Due to pollution concerns, the recent announcement to keep coal-power plants open was not easy for the provincial Liberals, but Ontario is facing power shortages. They had no choice. It was a tough but pragmatic and responsible decision.
The government still plans to replace coal-fired generation as
soon as possible without compromising electricity production.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest drawbacks is mercury
contamination.
Before the GTA's Lakeview plant closed last year, Ontario's
five coal-fired stations produced about 527 kilograms of
mercury which was almost one-third of all mercury emissions in
the province.
The McGuinty government has been severely criticized for backing out of its commitment to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment to reduce toxic mercury discharges by 50 percent - now an unattainable goal.
However, there is a solution for mercury pollution. Peat fuel -
a biomass energy source-is abundant in Northern Ontario.
Peat bio-fuel has virtually no mercury and has significantly
less sulphur emissions than coal. It also produces less ash
waste and dust. Canada has the biggest deposits in the world
while some of the largest accessible sites are located in
northwestern Ontario. And peat fuel can be blended with, or
substituted for, coal with minimal conversion costs.
In the early 1980s, the Ontario Geological Survey studied
about 88,000 kilometres of northwestern Ontario peatlands. By
just focusing on the best peatlands with no land-use conflicts,
they estimated that this fuel-grade peat resource had the
energy equivalent of 330 million barrels of oil. Finland,
Ireland, Russia and other Eastern European countries use peat
bio-fuel in their energy supply mix. In many facilities in
Finland, peat fuel is co-fired with coal and wood waste to
reduce mercury and sulphur emissions.
Ontario Hydro Research concluded, "an upgraded fuel peat can
be effectively co-fired with propane or coal without any
serious adverse affects."
Replacing 10 to 25 percent of coal presently used in
Ontario's coal-fired power plants with peat bio-fuel would help
reduce mercury and sulphur emissions as well as providing much
needed employment throughout Northern Ontario.
In April 2006, the Ministry of Energy released a
pre-feasibility report that examined various bio-mass
alternatives for northwestern Ontario's Atikokan coal-fired
station. The study was carried out by Forest Bioproducts Inc.,
a Sault Ste. Marie-based consultancy with international
expertise in the field of biomass energy. The potential
bio-fuels included peat, wood waste, forest harvest residues
and Toronto garbage.
These alternatives were reviewed from the perspectives of
environmental and social impact, availability, cost and
conversion requirements.
Using various wood or wood-waste products would reduce the
rating capacity of the generating station to about 150 MW due
to the lower energy output of wood-based products and $100
million would have to be spent for boiler upgrades.
Availability of supply, competition for other value-added uses
and costs for transportation also helped rule out wood fibre.
Extensive modifications, in the $200 million range, and
reduced rating capacity also made the Toronto waste option too
expensive.
The report concluded that Peat Resources Limited's proposal
to supply the Atikokan facility with peat fuel at 20 percent to
25 percent moisture content, from the company's properties
centered on the town of Upsala would be the best option.
Using peat bio-fuel would allow the Atikokan plant to
operate at its current rating of 215 MW and would only require
a nominal $5 million in capital costs to modify the facility
for peat use. The data shows that there is sufficient
fuel-grade peat in the region to meet the entire demand of the
station for more than 50 years. And, as noted above, analytical
work carried out on the Upsala peat confirmed that this fuel
has zero mercury content.
The full report is on the following Ministry of Energy
website:
http://www.energy.gov.on.ca/english/pdf/electricity/Atikokan_report_2006.pdf
Mark Jaccard is a professor in the School of Resource and
Environmental Management at Vancouver's Simon Fraser
University, where he directs the Energy and Materials Research
Group. He is a recent winner of the 2006 Donner Prize for the
top Canadian book in public policy titled "Sustainable Fossil
Fuels: The Usual Suspect in the Quest for Clean and Enduring
Energy."
In an email interview from Vancouver, Jaccard says, "The key
issue is economics.  It is looking like we can get energy
from coal without greenhouse gas emissions and without mercury
emissions.  Peat could also be a viable
alternative." 
Peat Resources estimates about 200 direct jobs would be
established with the main project to supply Atikokan with peat
fuel.
The Lac Des Milles Lacs First Nation Reserve 22A1 is adjacent to one of the peat development areas near Upsala. 
The band welcomes the economic development of this project
as long as it meets the elders' requirements for environmental
protection.
Peat Resources has responded to this, and to provincial environmental regulations, and has already completed biological and hydrological surveys as part of an Environmental Assessment. The first public consultation meeting is scheduled in Upsala for June 28, 2006 where information on many successful reclamation projects of sustainably harvested peatlands in Europe will be highlighted.
 Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant who writes extensively on mining issues.[email protected].