By Hugh Holland
The Ontario Clean Air Alliance has drawn attention to a situation in which five McMaster University students started a hunger strike to protest the university’s decision to install four gas-fired electricity-generating turbines on campus as well as to call for divestment of the university’s endowment from fossil fuel companies. Like all our grandchildren, those students will be 50 in 2050 and will be living with whatever is left of the world.
Canada is a big cold country. Heating buildings is our third largest source of carbon emissions, after transportation and fossil fuel production. Most small buildings are heated by ducted gas-fired forced-air furnaces. Cold climate heat pumps are now a good source of Zero-Emission (ZE) heating and cooling for homes and small buildings. It is easy to install heat pumps in new homes or to replace an aging gas furnace with a heat pump in existing homes. But Canada also has thousands of large buildings such as university campuses, hospitals, schools, factories, office buildings, big-box stores, and residential condos. Large buildings are typically heated by hot water radiators fed by large gas-fired boilers. Replacing those systems with something else is a costly and disruptive process, and large-capacity heat pumps are not yet available. Electric heat is expensive, and we need every kwh we can generate for other purposes.
However, there are at least 3 feasible alternatives to be considered and developed. Who better to do such a study and oversee the best solution than a university engineering department? Federal and provincial governments should want to fund the study and the resulting prototype solution which could then be replicated in thousands of new and existing large buildings across Canada.
The 3 feasible alternatives are:
- Large-scale heat pumps. Challenge the 3 biggest heat pump manufacturers to develop a range of heat pumps suitable for existing and new large-scale buildings.
- Small modular reactors. SMRs can safely and efficiently co-generate both heat and electricity from the same equipment and fuel. Westinghouse SMRs have powered US navy submarines and aircraft carriers without incident for over 50 years. Each aircraft carrier is staffed by 5,000 highly skilled personnel who would not be put at risk. GE-Hitachi, NuScale, and Terrestrial Energy expect to have a range of SMRs operating as early as 2028. SMRs are being developed to be safely and widely deployed in European-style district heating configurations as shown below. The electricity can be sold to the grid. Compared to older large-scale reactors, SMRs are much more efficient at extracting energy from the fuel. So existing stockpiles of so-called nuclear waste can be used up as fuel for SMRs. France has been reconstituting and using their nuclear waste successfully for decades.
- Deep Geothermal Energy – Deep geothermal can also be used to co-generate electricity and heat. The energy is fully scalable using infinite heat from the earth’s core. It circulates by natural convection, so no energy-consuming pumps are required. It is instantly dispatchable and can back up intermittent sources with no costly battery storage required. The Eavor-On company has had a prototype running in Alberta for 2 years using precision drilling and pipeline technology from the oil and gas industry.
Both Eavor-On and Terrestrial Energy are Canadian companies that can provide made-in-Canada ZE (Zero Energy) solutions that are saleable to other countries and provide high-value industrial benefits across Canada.
Diversity is the key to successful decarbonization. Hydro, wind, solar, bio, geothermal, and small nuclear can all work well somewhere, but none of them work well everywhere. Every source needs its own unique set of skills and resources. Diversity means more skills and resources are available in total.
Given the steadily increasing frequency, severity, and astronomical cost of extreme weather events, and the latest even more dire warnings from the world’s top climate scientists, it’s time to recognize that the world needs every possible form of ZE energy. Each of the above technologies can be deployed for locations and applications for which they are best suited. But SMRs and Deep Geothermal are the only ZE alternatives that offer the enormous cost and space savings of co-generation. As a G7 nation, we should be setting an example for the world, and benefiting from it. We already have all the technology and resources needed to solve our share of the climate change problem. All we need now is the political will to get it done.
Hugh Holland
Hugh Holland is a retired engineering and manufacturing executive now living in Huntsville, Ontario.
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Thanks for the information on alternatives to McMaster University ‘s natural gas power generators which are funded by a program intended to help industry and high demand users of electricity to conserve their usage.These generators will result in an increased contribution to the University’s Green House Gases and nothing to energy efficiency. It is appalling that a University with engineering and science expertise could invest in such an outdated carbon intensive option.As a Mac grad, I have written to the President of McMaster to express dismay for this construction that damages their reputation and for their lack of concern for the climate crisis and the young people who they are ignoring. New GHG emissions sources today make their future even bleaker.
What an interesting bunch of comments! What started out as a discussion of alternative energy sources to combat CO2 emissions, global warming and possible misuse of source energy has been turned into a Trudeau bashing centred on suspected Chinese interference.
Whoa! Let’s stay on track folks..
Let’s go back to our common basic hate of the current high energy prices…(and I admit to a possible topic change..)
In the beginning, Sir Adam Beck decided that electrical energy was the Gift of Of Energy
For the People..and he spearheaded the legislation that formed Ontario Hydro, where everything was owned by all the citizens of Ontario, and that power would be provided to the at cost..no profits…
Then, in the late 1980’s, a certain Ontario Premier decided that, in order to foster “industry competition”, that Hydro should be converted to a profit making organization…with the government as the sole shareholder…
As a result, all consumers now had to retire the stranded original system construction loans via the debt retirement charge..and now they faced surging rates as the new entities spent awesomely in order to raise the rates, and foist “construction / rehab costs” onto the consumers.
