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NEWSLETTER # 23, SEPTEMBER 2001

In This Issue: HOW TO GET YOURSELF OFF THE POWER GRID... WORKSHOP - Owen Sound QUOTABLES-Arthur Koestler FROM THE CO-ORDINATOR ASK THE EXPERT-purchasing green energy WORKSHOP - Hamilton SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT-gifts RECOGNITION... WHICH WAY, ONTARIO? QUOTABLES--Walter Elliott

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ONE HORSEPOWER* HOW TO GET YOURSELF OFF THE POWER GRID AND MAINTAIN AN ENERGY-VIRTUOUS HOUSE By Phil Thompson *1 Horsepower (hp) = 0.745 kW After 25 years helping design and build energy efficient homes, I recently completed five years off-grid on a Nova Scotian island, and would like to share the perspective gained from rolling up my sleeves and seeing how everything works on the ground rather than in a brochure. First, a word about living on one horsepower: we in North America use about 40 times more of the world's resources per person than people in developing nations. Reducing our demands to one horsepower per person is not difficult since we would still be using more than entire families use in the Third World. But it's a start. The average family home once used about five kilowatts, but now even our best R2000 homes seem to be increasing to 100 amp and 200 amp systems, with little control over demand. The reason I chose one horsepower (or about the power of a hair dryer) as a target is that it is 10 per cent of the demand of a fairly frugal North American home. From my experience retrofitting poorly operated existing homes I have found it possible to reduce both heating and electrical needs by 80 per cent. The further goal was to use my funds frugally in design and construction of this modest island home. When you are wiping out RRSPs and pension plans, you want to get the biggest bang for your buck. So I designed on graph paper a simple home modelled after many successful low-income housing projects in Canada and the U.S. I located it on Saltmarsh Island in Petpeswick Inlet near Musquodoboit Harbour. It's a Cape Cod with no dormers, because you have to be a carpenter to build dormers. Then I insulated it to the standards of the Energy Code, something I contributed to while working in the North. After being told it would cost $25,000 to hook up to the N.S. grid from our island 300 metres off the shore, I invested $5,000 in solar energy panels, batteries and a small wind generator. I then pledged that I would live on a horsepower rather than pay for the privilege of having a power bill. Giddy up. So how do you live on one horsepower? Well, first you trash everything that used electric resistance heat. Why? Because for 50 years every advance in electronics has involved the elimination of heat, and if you don't think ramming a bunch of coal-fired power through a big resistor to cook meals is a mistake, then you are reading the wrong article. What I had left over after doing this was a TV, stereo, cooler, lights, pump, cell phone, computer, electric typewriter, a battery charger for flashlight batteries, and cordless power tools. I use two to three cords of mixed softwood and hardwood to heat the house when the sun isn't shining, and a 20-pounder of propane per month for the kitchen range, which also provides hot water when the sun isn't shining on my solar-heated waterbag. The island is 14 acres, so the sustainable yield is about seven cords per year. My chainsaw is the smallest Stihl you can buy. My outboard motor is a 2.5-horsepower Nissan, just enough for my girlfriend and her dog and me. And yes, I'm still contributing to global warming, but not commuting to the city every day certainly makes up for other vices. I'm not against technology, just a proponent of sustainable, environmentally appropriate technology. Small motors and lots of elbow grease, that's my motto. How do I turn all this free solar and wind power into usable energy? With off-the-shelf inverters from Canadian Tire, because I want anyone to be able to imitate what I'm doing without having to write to far away places to get answers and products. So, you can live on one horsepower, and draw all your energy needs from the sun and the wind. Off grid. If you live on the grid, please first reduce demand by eliminating electric heating. With the recent announcement of a large wind power project coming to Nova Scotia, you wouldn't want those virtuous electrons contaminated on the grid by the coal-fired electrons generated at Lingan. Backup generator, you ask? Sold mine two years ago after not using it for a year. Who needs them? So you can play solitaire without using a deck of cards? Phil Thompson was a consultant for Energy Mines & Resources in the '70s and '80s and co-ordinator of energy management for the Northwest Territories in the 1990s. Reprinted by permission from the author. The article was slightly abridged. WORKSHOP: TOWARDS A BRIGHTER FUTURE WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY CFRE will be holding a workshop on Saturday, October 13, 2001 at the Inglis Falls Conservation Administration Building, south of Owen Sound. Please go to the Workshops page for the workshop