Two guest speakers from Environmental Defence Canada gave presentations and answered questions during the webinar. The first of these was Ketan Joshi, an Australian who has recently moved to Ontario.
Speaking on Clean Energy in 2020, he said that the Moore film had been hard to watch, but we need to check what it told us. Since this documentary was made, there's been a dramatic decline in the cost of all clean energy solutions, so its "facts" are out of date. Turbines have got larger and their efficiency is increasing. There's been a huge expansion of wind and solar installations in the UK and Denmark which has given positive results. Reduced demand for energy in those countries has played a part, too. Their experience shows that 30% of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) is achievable with minimal changes.
On a smaller scale, in Australia, the efficiency of solar panels installed at individual homes and farms noticeably helped the recovery after this year's bush fires.
Sarah Buchanan from Toronto, used to be a child activist and is now manager of the Clean Economy Program for Environmental Defence. Her presentation was entitled Ontario's Green Backlash. Ontario has upgraded its electricity system, shifting away from coal in particular, to solutions based more on renewable energy sources. This has already had a huge impact on reducing emissions (mercury, sulphur, nitrogen & other contaminates); there are fewer smog days now. The shift also saves money. Nuclear power is now the biggest contributor to our electricity supply (24%)*. Natural gas contributes 8%.
The current Ontario government's attempt to cancel the construction of a wind farm because of its "threat to bats" has just been thrown out in court [same day, May 14], this outcome overturning the previous decision. The MPP responsible for spreading that malicious rumour cited a discredited climate change denial blog. The Nation Rise wind farm cancellation was quashed in court because the documents supporting the decision had been "unintelligible"! The Gunn's Hill wind farm was likewise subject to untenable "rhetoric" from the deniers. Cost-effective green initiatives (mostly small projects such as solar panels on schools and in native communities) are being dismantled because of such opinions at great cost to the taxpayers.
We need to stop such wastes of money, support locally owned projects, personally invest in efficient upgrades or retrofits and consume less energy, and electrify both our public transit and privately owned vehicles. All of this can create new jobs and save the province money.
What to do?
- Find out where the local projects are
- Vocalize our concerns, to "drown out the haters"
- Write to our MPPs, MPs and Councillors
- Invest in renewable energy companies
It is a myth that electric vehicle batteries create huge emissions in their manufacture.
Ketan Joshi also spoke of the integration of wind and solar energy within the Australian grid. This serves a very dispersed population, so the cheapest solution is important to find. It has been determined that the battery capacity required for renewable electricity storage is surprisingly low. By deploying well-written software, industries can become more sensitive to an efficient use of the grid. How does this relate to Ontario? One solution here would be to share hydro energy with Quebec, although the current plan is to rely upon gas as a back up source of energy.
Another criticism of the Moore documentary was its claim that solar panels had no more than an 8-year lifespan. This is nonsense: their warranty currently covers 20-30 years! Wind turbines are guaranteed to last even longer than that. They are made of steel and recyclables. Wooden blades are currently being developed to enhance them further. Yes, they're built from a large volume of materials,
but nothing like the amount used in fossil fuel generation.
Other solutions? Agricultural waste is now being used as a source of energy, known as biomass. Hydrogen production is very complicated and needs complex technology to deal with it.
Conclusion: bleak and depressing messages about energy production are not helping anywhere. A lack of trust is apparent, so input from experts must become more transparent. "Trust the science!" is a common refrain in the climate change movement. Opinions should not become facts.
If we look back to 2010, it's clear that previously unimaginable progress is being made. Prices of renewable energy production will keep dropping; pay attention to this!
Are the citizens of Ontario being consulted about new developments? Find out!
For further suggestions for action, see environmentaldefence.ca/greenrecovery
* This was shown on a graph but not discussed during the Webinar.
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