Your Daily Greens: Ontario’s Energy Ambitions, Carbon Capture, and Greening the Conference

Photo: Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon Capture and Storage: Some believe our last gasp for green air will be carbon capture and storage. Scientists and politicians alike are hailing the idea as a panacea for global warming. The so-called promising, yet unperfected, technology aimed at reducing CO2 in the atmosphere has many obstacles to overcome, including technical, social, and financial. Oil rich areas, such as Alberta, are all for the method, openly confessing self-interest and explaining that this technology would allow for a strong continuation in the oil industry.

Ontario’s Ambitions: With all hopes on Copenhagen, Ontario is looking within. In what some proponents have dubbed ‘the most ambitious climate change policy on the continent’, Canada’s largest province is planning a five-year phase-out of coal-fired power plants as part of an aggressive green energy plan that Ontario hopes will garner it top place as North America’s Green Energy Leader.

While clean energy adoption has been slow in major CO2 emitters U.S. and Canada, Ontario wants to set its own course by implementing a vast variety of carbon-free renewable energy methods such as home solar arrays, biogas plants and large offshore wind farms. Still, price is a major hurdle in the race to become carbon-free. But as Ontario’s Energy Minister George Smitherman states, the Green Energy Act “would make it easier to bring new renewable energy projects to life. And it would help us to create a culture of conservation to encourage all Ontarians to use less electricity.” As rising prices due to new carbon free sources of electricity are passed along to the customer, it is expected that consumers will be using a lot less of it.

Greening the Conference: Not wanting to appear hypocritical, the leaders assembling in Copenhagen must practice what they preach; thus, the conference has gone to great lengths to exude a green aura. In a slight divergence from what dignitaries are used to, tap water is to be the preferred beverage, transit passes trump limousines and gift bags with trinkets are verboten.

To somewhat offset the huge carbon footprint of having thousands of delegates fly to the Danish city and stay at fancy hotels, delegates were met with a fleet of bikes and free Metro passes; the lights at the Bella conference centre will be run in part by a wind turbine, the floors are covered with biodegradable carpets, plastic pens provided were once water bottles, and delegates have been instructed to carry their own cups. Where limos are absolutely necessary, they are to run on biofuel.

Tagged as: Canada, Carbon Dioxide, Copenhagen, Emissions, Ontario