agenda and more information. QUOTABLES... "The more original a discovery the more obvious it seems afterwards." Arthur Koestler FROM THE CO-ORDINATOR... What a great turn-out we had for our Renewable Energy Sites Tour at Goderich! More than twice the number of last year's participants were impressed and enthusiastic with the installations our great hosts, the folks from Solwind Energy, were demonstrating. Our hosts, too, were so happy with the event and the interest shown that they decided to donate almost all of their share of receipts to CFRE! Thank you, Bruce, Allen, Sam, Sylvia and Jake! We also gained some new members. And we also just gained a new board member! Looking to replace Cindy MacDonald, who had to resign for personal reasons, we found Lisa Chupa willing to take on the challenge. Lisa with partner Jeremy Lane have attended several of our workshops. Lisa has a Masters degree in Art from Guelph University and while taking care of her 3-year old son Daniel is presently working part time driving a school bus. She already has sprung into action, helping to organize our Hamilton workshop. As Cindy had been holding the position of Secretary, I asked Vitold as the longest serving member on our board to take over that post and he kindly agreed. He is recovering well from his double sided hip replacement operations and is able to get around and drive. Thank you, both, for donating your time and expertise! My travels took me to the Natural Life Festival at the Kortright Centre north of Toronto where I promoted CFRE with the help of Bob and Moira Sansom and held one of the best attended workshops about ôLiving off the Gridö Dedicated volunteers Lisa and Cathie as well as Gary Bastin and J.P. Warren staffed our 2-day display at the Oakville Eco-Festival in June while I was attending the Great Lakes United AGM in Windsor. Thanks to you all! At the end of August I was in Chicago and vicinity for a week to attend an International Conference for a Sustainable Energy Future with a Nuclear Free Great Lakes Action Camp attached. It was an enlightening experience with truly international participation of people from Russia, Europe, Argentina and Korea coming together to promote sustainable energy generation and protesting against restarting and re-licensing of old nuclear reactors and building new ones! Of course then there was the Feast of Fields, promoting sustainable agriculture and healthy nutrition by demonstrating delicious organic food and beverages, and we had to be there with our display and the help of Lisa and Jeremy. October looks like a busy month with two CFRE workshops planned as well as a display and workshop at the Natural Life Expo in Ottawa conducted by our board member George Wright from Metcalfe. I have a speaking engagement at the Canadian Organic Growers chapter meeting in Hamilton October 15 and will then be attending the Leading Edge conference in Burlington. -November keeps up the busy pace with the Ontario Environment Network conference taking place in Toronto celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the OEN and that same weekend CFRE displays at the Natural Life Christmas Expo in Kitchener, the Green Energy Marketplace in Toronto and the EFAO AGM in Parkhill. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at our workshops and displays and wishing you a really thankful Thanksgiving Holiday! ASK THE EXPERT Q: Sales people from electricity retailers are knocking on doors pushing long term contracts for low electricity rates. Is it wise to sign up? Answer: It is always a good idea to inquire first about the legitimacy of the company - ask for identification. All these retailers have to be licensed by the Ontario Energy Board (OeB) which binds them to a code of ethical conduct. If they are promoting low electricity prices ask what all is included in the quote! On your new hydro bill come May 2002 all portions of your electricity supply will be shown separately: first the price per kiloWatt hour (kWh) - coming out of your plug or your switch - then the price for transmission, the price for distribution of that power, then the Nuclear Debt Reduction charge (right now, 0.07ó per kWh), of course then the G.S.T. and possibly municipal taxes. So if you are offered, say, a price of 5ó locked in for long term, this most likely would only be the kWh charge! All the other charges are variable and will be on top of that. Never sign anything on the spot; ask for information material to study and compare! And most important of all - ask how that electricity is generated! There are new, clean sources of renewable energy coming on stream and you want to support sustainable generation even if the price is slightly higher. Any electricity retailer questioned about their energy source will have to show an Electricity Facts Label with the energy mix. Support safe, clean renewable energy - buy green! WORKSHOP: Renewable Energy Opportunities in a Deregulated Electricity Future CFRE will be holding a workshop on Saturday, October 20, 2001 at the CNIB Building in Hamilton. Please go to the Workshops page for the workshop agenda and more information. