It’s been nearly two years since the province lifted regulations requiring NS Power’s biomass plant to run around the clock. Nevertheless, the facility has been operating non-stop for over a month now due to soaring natural gas prices. Nova Scotia Power spokesperson Tiffany Chase confirms the Point Tupper plant has been running “fairly consistently” over […]
Biomass
Posted inNews + Opinion
The scoop on soil: carbon storage is lost after clear-cutting
[Image-1] Soil seems so simple—the stuff of childhood (mud pies taste a bit gritty), the smell after a rain, dark-crested fingernails after a hard day in the garden and stains on pants. Dirt. But it turns out that soil is in fact quite complicated, and a lot more interesting. And in this spongy matrix beneath our […]
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Nova Scotia feeling the burn on biomass
[Image-1] Public concern about the state of Nova Scotia’s forests is driving the government to look at cutting back on clearing trees as a means to generate electricity. While the department of natural resources laments that the general public doesn’t understand clear-cutting, the department is committing to a recommendation from the provincial auditor general to more […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Biomass pros & cons
Of all the different ways Nova Scotia plans to meet its renewable energy goals—25 percent carbon neutral by 2015—the one we hear about most is biomass. The kind of forest biomass they’re talking about in Nova Scotia works by burning wood to convert it to energy. Supporters say biomass is carbon neutral: unlike fossil fuels […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Nova Scotia’s Biomass mess
It’s just a report, not policy yet, but the Stakeholder Consultation Process for a New Renewable Energy Strategy for Nova Scotia, Final Report, by Dal profs David Wheeler and Michelle Adams, makes some good recommendations. It ambitiously states that 40 percent of our energy can be from renewable sources by 2020. Most notably, the report […]