Robert Paterson's Weblog

Mike Proud on our energy future on PEI

Here is a great interview by Peter Rukavina of Mike Proud of the Office of Energy Efficiency. I have known Mike for years now and we are lucky on PEI to have someone as committed and knowldgeable about what we can all do to improve our energy situation.

Prince Edward Island Office of Energy Efficiency from Peter Rukavina on Vimeo.

Central to Mike's view is that we have an opportunity in the heating are - 94% of Island homes are heated by oil. Better insulation and alternatives such as wood offer us a major gain.

So what can each of us do?

Inspired by Mike, I set up a web site called Island Energy - that has as many resources as I can find on how you can save money and on how PEI can do the same. Try the search button - I have got most topics covered.

Below the jump is the ABC on insulation

PEI expands help on energy

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI -- A rise in income limits will make more Islanders eligible for energy efficiency programs aimed at low-income households, Environment, Energy and Forestry Minister Richard Brown says.

The minister said changes approved this week by Treasury Board will increase the household income threshold from $30,000 to $35,000. The increase would mean roughly 3,500 more Island families would be eligible for assistance than under the $30,000 limit established in 2006.

“Since the Office of Energy Efficiency was established in early 2008, staff have been able to process applications from about 1,200 low-income households and to help these families gain more control over energy use and energy spending,” said the minister. “Expanding the eligibility for these programs will allow us to help even more homes where energy costs can be a financial challenge.”

OEE programs targeting low-income households include:

• PEI ecoEnergy Audit Assistance Program for Low-Income Households

• PEI Energy Efficiency Loan Program – for Low Income Households

• PEI Home Energy Low-income Program (HELP)

More information on the Office of Energy Efficiency and its programs is available on the Internet at www.gov.pe.ca/oee.

Oil prices on their way up - Time to plan for the future?

Islanders pay about a third for heating oil what we pay in PEI income tax. We can get this back in 2 years.

We have had a year off worrying about the cost of energy. Today gas and heating prices jumped a nickel a litre. In the near future, oil based energy is going to cost a lot more.

So what might PEI as an Island do that may help us all and also make a solution obvious to all?

We can start by heating our schools differently. Here is how:

PEI's schools are very vulnerable to any increase in the price of oil. (Here is a link to the risk for schools) So of course is PEI itself. How can we reduce this risk? How can be get ahead of the risk and create a whole new economy that regular Islanders can participate in?

Stop heating with oil! One of the smartest things we did on PEI was to kick start wind energy by deliberately creating enough scale at the outset by the Provincial & Federal Governments taking their share of the power from wind. This guarantee of use, built the foundation. We can do this with wood heat as well. All Public Buildings could shift from oil to wood.

This chart shows PEI's Energy use and costs in the ramp up in 2008. Nearly $200 million, A THIRD OF PEI'S INCOME TAX REVENUES - is spent on heating oil. While prices are lower today (71 cents vs 1.09) we can be sure that in the future even $1.09 will look like a bargain. What if we started to use this same model with PEI's Public Buildings? What if we converted from oil to Wood? This is easier than you might think.

Here is Dick Arsenault taking us around the test of a new Pellet/Chip furnace at the Ecole Evangeline in Western PEI.

You will see that such a furnace

• Can be easily installed
• Can be fed easily
• Has NO emissions
• Is easy to clean
• Can save a school about $100,000 a year
• There are 2 new schools that will be built in the next year. There is federal money. If we went full tilt in the public sector and went wood (pellet and Chip) we would create the support systems and the local businesses that we could then lever to help with the rest of PEI's oil heating. Lots of real jobs that are not going to go away will be created. If we can pull this off, we would have to do a lot of work on conservation as well that also leads to many new jobs, then $200,000,000 at least will stay in the hands of Islanders. The biggest tax break ever.
• PEI will also be on track to start to reduce its dependency on oil and the outside.

