_archives/bbcwsenergy/detail.html
[6] Ibid
[7] Ibid
[8] Ibid
[9] Ibid
June 2006
What technology is 15 times more efficient than a hybrid
car?
One of our most efficient modes of human transportation
was invented over 200 years ago ... the bicycle. The
human body coupled with a pair of wheels is a marvel of
efficiency.
Comparing the energy in the food you eat to the energy
in a gallon of gasoline, you get the equivalent of over
900 miles per gallon riding your bike! A normal car
gets about 30 mpg, and even hybrid cars like the
Toyota Prius only average 55 mpg (52 in the
US, 62 in Canada, since the Canadian gallon is larger.)
Considering our need to reduce transportation energy demands
H.G. Wells may have been even more accurate than he thought
when he said "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I
no longer despair for the future of the human race."
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question527.htm
http://www.hybridcars.com/prius.html
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H.G._Wells
April 2006
Solar Hot Water Systems
Estimated number of solar hot water systems in Canada:
6,000
BCSEA's goal for solar hot water systems in BC by 2025:
100,000
March 2006
BC and Greenhouse Gases
BC's annual exports of coal: 25 million tonnes
Tonnes of greenhouse gases caused by the use of this coal:
61 million tonnes of CO2e
BC's annual exports of natural gas: a 20 billion cubic
metres of natural gas a year
Tonnes of greenhouse gases caused by the use of this gas:
37 million tonnes of CO2e
BC's annual domestic Greenhouse Gas emissions: 67 megatonnes
of CO2e a year.
Thanks to Tom Hackney.
Sources:
Sustainable Energy Policies for British Columbia,
April 2005. www.bcsea.org/policy
Coal production: Exploring the Future: Mining and
Mineral Exploration in British Columbia: Coal (fact sheet),
www.gov.bc.ca/em,
BC Ministry of Energy and Mines, 2005.
Gas production: Drilling and Production Statistics
1993-2003 (calendar years) (fact sheet), www.ogc.gov.bc.ca/,
BC Oil and Gas Commission, 2005.; Annual Report 2001/02:
A New Era Update, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines, June
2002.
Coal & gas emissions: Calculation based on standard
conversion formulae.
BC's Greenhouse Gas emissions (2002): Environment
Canada, www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/ghg/query/index_e.cfm
January 2006
Local vs Imported Food
Carbon emissions from a locally grown Ontario Christmas
Dinner: 369 grams
Ontario turkey, Ontario wine, cranberry sauce, rosemary
potato pie, roast maple winter vegetables, shredded beet
and carrot salad, baked apple with maple syrup
Carbon emissions from a 100% imported Christmas Dinner:
1571 grams
Alberta turkey, French wine, candied Jamaican yams with
almonds, fried plantain, creamed spinach, mango and ginger
chutney, mandarin oranges
Carbon emissions from local Ontario lamb: 7 grams
Carbon emissions from imported New Zealand lamb: 120 grams
Carbon emissions from local Ontario carrots: 15 grams
Carbon emissions from imported New Zealand lamb: 840 grams
Note: These missions are from transport alone Calculations
by the CSA carbon calculator:
http://www.ghgregistries.ca/thestar/news.cfm
The turkey should be weighted more heavily, due to transportation
of feed to grow the meat.
Source: Dreaming of a Green Christmas, Toronto Star,
December 18th 2005 http://www.thestar.com/static/PDF/051218_turkey_chart.pdf
December 2005
The global market for solar thermal collectors for
water and space heating grew by 17 percent in 2004.
The energy equivalent of total global installations—about
110 million square meters—far exceeds that of
global wind and solar power combined. China accounts for
more than half the world's solar heating capacity.
Source: Vital Signs, Worldwatch Institute
November 2005
Ten cents (US) of investment will buy:
* 1 kilowatt-hour of nuclear electricity
* 1.2-1.7 kilowatt-hours of windpower
* 2.2-6.5 kilowatt-hours of small-scale cogeneration
* Up to 10 kilowatt-hours of energy efficiency.
