Your Daily Greens – Waste to Energy, Seismic Blasts, and Ottawa’s Green Zamboni

Photo: Plasco facility proposal to the city of Los Angeles.

Daily happenings around the GreenSphere (People, Companies & Communities):

Waste to Energy: Is garbage the answer to the energy crisis? Plasco Energy Group Inc., an Ottawa area business, thinks it is, if it’s put through the company’s patented plasma-gasification system, transformed into a synthetic gas, and used to generate electricity. Apparently, virtually no greenhouse gases are emitted in the process. Older incinerator technology, though used globally to convert waste to energy, is not emission-free and causes serious pollution concerns. Plasco’s solution sounds like a miracle, but obstacles are in the way, such as receiving enough in capital funding and investments and ironing out technology issues. Plasco hopes to expand by opening a plant in Red Deer, Alberta, should federal funding be granted.

Ottawa’s Green Zamboni: In Ottawa, electric and hybrid vehicles could soon be used to resurface the ice in local arenas and maintain local parks under a plan to make the city’s vehicle fleet more eco-friendly. The Green Fleet plan includes 24 actions that should curve the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 3,000 tonnes – the equivalent of taking 740 cars and trucks off the road. As a bonus, an expected $700,000 annually will be saved after the new plan goes into operation.

Roof Top Turbines: EarthTronics Inc., a U.S. company that develops small wind turbines that are installed on residential and office rooftops, is expected to annouce that it plans to manufacture the power-generating devices in Windsor. The facility, a former Magna International auto-parts plant, will be 7,400 square metres and home to around 200 newly created jobs. Currently, the project is being discussed with the Ontario government who will offer a grant as part of the deal to lure new manufacturing opportunities to Windsor.

Seismic Blasts: Ecojustice et al. has failed to prompt the Federal Court to invoke an injunction on U.S. seismic researchers. Environmentalists had hoped to prevent seismic blasts from being carried out in Canadian waters, off the west coast of B.C. They feared that the extreme noise levels would harm marine life, including blue whales. The Department of Fisheries convinced the court otherwise, saying there would be no detrimental effects. “Mitigation measures” were imposed, however, including reducing the maximum sound level from 180 to 160 decibels, and ensuring no marine mammals are within 7.7 kilometers of the research vessel.

Tagged as: Business, Garbage, Jobs, Law, Money, Ottawa, Wind