Sharing about Conservation

I recieved a comment from a producer about sharing conservation information. I found his comments in-line with a theory I have - that producers want to share information to keep moving forward with energy conservation.

This producer commented on an article posted by the Canadian Farm Business Management Council on their website. See www.farmcentre.com/Features/ScienceInnovation/ to read more.

So long for now,
Julie Harlow

Renewable energy at the Outdoor Farm Show

If you are interested in learning more about anaerobic digestion and how it may fit into your operation, I would suggest a visit to the Canadian Outdoor Farm Show running from Sept 14-16 just outside Woodstock.

This year many parts of the industry have collaborated to demonstrate the potential fit to Ontario agriculture.

I'm also attending to hear some perspective on our solar industry due to the proposed changes to the feed in tariff system as well as wind due to rising community concerns when projects occur locally. Another thing that is on my radar is the potential outcomes of biomass research currently underway...

For more info on the show go to http://www.outdoorfarmshow.com/

So long for now,
Julie Harlow

Solar Power for the Rich?

I'm pretty sure the "richest" anything is beyond my means. Richest is how I once heard the green energy act FIT system described in a U.S. publication -more specifically, the "richest incentive" program for green energy of any jurisdiction including Germany.

So OPA's announcement that they are reducing the FIT rate of ground mounted solar energy installations was somewhat comforting. I do feel bad for the 11,000 applicants that are affected by this 27% reduction. So this begs the question - what were they thinking??? I realize they have an objective of taking coal power off-line by 2012 - but at any cost?

What do you think?

Let's Make Conservation Sexy

I was reading about "grassoline" this morning and it really intrigued me. Grassoline referred to the ethanol resulting from cellulosic fermentation of switchgrass. This is typical of the information I come across on renewable energy - it is smart, interesting and compelling - it really grabs you.

Information on energy conservation and efficiency...well not so much. This information is often technical, detailed, and hard to digest. An engineer friend of mine said that conservation just isn't sexy - and I agree, we are almost programmed to consume to reflect our prosperity and rich is sexy. How can we change our view on conservation?

I've enjoyed a brief blogging hiatus, now I'm back and ready to jump into some meaty topics starting with the OPA's microFIT program announcement of a new price category for ground mounted solar projects of $.588/kWh.

The OPA received over 16,000 applications under the first version of the program which categorized roof and solar mounted projects together proposing $.802/kWh.

It seems like a damned if you do damned if you don't situation with overwhelming application response potentially resulting in expensive power for the next 20 years.

I'm glad to see the OPA reposition the program before they get any deeper, but I'll bet the solar industry in Ontario is hopping mad - too bad we couldn't harness that energy to heat and light a few farms. What do you think?