WORKSHOP AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING DRAFT AGENDA - CELEBRATING 10 YEARS of RENEWABLE ENERGY ADVOCACY! -Sunday, May 28, 2006 - YMCA Outdoors Centre, Paradise Lake, 3738 Hessen Strasse, St. Clements,ON (West of Waterloo ) 519-699-5100 Click Here for a Map 9:00 Registration and refreshments 9:30 Introductions 9:45 10 years of Renewable Energy Advocacy 10:45 Break - Move to Dining Hall 11:15 Keynote Speaker: Janet L. Sawin, Senior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute "From the Steam Power Age to a Sustainable Future through Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Generation". 12:15 Lunch (included in registration fee) 13:30 Questions & Answers with Janet 14:15 Break - Move back to Solarium 14:30 The "House inside the House" - the Albarda-style off-grid home. Liz and Frank Barningham, Durham 15:15 Wrap-up and Action Planning 15:30 Optional Tour of on site off-grid buildings 16:00 (sharp) Annual General Meeting - all members in good standing welcome! 17:30 Adjournment To register for this outstanding event we will sell tickets this time! Only 130 will be available due to limited seating on first come-first serve basis!! $ 50 per Person, $40 for Seniors and Students , Refreshments and Lunch included. Send cheque to: CFRE, 462 East Rd, R.R. 4,Lion's Head, ON, N0H 1W0 Hope to see you all there!! The Coordinator with the newly appointed Ambassador for the Environment, Karen Kraft Sloan and staff. ABOUT OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKER... Janet Sawin, Senior Researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, is the Director for the Energy and Climate Change Program. She has a Master's and Doctoral degree in international relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University where she focused on energy and environmental policy, and also a Bachelor's degree in Economics. Janet has written a number of reports on renewable energy issues and is the author of the Worldwatch Paper # 169; Mainstreaming Renewable Energy in the 21st Century. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in issues close to our hearts! SUBSIDIZING FOSSIL FUELS IS LIKE GIVING MONEY TO A DRUG ADDICT By Andrew Simms, Policy Director, New Economics Foundation (reprint, slightly abbreviated from CCPA Monitor with permission) While the rest of the global economy theoretically dances to the tune of the free market, the exact scale of subsidies to coal, oil, gas and nuclear is as hard to pin down as an honest Enron spreadsheet. Governments seem fearful of getting tripped up by rules prohibiting slush funds or bailouts,. The result is creative accounting, which leads to what economists call information failure. Not knowing the real price we are paying - either through taxes or the loss of natural resources - makes it impossible for us to make the best choices for our future. One good guess, based on a combination of sources, puts the level of rich-country subsidies for fossil-fuel energy at about $73 billion a year, with another $162 billion coming from other countries. So this conservative estimate for the total value of fossil fuels is $235 billion every year - more than four times the total amount given annually in foreign aid. But the real level of subsidies could be higher still. Privatization has shown that nuclear power cannot survive in anything like a real market. Cost, an unsolved waste problem, and the little known fact that it is impossible to adequately insure nuclear power plants all show how nuclear cheats the system. There are two reasons why all this is so bad. First, in an age of climate change, it's like lending money to drug addicts to fuel their life-destroying habit. Second, the economic distortions created by subsidies enable influential environmental gurus to conclude, quite wrongly, that clean renewable energy is incapable of meeting human needs, and that we must turn back to discredited nuclear. According to the G-8 Renewable Energy Task Force, only 1-3% of the $40billion spent annually on energy investment in developing countries goes towards renewables. But if the ratios were reversed away from dirty conventional fuel in favour of renewables, incredible things would be possible. Long-standing calculations about the total amount of renewable energy that is available show that it could meet all human energy needs. Even if you factor in limitations of technology, which mean that not all this energy could be used, there would still be more than enough to go around. Renewables make up about 13% of the current global energy supply. Research carried out for the Bonn International Conference on Renewable Energies earlier this year shows that this proportion could be increased by more that 120 times. Under the rules of the market, subsidies are meant to be bad. But