OK...Is this not the PLAN

[Hamloc]

Future GHG emissions from pipelines are to be considered before construction. What about future GHG emissions from cars, trucks, airplanes, snowmobiles, motorbikes. Our governments gladly subsidize industries such as GM or Bombardier. If these cars and planes weren't built and sold less GHG emissions. Every living being on earth emits GHG emissions. Where does the concern for future GHG emissions start and stop? It all comes down to your ideology. Have a good day:-)

[Hamloc]

Another thought if government spent as much money planting trees and enhancing our ways of utilizing C02 naturally wouldn't we be farther ahead than pissing our money away subsidizing inefficient forms of energy. Even with shutting down all our coal and carbon taxing us into submission the Alberta NDP shows no reduction in total GHG emissions by 2030.

[dalek]

But alternative energy is working sooooooo well in Ontario...

[mustardman]

If your Wife is sleeping with artificial ight Coming in the window ...she may have a date
With BREAST Cancer

[Horse]

Those street lights are not realy costing anything to run as what do you do with the power at night,very little actual usage but you cant start and stop a coal fired power plant with a switch,it takes weeks to get up to steam and to power down,so the utilitie cos sell power very cheap to citys to light thier streets usualy they own the lights and poles.

[fjlip]

Heard Larry Martin on Gormley, what if he is correct?

Here’s a seemingly simple question: Is Canada a net carbon dioxide emitter? You would think so from reading news headlines. We’ve earned the scorn of environmentalists, NGOs, and media outlets galore, labelled with such juvenile epithets as “fossil of the year” or “corrupt petro-state.”

Sadly, lost in all the hyperbole is the actual science. There is nothing quantitative about the vague idea that, as a “progressive nation,” Canada should be expected to “do more” to fight climate change.

But therein lies the rub; Canada is poised to immediately do more to combat climate change than almost every other country in the world. How, you ask? Well, by doing more of the same. If that sounds ludicrous, let me explain.

Most Canadians would agree that our response to climate change needs to be scientifically sound, environmentally sustainable and financially realistic, as well as global, comprehensive, and holistic. Right now, our approach is none of those things; the public discourse is driven by a myopic, ideological obsession with carbon emissions alone. What else is there, you ask?

The answer comes from the most recent report (2014) of the Global Carbon Project, which states that global human-induced CO2 emissions were 36 billion tonnes. Of that, 36 per cent stayed in the atmosphere, 27 per cent was absorbed by water, and 37 per cent was absorbed by land.

That’s right — absorbed by land! Not all CO2 emitted by people stays in the atmosphere. Much of it returns to the earth, mainly through the carbon absorption and sequestration power of plants, soil, and trees.

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A conservative estimate of Canada’s existing carbon-absorption capacity, based on land area and the global carbon-absorption average, indicates that Canada could already be absorbing 20 to 30 per cent more CO2 than we emit. Using the same calculation, the “Big Four” polluters of China, the U.S., the European Union, and India, which together are responsible for a whopping 60 per cent of global CO2 emissions, release 10 times more CO2 than their combined land area absorbs. Canada doesn’t seem very dirty now, do we?

So when was the last time you heard a Canadian political leader, let alone the media, talk about our carbon-absorption capacity? Probably never, because we are currently ignoring that side of the equation, for a couple reasons.

First, there is insufficient political will. The government’s top experts need a mandate to pursue in-depth measurement of CO2 absorption. Recently, Canada’s federal and provincial auditors general announced a joint audit of the country’s carbon emissions. But what credible audit would examine only half a balance sheet? There’s no reason why they shouldn’t audit our absorption capacity, too. How much CO2 did our forests and land absorb? Do some trees and topographies perform better than others? In short, what is Canada’s carbon balance?

Second, it’s contrary to the interests of urbanized, overpopulated, deforested places in Europe, Asia & the Middle East to allow vast, sparsely populated, forested countries like Canada to set the climate change agenda. It doesn’t help them whatsoever for Canada to claim our fair share of the world’s carbon absorption capacity, and emerge as one of the planet’s climate leaders.

If Europe and our other traditional “Western Allies” won’t acknowledge the free ride that we are providing them by protecting our forests and thus subsidizing their emissions, it’s time for Canada to find climate allies who understand us and share our needs. It’s time for some Green Realpolitik.

We should seek out new alliances with other large, forested countries, starting with Russia, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Argentina, Indonesia, and Peru. These countries, and many others, will all benefit from a new approach that rewards carbon absorption, and would bring diverse cultural voices and political interests together around this important climate issue.

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Many people in these countries have to choose between their forests and their livelihoods, as they scramble to survive the day. Some of them still clear-cut or burn their forests for the sake of agriculture or industry. But what if they no longer had to choose between planet and profit?

Imagine the kind of eco-friendly economy that DRC Congo, Peru, or any other forested country could build by generating carbon credits to sell to Dubai, Singapore, or Luxembourg. Countries on the receiving end of cap-and-trade credits could build entire green economies around conservation, not consumption. Financial pressure to deforest would subside, replaced with incentives to manage our forests and preserve their attendant ecosystems. As a bonus, Canada and its new, green allies could label all our exports as “proudly carbon neutral.”

Imagine, too, the possibilities for indigenous people all over the world to leverage their traditional role as protectors of the environment into a feasible economic opportunity. We are constantly looking for ways to bridge gaps between modern society and native cultures, so why not empower indigenous people to take on a leadership role as stewards of the world’s precious forests?

Canada must successfully lobby for a world market on carbon-offset credits, where CO2 absorption is part of the equation. The potential impact is huge. Based on the aforementioned estimates of our absorption capacity, and a conservative CO2 price of $40/tonne, Canada stands to gain $10 billion per year. Think about it; we might currently be giving away $10 billion to the rest of the world, including the Big Four polluters, every year, for free.

