SPOTLIGHT ON...European Union to seek 20% demand reduction
IPPSO Facto Magazine, Dec. 2006

An action plan released by European Union energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs calls for anew regulatory framework to promote the connection of decentralized generation and other policy moves to improve the efficiency of the power system in Europe over the next several years.

EU leaders have become concerned that some two-thirds of the PRIMARY energy needed to supply electricity is lost in generation, transmission and distribution, and have called for development of guidelines to raise average generation efficiency across all plants, and regulatory practices to reduce transmission and distribution losses.

The European Commission is to develop minimum binding efficiency requirements for new electricity, heating and cooling facilities under 20 MW and consider such requirements for larger production units. The action plan is to be implemented over the next six years, with the efficiency requirements to be in place in 2008 and the distributed generation proposal in 2007.

Smart metering is also underway in several countries, including Italy and Sweden and, in early stages, in the UK. Promotion of cogeneration, along with improved metering methods, is viewed as needed to improve the efficiency of the distribution system.

“Energy efficiency is crucial for Europe: if we take action now, the direct cost of our energy consumption could be reduced by more than 100 billion annually by 2020”, Piebalgs said.

Coordinators Comment: Steam-power generated electricity is as outdated as the incandescent light bulb and the Otto motor – INEFFICIENCY AND WASTE- Sun- and wind power don’t need steam nor manufactured fuel, it is produced right at point of use!!

WORKSHOP AND AGM

Please take time to check out our displays – lots of free brochures and hand-outs!

Pre-registration essential by May 15/07 !!
Please send cheque for $ 10 deposit made out to CFRE to:

462 East Rd.
RR#4
Lion’s Head   ON   N0H 1W0

NOTABLES...Memberships

Our membership fees are still being kept at the $15 / yr., $40 / 3 yrs level despite increases in postal rates and other items.

PLEASE be sure to keep your membership up-to-date, your expiry date is printed on the mailing label and e-mail members get electronic reminders when their renewal is due.

We rely on your prompt renewal to keep you in the RENEWABLE ENERGY LOOP!!

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

During the cold, blustery days of winter, the emphasis to survive until the warmth of spring sun takes a hold on us, seems to exert a deepening pressure to bring more attention inwards. The shorter days and the snowy cold encourage a type of introspective hibernation as an escape from the climate outside or as a journey towards a simpler, more disciplined and respectful lifestyle.

Winter is a time for rest, for sleep, for meditation, and for contemplation. We dream and envisage the days ahead when our whole being becomes more invigorated. We seek a more physical existence enveloped in accomplished tasks, fulfilled dreams, personal interactions and exploration of our natural environment. This represents not only individual activity, but that of groups, communities, and the board of directors of CFRE.

In the desire to progress and evolve, the board members have discussed plans for our upcoming annual general meeting event in May. At a time when global warming is in evidence everywhere and the general public slowly becoming aware of the severity of this issue, renewable energy is gaining public recognition as a vital alternative to our current methods of energy production and the side effects of such activity.

But the linear replacement of energy resources from current conventional to renewable is not the whole answer to the energy problems that persist.

Our modern materialistic society, based on growth, waste, and convenience, requires a dramatic change in lifestyle priorities and thinking, if we as a species are going to survive.

This new thinking must incorporate a much simpler, more peaceful, and less harmful way of life. A new innovative form of conservation, that thrives on a respect for all life forms and resources, needs examination and deployment. The best and only way for this type of thinking to succeed is through individual acceptance and commitment. Corporate and political interests have too much investment in exploitation, power and profits and will only change their thinking when the majority of individuals demand it.

The board is, therefore, hoping that our annual meeting event will bring together individuals and ideas that encourage new and proven habits of living simply so that others can simply live. We hope that this event will be beneficial to all who attend and partake. We anticipate knowledge and surprises to flow. See you there.

