A few months ago I reviewed a film that has been circulating the province about the growing use of forest biomass as a form of so-called renewable energy. The film — Burned: Are Trees the New Coal? — reported on how the biomass industry sells itself as green by making two bogus claims: it uses...
Tidal recall: the province says it will pay the estimated $5 million to remove the tidal turbine abandoned on the floor of the Minas Basin, but doesn’t say when
Energy and Mines Minister Derek Mombourquette announced last week the province intends to “eventually retrieve” the abandoned 1,000-tonne, five-storey turbine abandoned at the bottom of the Bay of Fundy near Parrsboro. “Eventually” is the key word in that sentence since there is no timeline and no obvious financial means to pay a salvage bill estimated...
Despite warnings that burning biomass does not address climate change, Nova Scotia Power burned more biomass in 2018 than in 2017
Citizens concerned about the amount of wood harvested (mostly clearcut) to be used as biomass aren’t going to be happy with the numbers contained in the 2018 Fuel Adjustment Mechanism (FAM) report filed last month with the regulator. When used for generating electricity, the efficiency of biomass is only 21-23% efficient. Last year, the biomass...
Province amps up its unwise and discredited biofuel efforts
Morning File, Thursday, December 13, 2018
News 1. Biofuel Last year, in her article “Life After Pulp,” Linda Pannozzo showed how as the old pulp industry is collapsing, the government is chasing two other forest dreams — biomass and biofuel. On the latter, she wrote: In 2012, when the Dexter government announced the defunct paper mill would become a business hub […]
Announcing the Examiner subscriber party, with special guest Linden MacIntyre
Morning File, Friday, November 9, 2018
News 1. Announcing the Examiner subscriber party, with special guest speaker Linden MacIntyre We’re in the midst of the Halifax Examiner’s subscription drive. We do this every November, and towards the end of the month we have a party to thank our subscribers. This year’s party will be on Sunday, November 25, from 4–7pm, at […]
As reliable as a beer commercial
Morning File, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Erica Butler here, helping out with Morningfile today. Fear not, Tim’s still all over it. News 1. Burnside jail Tim reports from the hearing for Burnside jail prisoner Maurice Pratt, continuing to shed light on the situation in the facility. Prisoners launched a protest in August asking for better conditions at the jail, including access […]
Tidal energy investors and fish: the Minas Basin is full of sharks
Morning File, Wednesday, September 5, 2018
News 1. Nursing home legislation An NDP proposal would legislate minimum nursing home staffing levels and make public inspection reports, reports Jennifer Henderson. 2. Damage control at Cape Sharp Tidal Yesterday, Cape Sharp Tidal and Stacy Pineau of Emera issued the following statement: Cape Sharp Tidal continues to take positive steps in the process to establish ongoing […]
Kersplash: there goes tidal generation
Morning File, Tuesday, August 14, 2018
News 1. Emera withdraws from Cape Sharp Tidal This item is written by Jennifer Henderson. Emera is out of the tidal power business in the Bay of Fundy, at least for now. The parent company of Nova Scotia Power (and the North American energy conglomerate with $29 billion in assets) announced yesterday it was withdrawing […]
Super Big Money: Lots of federal money is coming to the Ocean Supercluster, but who will benefit?
Fog obscured the harbour view on Wednesday as nearly 400 people from business, government, and academia clustered inside Pier 21 for a free update on the “Oceans Supercluster.” In what Shakespeare buffs call “the pathetic fallacy,” the day’s grey weather paralleled the verbal haze that’s blanketed the entity endorsed by Ottawa and some leading Atlantic...
Regulator gets final submissions on Nova Scotia Power’s “smart meter” plan
Consumer advocates say the utility hasn’t presented enough solid evidence to prove that installing digital meters to measure electricity usage won’t cost ratepayers more than it should.
Before the Utility and Review Board (UARB) approves Nova Scotia Power’s (NSP) plan to install “smart” meters across the province, both the Consumer Advocate and the Small Business Advocate feel the utility needs to smarten up its proposal. They say NSP hasn’t presented enough solid evidence to prove that installing digital meters to measure electricity...