Source: Amory Lovins
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/10/25/our-own-nuclear-salesman/
October 2005
% of Canadians who support greater government spending
on dedicated bike lanes and paths: 82%
% of Canadians who say they would cycle to work if safe,
dedicated traffic lanes were available: 70%
Sources: TransLink’s Bicycle Usage and Attitude
Survey (2000)
Go For Green Ottawa, National Survey on Active Transportation
(1998)
September 2005
Fuel efficiency of the winning car in Shell Eco-marathon's
event, held in southern France in May 2005, in which student
teams compete to build the most fuel efficient vehicle capable
of travelling 25 km at 30 km/h: 10,836 miles per gallon
(9024 US mpg).
That's one litre per 3836 kilometres, or from coast to
coast across Canada on just two litres of gas. The team
came from the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule
in Zürich, Switzerland, using 1.75 grams of hydrogen
to travel 25.272 kilometers. They broke the record set by
a French team in 2003, which achieved 10,705 mpg in a gas-powered
car. See www.greencarcongress.com/2005/05/fuel_cell_car_w.html
August 2005
The first residential solar water heaters in North America
were manufactured in the 1890s, and the first temperature-controlled
gas water heaters in were based on solar heater designs.
Huge discoveries of cheap natural gas in the 1920s and 1930s
led to a boom in gas powered appliances. William J.Bailey
took the innovations he had made with his Day and Night
Solar Water Heater and applied them to develop the Day and
Night Gas Water Heater, making him his second fortune. Over
the years, low gas and electricity prices have made more
capital-intensive solar products seem expensive in comparison,
despite the free energy source. Today, gas prices are so
high that solar water heaters are again the top choice for
economic reasons, in addition to their environmental benefits.
Source: A Golden Thread: 2500 Years of Solar Architecture
and Technology” pub. 1980.
July 2005
Monthly cost of running a Horlacher Sport 1 Electric Vehicle
(Germany, 1991), with a range of 250-300 km: $7.20 a
month (Source: http://www.horlacher.com/ev_development/sport_1.htm)
In BC: 6-9 kWh per 100 km; 1440 kWh a year for 16,000
km; Cost @ 6 cents = $86 year; = $7.20 (CAN) a month
In USA: 6-9 kWh per 62 miles; 1440 kWh a year for 10,000
miles; Cost @ 8 cents = $86 year; = $9.60 (US) a month
June 2005
Number of species of land-based animals and plants which
face extinction by 2050 if we do not get climate change
under control: 1 million.
Source: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/media/current/extinction.htm
May 2005
The BC government's 2005/06 Budget:
# Jobs allocated for offshore oil and gas: 12
Funding allocated: $5.752 million
$$ per job: $478,000
Finance available after base cost of jobs @ $111,083 per
job: $4.4 million
# Jobs allocated for oil and gas: 79
Funding allocated: $11.937 million
$$ per job: $151,101
Finance available after base cost of jobs @ $111,083 per
job: $3.16 million
# Jobs allocated for mining and minerals: 111
Funding allocated: $13.282 million
$$ per job: $111,083
Finance available after base cost of jobs @ $111,083 per
job: nil
# Jobs allocated for Electricity and Alternative Energy:
12
Funding allocated: $1.333 million
$$ per job: $111,083
Finance available after base cost of jobs @ $111,083 per
job: nil
# Jobs allocated for Alternative Energy alone: 2 or 3
Jobs = full time equivalents (FTE)
Source: Ministry of Energy and Mines Service Plan, 2005/2006
to 2007/2008,
www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/sp/em/em.pdf
April 2005
Total tonnes of CO2 by which Vancouver Islanders are being
asked to reduce their emissions in the federal government's
One Tonne Challenge: 750,000
Total tonnes of CO2 which the Duke Point Power Gas-Fired
Plant in Nanaimo will produce every year, if it goes ahead:
800,000
March 2005
Solar Hot Water in China
Typical size of rooftop installation: 2 square metres
Total cumulative area installed (Dec 2003): 52 million square
