Not the time to build coal-fired power plants

Consider these two facts: First, Saskatchewan residents enjoy the lowest cost for utilities in Canada -- and likely one of the lowest rates in the entire world for similar services.
Second, with the exception of Alberta, Saskatchewan industries generate more greenhouse gases per-capita than any other province -- and likely more than most other places in the world.
Is it possible that these two observations are related to the fact that about one-half of our electricity is generated by burning inexpensive coal in plants without carbon dioxide (CO2) collection equipment? If so, then two questions come to mind:
First, considering that we share the atmosphere with all of the other people in the world, is it morally justifiable for us to contribute more than our fair share of atmospheric pollutants just so that we can have low utility rates?
Secondly, is the present system economically sustainable? The most recent report (released on Nov. 17) of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) states that stabilizing CO2 concentrations at 550 ppm (a high, but acceptable, level) will likely require the imposition of a carbon tax in the near future.
Its modeling studies indicate that a carbon tax of $20 to $80 per equivalent tonne of CO2 will be required. Because the National Pollution Release Inventory indicates that Saskatchewan's electricity-generating stations are currently producing the equivalent of 14 million tonnes of CO2 per year, the imposition of such a carbon tax by the federal government could increase the cost of generating electricity in Saskatchewan by as much as $1.12 billion annually.
A decision on how the province should respond to this new information rests, of course, with the elected members of the Legislative Assembly. The IPCC, however, suggests several approaches, including the development of new technologies that could be used to generate electricity from coal with limited release of CO2 (often called clean-coal technology) and the implementation of known technologies for the generation of electricity using wind, solar and nuclear energy.
For the time being, then, it may be prudent to put a moratorium on the construction of additional CO2-producing power plants until the new information in the IPCC report has been analyzed with respect to its implications for Saskatchewan.
Not to do so could create a legacy for our descendants that is both morally indefensible and economically unaffordable.
Don Lee
Lee is an emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Regina and a former chairperson of the Federal-Provincial Panel on Uranium Mining Developments in Northern Saskatchewan.
Regina
The Leader-Post (Regina) Sat 08 Dec 2007 Page: B7 Section: Letters Byline: Don Lee Source: The Leader-Post
Posted: Jan/9/2008