we, the taxpayers, pay them anyway. It's a simple question, but could someone explain the economic logic of paying for our own downfall via climate change or irradiation, when we could instead be tapping into the free and virtually inexhaustible power provided by the sun, wind, the earth, biosphere? QUOTABLES... "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step." Chinese proverb REVIEW OF THE MINISTRY OF ENERGY'S PUBLIC CONSULTATION PROCESS By George Wright I attended the only public meeting in the Ottawa area on February 13th. The process appeared to be "cold" in nature, but I couldn't figure out why. Luckily Elizabeth May of the Sierra Club pointed out that the whole meeting was organized by, and being run by, a public relations firm hired by the Ministry of Energy. There were two representatives from the Ministry observing the process from a distance. The purpose of the meeting was to receive public input regarding the future mix of energy supply for the province's electrical needs. The decisions made here are probably the most important decisions for our health, economy, prosperity and independence. Unfortunately there were no other representatives from other departments or levels of government. I naively thought there would be reps from municipal, provincial and federal departments of energy, environment, industry, agriculture, health and technology. There weren't even reps from Ontario Power Generation, Hydro One or Hydro Ottawa. I spoke about the barriers regarding the adoption of renewable energy into the energy mix in the province. I pointed out the difficulties associated with being off grid: mortgage refusals, lack of insurance coverage, no training for ESA inspectors, zoning problems, and constantly changing interconnection requirements of grid-tied systems. I will end with quotation from Elizabeth May: "This is a very flawed process." I couldn't have said it better myself! NOTABLES... At the AGM a few amendments to the CFRE by-law will be tabled. These were approved by the board at a meeting in January and need to be voted on by the membership: 5.02 Composition of the Board - change from 5 members to a maximum of 6. the possibility of husband and wife team to be considered. 7.01 Officers' Appointment - Officers will chair 4 standing committees and recruit volunteers from the membership. Newsletter/Information Workshop/Display Membership Fundraising 7.04 President/Vice President - There shall be a President and Vice President elected from and by the Board of Directors for a term of 2 years. Add 7.08 The founder of the organization shall remain on the Board as an unelected member and shall carry the title "Coordinator". GOING SOLAR: HOW TO GET STARTED by J.W.(Hans) Albarda, CFRE’s first board member For many people, the idea of going solar is intimidating. The thought of disconnecting the wires which connect your house to the power company (grid) is too far fetched. These days, thank goodness, there are many other options. Grid intertie (net metering) is one possibility. You can install a solar array (or small wind generator) and still stay connected to the grid. Depending in which province you live, your power company may buy your excess electricity. Net metering works well because, when you need power you get it directly from your solar array or from the grid, and, when you generate more power than you are using, it will flow into the grid. You only pay for the electricity you didn’t produce and the grid is your storage battery. Grid intertie works (net metering) works well for some people but not for others. For the entry-level renewable energy beginner, grid intertie is often too expensive and difficult. Your power company will require that you purchase some very expensive powerconditioning equipment since it is essential that your home-made electricity is exactly of the right type (voltage, AC frequency, etc.) So that it will blend perfectly with theirs. In some provinces, such as here in Nova Scotia, the power company will do everything it can to discourage you from attempting grid intertie (they are more interested in pleasing their shareholders than in providing service to their customers). Also a grid - intertie system will black-out when there’s a grid black-out. For the entry-level renewable energy beginner, a parallel off-grid system is a much simpler choice. Mount some solar panels facing south. You and your family can decide which rooms in your house should be changed over to solar. If you choose, say, one bedroom and the den, then locate the bedroom & den breakers in your existing breaker-box. Have an electrician mount a second breaker-box beside the existing one and simply disconnect the bedroom & den breakers and wires and move them over a few inches to the new box. Then power up the new box using your renewable energy. Your