Renewable Energy Sources in Canada K. Shahzad Baig Seminar at East Toronto Chapter PEO

Introduction Canada Population (Mil) 36 GDP ($bn) 1.73 GDP growth rate 2.5 % Elect. demand (TWh) 519 Elect. production (TWh) 625 Elect. demand per-capita (MWh) 14.8 Electricity demand growth rate (2012-2020) +0.9 %p.a. No federal legislation Each province has different incentive Feed-in-tariff (FIT) program of Ontario IMF Apr 2012, Enerdata, Market Estimates

Objectives

Hydro 3 largest producers of hydro electricity are Canada, USA, Brazil swca.swcs.us/~christopher.garmen/S0889BE74.7/hydroelectricity.p Components of Hydroelectric power generation

Usefulness and Drawbacks

Solar energy Canada does not have enough sunlight Solar is an expensive energy source Toronto beats Miami in summer time Passive solar – natural energy flow into a building Solar Thermal – generation of heat Photovoltaics – direct creation of electricity Rob McMonagle, R. 2010. Turning Ontario’s Roofs into Green Generators. Toronto Atmospheric Fund April 30, Accessed on March 12, 2104

Solar power http://rentechno.com/en/solutions/solar/on-grid-pv-plants.html http://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/what/solar_works.shtml

Dry Steam Flash Steam Binary Steam Harvey, L.D.D. Geothermal Energy, Energy and the New Reality. www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=101808 Dry Steam Flash Steam Binary Steam

Use steam from reservoir >182°C Hot water and steam flows up Mock et al .1997. Annual Review of Energy and Environment 22, 305–356 Flash Steam Use steam from reservoir >182°C Hot water and steam flows up Steam is then separated from the water and used to power turbine/generator Any leftover water and condensed steam are injected back into the reservoir

Usefulness and Drawbacks Harnessing geothermal energy does not involve fuels…stable electricity prices Small footprint on land – can be built partially underground Recent technological advancements (e.g. enhanced geothermal systems) have made more resources exploitable and lowered costs Very location specific (most resources are simply not cost-competitive) Only sustainable (renewable) if the reservoirs are properly managed Geothermal power plants can in extreme cases cause earthquakes There are heavy upfront costs associated with both geothermal power plants and geothermal heating/cooling systems

Wind Wind power is only 2.5% of total worldwide electricity production, it is growing at a rate of 25% per year Small (10 KW) Homes & Farms Remote Applications Price: $5,000-$50,000 Medium (10-250 KW) Village Power Hybrid Distributed Power Price: $50,000-$750,000 Large (250 KW – 5 MW) Central Station Wind Farms Distributed Power Price: $750,000 - $3,000,000 85 wind farms around Canada, 2,400 MW of generating capacity Capacity will increase to 55,000 MW by 2025 [CWEA]

Mahdi, Z. 2013. Toronto’s Wind Turbines. Toronto City.

Usefulness and Drawbacks Wind turbines are space-efficient. The largest of them generate enough electricity to power 600 homes Wind is a fluctuating (intermittent) source of energy The manufacturing and installation of wind turbines requires heavy upfront investments Wind turbines can be a threat to wildlife (e.g. birds, bats) How wind turbines look (aesthetics) is a legitimate concern

Biomass Energy derived from biomass is mostly used to generate electricity or to produce heat. Thermal energy is extracted by means of combustion, pyrolysis, and gasification. Biomass can be chemically and biochemically treated to convert it to a energy-rich fuel such as bioethanol, biodiesel etc. Mainly, corn is used for production of bioethanol, in Canada . Bioethanol can also be produce by using lignocellulosic materials, agricultural waste such as, wheat straw, corn cobs, bagasse etc. Biomass includes biological material,

Lignocellulosic materials are mainly composed of:

Usefulness and Drawbacks Biomass used as a fuel reduces need for fossil fuels for the production of heat, steam, and electricity for residential, industrial and agricultural use. Biomass fuel from agriculture wastes (adds value to a waste material). The use of waste materials reduce problem of landfill disposal and makes more space for everything else. Biomass is a potential alternative to fossil fuels Agricultural wastes will not be available if the basic crop is no longer grown Research is needed to reduce the costs of production of biomass based fuels.

GPC Research – Public Opinion Poll – Oct 05

Plan for electricity generation https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rnrgynfmtn/nrgyrprt/nrgyftr/2011/nrgsppldmndprjctn2035-eng.html Accessed on March 16, 2014

Relative Cost of Electricity Source Size (kW) Capital ($/KW) Cost (cent/KW) 1 Solar 1-100 6,000-10,000 20-40 2 Wind 10-2,000 1,500-3,000 5-10 3 Biomass 1-1,000 1,500-1,800 4 Hydro 4-6 5 Conventional 50-5,000 400-900 3-5 Water power from Quebec = 5.8 c/kWh Natural gas fired, combined heat and power = 6.0 c/kWh Wind Power = 11.5 c/kWh Darlington rebuild project ( nuclear) = 19-37 c/kWh http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/surplus.pdf http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.ospe.on.ca/resource/resmgr/doc_advocacy/2013_doc_energy_eleccost.pdf

Summary Hydel resources should be considered if feasible Solar system has high initial investment Geothermal sources, advancement in technology is required Biomass is less initial investment cost than its competitor technologies. Further advancements in biotechnologies can bring the price down. Since biofuels are in demand. Use of agricultural waste than food grains will decrease its cost. Additional benefits of using agricultural wastes will decrease waste disposal problem, add value to waste. Canada is a big country with a huge renewable energy resources and business opportunities are available. Cost effective, environment friendly opportunities are preferred

Thank you http://www.ourcollectivegood.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/sunshine-.jpg