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT It is not too early to remind our members that there are great gifts available from CFRE for Christmas shopping! Our acclaimed information publication, CFRE: You Asked Us, is full of valuable advice for new home builders and for retrofitting, too! Cost: $5.00 plus $3.00 postage and handling, and we'll include a gift card as well! Our 100% organic cotton T-shirts with our ôhappy faceö logo come in 4 sizes: XL, L, M, and XL JUNIOR. All for $20 each, except Junior is $15, plus $4.00 for postage. We also have baseball-style caps of 100% organic cotton with a leather strap for $15. NOT TO FORGET: Gift memberships at $12 per household! Thanks for your support. RECOGNITION... A publication by West Coast Environmental Law with the title "Sharing our Successes" describing a number of environmental initiatives occurring across Canada was issued in July of this year. In Chapter 7 titled "Providing Progressive Models" you will find among the 7 organizations featured a write-up about our "Citizens for Renewable Energy" (Pages 43 and 44)! Thank you, Rodney Wilts, and your team for picking us as one of the "Progressive Models" true to our slogan "Pro-Actors - not Reactors!" WHICH WAY, ONTARIO? Wind turbines are popping up in different regions of our province, as if, finally, the realization has hit home that there is an unlimited, free and clean source of energy out there that could be tapped. Well, other provinces are already leading the way and, ironically, they are the ones who have plenty of power from other hydro-electric generation (Quebec - 103 MW wind) or oil and natural gas (Alberta - 39 MW wind). In Ontario the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-op (TREC) is labouring away to overcome regulatory obstacles to put up 2 - 3 large wind turbines on the Lake Ontario waterfront in a 3 year battle. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has just erected a 1.8 MW Vestas Wind turbine at their Pickering Nuclear site and OPG together with British Energy (BE) has plans to install up to 11 units at the ôHuron Windö farm near their Bruce Nuclear plant with a total output of 10 MW (30% capacity factor) next year. Private investors are gearing up with smaller projects in Huron and Prince Edward counties hoping to get the green light for competing in the electricity market from the Ontario Energy Board (OEB). At the same time a concerted effort is underway to resurrect the 30 year old Pickering nuclear reactors that had been taken out of service for safety and managerial reasons. OPG is spending 1,300 million dollars of ratepayers money to patch up these worn-out reactors to possibly generate 2,000 MW of, no, not clean or safe, electricity! An Ontario Hydro conservation project, started in 1992 at a cost of 100 million dollars, would have saved up to 5000 MW (!) by the year 2000 - last year - but was abruptly cancelled when Maurice Strong left as chair of the public utility. Solar water heating was promoted by Ontario Hydro 20 years ago. In their 1981 issue ôEnergy Spectrumö they state that after carrying out in-depth research some 50 more solar water heating test systems are being installed that year and up to 700 more the year after on homes in Ontario. The announcement concludes: ôAffordable solar water heaters could save a lot of valuable energy. So let's keep our fingers crossed. By the 1990's, who knows how many of us may be showering in water warmed by the sun.ö You'll have a hard time finding those energy savers if you are looking for them, especially ones subsidized by Ontario Hydro because, again, the project was cancelled in favour of building costly polluting nuclear reactors! One point three Billion dollars - more deadly radiation and long-lived nuclear waste close to millions of Ontario residents - how many solar water heaters and also solar electric tiled roofs would that buy for the residents of the Greater Toronto Region?! CFRE has joined with the Sierra Club, Energy Action of Toronto, Energy Probe and organizations in the Durham Region to oppose a licencing amendment by OPG before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to bring the old Pickering 'A' reactors back into operation. Bruce Power, the new British operator of the huge Bruce Nuclear Plant, has announced that it intends to bring two of the four twenty-five year old 'A' reactors back into service and plans to go before the CNSC to ask for an amendment to operate these units at power. Are we turning back the clock to bring back uneconomical, unsafe and polluting generation, when we have the new, safe and clean power sources that, together with proper conservation, could meet our energy needs? CFRE will make our members' concerns and recommendations known to the CNSC and also Bruce Power in upcoming hearings. We invite our members to send individual letters of concern to: Ms. Linda Keen, President, CNSC P.O. Box 1046 Stn. 'B' Ottawa ON K1P 5S9 or email: keenl@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca QUOTABLES... "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." Walter Elliott Go to next newsletter Go to previous newsletter Return to Newsletter list Return to main page