bedroom & den will be off-grid. That means that you will not have to buy all that expensive power conditioning equipment and you will not be subject to the power company’s corporate fist. You will be using some clean renewable energy and your monthly power bills will be reduced. Your renewable energy system will require batteries, but this can be thought of as an advantage: Your bedroom & den will be a very popular spot if your neighbourhood experiences a black-out! Unlike people who have power back-up systems (i.e. stand-by diesel generators), you actually use your parallel power system every day. And, if you find that renewable energy works well for you, you can easily expand the system and move more wires from the old breaker-box to the new one. A parallel system is worth consideration! (Hans can be reached by phone 1-902-542-4029). Off-grid solar-powered strawbale house near Killaloe GERMAN RENEWABLES PRODUCING MORE POWER THAN NUKES Source: Brundesverband WindEnergie, new energy Germany: No. 5, October 2005 (Pg 10) More energy produced from renewable sources than from nuclear power in Germany! Credit: Joerg Kallinich,Germany Berlin. Renewable sources are now producing more energy than nuclear stations in Germany. For years nuclear generation has contributed less than six per cent of the entire energy consumed, while in the first half of this year power from wind, water, the sun, bio sources and the heat of the earth comprised 6.4% of the electricity, heat and fuels consumed, up from five per cent in 2004. Simultaneously the clean energies also increased their contribution to climate protection. While the use of wind and other renewables displaced about 70 million tonnes of CO2 emissions ni 2004, it will be 80 million tonnes this year. The German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) presented the numbers recently in Berlin. The growth in clean energy produciton also created jobs. The BEE says employment in the sector rose from 130,000 in 2004 to 150,000 in the first half of this year. The fact that nuclear power has so many proponents despite its declining importance is explained by BEE manager, Milan Nitzschke, as being due to the fact that over the years distorted energy statistics have systematically drawn a false picture of the contribution nuclear energy makes to the total energy supply. "What was measured and reported was the use of uranium, of whose energy content less than a third reaches the consumer as electricity." Nitzschke explains that what counts is not the primary energy, but the final energy that reaches the consumer. "If you're clear on just how little atomic energy actually contributes to the energy supply in Germany and teh world, it's hard to follow the notion of some politicians that we could get away from fossil fuels with nuclear power." QUOTABLES... "Nobody makes a greater mistake than they who did nothing because they thought they could only do a little." Edmund Burke Waterpumping Windmills THIS MONTH'S ENERGY SAVING TIP By George Wright Our Danish-made Conserv (formerly Vestfrost) fridge is very efficient, but even it could be made more efficient. I built the fridge into our cupboards and insulated all around it leaving a 6" air space which I vented to the outside through two 3" holes located at the top and bottom of the cabinet to the outside wall. This keeps the fridge's summer excess heat from entering the house. In the winter our fridge rarely turns on. Some people have told me that the compressors on a fridge will not survive running in the cold. I have had no trouble with either the fridge or freezer in 14 years of being off-grid. Another option is to space the hot compressor and condensing coil further away from the cabinet. This can sometimes be done without cutting the refrigeration lines, which really simplifies the process. If you need to cut lines, they will have to be recharged. To those who wish to come full circle and push the efficiency envelop, the marine industry has liquid cooled condensers and compressors that can also warm up your cold water going to your hot water tank. QUOTABLES... "When you can't change the direction of the wind - adjust your sails." Source unknown CFRE ANNUAL REPORT 2005 Our commitment to inform and inspire our members was fulfilled again by our quarterly newsletters which went out in March, June, September and December. We received many positive comments on their contents from members. Our annual display at the Organic Conference at the University of Guelph on a blizzardy January weekend was well attended. Our thanks goes out to all our volunteers, Andrea, Gary ,Vitold and Cindy, who helped the coordinator staff it. CFRE member Bob Budd and the coordinator presented a workshop there on Renewable Energy Strategies for Organic Farmers which attracted over 150 