T’was a huge mistake..Sir Adam is spinning in his grave…probably at 25 hz..but that was his time frame..the rest of us got converted in the fifties…Hallejulah!
So the argument is that because the Trudeau foundation is a charity, the links between David Johnson and Justin Trudeau are somehow irrelevant?
Sorry, I don’t agree whatsoever, especially given that another Trudeau charity – WE – was caught up in a major corruption scandal only a few years ago.
I am frankly astonished that anyone believes that Trudeau has a single shred of integrity, honesty or credibility.
Ms. Kear, with respect, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Your analogy to Davis and Lewis doesn’t make sense. You’re comparing two completely different things. Those two men belonged to different parties and were political foes, despite being friendly. Neither was asked to investigate the other’s potential criminality and negligence.
The fact remains that Mr. Johnston has a major conflict of interest. His appointment is a sham. That’s exactly why Trudeau chose him.
You say “Not every little thing is highly political”……uggh, in this instance, yes, yes it is! We’re talking about an extremely political thing. Foreign interference in an election. Foreign interference that benefitted the PM, who is now refusing to properly investigate it and actively attempting to suppress information. So ya, it’s HIGHLY political. One could argue it’s the definition of “political”.
Mr. Johnston is a capable man. A great GG. But he’s too close personally and politically with a Prime Minister in the midst of a political cover-up.
P.S. The hypocrisy from the left with respect to this scandal is unbelievable. I’m no fan of Donald Trump, but when he was accused of benefiting from Russian interference, every single democratic institution suddenly became immediately at risk of collapse and a full scale criminal investigation was required. When a Trudeau benefits from foreign interference, however, there’s nothing but shrugs from the left.
Mr. Zychowski; your jaded view is very sad indeed.
MPP Stephen Lewis (NDP) was good friends with Premier Bill Davis (PC) back in the day. Did that mean that neither person could remain committed and true to his political leanings or efforts for their constituents? No, it did not.
Not every little thing is highly political and thereby corrupt. Mr. Holland has outlined the charity foundation and its work. Mr. David Johnson has much experience and credibility among all parties; do not denigrate the integrity he brings to anything he is asked to do. Yes, he is human, but to attribute dishonesty to his character is folly and unjust.
If you believe that a lifelong friend of the Trudeau family and member of the Trudeau Foundation will impartially and fairly assess a Trudeau’s involvement in a major, potentially career-ending scandal, then I have a bridge to sell you.
This appointment and entire process is farcical. A full public inquiry into what the PM knew and when he knew it is imperative.
Justin Trudeau has a lot to hide and David Johnston is going to help him hide it.
The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is an Educational Scholarship Program to help put Canada on a more equal footing with many such programs in the US and other countries. It was established in 2001 by friends and family of long-serving Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
The purpose of the Foundation is to develop Canadian scholars as leaders with a focus on 4 areas; Human Rights, Responsible Citizenship, Canada and the World, People and Natural Resources. It offers 5 or 6 scholarships to PH D candidates every year.
It is a non-partisan organization with distinguished Canadians of all political stripes having served as Directors, such as Ontario Conservative Premier William Davis, Alberta Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed, Ontario NDP Premier Bob Ray, Conservative MP Chuck Strahl, Conservative MP and Trade Minister David Emerson.
The Foundation was recently under fire for having accepted a donation from the Government of China through Chinese billionaire Zhang Bin “at a time when Canada-China relations were on a more positive footing”. That donation was recently returned when efforts of the CCP to influence Canada’s elections at a municipal, provincial, and national level came to light.
It is good for Canada to have positive diplomatic and trade relations with our US neighbour, but is it healthy to be almost totally reliant on one relationship, or is it better to have some diversity of relationships? Diversity is a good thing in most fields. The Soviet Union was an ally during WW2 and then became an adversary. Germany was twice an adversary but is now a strong ally. Japan was an adversary in WW2 and is now an ally.
How many Canadians have taken the time to understand the above facts? What a shame that political partisanship is causing us to become so cynical about good efforts intended to benefit our country and all of its citizens.
https://www.trudeaufoundation.ca/
Yes, I’m sure that someone involved in the Pierre Elliott Trudeau foundation is the best choice for an impartial, fair, and sober analysis of the Trudeau government.
Give me a break.
Every day we are hearing more evidence that an investigation into foreign interference is urgently needed, and digging up failures of past and present governments is a waste of time. The chance that everyone will agree on who should do what and when is nil. We had a long and costly public inquiry into the Truckers Convoy and some parties are still not accepting the results. Why should we expect this investigation to be any different?
Even the pundits are all over the map. I agree with Ms. Kear and Globe writer John Ibbitson who says, “David Johnston is an inspired choice to investigate Chinese (and Russian, and even US) election interference. I cannot think of anyone whose judgement I would trust more”. Globe writer Andrew Coyne has concerns but no suggestions.
This investigation is unique in that it requires a great deal of sensitivity because it risks real physical danger to an unknown number of our valued citizens and public servants. The most important thing is to make some decisions and get started. To that end, the government is working to establish a registry for foreign agents and has appointed an eminently qualified investigator with an unmatched record of bipartisanship to determine what else is needed.
Hello Mr. Holland.
Frankly, I trust David Johnson – newly appointed by Trudeau to examine if a public inquiry is advisable.
He was a Harper appointed Governor General and I think he has some sound qualifications to provide some investigation oversight. Everyone, take a deep breath.