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

3. 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
( )
+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

4. Objectives

5. 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

6. Usefulness and Drawbacks

7. 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 Turning Ontario’s Roofs into Green Generators. Toronto Atmospheric Fund April 30, Accessed on March 12, 2104

8. Solar power

10. Dry Steam Flash Steam Binary Steam
Harvey, L.D.D. Geothermal Energy, Energy and the New Reality.
Dry Steam
Flash Steam
Binary Steam

11. Use steam from reservoir >182°C Hot water and steam flows up
Mock et al 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

12. 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

13. 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 ( 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]

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

15. 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

16. 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,

17. Lignocellulosic materials are mainly composed of:

19. 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.

20. GPC Research – Public Opinion Poll – Oct 05

21. Plan for electricity generation
Accessed on March 16, 2014

22. 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
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) = c/kWh

23. 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

24. Thank you