people. Following an invitation by Bruce Power the coordinator, together with CFRE member Tim Spencer, attended an information session on the proposed restart of the 25-year old Bruce A reactors. After a $ 4 Billion, 4 year rebuilding process they are supposed to generate reliable electricity until 2043(!).Ontario Power Generation(OPG), our tax-payer funded utility, will have to expand its radioactive waste site on the Lake Huron shore to accommodate that huge amount of deadly waste. Several submissions were made on behalf of CFRE: Comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment(EA) of the OPG Radioactive Waste Facility Expansion, on the proposed Regulation by the Ministry of Energy (MoE) on Net Metering and on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) Application of its Requirements under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA). CFRE's application for its Project "5000 in 2005' co-sponsored by the Glenview Park Secondary School in Cambridge was approved by the federal EcoAction(One Tonne Challenge)program.After the inauguration in February our director Gary Bastin organized the action of 500 students giving away one energy-efficient light bulb together with energy conservation advice to households in Cambridge. We believe it to be an importantstrategy to cut waste, lower costs and prepare for introduction of clean AND SAFE renewable energy generation. In March the coordinator made a presentation on the Nuclear Waste Management's (NWMO) proposal for the management of highly radioactive nuclear waste at a meeting of the Bruce Peninsula Environment Group in Lion's Head. A week later he travelled to Ottawa to take part in a Natural Resources Canada(NRCan) workshop on Definition of Radionuclides under the List of Hazardous Substances. In April we had an extensive display at the Halton Eco-Festival near Milton, staffed by Andrea and Gary together with the coordinator. He also followed an invitation by the REEP organization to display at their event in Cambridge. In May the coordinator travelled to Ottaea again, this time to intervene on behalf of CFRE at the Draft EA of Bruce Power's laid-up reactors restart and life extension hearing which also includes the potential use of Slightly Enriched Uranium(SEU) fuel. The next day he presented a submission opposing OPG's request for an Operating Licence for Pickering A's 33-year old reactors for 5 years. These interventions are part of our mission to highlight the dangers of nuclear energy generation, funded with our tax dollars, while CLEAN AND SAFE RENEWABLE ENERGY sources are largely ignored by our government! And in the beautiful month of May it is always time to hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM) coupled with a high-profile workshop. This year it was held under the theme 'Helping Canada to meet its Kyoto Commitments'. Together with a number of presentations we had the pleasure of listening to the newly appointed Ambassador for the Environment, Karen Kraft Sloan, talking about government initiatives on Climate Change. In our business session members were presented with the 2004 activities report and the financial statements, which were voted on and approved. To expand our activities the need to do some novel fundraising and also enhancements to our website were discussed. While three of our board members agreed to serve another term, Andrea Chappell from Waterloo resigned because of other commitments. We were fortunate to have Annette Verhagen from Ailsa Craig stand as candidate who was acclaimed as our new board member. Our thanks goes to her and our board of directors for all their volunteering service. In June the coordinator attended the International Joint Commission(IJC) Biennial in Kingston on Great Lakes water issues and then relieved our director Charlie Middleton, who had staffed our display at the Windfall Eco-Festival in Newmarket for the first day of a hot weekend. Also in June Charlie held a CFRE workshop on 'Residential Solar Energy' in Gravenhurst. On June 20 the coordinator followed a personal invitation from the Premier to attend the Shared Air Summit in Toronto with the Premier and David Suzuki as keynote speakers. The Energy and Environment Ministers chaired panels of international experts on Air Quality. The following week the coordinator underwent cataract surgery on both eyes six days apart, which kind of slowed him down somewhat. But in mid-July he was on the road again to Toronto following an invitation to attend a dicussion meeting sponsored by the NWMO. At month-end a conference in Toronto on Ontario's Future Energy Mix required his attendance. A CFRE board meeting was held in Port Hope in August dealing mainly with a move to lighten the coordinator's load. It was much appreciated when board members came forward to form a