Clean Energy

Clean energy as it is used here refers to sources and methods of obtaining useable energy through conversions that do not directly add pollutants and / or greenhouse gases to the atmosphere or by design have reduced considerably the environmental impact of a particular process used to obtain energy. A classic example of this would be the conversion of the sun’s energy to electricity by means of a photovoltaic solar panel. Common forms of renewable energy are:

Bioenergy
Geothermal and Earth Energy
Wind Power
Ocean Energy
Small-scale Hydro Power

Bioenergy

Canada currently has the highest per-capita access to biomass in the world. This represents a large untapped resource as only six percent of the national demand for primary energy is sourced from biomass. Current methods of energy production using biomass are direct combustion, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, gasification and biofuels. In general combined heat and power (CHP) systems make up the majority of industrial applications of the use of biomass to produce useable energy. Good local examples of the conversion of biomass to energy products can be found in Ensyn, Iogen and Plasco.

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Geothermal and Earth Energy

Earth energy is the natural heat contained in the earth’s crust. In Canada it is currently used almost exclusively to heat and cool buildings by pumping a working fluid (usually water) into the warm parts of the earth’s crust and circulating this heated fluid throughout the building to heat it. Geothermal energy on the other hand refers to a source of steam or hot water that can be used to power turbines or heat buildings directly. However there are few of this type of geothermal reserve in Canada. Earth energy systems consume 25 to 75 percent less electricity than standard heating and air conditioning devices making them more energy efficient and less costly over the long term.

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Wind Power

This is among the fastest growing renewable energy sources in the world and is the fastest growing in Canada according to Industry Canada. Some estimates place the potential of energy from wind as high as supplying 20% of Canada’s electricity requirements with turbine sizes ranging from a few hundred watts in power to 4.2 MW. At the moment the majority of the turbines and related components used in Canada are imported but there is a growing knowledge base in traditional wind turbine technology that could see those products being manufactured here as well as advances in harnessing the wind in new, innovative ways such as in Ottawa’s own Magenn Power. Traditional terrestrial based wind turbines can be deployed where the average wind speed is at least 22 km/h.

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Ocean Energy

With a total length of 243042 kilometres Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world. Energy from the ocean can be captured in two main ways; from marine currents, caused by tidal effects and wind waves. The technologies used to convert these naturally occurring phenomena to useable energy are relatively new and not competitive economically with more mature sources of renewable energy such as wind and solar. Because of its similarity to current hydroelectric technology it is likely that the technology for harnessing power from marine currents may be the first to become commercially viable. The experimental tidal energy plant at Annapolis Royal, on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia was one of the first and the largest plants constructed to capture tidal energy. It has been in operation since 1984 and is the only facility of its kind in North America. It currently has a production capacity of 20 MW.

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Small-Scale Hydro Power

According to Industry Canada the size, cost and often negative environmental impact of large dams is pushing hydroelectric production increasingly to small plants that are generally defined as those that can produce between 1 and 50 MW of electrical power. A significant number of small hydroelectric plants are run-of-river stations which redirect a portion of the flow from a river, creek or stream through the plant for power generation after which it is returned to the source. This has considerable environmental and ecological advantages over the storage type of hydroelectric dams that retain a large volume of water for controlled release through the hydroelectric station. In the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario region Energy Ottawa Inc. operates two run-of-river stations in the Ottawa River.

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Solar Energy

The sun can be viewed as the source of the energy we use today and it supports virtually all life on earth. Temperature differences caused by the sun cause winds that power wind turbines or create waves, plants use its energy for photosynthesis and the fossil fuels that we use today are all part of a sequence that connects through the food chain to the sun. As a renewable energy source the sun has enormous potential.

All of the energy stored in the Earth’s reserves of coal, oil and natural gas is matched by the energy from just 20 days of sunshine. Energy from the sun can be captured in two main ways; to produce energy in the form of electrical power or to heat a working fluid in a thermodynamic system. Photovoltaic (PV) devices are semiconductors that convert solar energy directly into electricity. They operate at a typical efficiency of about 15% but recent advances in technology have resulted in more than double that efficiency using a much smaller area.

Solar water / air heaters are the second way in which solar energy can be used to heat a fluid to control the interior temperature of a building for example, reducing the dependence on boilers or other forms of heaters to supply the required thermal energy. Ottawa’s own Menova Energy Inc. is a great example of the future of solar technology combining both high efficiency solar cells and a working fluid in one unit.

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