metres (26 million homes)
Total production, 2003: 12 million square metres (6 million
homes)
National target for 2005: 65 million square metres (32.5
million homes)
National target for 2015: 230 million square metres (115
million homes)
Current annual growth of the solar hot water industry: 27%
Market share of the vacuum tubes in 1996: 30%
Market share of the vacuum tubes in 2002: 85%
Market price of vacuum tube installation in warmer regions:
$225 CAN
Market price of vacuum tubes installation in colder regions:
$337 to $450 CAN
Number of solar hot water jobs in 2002: 200,000
Solar hot water heating market share: 11.2% (gas 57.4%,
electricity 3.3%)
CO2 emissions offset by currently installed solar hot water
systems: 13 million tonnes
Source: Renewable Energy World, Jan/Feb 2005
February 2005
Tonnes of prehistoric, buried plant material needed to
produce 1 litre of gasoline: 23.5
Hectares needed to generate 1 litre of gasoline: 4
Hectares of prehistoric plant material producing oil needed
to drive 100 km at 10 litres/100km: 40
(For our non-metric friends in the USA)
Tons of prehistoric buried plant material needed to produce
1 gallon of gasoline: 98
Acres needed to generate 1 gallon of gasoline: 40
(assuming 2.5 tonnes per acre)
Acres of prehistoric plant material producing oil needed
to drive 100 miles at 25 mpg: 160
Percentage of all global land plants we would need to harvest
each year if we were to replace all fossil fuel use with
biomass: 22%
Source:
" Bad Mileage: 98 tons of plants per gallon. Study
shows vast amounts of buried sunshine' needed to fuel society"
by Lee Siegel, University of Utah, October 2003.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-10/uou-bm9102603.php
January 2005
Tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions produced per unit of
electricity:
- Coal-fired electricity generation: 1.0 tonnes
per MWh
- Natural gas fired electricity generation: 0.36
tonnes per MWh
- Wind, tidal, geothermal, and other non-fossil fuel
sources: 0.
December 2004
"It took nature ten years to lay down the energy which
we use to cook an omelette in five minutes."
Natural gas was laid down in the world's oceans over 200
million years. We will have consumed it all in less than
200 years, a million times faster than the speed at which
it was created.
Source: Guy Dauncey
November 2004
Power Prices
Today's average wholesale electricity prices for new power
plants (Canadian dollars @$0.80):
Coal: 5 cents/kWh
Wind: 5.25 cents/kWh (excluding US Production Tax Credit
or Canada's WPPI)
Natural gas: 8.5 cents/kWh
Oil: 11.4 cents/kWh
Nuclear: 12.5 cents/kWh
Source: Kyle Datta, Rocky Mountain Institute, November
2004
October 2004
BC & Microhydro and Solar
Approximate percentage of BC electricity currently generated
from micro-hydro and solar (no wind in BC...yet): Less than
1%
September 2004
Wind Turbines and Birds
Occasionally we hear reports in the popular press about
avian mortality as the result of wind generators. The media
love pitting environmentalists against environmentalists.
The uneducated reader does not know who to believe.
Here is a summary of some well researched facts. Arm yourself
by memorizing these figures, for the next time someone brings
up bird kills as a reason to halt wind development.
 Death
by (US stats):
-
Utility and Transmission Lines:
130 – 174 Million bird deaths/year
-
Collisions with Automobiles and Trucks:
60-80 million birds deaths/year
-
Tall Building and Residential House Windows:
Estimated 100 million – 1 billion bird deaths/year
-
Lighted Communcation Towers:
40 – 50 million bird deaths/year
-
Agricultural Pesticides:
67 million bird deaths/year
-
Cats (feral and housecats):
39 million bird deaths/year (Wisconsin alone)
-
And where do the highly contested wind turbines fit into
the annual bird death toll:
0.0064 million bird deaths/year (2001). This is less
than two birds per turbine (3,500 in 2001). Commercial
wind turbines cause the direct deaths of only 0.01% to
0.02% of all of the birds killed by collisions with man-made
structures and activities in the U.S.
