Oil & Gas
Power
Renewables
page 10
page 21
page 23
Natural gas touted as clean alternative
Enmax’s new district energy system
Solar community soaks up energy savings
July/August 2010
where energy, the economy, and the environment intersect
Could a “BP” happen here? Could an environmental disaster like BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill ever hit Alberta?
courtesy: Highland Feeders
Bern Kotelko and daughter Kirstin.
Cow-pattie power Biorefineries represent the “merging of the agricultural industry with the energy industry”
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Jacqueline Louie Energize Alberta n a massive cattle feedlot located outside the town of Vegreville, Alta., the pungent odour of cow manure is masked by the sweet smell of the province’s energy future. Turning cattle dung — “brown gold,” as some call it — into green power and other valuable byproducts is a made-in-Alberta energy solution that is not only sustainable and energy efficient, but also cost effective. That’s according to Grow-Gen Energy and Atco Midstream, who are partners in what they are calling Canada’s first integrated biorefinery, designed to convert organic waste and feed wheat into fuel ethanol,
biofertilizers and green electricity. Their approximately $120-million project will expand an existing biogas-toelectricity plant, developed by the Kotelko family near Vegreville, east of Edmonton, that uses cattle manure to generate biogas and green electricity. The resulting green energy will be used to fuel a new ethanol production system. The ethanol will be derived from locally grown high-starch wheat, as opposed to high-protein wheat used for human food products. Once the expansion is complete, the biorefinery will generate 40 million litres of fuel ethanol, 10,000 tonnes of premium biofertilizer and 2.5 megawatts of green electricity each year. It will also annually create more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions offset credits. “What’s unique is that it’s the merging of the agricultural industry with the energy industry,” says Kevin Cumming, president of Atco Midstream. “It’s a good balance throughout the whole plant, and you gain quite a bit of energy in terms of the process. You gain more energy than you consume.” ❯❯ continued on page 14
Jim Bentein Energize Alberta A spokesperson for the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) argues that it’s very unlikely an environmental disaster on a scale similar to BP’s Gulf of Mexico spill could happen here. “The short answer is that it couldn’t happen on land because the logistical difficulties that exist with a deepwater spill simply aren’t in play,” says Bob Curran. “[Also] there really aren’t any wells in Alberta that are comparable to the wells they are drilling in the Gulf.” Well, yes, there is that little thing about the lack of an ocean in the province. And, as Curran alludes to, giant oil finds on the scale of the BP well — U.S. government scientists estimate that between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day are leaking into the Gulf — just don’t occur any longer in Alberta’s mature basin, where the size of oil discoveries is smaller. But that doesn’t mean Albertans should be complacent and assume the
“The setting is very different….” — Gerry DeSorcy province is immune from environmental disasters. Just ask Gerry DeSorcy. DeSorcy, a regulatory consultant with more than 45 years of experience, 38 of those with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (now realigned as the Energy Resources Conservation Board and the Alberta Utilities Commission, which separately oversee the oil and gas and utility sectors, respectively), says it’s basically a matter of scale. “The setting is very different [because there is no deep ocean oil extraction in Alberta] and wells producing 25,000 or 40,000 barrels per day just don’t exist in the province,” says DeSorcy, who was the former chairman and chief executive officer of the province’s top energy regulator. “But it’s startling to hear politicians and others ❯❯ continued on page 2
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