Ontario already spend a ton of money building the Nanticoke power plant. It would be a waste of money and resources not to use it. North America has over a 200 year supply of coal reserves. And there is no consensus among scientists that our CO2 emissions are actually harming the earth.

Also Canada hardly produces any Co2s compared to the United States which is one of the worst offenders. So why should Canada be that worried? If anything it’s the United States that should clean up first because it would make the biggest impact. Right now California only uses 1% coal power and most of it is natural gas and hydroelectric. So it’s not like my computer is polluting a whole lot since I happen to be in the Golden State right now.

I say, Let Ontario keep their precious Nanticoke power plant. I’ve seen the sky photos of that plant and it’s beautiful. They use ship barges to move the coal instead of trains. They should capture the Co2 and pump it into the ground to use to pump out more crude oil or just for storage. The Co2s could also be captured and used for growing “algea” which can then be made into biodiesel or ethanol which is very clean and green for all our transportation needs.

http://jimfairthorne.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/ontario-coal-plant-to-switch-to-biomass/

So you’re saying that two or three of the units would be used, but only as peakers and emergency power. It’s my understanding that, in particular, peakers must be able to start and stop within a short period of time to match peak demand. Peaker plants generally use a fuel like natural gas because it enables the turbines to start and shut down quickly. Is Nanticoke able to be operated as a peaker plant? It seems to be more suited for baseload power generation because it needs a long time to warm up and get going. And that’s partly to do with the nature of using coal as fuel, and biomass is not that much different. What do you think?

With Nanticoke, it’s important to consider only two or three of its eight units would be used and those units would only be retained as “peaker” units, meaning they’d run occasionally when demand is exceptionally high or be kept as reserve power for emergencies. That being the case, only a fraction of the biomass that you calculated would actually be needed.

Burning biomass is not the solution for large scale power generation, due to massive land requirements. There is growing evidence that renewables such as wind power are the way to go long term, and this is just one part of the proof.

Approximately 2 – 4% of air emissions affecting Ontario were produced by those stations, even when Lakeview GS was still operating.

Closing Nanticoke GS would have little perceptible impact on air quality in Ontario, and most particularly, at ground level where residents breathe.

And as for so-called CO2 “pollution”, Sithe Energies’ proposed Southdown Power Plant is projected to emit about the same amount that Lakeview GS did during its last few years of operation. That’s right – virtually no difference in greenhouse gas emissions – but more costly electricity as a result. And how is that “cleaner”, pray tell?

Lakeview Generating Station should have been refurbished and modified to accept biomass as a feed supplement. 30% co-firing of biomass has been shown to reduce emissions down to levels similar to those from natural gas-fired installations, and at a considerably lower cost, resulting in less expensive electricity.

And other emissions could be cleaned up, since “clean-coal” technologies have been effectively utilized in Europe now for over twenty years. On top of that, it is done mainly with lignite, which is “dirtier” than the coal we use in Ontario.

Instead, after premier McGuinty assured residents in 2005 that closing Lakeview would not affect the power supply available, we in the southwest section of the Toronto area are being told that we must accept new highly polluting natural gas-fired power plants in our communities because – there is insufficient supply of electricity!!!

McGuinty’s inept government and their mishandling of Ontario’s electricity sector doesn’t even qualify them to perform at the level of Bozo the Clown (with apologies to Bozo for comparing him to McGuinty and his government).

Again, the taxpayer is left to pay for government incompetence.