newsletter- and a workshop/display committee. We also decided to simplify our webside address which is now a straightforward www.cfre.ca . In September the coordinator was ready for a holiday after 1 and 1/2 years of continuous service, So he departed for Germany to be with relatives and friends, but also to take part in a 3-day International Wind Energy Exhibition in Husum, where over 500 exhibitors had their displays. Before returning in mid-October he travelled by train to Freiburg, the Solar Capital of Germany, to connect with some of the solar experts and garner information on advances in solar energy research. While he was out of the country our directors Annette and Charlie attended a OSEA sponsored Wind Energy Forum on Community- and Cooperative Generation. Also, Annette and Vitold, a former board member, staffed our display at the Annual Feast of Fields event at Albion Hills, helping to ensure CFRE's continuing presence at the popular organic events. In November the coordinator attended a 2-day, by invitation only, Strategy Session on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Toronto, organized by Pollution Probe and the newly formed Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance (CREA). Presentations by executives from the Ontario Power Agency(OPA), Hydro One and OPG preceded the discussion on strategy session. The lack of focus on the great potential of solar thermal and photovoltaics (PV) was part of the coordinator's arguments. At a workshop in Flesherton, organized by Vitold Kreutzer on Renewable Energy Generation for Farms and Residences and attended by close to 100 people, the coordinator made a well received presentation, resulting in 5 new memberships for CFRE. Vitold intends to organize more of those workshops in 2006. With the year drawing to its close there was still much activity with conference calls related to OPA's release of its Future Energy Mix Paper and the NWMO's release of its Proposed Nuclear Waste Management Study Report. CFRE is involved in some of the alliances and will be taking part in strategy sessions on nuclear projects and future energy mix planning. It looks like another busy year ahead and CFRE will do its part to ensure RENEWABLE ENERGY - PEOPLE POWER - WILL BE IN THE FOREFRONT!! FROM THE COORDINATOR... You are invited!! Help us celebrate 10 years of renewable energy advocacy! Together with a high-profile speaker, Janet L. Sawin, Senior Researcher from the Worldwatch Institute from Washington, D.C. on Renewable Energy and Climate Change, we’ll make this an outstanding event! I believe we have come a long way since that visionary start of a few forward looking people. It was the 29th of January 1996 when Citizens For Renewable Energy was first registered as an incorporated, not-for- profit organization in Ontario. And we never looked back since! Hans Albarda and Catherine Stanley, owners of an off-grid house, volunteered to be the first directors to make the incorporation of CFRE possible. And our first workshop in Ferndale on the Bruce Peninsula, now the location of a huge privately owned 1.8 MW windturbine, was a standing-room only event. Within 2 years CFRE would be able to count almost 500 members dedicated to bring in a clean and safe energy future for Ontario. After dozens of workshops and displays at numerous annual public events CFRE is a widely acknowledged part of the environmental community. In coalition with other organizations like the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association and the Ontario Clean Air Alliance CFRE has been effectively lobbying the Ontario government to introduce measures to boost energy conservation and support for renewable energy system installations for residences, farms and institutions. As a member of the World Council for Renewable Energy(WCRE) we are working internationally in helping governments to recognize the need for clean and safe sustainable energy policies. The future of our children and grandchildren is at stake if we don’t change our ways of generating our power needs. Just realizing that there is a more efficient way of lighting our houses with compact fluorescent bulbs instead of the inefficient incandescent ones we must make our way out of the steam power age and generate our electricity from sun, wind and water directly without that inefficient and polluting way to make fuel to boil water to make steam to turn the turbine generators at large centralized power plants! So come on out and help us celebrate a new age of clean and safe power - people power - in small decentralized generation, our houses, farms, schools and universities, even government buildings - in the beautiful month of May at the Paradise Lake YMCA Outdoors Centre! Go to next newsletter Go to previous newsletter Return to Newsletter list Return to main page