Fundy Ocean Research Centre

From CNW

Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy - FORCE announces Environmental and Community Advisory Teams
EDITOR'S NOTE: For interviews with committee chairs or FORCE, please
contact: Dr. Anna Redden, 902-585-1732; Lois Smith: 902-254-2280.; and
John Woods, 902-497-7346. Names of committee members are at the bottom of
this release.


HALIFAX, Oct. 26 /CNW/ - Nova Scotia's in-stream tidal power project -- the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) -- announced membership in two key advisory committees today.

The two advisory committees - environmental effects monitoring and community liaison - will provide independent advice to the project from individuals with a range of backgrounds.

"FORCE has an important public purpose and everyone can benefit from the advice of scientists, fishers, residents and First Nations people," said John Woods, chair of FORCE. "The work of the committees will help us direct the project and serve as an important link to the communities that surround the Bay of Fundy."

The Environmental Monitoring Advisory Committee will provide independent expert scientific and traditional ecological knowledge advice on environmental effects monitoring programs at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE).

Dr. Anna Redden, Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research at Acadia University and Dr. Donald Gordon, Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada will co-chair the committee."The role of the Committee will be to review the environmental effects monitoring programs and available data and make recommendations for monitoring the environmental effects of tidal power technologies in Minas Passage," said Dr Redden.

The Community Liaison Committee will act as a liaison between local organizations, community, and FORCE participants, providing a forum to discuss any issues related to the tidal project and to share timely information as the project proceeds. Lois Smith, Municipal Councilor in Parrsboro, is the co-chair, along with Joe Kozak, representing FORCE.

"This is about keeping everyone in the conversation," said Ms. Smith. "FORCE has international significance, but it's also a local project, and this committee will serve to keep the community actively involved."

Both committees will have representation from fishers, Mi'kmaq, government, technology developers, and FORCE. The environmental monitoring advisory committee will also include members of the academic community. The community liaison committee will also include members of the general public.

Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks welcomed the appointments.

"Tidal technology can play a role in protecting our environment and sustaining our communities," said Mr. Estabrooks. "These committees will help ensure that role is open and transparent, right from the start."

Initial appointments to both committees were made by FORCE, a partnership between developers and the province.



Names of Community Liaison Committee Members, followed by names and biographies of Environmental Monitoring Advisory Committee members:


Community Liaison Committee Members:


Mark Canton, Public; Terri McCulloch, Public; Gerard Cormier, Public; Shawna Eason, CREDA; Frank Hartman, Public; Joe Kozak - Interim Co-chair on behalf of FORCE; Ken Meade, NSPI; NS Mi'kmaq representative, to be named; Ross Robinson, Public; Lois Smith - Parrsboro Town Councilor, co-chair; Cindy Tupper, Parrsboro Harbour Commission; Croyden Woods Sr., Parrsboro Harbour Commission; Croyden Woods Jr., Lobster Fisher; Robert Yorke , Public.


Biographies of EMAC Members


Michael Brylinsky is a Senior Research Associate of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research at Acadia University and an Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at Acadia University. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Brylinsky has worked extensively on various aspects of the biology of the Bay of Fundy ecosystems and communities and numerous other coastal systems in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.


Graham Daborn is an Emeritus Professor at Acadia University and the former Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research. Dr. Daborn co-chaired the Fundy Environmental Studies Committee (1976-1984) during the early proposals for tidal power development in the Bay of Fundy and led multi-disciplinary research related to tidal power for more than 30 years.


Donald Gordon is an Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and he previously worked with DFO for over 35 years. Dr. Gordon's research interests include the effects of benthic organisms on marine sediments, environmental impact assessment, ecosystem modelling, benthic habitat mapping, and environmental effects monitoring. Dr. Gordon co-chaired the Fundy Environmental Studies Committee related to the potential impacts of tidal power developments from 1976 to 1984.


Andrew Hebda is the Curator of Zoology for Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax, and he has been in this position for the over 14 years. Mr. Hebda is a member of the COSEWIC Mollusca Specialist Subcommittee and until 2008, he was a part-time Faculty member at Saint Mary's University.


Ken Meade is the Manager of Environmental Services with Nova Scotia Power Inc. Mr. Meade's responsibilities involves environmental studies and extensive regulatory and stakeholder consultation in the development of water and fish management strategies for hydroelectric systems. He is currently Chair of the Canadian Electricity Association Species at Risk Task Group.


Robert Miller is an Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Dr. Miller had a 37 year career with DFO as a marine ecologist and fishery scientist and his areas of research interest included performance of baited traps, organization in hard-bottom plant and animal communities, and the distribution of lobster larvae.


Anna Redden is an Associate Professor in Biology at Acadia University, Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research, and a member of the FORCE Board. Dr. Redden is actively engaged in collaborative research on the potential impacts of tidal power developments on migratory fishes and on sediment-animal relationships in the upper Bay of Fundy.


