[All] Fw: Farm and Food Wastes to Fuel Cell Electricity for Municipalities

Thu Jan 7 14:06:19 EST 2010

Hi folks

Farms = food, water, carbon storage and carbon reduction and ELECTRICITY.  By using food production and farm wastes as NON BURNING fuel sources to charge fuel cell electricity, we can improve water all over using technologies that are already in use in Renton Washington.

Here's what I've sent the Ministries today. Have a good one.

Lulu

--- On Thu, 1/7/10, Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com> wrote:

From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
Subject: Fw: Farm and Food Wastes to Fuel Cell Electricity for Municipalities
To: "Gord Miller" <commissioner at eco.on.ca>, Sharon.Bailey at ontario.ca, Minister at ec.gc.ca, scarpf at parl.gc.ca, DucepG at parl.gc.ca, LaytoJ at parl.gc.ca, "lminshall at grandriver.ca" <lminshall at grandriver.ca>, minister.moe at ontario.ca, dcansfield.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org, Dalton.McGuinty at premier.gov.on.ca, john.tory at pc.ola.org, hhampton-qp at ndp.on.ca
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 2:01 PM

Dear Ministers

Please review the following information in regards to how Canadian farmlands and food production companies can provide emission free energy solutions for municipalities using current existing fuel cell technologies. 

Ms. Minshall, please share this information with the Lake Erie Source Water Protection Committee. 

I believe if we were to effectively utilize farmlands for energy protection needs, it would be a wise long term investment in food security, air quality, carbon reduction and energy security. It would provide for a closed looped system for food and fuel needs and would dramatically improve upon water quality from recharge right to the Great Lakes. Please review the following information and please help secure the preservation of farmlands in order to protect and preserve key water resources including the Waterloo Moraine. 

Thank you kindly for your time.

Louisette Lanteigne
700 Star Flower Ave.
Waterloo Ontario
N2V 2L2
519-885-7619

--- On Thu, 1/7/10, Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com> wrote:

From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
Subject: Farm and Food Wastes to Fuel Cell Electricity for Municipalities
To: "Chair Ken Seiling" <sken at region.waterloo.on.ca>, "Mayor Carl Zehr" <carl.zehr at kitchener.ca>, "MPPJohn Milloy" <jmilloy.mpp at liberal.ola.org>, "CAO Mike Murray" <wkaren at region.waterloo.on.ca>, jbradley.mpp at liberal.ola.org, ldombrowsky.mpp at liberal.ola.org, dduncan.mpp at liberal.ola.org, gphillips.mpp at liberal.ola.org, spupatello.mpp at liberal.ola.org, jwatson.mpp at liberal.ola.org, braidp1 at parl.gc.ca, RitzG at parl.gc.ca, BairdJ at parl.gc.ca, PrentJ at parl.gc.ca
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 1:46 PM

Honourable Ministers and Mayors, 

In regards to the proposed Light Rail Transit system for Waterloo Region, I do not support the use of Diesel fuels because it is a major producer of soot which is the second highest contributor to climate change and contributes to various cancers as well. You may view the following web links for details regarding this:

 http://www.catf.us/projects/diesel/dieselhealth/county.php?c=16077&site=0 

http://www.stopthesoot.org/dieselhealthconcerns.htm 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/24/climatechange.fossilfuels 

Diesel is also more costly to ship.  http://www.ulpower.com/ul260i-qa-diesel.htm 

Currently in Japan , bio fuel is being reclaimed to run their public transit systems.  

http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029569.html 

I contacted the Grand River Transit (GRT) about this and here is the response I received. 
_____________________________________________________________ 