Oh but Rob there is not enough wood for that! Yes there is. Here is a snip from Roy MacMullin's great piece on this question:

Looking at a wood alternative, we would have to cut 2.8 million cords of wood to replace this volume of oil. (For all of Atlantic Canada) To compare, the existing residential usage of hardwood in New Brunswick is roughly 500,000 cords each year.

Using wood as a solution requires an additional 332 thousand cords to be harvested annually to displace the New Brunswick fuel oil requirement. (Roy lives in NB) This shouldn’t be a problem with mills shutting down. Pellets and briquettes can use softwood that is compressed to provide the same heat density of hardwood, with less moisture content.

Wood heat could very quickly meet the requirements of a conversion program. The reduction of oil purchases of 943,000 barrels would retain $137 million a year in the New Brunswick economy as opposed to sending it offshore. Over the years, this would be the equivalent of investing over a billion dollars in the local economy.

If Efficiency NB extended their offer of $2,250 to oil heat customers converting to wood, it would go a long way toward alleviating the problems of oil prices. The cost of the providing stoves would be $135 million (60,000 x $2,250), probably spent over a number of years.

The use of EPA rated stoves ensures an efficiency of 70% and emissions that are less than 10% of previous generation stoves. In urban areas, the use of pellet or briquettes may have to be mandatory with round wood as a rural option.

We are at the beginning of an emergency, perhaps a low intensity war. This change from low cost energy to high cost energy will sap our resources, leave us poor and eventually cold. If we fail to adapt to the heating oil challenge as well as the other aspects of peak oil, we lose.

This is surely the easiest political choice before us? There is no downside.

A Great Divide - Are we living in an evolutionary event for humans? Part 1

I have been wondering what is the difference between people who get the deep meaning of social media and those who don't. I am now wondering as I see the profound failure of all of us to fix our great underlying systemic problems whether, the failure for many to "get" social media is in fact a sign of a wider problem of "World View"?

I wonder also if there is an evolutionary shift underway? A shift between a "Kinetic" world view and an "Energetic" world view? Is the divide merely a cultural one or might there be a physiological difference?

Are there in reality, two species of humans now walking the Earth? Is there a Homo Noeticus?

There is at least no doubt that we are having problems solving massive problems right now. What makes the problems worse are that the very assumptions used in creating the problems are being offered without question as the solutions. At some point, we will all see that we are stuck.

Our world is controlled by the Kinetic POV. Over the last 50 years, a mass of evidence has been gathered to show the Energetic underpinnings of all these systems. But a Kinetic Person cannot "see" the alternative. It cannot exist for their reality. They cannot be argued. So we remain stuck - for now!

I say for now because I see hope in an ever larger pool of people who naturally "see" their world using a larger overlay of perspective that is Energetic and Social. They cross all racial and class barriers. They are often separated from their own family and even spouses as their connection to the wider perspective of energy expands. They know each other the moment they make contact - even online. They cling to each other for support and protection for they know that they are the "Other" that the Kinetics fear the most.

If the Kinetic world cannot fix our problems. Problems that extend into our impact upon the planet itself. Problems that carry our doom as a species with them - energy, food, global extinctions and climate change - then maybe our only chance for a descent versus a collapse will be that there enough people with an energetic world view to lend a hand.

So what makes a person more Energetic - able to see the connections and to feel and project energy? What is it that offers this gift?

I am starting to think that the answer is more than merely cultural - something that can be learned. I am beginning to think that the answer may be physiological and so may then be an evolutionary response.

Jill Bolte Taylor suffered a stroke and discovered a new reality when her "Kinetic" brain was lost to her and she could only access her "Energetic Brain".

With access only to her right brain- she found that she inhabited ONLY an energetic world - where she was dissolved into the universe.

When she recovered access to her Kinetic brain, she found that she could now move between one and the other.

I think the answer is that those who are more energetic have a wider pathway between the two hemispheres of the brain and can travel back and forth as Jill Bolte Taylor can now.