Michael Stokesbury is currently the Director of Research for the Ocean Tracking Network at Dalhousie University, and as well as an Adjunct professor of Biology at Acadia University. Dr. Stokesbury's research interests focus on fish marine migration and behaviour, and assessment of the impact of coastal engineering projects on the local marine environment.


Mark Taylor is a commercial lobster and scallop fisherman and has fished in the Minas Channel for 30 years. Mr. Taylor is the President of the Heavy Current Fishers Association, and he is also a member of DFO Lobster Advisory Board. Mr. Taylor brings significant local knowledge and understanding of the fisheries, currents and tides in the Minas Channel to the Committee.


Keith Thompson holds a Canada Research Chair in Marine Prediction and Environmental Statistics at Dalhousie University. Dr. Thompson is jointly appointed in the Department of Oceanography and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Dalhousie University. His research interests include shelf and deep ocean modeling, data assimilation, sea level variations and coastal flooding, and the analysis of extremes.

For further information: Ross McLaren, Department of Energy, (902) 424-4536, (902) 456-4212, mclarenr@gov.ns.ca; Beth Caldwell, Minas Basin Pulp and Power, (902) 684-1700, Cell: (902) 680-5378, bcaldwell@minas.ns.ca

Community Stands up for Nurse Practioner

From Nova News Now and Digby Courier

Community stands up for nurse practitioner
by Leanne Delong/Digby Courier
View all articles from Leanne Delong/Digby Courier
Article online since October 20th 2009, 13:36


Island Consolidated School gymnasium was packed last night by residents concerned by loss of the island’s only full time nurse practitioner. Leanne Delong photo View all pictures Community stands up for nurse practitioner
People crowded the doorway of the Islands Consolidated School gymnasium on Monday to sign a petition against the loss earlier this month of nurse practitioner Karen Snider at Islands Health Clinic in Freeport.


Approximately 230 signatures were added to the petition by the end of last night’s public meeting in Freeport.

Islands resident Andy Moir charged that Snider had been disciplined for speaking out against reduced hours for support staff at the clinic, for telling her collaborating physician about it, and for discussing it with fellow nurse practitioners.

She had the audacity to speak up on an issue that affects the area’s health care, said Moir, who co-chaired the meeting.

“If every health professional who complained about the cutbacks that have been made in health over the last 10 or 15 years was released from their job, there would be darn few left,” said registered nurse and Islands resident Joanne Whitenect. “I’m just shocked and appalled they would do this to Karen, I think she is excellent.”

South West Health has said its decision not to renew Snyder’s contract was not because of a clinical issue, but that further explanation would breach personnel confidentiality policies.

Snider moved to the Islands from British Columbia about a year ago to work at the clinic and was still within a probationary period.

“It appears to us it is an injustice to not only the nurse practitioner but to the members of this community because we have in Karen, a nurse practitioner who’s committed to be here until she retires and she’s something that we certainly haven’t seen in a long while,” said Municipality of Digby warden Jim Thurber.

Thurber mentioned how hard it is to keep health care professionals in the municipality.

“Twenty years ago, we had full-time doctors here on the Islands, the Digby hospital had doctors, we had an emergency room open all the time, you could even have babies in Digby,” said Thurber.

When it became difficult to recruit health care professionals, the community worked with the Department of Health and supported the nurse practitioner and paramedic program, he said.

The program has grown over the years and Thurber feels over the past six months to a year, the program has operated at full potential.

MLA Harold Theriault apologized for not being able to attend the meeting through a video message.

“We’re watching this step by step and I guarantee you, that we’ll be getting this vital service for Digby Neck and Islands back in service pretty soon,” he said.

“As far as the district health authority is concerned, Karen is toast,” said island resident Andy Moir.

The warden agreed, and read a letter from South West Health that proposed a meeting with the Islands health liaison committee to discuss health care services at the clinic and recruitment of a full-time nurse practitioner.

One person in the crowd stood up and said Snyder was the best they ever had for health care.

“That nurse has been God’s gift to my family,” said Tiverton resident Wonda Johnston. “I will stand up for her and I will support her because I know the good she has done.”

Tiverton resident John Ivens asked, “This health authority is supposed to have our best interest at heart. So, how are they helping us by getting rid of a resource here that can help everybody on the Island?”

“How does the freedom of information act apply to this situation?” wondered Freeport resident Robert Thurber. “The only other place I know of that you can just get rid of somebody and give no cause to the public is Russia.”

Moir responded by saying it’s a privacy issue and even if Snyder said they could throw her record open, the health authority would still “hide behind the Privacy Act, which says they cannot tell us why they make the decisions they make.”