Vitold Kreutzer; 519-923-3005

2006 ANNUAL REPORT

January 29 was the day and 1996 the year when Citizens For Renewable Energy became an incorporated, not-for-profit organization in Ontario with the help of Hans Albarda and Catherine Stanley, owners of an off-grid solar-powered house.

Now, 10 years later, we have a membership of over 1,000 and are widely recognized as a vibrant force on the renewable energy front. Dozens of workshops have been held across the southern and central part of the province and numerous displays at public events over the years.

In coalition with other organizations like the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) and the Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA), CFRE has been effective in advocacy, urging the provincial government to introduce measures to boost energy conservation and support for renewable energy systems installation 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 rapidly change the ways of generating our power needs. That message was conveyed at the Annual Organic Conference at Guelph University with the help of Gary, Vitold and Annette at our display. At a subsequent board meeting where Charlie Middleton joined us, after a harrowing drive from Gravenhurst, we discussed a number of amendments to our by-laws to relieve some of the work the coordinator has been shouldering. The positions of a president and a vice-president were created and several committees formed.

In February we followed an invitation by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to attend an information session on the planned Deep Geological Repository (DGR) for the Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste. Vitold, Frank and Glen joined the coordinator at the Bruce Nuclear site to hear OPG staff talk about ‘safe’ disposal of this waste, containing radionuclides with half-lives of over 5,000 years in 600 meter deep caverns hardly more than a kilometer from the Lake Huron shoreline.

In early March the coordinator was granted an audience with the Energy Minister Donna Cansfield. He brought the message that solar powered homes, farms and businesses could make a valuable contribution to the future provincial energy mix, and that no more taxpayers’ funds should be invested in nuclear reactor retrofits and new builds.

Later that month the Premier, accompanied by David Suzuki and the Energy Minister, announced the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program where small generators would be guaranteed a premium price for 20 years in a contract with the utilities. The coordinator and a number of members attended that important event in Cambridge. To celebrate that great milestone OSEA held a large rally under the huge wind turbine at Exhibition Park.

A successful display was held with the help of Vitold and Gary at the Halton Eco-Festival near Milton in early April despite unfavorable driving conditions.

The 20th Anniversary of the terrible nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, still affecting thousands of people, was the occasion of memorial events all over the world, protesting against expansion of nuclear energy, with the coordinator attending one in Toronto on April 26th.

May has been a busy month with an intervention before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in Ottawa, attendance at the OSEA retreat and the Conservation Summit in Toronto. And, of course, it is always the time for our great get-together at the YMCA Outdoor Center in Mennonite country to hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM) combined with a day-long workshop. To celebrate our 10th Anniversary we brought our keynote speaker all the way from Washington, D.C.. Janet Sawin, the Director for Energy and Climate Change Programs at the Worldwatch Institute gave an exciting presentation on “A Sustainable Future through Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Generation”. Another highlight was the Barningham’s presentation on their new solar-powered off-grid home.

We had a good attendance at our business meeting where the Coordinator’s and Treasurer’s Report were tabled. The By-law Amendments were discussed and approved. Charlie, our senior board member resigned his position and was replaced by Vitold Kreutzer, who had held a previous board position, another position was filled by Jeff Harti , long-time CFRE member from Aurora, and the added board position was filled by Peter McIllwraith from Markdale after Don Balanoff withdrew his candidacy. Hans Albarda, CFRE’s founding board member was appointed to an honorary, non-voting board position and is still actively involved in consulting our members.

Our activities in June included the coordinator’s attendance at the Smog Summit in Toronto and later in the month at the Shared Air Summit by special invitation, displays at the Dandelion Festival in Waterloo, staffed by Gary, and at the 2-day Windfall Eco-Festival in Newmarket with the help of Tim Rudkins, Rick Procter, Peter and Vitold.

At a board meeting, convened in Newmarket June 11, the new board officers were appointed with Vitold Kreutzer from Grey County taking the President’s position, Annette Verhagen from Middlesex County, Vice-President and Peter McIllwraith Secretary. All directors will chair or co-chair the 4 committees. Karen Gventer will continue to upgrade our web site under contract.