How does this pathway open up and why was it closed.

Julian Jaynes in his masterpiece, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, made the case that prior to "civilization" and very importantly, the common use of the written word, that humans had full access to both hemispheres of the brain. Hence we could hear the voice of the Gods - our connection to the larger group's and locale's energy. Writing and reading demand massive use of the left hemisphere. Over time, as literacy became the norm, we narrowed the pathway. In the 20th century, it must have all but have been closed off. 

We know that many critical aspects of our neural development depend on Use it or Lose it. Any 2 year old can learn any language with no effort. But an 8 year old will really struggle to learn a second - there is a window. This window idea extends to the physical. For instance, if you blindfold a cat for the first year of life, it will never see. The brain connections for sight have to be used during a critical time or they can never be made.

These gains or losses do not have to be experienced directly by the child. For instance any 3 year old will draw using the vanishing point as a perspective. But a 14th century master artist had such a problem with "seeing" the world this way that he had to have a tool to help him.  So, just as a border collie will have herding built in or a Labrador a fondness for water, we seem to be able to pass on some kinds of skills and behaviors.

Changes that affect a lot of people, can happen very quickly. In 1970, there were almost no fat people anywhere. Now there is an epidemic of  obesity. How can this be? Obviously it has some thing to do with our life style and food but what happens to us as people? We cannot have a genetic shift in such a short time. The genes must be there. But why some fat and some not? Why do obese people have obese kids? What can happen is that the on/off switches that control which genes express or not can be inherited. So the parents that have the fat gene expressed can pass this on. We pass on the dashboard.

What I am saying is that events can change our wiring. When the wiring is changed, we can pas on the new wiring to our kids. 

What I would like to do in my next post is to describe my own experience in "waking up. It was almost as traumatic as Jill Bolte Taylor's. Something happened to me. 

I would also like to hear what happened to you too. Have you always been awake? Can you recall an event or a series of events, or maybe something about your early life that created the conditions by which you too woke up?

Explore how we can maximize our energy efficiency & security - March 25

ecopei.ca/islandenergy2009

ECO-PEI Energy Project invites you to attend the upcoming

Sustainable Energy - A Community Matter Workshop
Wednesday, March 25 9am-4pm
Credit Union Place
511 Notre Dame Street, Summerside PEI

This day long workshop is bringing the Island community together to address how we can maximize energy efficiency and security, define sustainable energy solutions and build alliances in rural sectors and communities on PEI in a way that maximizes long-term local benefits.

Guest speakers include:

Yves Gagnon, P.Eng., D.Sc.
K.C. Irving Chair in Sustainable Development, Université de Moncton

Tim Weis, M.Sc., P. Eng.
Director of Renewable Energy and Efficiency Policy, Pembina Institute

Cedric MacLeod, M.Sc., PAg
President, MacLeod Agronomics

plus much more...

Price $20 includes lunch and bus transportation from Charlottetown.
Please call 566-4696 or register on-line:
ecopei.ca/islandenergy2009

The HYDROGEN bus
leaves Charlottetown at 8:00am
and arrives back in Charlottetown at 5:00pm

Learn more...

Clean Coal - A New Film By The Coen Bros

Thanks Gabe - from This is Reality

Heating - Your Choices on PEI - Why is electricity so expensive

As we debate the rising cost of electricity, I received these numbers:

(1) Seasoned Wood 8.7 cords at $190.00 per cord $1,653.00
(2) Corn 7.5 ton at $270.00 per ton $2,025.00
(3) Energy Star Furnace 3,037 litres at 68.8 cpl $2,089.46
(4) Older Oil Furnace 3,387 litres at 68.8 cpl $2,330.40
(5) Pellets 6.9 ton at $349.50 per ton $2,411.55
(6) Propane 4,754 litres at 73.1 cpl $3,475.74
(7) Electricity 29,886 kwh at 15.76 cpkwh $4,710.03

These are current prices. They raise a couple of questions for me

• Why is electricity so expensive on PEI?
• Why are we not developing a real energy strategy on PEI

What do you see?

