Nova Scotia’s Energy Policy
I’ve been living in the UK since I began studying energy issues a few years ago. It’s a great country for this type of work with lots of (comparatively) progressive policies being discussed and implemented. Unfortunately being in the UK also means that I don’t really know what’s happening in Canada. Occasionally I’ll see an interesting article on globeandmail.com but I’m usually disappointed by the lack of awareness and consideration for environmental or social energy policy issues in North American media outlets.
So it was a pleasant surprise when I saw that the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives published a review of energy policy in my home province, Nova Scotia. Written by Dalhousie professor Larry Hughes, the report looks at developments in the energy sector in 2004 and asks whether or not NS is ticking the right boxes. Over the past 50 years or so, “energy” in Nova Scotia has been synonymous with coal but offshore oil and gas are the new fuels since their discovery in the waters near Sable Island. The sector’s been booming in the past few years but Prof Hughes highlights several signs that the party may be almost over:
- The raw resource is in decline: a 60% decrease in total estimated Sable gas reserves and 37% decline in production from 2003.
- New exploration is becoming more expensive with no new exploration licences and no applications for licence extensions.
- Constructing a liquid natural gas port to make use of the excess pipeline capacity resulting from declining offshore production is unlikely to provide major benefits to the region.
- In the quest to eliminate red tape, offshore workers are still not afforded the same workplace health and safety standards as other Nova Scotian workers.
- Arguably, legislation like the Electricity Act has been geared to meet the needs of Nova Scotia Power Inc. and not Nova Scotians.
These findings do not bode well for the future of offshore oil and gas in Nova Scotia but for me, the report’s most important critique was its implication that energy policy in Nova Scotia – like those rare Globe and Mail articles – has completely missed the mark on larger energy-related issues.
Energy security is one such concern. In the traditional sense, the term means that Nova Scotia’s increasing reliance on imported oil and gas will make it captive to rising prices in the global market with potentially damaging economic effects. But right now, energy security means something very different to the thousands of Nova Scotians who are unable to affordably heat their homes. This phenomenon is widely known in the UK as fuel poverty and the most appropriate remedy is to improve the thermal efficiency of these homes, thereby reducing the amount of energy required to heat homes. Instead the NS government is providing “fuel assistance” payments of $200 per household, a short-sighted move which will only set the precedent for fatter payments as energy prices continue to rise.
Reducing energy demand through efficiency and conservation also tackles the climate change question, which the province has failed to address sufficiently to date. Cynically I would suggest that the flash of offshore black gold has blinded the government to Nova Scotia’s more traditional – and more sustainable – sources of energy wealth: biomass, winds, waves, tides, and sun. There is great potential in these resources, especially in microgeneration applications: biomass micro-CHP isn’t all that different from my grandmother’s old wood stove.
At one point in the report, Hughes implies that “an over-inflated view of Nova Scotia’s importance as an energy player” is harming the province’s ability to make sensible energy policy. This strikes me as a perfect summary of the situation and the goverment’s knee-jerk reaction to the report’s publications only confirms this suspicion. From my position on the other side of the Atlantic, I’m thrilled that the CCPA and Prof Hughes are raising these questions, stirring public debate and hopefully leading to sound energy policy decisions. I look forward to reading the 2005 version of the report, due to be released sometime next year.
Poor George
I don’t like to pick on the man but this is just too funny. Fair point though – if you’re a bigwig at some fancy world summit dealy, you can’t just get up and go to the john, can you?
I’m a bit surprised though that this is part of the Secretary of State’s job. No wonder Colin Powell quit.
No more Ashes
If you’ve been in the UK (or Australia) at all this summer, you could not have missed all the fuss about the Ashes cricket tournament. I got a bit hooked on cricket when I lived in Sri Lanka a couple years ago so I understand the rules of the game now and followed the series on the radio pretty much from the start.
It was great that England won for the first time in 18 years but the best thing was the general atmosphere. People who would otherwise have no interest in sports (e.g. me) were keenly following a test series! Cricket, one of the most trying and sometimes mind-numbingly dull sports, was suddenly the everyman’s game, with people following it on radio, OBO on the Guardian website, or nipping off to the pub to watch a few overs.
Best of all though, it was late summer. The sun was out, the evenings were warm and it was just a great time to hang out with friends and take it easy. Sadly though all good things must come to an end and in final few overs – especially when poor light at 6:30 pm became a problem – I think everyone realised that the cricket frenzy, and the summer, were finally over. Sigh.
What is microgeneration?
Microgeneration seems to be called different things by different people so I thought I’d start with some definitions. These are mainly from UK sources so if the terminology is different in your part of the world, please leave a comment.
There are three terms floating around:
- Embedded generation is defined by Ofgem, the UK’s electricity and gas regulator:
Embedded generation is electricity generation which is connected to the Distribution network rather than to the high voltage National Grid. Embedded generation is typically smaller generation such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or renewable generation: small hydro, wind or solar power.
- Distribued generation is synonymous with embedded generational; e.g. Ofgem’s Distributed Generation Coordination Group says:
Distributed generation, sometimes called embedded generation, is electricity generation, which is connected to the distribution network rather than the high voltage transmission network. It is typically smaller generation such as renewable, including small hydro, wind and solar power and small Combined Heat and Power.
Pretty much the same then. A quick Google suggests that the only difference is the country you are in: in the UK, embedded generation is popular, but in the US, it’s distributed generation.
- Microgeneration means any type of small generator but the exact definition can be tricky. Ofgem for example, uses the definition from Engineering Recommendation G83 courtesy of the Energy Networks Association:
“…a source of electrical energy rated up to and including 16 Amperes per phase, single or multiphase, 230/400V a.c.â€
The Energy Act 2004 defines microgeneration more broadly as generating plant with a capacity of less than 50 kW. More than enough for households, whose winter demand peak is about 20kW.
However these definitions focus on the generation of electricity. The DTI’s Microgeneration Strategy states that microgen can be the production of electricity and/or heat and, more importantly, that it should be from a low-carbon source.
The key points of these definitions then are that microgeneration occurs at a local scale, it can include the generation of heat and/or electricity, it generates small amounts of electricity compared to centralized plant, and preferably it should be environmentally friendly. Seems sensible to me!
Edit: Domestic microgeneration is defined as less than 10 kWp (electricity) in the Electricity (Microgeneration) Bill
My favourite disaster is…
Someone at CNN has a sense of humour:
EDIT: They’re not the only ones
Small is beautiful
This website is about microgeneration – creating electricity in your own home or community, preferably from renewable sources. There are lots of reasons why microgen’s a fantastic idea but basically I believe that small is beautiful. In other words, there’s just something intrinsically appealing about making electricity on your terms, taking responsibility for how your electricity is generated and the impact it has on the environment and society. That might not be the most thoroughly-argued statement but I plan to write about the issues and debates surrounding microgen in more detail on a regular basis. So please check back often and pitch in your thoughts in the comments.