The CNSC held an Open House in Underwood to explain the Environmental Assessment (EA) of OPG’s Deep Geological Repository for radioactive waste on the shore of Lake Huron. CFRE members Bill Trick and Glen Estill accompanied the coordinator and were able to connect with officials from Health Canada and Environment Canada.

The pace slowed down somewhat with the coordinator attending the Lake Huron Conference in Grand Bend in July and the 3-day International Conference on Low Level Radiation at the McMaster University in Hamilton, which included a tour of their nuclear research reactor on site. The annual Renewable Energy Sites Tour of our local Bruce Peninsula Environment Group was another resounding success with 110 people, many of them CFRE members, attending in early September. In mid-September we were as usual part of the Organic Feast of Fields with a large display, staffed by Gary, Vitold and the coordinator.

During the coordinator’s absence on a trip to Germany to explore the rapid advances made by renewable energy generators there and to renew contacts with relatives, our new president Vitold was available to conduct CFRE matters. He facilitated a workshop at the Toronto Waldorf School in Vaughan on “Community Energy – a Co-operative Model” in early November.

The coordinator followed an invitation by the Environment Minister to attend a multi-stakeholder workshop on Climate Change and Conservation and presented a short submission of a 100,000 Solar Roofs Program for Ontario, explaining the benefits of this generation mode as the most practical with power produced where it is used, avoiding transmission loss and therefore being considered part of an energy conservation opportunity.

Called upon by the CNSC to take part in a NGO Regulatory Affairs Committee of that nuclear regulator, the coordinator traveled to Ottawa in November to discuss further interaction in this project.

The last weekend in November was spent at the Whole Life Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Center where CFRE was provided a complimentary display space. With Gary, Kerry, Jeff and Vitold’s help we were able to handle the huge interest from visitors and also signed up some new members.

Two more events kept the coordinator on the road: attending an OPG workshop in Pickering on the Environmental Assessment of Refurbishment and Continued Operation till 2060 of the Pickering ‘B’ reactors and the attendance of a Conservation Showcase at Queen’s Park sponsored by the Ministry of Energy.

ALL IN ALL A CONSCIENTIOUS EFFORT WAS MADE THANKS TO OUR DIRECTORS AND VOLUNTEERS WITH THE SUPPORT OF OUR MEMBERS TO HELP CLEAN UP THE AIR AND WORK FOR A HEALTHIER AND SAFER FUTURE FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN!

QUOTABLES... "Nuclear Energy belongs into the Technology Museum." Hermann Scheer, Member of German Parliament, Winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize Dr. Scheer was a systems analyst at the German Nuclear Research Centre, Karlsruhe, before being elected

Great lakes pollution problems; Photo by GLNPO

WHERE TO PLACE A SOLAR PANEL
By Hans Albarda

wall-mounted panels can be attractive

If you are interested in acquiring some free & clean electricity from sunlight (photovoltaics, PV) one of the first questions may be, “Where can I place a PV panel?”. Choosing a site for PV panels is not that difficult. You don’t need an expert to help you decide but a little bit of thinking helps. A lot has gone into developing this amazing technology, so you might as well spend some time choosing the orientation and site where your PV will receive the most hours of sun and perform most efficiently.

Your PV panel(s) should face south. Don’t use a compass (a compass points to magnetic south, not exactly what you want). To find true South it is simplest to remember that shadows run exactly in a North-South direction at Noon in summer and 1:00pm in winter. A GPS is also good (but no more accurate). If you are building a new house, then this information should govern your whole project. If you live in an existing house and are adding PV, then the PV panels should still face true South.

pole-mounted PV for workshop

You can mount your PV panels on a solar tracker. This mechanism will constantly move your panels in order that they face the sun throughout the day. A tracker will increase the output of your system, but is seldom cost-efficient. A conventional static south-facing PV system has no moving parts (lasts forever) so it may be best to leave it that way.