You can find the full breakdown of these numbers here: Download Fuel Comparison Ronald Rayner

An opportunity for Government - Conservation - Big Time

Here is the essence of the Obama plan:

To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years.

We will modernize more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills.

In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced (my emphasis) – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.

Let's do that here!

Islanders spend $200 million a year on oil heating. This $200 million is a huge tax on all of us.

It would not be too hard to get rid of most of this.

Let's look at homes and government buildings to see the opportunity.

Assume an average house on PEI - 1,200 square feet - If you insulate your basement and your attic and block the main leaks you can save up 40% of your oil bill. The average oil consumption on PEI is 3,500 litres. So about $1,200 at current prices. That is a lot of money for anybody.

We are just starting to get a handle on this with the Office of Energy and the just starting Community support for helping people help themselves to conserve. Here is the kit that is available:

But think now of our school system that is under the gun energy wise? Here is the energy bill for Eastern District

Heating is a huge drain on the system. It is a major factor in the decision to close small schools.

Then there are manors, hospitals and other government buildings. The opportunity is real and meaningful.

If we can save say $150 million a year out of all of this, we can afford to have a program to employ a lot of folks to do this work. Unlike most public works, this kind of program really would pay for itself and would offer all Islanders an ongoing benefit - in effect a permanent increase in cash in their pockets.

It also gives us all "Insurance" we all know that cheap oil will go away for ever. If we start here with this easy work, my bet is that we will start to learn more so that we can go further in becoming more independent of oil and so get back more control.

So come on guys on the 5th floor - nothing to lose and so much to gain - let's go for it.

What could we do if we lost access to oil? Cuba shows the way

http://www.powerofcommunity.org/cm/index.php

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate.

This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period."

The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope«

Living on $26,000 a year - PEI's average wage - Peak Oil

$26,000 is the average wage on PEI. Here is a very simple view of what this means as food and energy costs rise.

Let's take food and rent/mortgage off the table right away. There is no room here. These are minimum figures. No frills. No where to cut.

In fact there are further cost pressures here that the wage earner has to accept. Rents are going up 9% on PEI this year. If you were paying $500 a month as per my example here - that would be an extra $360 a year - almost a month's rent!

The basic food prices are way up and are also linked to rising energy prices.

Prices for baked goods and cereal in particular jumped 14.9 per cent, the largest increase since 1981, and fresh vegetables rose 9.2 per cent.

There is no room to absorb these increases. But on the other hand the food producer and the landlord are being squeezed too. This can only get more difficult.

So long as there is inadequate public transport and a system where we all have to "Go to work" we have to take the Car/Truck/Gas off the table for reduction as well. Energy prices are up 20% this year and are  up 100% since 2004.

So what can we do? Can we do anything or fall into the abyss?

The first and only place that we can work on now is heat. The average use of oil is about 3,500 litres. Or close to $4,000 a year.

Here is the first and most effective place that we can act to make a long term difference and to start to give back power and dignity.

An average house can save up to 40% by better insulation and and by better energy management. This potential exists for every household. This would be 1,400 litres a year or at today's prices over $1,000!

So how can we do this? There are a lot of federal programs that offer financial help.  The barrier to Federal Grants is to Energy Auditors and the costs of having an audit. Then the work has to be done and paid for before the grant can be paid. This is a non starter for many.

The Province has some much more easily accessible help for low income people. But in the end things have to be purchased and work done.

So to unlock this potential we have to get though the barriers of expertise and labour.

So what if we got together as a community and helped each other? What if we barn built this reduction in our use of heating energy?

It's our only chance I think of staring to become more resilient locally.

I hope to be able to say more about this shortly. I hope to be able to say more about doing this work rather than merely suggesting that it might be useful.

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