Francis Plourde

I have to confess something. I found today one of the most comprehensive websites about energy issues in B.C. I’ve ever seen. It’s called Sqwalk.

This “Concerned Citizens Coalition” (as it calls itself) collects all kinds of articles focusing on energy issues in BC. Their archives go back to 2000. Some of their information is somewhat surprising.

I spent most of the afternoon looking at it. Just for fun, I went through 2002 to find out what was the major concern of BC citizens regarding power issues in B.C. at that time.

In 2002, Minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources Richard Neufeld was considering breaking up BC Hydro. In an interview with Scott Simpson, from the Vancouver Sun, Neufeld described BC Hydro as a “gorilla” monopoly. He also already predicted that electrical demand would exceed supply in BC by 2007. The fate of the crown corporation was to be announced later that year. But there was a huge movement against the decision.

To be fair, he had to go through the process, which was a requirement of the newly created Western Electricity Coordinating Council, a new regional organization monitoring energy issues in the Westcoast, from Mexico to BC.

Five years later, BC Hydro still exists, even though smaller industries are allowed to bid for power projects. And, as Neufeld predicted, the demand is indeed exceeding the supply of electricity.

I wish I could figure out what will be going on in five years at the power level in BC. The more I read about the topic, the more it seems that there’s no simple answer to that question.

Like most of my fellow J-Schoolers, and like an important part of the population living in urban areas, I don’t own a car.

As a result, I couldn’t care less about the price of gas. Except when I’m renting a car.

It’s exactly what I and two colleagues did last week, when we went to Kimberley, a small town in south eastern BC, for a radio project.

Some rough thoughts about the experience:

1. All along Washington State and BC, you can find fuelling stations with notices that your gas might be mixed with approximately 10 per cent ethanol. I emphasize the word “might” here, as we are not completely sure that there is indeed ethanol in the gas purchased. It sounds like an advisory against traces of nuts in chocolate bars. The only difference is that I’ve never heard about allergies to ethanol. The other one is that people like me feel better about driving a car when the read that advisory. Be it true or not.

2. I had never driven a Ford Focus before. But I was impressed by the efficiency of the car. I should perhaps mention that the cars I drove prior to that were a Tempest and an Impala.

3. And yes, the price of gas is cheaper in the US. It’s also cheaper in the countryside than in Vancouver.

I’d like to stress that BC is a strange province indeed. Most of the population lives in Vancouver and in Victoria, and is concerned about the environment. The rest of the province is all about wilderness, but making a living by exploiting natural resources.

As I mentioned earlier on this blog, I’m preparing a feature story about the clean energy industry in Vancouver.

It leads to many interesting meetings and interviews. But it also leads to many questions. Such as this one: “Why is there 200 companies working on alternative sources of energy in Vancouver?”

After all, BC is not that interested in these high tech sources of energy. The province has access to cheap power, and most of the solutions these companies provide are (much) more expensive.

The only concrete reason I can see at this point is UBC’s power of attraction.

A lot of these companies are spin-offs from UBC, one of the leading universities in the world in terms of research.

Many engineers and scientists came to the West Coast to pursue their studies and decided to stay here. They built an informal community of crazy scientists working on fuel cells, solar power or gasification systems…

One of them, Geoffrey Ballard, was even named “Hero of the Planet” in 1999 by Time Magazine.

As I wrote earlier, the companies they built are now gaining momentum. They now have to establish it as successful companies rather than promising ones. If they succeed, they will show to the world the importance of investing in post-secondary education.

But I’m also impressed by the irony of the situation.

Day4 Energy, one of the most promising companies working on solar systems, is based in Vancouver.

Between me and you, what’s the interest of developing a solar system in one of the most rainy cities in Canada? I wonder.

Even though I like BC’s green reputation, there’s nothing I like more than reading about how this reputation is exaggerated.

Thanks to the Tyee, I can always count on juicy stories to fill this blog. And guess what? They also like showing how BC’s green reputation is exaggerated.

The Tyee released today a story about concerns related to the new energy plan.

As it appears, some environmentalists are worried that the government is going to boost the oil and gas sector.

And it’s true. The plan aims to make BC among the most competitive oil and gas jurisdictions in North America. The environmentalists associate it with increasing overall emissions. To give you a figure, the oil and gas sector is already contributing to 18 per cent of the total emissions.

I agree that this decision doesn’t seem to fit well with the Premier’s green goals. I understand their concerns about subsidies being given to the oil and gas industry while the green plan still doesn’t get funding.

At the same time, the province’s economy is largely based on its natural resources. A transition period has to be taken into account. I’m wondering if at this point, the environmentalists are really helping their cause.

Moreover, some environmentalists also complain about the Site C dam proposal. (I wrote about the Site C dam proposal earlier this month.) Opponents argue it would cause serious social and environmental harm.

At many levels, they have really good proposals, but their solutions are perhaps a little bit too utopist. They don’t seem to take into account that there’s no perfect solution. Every decision taken at an energy level will have a negative consequence on the environment.

Alternative sources of energy are necessary. But they can’t provide all the energy we need at this point. Can someone remind them that?

The hydrogen highway is perhaps one of the most intriguing projects related to the 2010 Olympic Games, alias the “green Games”.

According to Wikipedia, “a hydrogen highway is a chain of hydrogen-equipped filling stations and other infrastructure along a road or highway which allow hydrogen powered cars to travel.”

In Nov. 2006, the provincial government committed $10 million to the first phase of developing the world’s first fleet of hydrogen buses, supporting the Hydrogen Highway project. Stephen Harper’s $200-million announcement on Tuesday also aimed at funding this clean highway.

The project is supposed to be a “metaphor for our route to the future”. In other words, a future powered by reliable, clean and high-tech energy. The project is supposed to advance the commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for vehicles.

In the long run, the hydrogen highway is supposed to go all over the west coast. Even if there’s no hydrogen highway there yet, California has already built hydrogen fueling stations. But Californian citizens should have access to hydrogen fuel along the state highways by 2010.

Yes, all these initiatives are related to global warming. But apart from being clean, hydrogen is safe. It can be produced at point-of-use, making it suitable for refueling stations on the way.

But hydrogen is more expensive. Moreover, the product needs to be more reliable. And there’s no market demand at this point for hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

We might not see hydrogen-fueled vehicles on the market until 2012, 2015. But by that time, consumers might be ready to pay more for a fuel that is carbon-neutral.

One can only wonder if the hydrogen highway will join the Skytrain at the pantheon of these transport ideas that are good, but not as good as it seems. (The Skytrain was built for the Expo 86, held in Vancouver. But many consider it a weaker transit system than light trains)

I certainly hope not.