“I am very upset over what has happened to her,” added Johnston.

ldelong@digbycourier.ca
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Stand Up for Mental Health Comedy Showcase

Digby Clare Mental Health Volunteers presents:
Stand Up For Mental Health
Comedy Showcase
A new attitude on
mental illnesses
Stand Up For Mental Health was featured in the
VOICE Award winning documentary “Cracking Up”
November 3, 7:00 pm
Marc Lescarbot Theatre,
Université Sainte-Anne
November 4, 7:00 pm
Digby Regional High School Theatre
Admission Free, donations accepted

International Day of Climate Change

PLEASE COME take a Chalk around the Common
Who: YOU and other Friends of Halifax Common

What: EVENT promoting 350.org, International Day of Climate Action

When: Friday October 23, 12 noon- 2 p.m.

Less than 1/3 of the Halifax Common's original 235 acres is public
open space.

The disappearance of our Halifax Common is a metaphor for the
degradation of our global Common- MOST URGENTLY our atmosphere &
climate.

We need you to help us draw a chalk line around the sidewalk
perimeter of the entire original Halifax Common to illustrate its
original size.

You can be imaginative and draw sheep & cows or cabbage & corn or
words to encourage governments to act on climate change!

Meeting points for getting chalk and directions are:
1. Robie & Cunard
2. Robie & Jubilee
3. Robie & University
4. South Park & South
5. South Park & Spring Garden
6. Bell Road by Bengal Lancers
7. North Park & Cogswell

For information on the Friends of the Halifax Common and a map see:
http://halifaxcommon.ca/
For information & events on October 24th International Day of Climate
Action see: www.350.org
Sign the Kyotoplus petition: http://kyotoplus.ca to push the
government on climate policy in Canada

Salt Power

From wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com

Two pilot projects are testing the potential of "salt power", a renewable energy that relies on the differing salinities at river mouths to make watts

Adam Hadhazy, Scientific American 19 Oct 09;

In the hunt for alternatives to polluting and climate-warming fossil fuels, attention has turned to where rivers meet the sea. Here, freshwater and saltwater naturally settle their salinity difference, a phenomenon that two pioneering projects in Europe will try to harness to generate clean energy.

This concept of "salt power"—also known as osmotic, or salinity-gradient, power—has been kicked around for decades, and now, proponents hope, technology has advanced enough to make it economically competitive.

On November 24, the world's first large-scale prototype facility for developing a form of salt power called pressure-retarded osmosis is expected to begin fully operating in Norway. "The big reason to build this thing is to answer important questions [about osmotic power], and while we've done a lot of theoretical studies, we need live experience," says Stein Erik Skilhagen, vice president of osmotic power at Statkraft, Norway's state-owned power utility that built the plant. The prototype will have no customers, although the very small amount of electricity it generates will technically be directed into the power grid.

Statkraft's approximately $5-million prototype plant is a converted paper mill in the seaside village of Tofte, about 60 kilometers south of Oslo. The plant's pressure-retarded osmosis setup will place freshwater and brine on either side of a semipermeable membrane that prevents the passage of salt particles but allows water through. Water from the fresh side naturally flows into the salty side, generating pressure equivalent to a column of water 120 meters high. This pressurized water can be used to turn a turbine to make electricity. Statkraft's goal is to yield five watts per square meter of membrane, although current capacity is about three watts. If successful, the utility hopes to build a commercial salt power plant for paying customers around 2015 with a targeted cost ranging from seven to 14 cents per kilowatt-hour (pdf) (at current euro–dollar conversion rates), which at the low end would be competitive with coal and natural gas prices.

To the south in the Netherlands, a Dutch research firm called Wetsus has fired up its own salt power experiment to evaluate what is essentially a saltwater–freshwater battery.

Wetsus, with the collaboration of a spin-off company called Redstack, is pursuing a version of salt power dubbed "blue energy". A pilot-scale installation that is about two times the size of a big American refrigerator is up and running in Harlingen, by the Wadden Sea, says Gert Jan Euverink, Wetsus's deputy scientific director. The technology relies on reverse electrodialysis, wherein a series of fresh and saltwater streams are diverted via underground pipes to opposite sides of two kinds of membranes. These let sodium or chlorine ions—the constituent elements of salt—dissolved in the water to pass into separated freshwater streams. This builds an electrical potential across the membranes, like a battery, and this charge reacts with iron to form an electric current. Joost Veerman, a researcher at Wetsus, says the company aims to get five watts per square meter of membrane, the same result as Statkraft's process.

Neither Statkraft nor Wetsus expects to crank out more than just a few kilowatts—enough to boil water—with their initial experiments. Instead, they plan to demonstrate what could be scalable, commercially viable energy production as well as determine if salt power endangers the health of source-water estuaries. Statkraft estimates salt power's worldwide electricity-generating potential at up to 1,700 terawatt-hours, or about 10 percent of global demand.

