PRESS RELEASE

NS current energy system cannot survive

Report urges concerted investment in wind, conservation, efficiency

HALIFAX, NS. OCTOBER 19, 2005 — Nova Scotia’s heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels is unsustainable. Only immediate action in the form of dedicated investment in renewable energy and cutting the high level of current energy use can save the province’s energy system, according to a new 400-page report released today by GPIAtlantic.

Nova Scotians are among the highest energy users in the world, with total demand up by 12% since 1991. As well, all of the province’s oil is imported, leaving the province highly vulnerable to continued price fluctuations and increasingly unreliable supplies that will become more insecure and unstable with the impending advent of peak oil production.

The GPI study identified and assessed 30 economic, social, health, environmental, and institutional indicators to measure progress in the energy sector in Nova Scotia. Only two of the 30 indicators show clear signs of progress towards sustainability, and even those two (energy-related mercury and particulate matter emissions) are still at unacceptably high levels.

Nova Scotia’s heavy reliance on imported coal to generate electricity produces per capita sulphur dioxide emissions that are seven times the Canadian average. Despite the province’s small population, Nova Scotia Power is Canada’s fourth worst air polluter. Out of 29 coal-fired plants in the country, NS Power’s Trenton, Lingan, and Point Tupper plants are ranked as three of the country’s four dirtiest in acid gas emissions.

Energy-related greenhouse gas emissions have been increasing. The GPI Atlantic study found that greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from Nova Scotia’s energy sector currently produce more than $600 million annually in damage costs, or $661 a year for every man, woman and child in Nova Scotia.

Most disturbingly, the proportion of electric generating capacity from renewable sources in the province has actually declined in the last 20 years. By contrast, the report points to neighbouring Prince Edward Island, which aims to produce 100% of its electricity from wind by 2015, as a model for Nova Scotia. While PEI provides incentives to wind producers, Nova Scotia currently has the country’s highest taxes on wind power development.

With increased dependence on imported oil and coal and reduced use of domestic resources, Nova Scotia is becoming less self-reliant for its energy needs. Nova Scotia exports nearly all its natural gas (a cleaner fuel than coal and oil), using only a tiny portion locally. NS Power uses little natural gas at its Tufts Cove generating plant.

Nova Scotia has seen minimal investment in combined heat and power generation, which would vastly increase efficiency. As well, the province has no distributed generation, which could increase reliability.

There are also key data gaps on vital energy-related issues, making it difficult to produce well-informed policy and to track progress. For example, the province makes available virtually no data on efficiency, despite its vital and increasing importance – including efficiency in electricity generation and transmission, equipment, buildings (both government and non-government), and industrial processes. There are also no data on the percentage of NS woodstoves that meet high-level efficiency and anti-pollutant standards. So there is currently no way to track the effectiveness of rebate programs designed to encourage greater efficiency.

The report also examines energy affordability as a key indicator of progress and notes that the government lacks crucial information to make its current fuel rebate program effective and cost-effective. For example, data on the percentage of Nova Scotia households spending more than 10% of their income on energy - information that is used to combat “fuel poverty” in the U.K. – are not publicly available here.

Among other recommendations, the GPI report urges the provincial government to set ambitious targets to increase sharply the portion of renewable energy produced and used in the province; and to expand combined heat and power generation. It also recommends curbing high demand through concerted conservation and energy efficiency measures; establishing long-term reduction targets for all pollutant emissions; meeting and exceeding Kyoto targets for greenhouse gas emissions and moving towards a low-carbon future through supply and demand actions; developing a comprehensive strategy to combat fuel poverty; and establishing provincial efficiency and emissions standards for wood-burning devices. Chapter 9 of the GPI report describes best practices in many of these areas that could serve as models for Nova Scotia.

The GPI report acknowledges that the transition from imported fossil fuel dependence will not happen overnight. It therefore strongly recommends that, in the meantime, the cleanest possible technologies be employed to produce energy from fossil fuels. For example, the report praises the clean coal technology at Nova Scotia Power’s Point Aconi plant that has reduced sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions by up to 90% and 75% respectively compared to older, less efficient, and more polluting plants. And it urges Nova Scotia Power to upgrade to cleaner fossil fuel technologies in its other plants while it pursues renewable power generation with new vigour.

“Nova Scotia is at a critical point with regard to its energy habits and choices,” says Ronald Colman, Executive Director of GPIAtlantic, an independent non-profit research organization. “Immediate changes are needed at all levels if the province is to have an energy system that ensures the future wellbeing of Nova Scotians,” says Dr. Colman.

For more information or to schedule interviews, please contact:
Ronald Colman, Ph.D: (902) 823-1944; 489-7007, or colman@gpiatlantic.org
Judith Lipp: (902) 453-4100 or jlipp@dal.ca (available Wednesday only)
Seth Cain: (902) 422-5428 or sjcain@dal.ca
Clare Levin: (902) 489-2524, or clevin@gpiatlantic.org