Hi Louisette

Thank you for the suggestion that you have provided to GRT.
At this time Grand River Transit has no plans for using used cooking oil,
or Bio diesel in our Fleet.
We have evaluated this initiative a few times over the years and have
concluded that there would be no benefit at this time.
We do not have any of the infrastructure in place to process the oil.
There are a number of companies that are in this industry. The largest is
Rothsay, a division of Maple Leaf.
They have contracts with a large number of restaurants and processing
plants to purchase this oil. They also have a refinery in Montreal .
If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Randy Steckly
Manager, Transit Fleet
Grand River Transit
250 Strasburg Rd
Kitchener ON N2E 3M6
(519) 585-7597 ext 7205
(519  585-7640  fax
__________________________________________________________ 

In light of the feedback from Mr. Steckly,  I contacted  Rothsay's research centre in Guelph  regarding the concept of oil to fuel products. It's certainly a concept worth researching, especially when you consider the fact that Waterloo Region is the second largest food belt in Ontario . We have an abundance of raw materials to work with. 

According to this PDF presentation by Grand River Conservation Authority's Peter Emerson, in 2005 (slide 24 of 37) we had 290,000 head of cattle in the Grand River Watershed, producing waste materials equal to the population of 5 million people. 500,000 pigs added waste equal to 1.8 million and 8.8 million chickens added enough waste for 800,000 people. 

http://www.grandriver.ca/WaterForum/Emerson.pdf 

If we were to implement bio fuel recovery from both food and farm production and allocate it into a project similar to what is happening currently in Renton Washington , we could actually provide a renewable source of localized electricity without emissions. The system takes bio fuels and transfers the energy into a fuel cell battery without any burning.  To view this technology as shown on a video produced by MSNBC, please visit here: 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5335635/ 

To view the official site of the fuel cell manufacturer who built Renton 's system, visit here:  http://www.fuelcellenergy.com/wastewater-treatment.php 

To view the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association visit here: 
http://www.h2fcc.ca/ 

To implement conversion of bio fuels to fuel cell electricity in our area would be very beneficial towards protecting the water quality of the Grand River and Lake Erie. Currently our phosphate levels in the Grand River are 26 times above the MOE recommended levels. By implementing this program it can help keep our rivers and recharge areas cleaner . In my view it is a gold mine waiting to be tapped into.  It would benefit our local farming communities and protect these valuable lands by increasing their net worth. Active farms are needed for food production and long term food security and by increasing the worth of the natural capital services provided we can increase the land values of the properties themselves. If  more economic worth given to farmlands, the better we can protect these key resources for the long term. Protection of farmlands means the protection of air, water food AND energy resources. This sort of value must be allocated as soon
 as possible. Since the 1950's Central Ontario has paved over 49% of it's prime farmland to accomidate the expansion of the Greater Toronto Region. If we don't change this trend will will lose our ability to protect this key resources. Development pressures on the recharge areas for the Grand River Watershed are continuing to pose serious risks to the long term viability of our water supply and this puts our municipalities and agricultural industries at risk. Our area s planning on establishing a 1.2 Billion pipeline option to Lake Erie to provide for future water needs. That doesn't include the funding for the energy required to pump, treat or transport the water. 

Farm and food production wastes are a renewable resource material  and it provides a localized closed looped system for both food and fuel production while sustaining crops that help absorb carbon emissions. The more farm and food production wastes we can divert from the Grand River and landfills, the better for the water, air quality and our energy needs. It's a win win no matter how you look at it. If this can be the choice fuel supply for our future Light Rail Transit system, all the better! 

On another note regarding public transit,  I came across a report titled, "An Assessment on the Impact of Harmonized Sales Tax on Municipal Public Transit Services" produced by London Transit on behalf of the Ontario Transit Association. It's posted on line here at: http://www.octa.on.ca/downloads/submissions/Impact_of_HST_on_Municipal_Transit_Services_Amended_Final.pdf 

I wasn't sure if you've seen it but since the tax came into effect so quickly I thought it would be a handy document to pass along. We have to factor in those costs with the equation. Currently only 78% of the PST portion of the HST is refundable for municipalities. 

Thank you kindly for your time. 

Louisette Lanteigne 
700 Star Flower Ave. 
Waterloo Ontario
N2V 2L2 
519-885-7619 
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