$10 billion dollars in our coffers could go a long way toward balancing the budget, investing in sustainable energy, providing social programs, incentivizing innovation, renewing infrastructure, and generally improving Canada’s fortunes. So when Prime Minister Trudeau meets with provincial, territorial, and indigenous leaders, he owes it to Canadians to put this issue on the agenda. The only thing we’re really asking is for our leaders to consider the entire carbon cycle, from emission to absorption, in order to get the “balance sheet” right. Then, and only then, can our best minds get to work on making a climate plan that is fair for all Canadians, and that reflects our true contribution to the world’s climate solution.

It would be nice to end on that hopeful note, but the realistic future looks rather bleak. The prime minister thus far seems content to position himself as a goodwill ambassador to the UN and Europe, not someone who will go toe to toe with them to defend Canadian interests. Meanwhile, our other leaders are falling victim to their own political ideologies. Rachel Notley wants to kick Albertans while they’re down with a new tax, Manitoba’s Greg Sellinger thinks he can magically reverse flooding via taxation, and Ontario’s recent climate initiative is a case study in the myopic, emissions-only approach to cap-and-trade. Quebec mayors like Montreal’s Coderre blindly oppose the Energy East pipeline, forsaking the memory of those who died in Lac Mégantic due to the dangers of transporting oil by train.

Taxing Canadians to try to make planet Earth greener is futile policy based on a half-blind approach that only considers emissions from our resources, not absorption from our land and forests. Unless we change that perspective, the inevitable result is a drag on our economy with job casualties, increased costs, and lost business opportunities, ultimately weakening Canada’s ability to compete on the international stage. And for what do we sell out our future? To let the Big Four polluters off the hook? To be popular with delegates in Copenhagen or Paris?

By taking credit for absorption, we win. By negotiating a robust cap-and-trade deal between nations, we win. By working with countries that share our interests, we win. By getting the credit we deserve, and ensuring that the planet’s real polluters pay their fair share, we win. So, the question is, why do we let our leaders set Canada up to fail?

With a simple mandate from government to factor in the entire carbon cycle, our best scientific minds can get to work assembling the evidence to create an appropriate, progressive climate policy for Canada.

F. Larry Martin served as deputy minister to the premier of Saskatchewan, and assistant deputy minister of rural development and intergovernmental affairs in Manitoba. He is retired and lives in Canmore, Alta.

[chuckChuck]

SaskPower to develop wind, solar and geothermal power to meet up to 50% renewable target

November 23, 2015

SaskPower is committed to reducing emissions for a more environmentally sustainable future, and today, Minister responsible for SaskPower Bill Boyd joined SaskPower President and CEO Mike Marsh to announce that the corporation has set a target to double the percentage of renewable electricity generation capacity in Saskatchewan by 2030.

“An objective of 50 per cent renewable power by 2030 is ambitious, but I’m confident SaskPower can meet the target by taking an ‘all of the above’ approach to planning,” said Minister Boyd. “That means a major expansion of wind power augmented by other renewables, such as solar, biomass, geothermal and hydro, to go along with the world leading Boundary Dam 3 carbon capture project and more natural gas generation. This is the framework for a responsible clean energy plan that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring Saskatchewan has a reliable, affordable supply of electricity for years to come.”

Today, about 25% of Saskatchewan’s generation capacity comes from renewable sources – 20% from hydro and 5% or 220 megawatts (MW) from wind. Three new wind power projects already approved or in development will add another 207 MW of renewable generation by 2020.

SaskPower is planning to move forward with utility scale solar power generation, which would include at least 60 MW of solar, with a competitive procurement beginning in 2016. In an effort to expand the number of customers generating solar power, the corporation is also reviewing its Net Metering program, which offers customers generating up to 100 kilowatts of renewable energy technology the opportunity to get credit for the unused portion of their excess electricity.

SaskPower has invested in geothermal technology pre-feasibility studies to evaluate its potential in Saskatchewan. The corporation is optimistic that it can be a part of our diversified energy future, and will continue to work with the industry to determine how the technology could work within our system.

SaskPower’s plans to expand wind could make the company a leader in Canada. However, SaskPower President and CEO Mike Marsh emphasized that adding wind and other renewables in a way that’s affordable for customers is what’s important.

“The key here is that wind power has become much more economic over the years as the technology has developed. We’ve been able to understand how wind operates on our grid so we can add it in a way that balances our priorities of maintaining a sustainable and diversified generation mix with the delivery of reliable and cost-effective power to our customers,” said Marsh. “We’ll take that same approach to adding other clean options to make our renewables target of up to 50% by 2030,” he said.

To meet the target of up to 50% of SaskPower’s generation capacity from renewable sources, the corporation will be moving forward with procurement of another 100 MW of wind generation in 2016 and will develop up to 1,600 MW of new wind generation between 2019 and 2030.

“SaskPower’s new wind energy targets represent an important step forward for wind energy in Saskatchewan and will enable the province to capture more of its plentiful and cost-effective wind energy resources,” said Robert Hornung, President of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA). “An initial procurement of 100 MW of new wind energy in 2016, followed by a series of planned future procurements for additional wind energy, will attract significant interest and ensure a highly competitive process that will produce low cost clean electricity generation for Saskatchewan ratepayers.”

Adding more clean electricity builds on SaskPower’s innovative carbon capture and storage initiatives, which the corporation will continue to explore in order to determine how to replace conventional coal-fired electricity generation in light of existing and emerging greenhouse gas emissions regulations.

Additional information can be found at http://www.saskpower.com/blog. Images can be found at: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjZv57U3