For the full article by Mick Sagrillo go to: http://www.awea.org/faq/sagrillo/swbirds.html
August 2004
What modern energy technology is derived from the subject
of Albert Einstein's Nobel Prize?
The tempting answer is nuclear energy, but it's actually
solar! He won the prize for his work on the photoelectric
effect about 100 years ago. The photovoltaic (PV) panel
is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
July 2004
Let's Count Our Lucky Star!
JULY: The Sun is 93 million miles away. Every day, it radiates
220 million terawatt hours of free, clean energy onto the
Earth's surface, 2,000 times more than the world's total
primary energy usage (111,000 TWh).
If we had to pay the Sun for this service at the BC price
of 6 cents kWh, it would cost us $13.2 quadrillion a day
(Can$). Divided by 6.38 billion people, that's $2 million
dollars a day per person. (Please correct us, if we're wrong!)
June 2004
Biodiesel
Biodiesel has by far the highest energy balance ratio of
any alternative fuel. For every unit of energy used to produce
biodiesel from virgin bio-oils a minimum of 3.2 units of
energy are gained. The ratio is significantly higher when
recycled bio-oils are used.
May 2004
THE BAD NEWS:
The rise in global CO2 levels is increasing sharply, say
scientists who monitor the atmosphere from the Mauna Loa
Observatory, in Hawaii. In the mid-1990s, the level of global
CO2 in the atmosphere was increasing by 1.8 ppm (parts per
million) a year. Today, it is increasing by 3 ppm a year,
to 379 ppm, the highest the Earth has known for 20 million
years. The causes of the sudden increase are unknown; it
may come from more coal being burnt in China; it may come
from more forest fires; or it may come from the failure
of forests and oceans to absorb as much CO2 as usual, due
to higher temperatures.
= Full Story =
THE GOOD NEWS:
A 2002 study of the land-based wind energy potential in
BC, in the area from Port Hardy and Port Alice to Prince
Rupert, found a technically viable potential for 4,800 MW
(14,000 GWh per year), enough to supply 28% of BC's demand.
(BC uses around 50,000 GWh of power a year.). Assuming it
could be integrated into the grid, this could allow for
the closure of all BC's gas-fired turbines, reducing BC's
CO2 emissions from electricity generation to zero.
= Full Story =
CO2 Hits Record Levels, Researchers Find
by Charles J Hanley
Published on Saturday, March 20, 2004 by the Associated Press
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines04/0320-11.htm
MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY, Hawaii - Carbon dioxide, the gas
largely blamed for global warming, has reached record-high
levels in the atmosphere after growing at an accelerated pace
in the past year, say scientists monitoring the sky from this
2-mile-high station atop a Hawaiian volcano.
The reason for the faster buildup of the most important "greenhouse
gas" will require further analysis, the U.S. government
experts say.
"But the big picture is that CO2 is continuing to go
up," said Russell Schnell, deputy director of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate monitoring
laboratory in Boulder, Colo., which operates the Mauna Loa
Observatory on the island of Hawaii.
Carbon dioxide, mostly from burning of coal, gasoline and
other fossil fuels, traps heat that otherwise would radiate
into space. Global temperatures increased by about 1 degree
Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the 20th century,
and international panels of scientists sponsored by world
governments have concluded that most of the warming probably
was due to greenhouse gases.
The climatologists forecast continued temperature rises that
will disrupt the climate, cause seas to rise and lead to other
unpredictable consequences — unpredictable in part because
of uncertainties in computer modeling of future climate.
Before the industrial age and extensive use of fossil fuels,
the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stood
at about 280 parts per million, scientists have determined.
Average readings at the 11,141-foot Mauna Loa Observatory,
where carbon dioxide density peaks each northern winter, hovered
around 379 parts per million on Friday, compared with about
376 a year ago.
