No wind, little sun: so where's our energy?

The Leader-Post
Friday, January 04, 2008

Recently, I turned on my computer. The first thing I did was to check the Regina weather.
It was very cold: -26.6 C. The wind was a mere six kilometres per hour, though the sun was shining from a cloudless sky. The barometric pressure was quite high, hence the low wind.
I then went to the "Letters" section in the Leader-Post. In it was a letter entitled, "Not the time to build coal-fired power plants."
It was a rebuttal of John McClement's letter favouring coal plants as the best option to produce electricity.
The writer favoured windpower, solar and nuclear energy.
Well, on that morning the wind in Regina was just about nonexistent.
I checked other reporting points around the province; all had low, low wind speeds.
High barometric pressure usually means low winds. This means on that very cold morning we had no wind energy.
What about solar? After all, the sun was shining bright.
We were also very close to the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, when the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun; also we are at our farthest point from the sun.
Daylight on that day amounted to close to eight hours -- and there were 16 hours of darkness. What use solar?
The sun's energy is at its weakest and there is very little of it.
Solar electricity is a very expensive proposition. We would have to cover many square kilometres of good farmland with solar panels. (Where, then, would we sow the crops needed to make ethanol?).
Solar and wind energy are out.
Well, then, what about nuclear energy?
Problem is, as I have pointed out before, present-day nuclear reactors are far too big for Saskatchewan's needs. (There are reactors being developed that will suit us, but they are a while away from being proven.)
All these three options are just not good enough. If we are to avoid blackouts, then we must generate conventional power using coal.
If people worry about being able to sequester CO2, then build a plant that can have its exhaust modified to accomplish this at a later date. (Of course, the alternator had better be a third bigger as that much extra will be wasted on the sequestering process.)
SaskPower electricity is much more expensive than that produced in B.C. and Manitoba.
The idea of carbon credits is a complete scam. All the credits in the world will not reduce carbon one iota. It will line some pockets. Saskatchewan farmers are selling credits to an exchange in Chicago. If we believe in such things, then let's use the credits back home.
J.P. (Jim) Brennand
Regina