The Rural Voice, 2006-12, Page 58The leading edge
Wind power being questioned
It was perhaps inevitable that after
being a media darling for years before
new government policies helped
develop wind power as an important
part of the energy mix, the critics are
now questioningthe value of the
rapidly-growinA wind generation
industry.
Regulators in Alberta and Ontario
are already worrying, according to
The Globe and Mail, about how much
wind power is too much wind power.
The problem is that the wind doesn't
blow all the time and if too much of
the electrical system is dependent on
wind energy, the system can be
vulnerable because of a drop in the
wind.
Warren Frost, vice-president for
operations and reliability at the
Alberta Electric System Operator, said
that studies done over the past couple
of years showed there can be
problems when wind contributes more
than 10 per cent of the province's
electricity — about 900 megawatts. If
power "disappears on you when the
wind dies, then you've got to make it
up, either through importing from
neighbouring jurisdictions or by
ramping up generators," Frost said.
Meanwhile a report released in
Ontario said that in some situations
more than 5000 MW of wind -
generated electricity could, in some
situations, destabilize the system.
The situation is more serious in
Alberta because imports of electricity
needed to compensate for a reduction
when the wind dies are more difficult
there because Alberta has connections
only with British Columbia and
Saskatchewan. As well there are few
hydro -electric generators which can
be geared up quickly as needed.
Wind power is also more
vulnerable in Alberta because
generating capacity is concentrated in
one sector of the province.
The situation is not as difficult in
Ontario because there are already
connections to neighbouring
provinces if power needs to be
imported. In addition, Ontario's wind
generating facilities are spread across
the province meaning there's less
chance of wind dropping for all the
windmills at once.
Meanwhile The Globe and Mail's
Quebec business columnist Konrad
Yakabuski questions the wisdom of
the Quebec government to encourage
wind developments, both from an
investment and environmental point
of view.
The Montreal-based engineering
firm AXOR which was part of the
first 133 -wind -turbine development
on the Gaspe Peninsula in 1999 says
experts overestimated the wind
resource and the farm has delivered
40 per cent less power than planned,
resulting in huge penalties to Hydro -
Quebec which has wiped out its
equity.
The columnist also claims that
while the turbines do allow hydro-
electric dams to store power by
holding back more water when the
wind turbines are operating, it would
be cheaper to store the same power by
buying cheap electricity at non -peak
times from neighbouring provinces.°
— Source: The Globe and Mail
Waste not: toilet creates lawn fertilizer
A new waterless, odourless toilet that takes advantage of much the same
process as those advanced composting machines provides green fertilizer
according to Chris McLeod, president of Seiwa Biodegrader which will begin
manufacturing the Japanese -designed toilet in Canada in 2007.
The biotoilet sits on a flat surface and plugs into a standard electrical outlet.
When the user "dry -flushes", a horizontal -axis auger is activated inside a double -
walled, insulated, heat -controlled stainless steel drum inside the toilet, turning
the newly -deposited waste and toilet paper over and over and mixing it with, and
distributing it through, sawdust. The auger turns off and on during the day to
help the composting process. A third of the sawdust is replaced three times a
year and the compost can be spread on a Lawn as natural fertilizer.°
— Source: The Globe and Mail
54 THE RURAL VOICE
New flax dehulling
process frees nutrition
Flaxseeds are jam-packed with
alpha-linoleic acid, or omega-3
fatty acid, that help to prevent
cardio -vascular disease, lower
cholesterol levels and may even
reduce inflammation which can
lead to the growth of certain
cancer cells.
However, the flaxseed hull is
on so tight that getting to the
nutrition -filled kernel inside poses
a real problem. An Agriculture and
Agri -Food Canada research
scientist in Guelph, has found a
solution to free the precious inner
seed by developing an award-
winning commercial de -hulling
process.
This new process does not
change the nutritional or funct-
ional quality of the seed nor harm
the precious components of the
flax kernel and hulls in any way.
The de -hulling process has four
basic steps. First, the flaxseeds are
dried to reduce their moisture
content. Then, the seeds are
continuously fed into a separate
chamber containing an abrasive
rotator through which they flow at
a rate sufficient for their hull to
come off when the seeds come
into contact with the rotator.
After separating the hulls from
the kernels, the hulls are then
extracted to remove flaxseed gum
and oil, which produces a high -
gum fraction, a hull oil fraction,
and a lignan-rich component of
flaxseed.
The major lignans in flaxseed is
secoisolariciresinol, a phyto -
estrogen and antioxidant that
studies show can reduce the risks
of certain cancers. This technology
is being used in a commercial seed
de -hulling plant built in
Winchester, Ontario, through an
exclusive agreement with
Natunola, an Ottawa -based
company that supplies botanical
ingredients to the cosmetic and
health care industries.°
— Source: Agriculture and
Agrifood Canada
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