Salt power is attractive for several reasons: For one, unlike renewable energy technologies for harvesting solar or wind power, salt systems are not dependent on the weather and could provide baseload (constant, predictable) electricity like that supplied by coal, natural gas and nuclear energy. "The river water is flowing into the sea 24/7, so you have a constantly available source of energy," Skilhagen says. He also points out there are no emissions besides brackish water, which swirls in the river's mouth anyway.

Unlike conventional hydropower, a saline power plant does not require damming off a waterway, and it may require less infrastructure than, say, riverbed-mounted turbines or floating fleets of generators for equivalent tidal and wave power. A salt power plant, including its membrane stacks, turbines, cleaning facilities and offices, could actually be located in a riverside industrial complex's basement, for example, or constructed underground within a riverbank with pipes extending into the waterway, Statkraft's Skilhagen says—a big advantage for incorporating such facilities into already-developed, populated coastal areas.

Membrane design and performance remain the biggest hurdles for both Statkraft's and Wetsus's approaches. The membranes must be made more efficient, durable and resistant to microbial buildup, or so-called biofouling. Pretreating the pumped-in water by filtering out organic matter and river-borne debris helps, but this critical step consumes energy and is expected to be expensive, Skilhagen says, adding that it is too early to know just how expensive.

Accordingly, experts remain cautious about salt power's prospects. "Both these methods are promising and certainly worth researching," says Ari Seppala, a mechanical engineer and thermodynamicist at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, "but both may still need a breakthrough innovation before commercialization." Seppala sees no physical or chemical showstoppers standing in the way of producing much-improved membranes, although he also points out that a better, membrane-free method could yet be found for exploiting salinity differences to yield electricity.

Another key uncertainty: a salt-power plant's effect on the local aquatic environment. "This is a completely new process that has not been tested on this scale," says Menachem Elimelech, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University. "I doubt there will be no [environmental] impact at all." If the ecological footprint is minimal and the membrane technology advances, however, he adds that salt power could be a "significant renewable energy option."

Free Dishwasher!

From: Tom Haynes-Paton
Date: Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:31 pm
Subject: FW: Free used dishwasher wants rescuing... tomhaynespaton

Recycling is good. Free used dishwasher wants rescuing from landfill fate....
Tel. Digby 245-2347.
(signed) SPCD

Wind Turbine Dealer Misleads Consumers

Wind turbine dealer misses restitution deadlineText Size: A | A | A
turbine dealer misses restitution deadline Former state Rep. Mark Howland, owner of a Freetown-based wind turbine company that was shut down for misleading consumers, has failed to pay nearly $500,000 in restitution to the state Attorney General's Office.

A consent agreement reached last October set a deadline of Oct. 9, 2009, for Howland of WindTech-Co. to pay $488,000 in restitution. Howland notified the agency on Oct. 8 that he would not be making the payment, said Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Jill Butterworth.

According to the agreement, Howland now owes $638,000 in restitution. The Attorney General's Office has the right to foreclose on his property, although Howland's attorney has asked for additional time to market the property.

Howland lost his former Freetown home at 15 Mohawk Ave. to the bank weeks before it burned in a suspicious fire last November. He owns three parcels of undeveloped land, totaling some 26 acres, off Howland Road in Lakeville.

"The deadline for Mr. Howland to pay the restitution is past due and the Attorney General's Office intends to take whatever action is appropriate to obtain money for consumers entitled to restitution," said Butterworth.

Howland did not return phone calls and e-mail seeking comment Friday.

In March 2007, the Attorney General's Office filed a complaint in Bristol Superior Court and received an emergency court order to shut down WindTech-Co. and place a freeze on Howland's bank accounts.

Howland was accused of violating the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act by misleading consumers, making false and misleading representations in promoting the sale of wind turbines, failing to install turbines paid for by consumers and providing unsafe wind turbine installations. The Attorney General's Office identified more than 160 consumers, many in Southeastern Massachusetts, who were affected by the company's faulty wind turbines.

Under the consent agreement, Howland is prohibited from operating a business involved in the sale and installation of alternative energy systems, specifically wind turbine and hybrid wind turbine/photo-voltaic systems.

David Silvia of East Freetown said he purchased two defective wind turbines from Howland. He said he invested about $16,000 in the systems and has to date received about $1,200 in restitution from the Attorney General's Office.

Silvia said it was "kind of discouraging" to hear that Howland had failed to meet the deadline for the restitution payment.

"I was hoping the money would come through," he said. "I stretched myself pretty thin to do this. I thought it was the right thing for the environment."

After the defective turbines were removed from his property, Silvia purchased a larger turbine from another supplier. He said he has been mostly happy with that turbine and would like to install solar panels to further lessen his carbon footprint. To finance the project, however, he must wait until he receives full restitution.