That year-to-year increase of about 3 parts per million is
considerably higher than the average annual increase of 1.8
parts per million over the past decade, and markedly more
accelerated than the 1-part-per-million annual increase recorded
a half-century ago, when observations were first made here.
Asked to explain the stepped-up rate, climatologists were
cautious, saying data needed to be further evaluated. But
Asia immediately sprang to mind.
"China is taking off economically and burning a lot
of fuel. India, too," said Pieter Tans, a prominent carbon-cycle
expert at NOAA's Boulder lab.
Another leading climatologist, Ralph Keeling, whose father,
Charles D. Keeling, developed methods for measuring carbon
dioxide, noted that the rate "does fluctuate up and down
a bit," and said it was too early to reach conclusions.
But he added: "People are worried about `feedbacks.'
We are moving into a warmer world."
He explained that warming itself releases carbon dioxide
from the ocean and soil. By raising the gas's level in the
atmosphere, that in turn could increase warming, in a "positive
feedback," said Keeling, of San Diego's Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that,
if unchecked, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by
2100 will range from 650 to 970 parts per million. As a result,
the panel estimates, average global temperature would probably
rise by 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius (2.7 and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
between 1990 and 2100.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol would oblige ratifying countries
to reduce carbon dioxide emissions according to set schedules,
to minimize potential global warming. The pact has not taken
effect, however.
The United States, the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitter,
signed the agreement but did not ratify it, and the Bush administration
has since withdrawn U.S. support, calling instead for voluntary
emission reductions by U.S. industry and more scientific research
into climate change.
© 2004 Associated Press
Wind Energy Study in British Columbia
- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/campaign/climate_energy/depth/073102.php
Download the report "Wind
Energy Study in British Columbia" in PDF format.
At the end of 2001, installed wind energy capacity worldwide
reached 25,000 MW and it could reach approximately 80,000
MW in 2006. In the NAFTA market, it is estimated that this
installed capacity could reach approximately 30,000 MW in
2011, including 23,000 MW in the United States.
In Canada, despite the considerable wind energy potential,
the current cumulative capacity does not exceed 214 MW. BTM
Consult anticipates that in 2006, the total installed capacity
will not exceed 1,000 MW, and Helimax predicts that this capacity
will reach approximately 5,000 MW in 2011.
In British Columbia, BC Hydro is gradually undertaking wind
energy development and has put in operation at least 15 wind
monitoring towers throughout the province in order to better
determine its wind energy potential.
In order to contribute to promoting wind energy in British
Columbia, this study examines the wind energy potential of
certain pre-selected areas, namely Port Alice, Port Hardy
(Northern Vancouver Island) and Prince Rupert in the Northern
coast area.
Based on limited available data, Helimax estimates that
the areas listed have significant technically viable wind
energy potential of about 4,800 MW, not considering aspects
relating to vegetation cover and land use. There are eight
sites, with an aggregate capacity of more than 1,200 MW ofwind
energy, where projects can be installed before 2011, given
their proximity to roads and to the provincial electricity
grid, and the possibility of marketing the energy produced.
Furthermore, wind energy potential of more than 3,600 MW
is assumed to be available on the two islands of Banks and
Porcher. Although these two islands are not at this time connected
by roads or to the network, they represent an interesting
wind energy potential that could be exploited in the long
term.
In addition, the sites totaling 1,200 MW have been assessed
to determine their economic viability. In this regard, Helimax
roughly estimates that the gaps between the avoided cost of
production and the selling price for electricity generated
by wind at these sites, at windspeeds of 6, 7 and 8 m/s, are
respectively: (i) 5.0, 2.6 and 1.3 ¢/kWh, for an avoided
cost of 5.0 ¢/kWh, and (ii) 3.7, 1.3 and 0¢/kWh,
for an avoided cost of 6.3 ¢/kWh.
Furthermore, the implementation of a strategy for the development
of wind energy in British Columbia would potentially make
it possible to create 8,000 job-years. In the case where a
wind turbine assembly plant would set up in the province,
almost 50,000 job-years would potentially be created.
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