Pictures in glossy magazines often show solar panels mounted on a roof. Roof mounting is not always ideal. Your roof may not face true south, for instance. Also (in Canada) snowfall will reduce PV output substantially and you probably don’t like the idea of making daily (or hourly) rooftop snow-clearing excursions. Another factor which will reduce PV output is heat. Heat increases electrical resistance. Resistance will reduce electrical output so you want to keep your PV panels cool (PV cells produce electricity from light, not heat). Summer heat on the roof is great for solar hot-water heating, but bad for PV.

Seasonally-adjustable

Choosing which angle in relation to vertical is also important. Mounting panels upright works well. Snow doesn’t land on vertical surfaces so you can put your broom away. Upright mounting is ideal in winter. Outdoor sports enthusiasts often get ultra sun-tans boosted by sunlight reflected from snow on the ground. A vertical surface is ideal for the capture of both direct and snow-reflected sunlight in winter.

Your house may not have the ideal solar orientation or location, but this doesn’t mean that you cannot mount a few PV panels.

PV panels simply mounted on a garden fence

All the photos in this article are from installations in the Wolfville, Nova Scotia area.

CHARGING THE FUTURE - KIMBERCOTE KILOWATT CONFERENCE 2007

Date: March 23- 25, 2007

At least four CFRE members will be presenting at this conference.

FROM THE COORDINATOR...

The days are getting longer, the sun is getting stronger – Spring must be just around the corner!?

There wasn’t much time to relax after the Holiday Season since a proposal by Ontario Power Generation(OPG) to refurbish their four Pickering B reactors for Life Extension to 2042 is now undergoing an Environmental Assessment (EA) by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). CFRE, with a large number of members from the GTA, felt obliged to comment on the Scope of the EA being very narrow for such a huge, expensive , and in our view unnecessary project. There is always much work involved to come up with a comprehensive submission. Because the CNSC would not accept it to be presented via phone link we had to scramble to find a member to go to the Hearing in January. We are very grateful that Christie, a member from Dunrobin, took time out to drive to Ottawa to present our submission.

Our display at the Organic Conference at the Guelph University was a busy place over the last weekend in January. With the help of CFRE member and neighbour Tim and directors Jeff, Vitold and Gary we gave out almost all of our info material, answered lots of questions and signed up an impressive number of new members. It also is always a great place to greet many of our long-time members.

Also, in January, we were happy to welcome the 150 member strong Bruce Peninsula Environment Group (BPEG) as new member of CFRE. This organization co-founded by the coordinator 17 years ago is a vibrant local force holding monthly meetings in Lion’s Head.

February began with an attendance at the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) AGM in Hockley Valley. Our board member Jeff Harti let his name stand as a candidate on their board, as CFRE is a full member of OSEA. Since there were only enough candidates to fill the vacancies he was acclaimed to serve on their board on behalf of CFRE. Thank you, Jeff, for taking on this extra responsibility!

The coordinator followed an invitation by the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) to attend their Heritage Workshop celebrating Waterloo’s 150th anniversary.

The annual Eco Farm Day highlighting “Energy in Agriculture” by the Canadian Organic Growers (COG) in Cornwall is always a great venue to advertise CFRE’s activities. WE are grateful to have our Eastern Ontario director George Wright attending and staffing our display.

A special event taking place at Queen’s Park on Sunday, Feb. 25, is featuring a presentation by Dr. Hermann Scheer, known world-wide for his championing Germany’s Renewable Energy Act. Vitold, Tim and myself are attending this high-profile event.

Another trip to Toronto in the energy-efficient Prius Hybrid will be to attend the National Energy Board’s Energy Futures Report Consultations on March 7.

On the last weekend in March an important Renewable Energy Conference will take place at the Kimbercote Farm in the beautiful Beaver Valley. Three of our members will give presentations (please see our website at www.cfre.ca for details or call 1-888-862-3588).

And, as you noticed on the front page, preparations are already being made for our 11th AGM and high-profile workshop! Please mark the date and come out to that great spot in Mennonite country in the beautiful month of May!!