 Wind plants in Ontario as of Dec. 31, 2008 |
|
Number of Turbines = 429
Max. Capacity : 703 MW per hour
Actual Production = approx. 30% or 211 MW per hour
Approx 30,000 hectares of lands were optioned for wind power development in Ontario to accomodate the above turbines, much of it was useable farmland.
Carbon dioxide emissions calculated to have been displaced (if claims are accurate): 430grams x 211MW per hr. = approx. 91,000 grams per hour.
. ...more
While not advocating for nuclear power over wind power, it is noteworthy that Ontario would need more than 1200 wind turbines and almost 100,000 hectares in order to be able to shut down ONE nuclear station equivalent to Bruce A G3. You do the math - there are 14 nuclear plants in Ontario today.
|
|
|
| John Laforet hits the mark with every entry. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Site Index |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SavetheBluffs.ca
Letter Writing Campaign - Sample 2 |
|
|
Letter Writing Campaign
Here are a few sample letters that can be used as is or edited and mailed or emailed to your MP and MPPS or any one else you can think of who might be open-minded enough to be moved to oppose the anemometer and wind farm proposed for Lake Ontario.
I would like to thank the authors of these letters for allowing us to use them. I have purposely withheld the names of the contributors, but if the authors would like due credit, please use the contact form to email me and I will happily add a personal thanks to your letter.
If you have written letters that you feel might be useful to those of us who don't have the time or who might feel unable to capture the issues succinctly, please use the contact form and I will arrange to pick up your sample letter.
View sample letter 1
sample letter 2
sample letter 3
Address List
Dear Sir/Madam,
Do not grant Toronto Hydro permission to proceed with their construction of an anemometer off the Scarborough Bluffs. Toronto Hydro has refused to reveal the details of their plan for a wind turbine development in this area for which the anemometer is the first step. Toronto Hydro is a publicly owned company using crown land and as such has no right to withhold information from the public.
We have a right to know the whole plan before they begin, as it will have a great impact on our community.
There are environmental, health, and economic issues to be addressed to say nothing of the aesthetic ones.
Environmental Issues:
The Bluffs are fragile, made up of layers of sand and clay. Vibration caused by construction and operation of forty story high industrial wind towers with their gigantic blades moving at 100mph may cause massive land slides destroying the bluffs altogether.
The amount of steel rebar-reinforced concrete required to anchor each tower, (1,250 tons for each foundation) will rip up the bottom of the lake and disturb fish habitats.
The manufacturing of the cement will give off plenty of co2 that this project claims to reduce.
What effect will ice have on these gigantic structures? Ice flying off the blades may damage ships. Layers of ice sliding under each other will put a tremendous pressure on the base. Is the developer prepared to drill deep enough to hit bedrock so as to anchor these towers securely? Hydro said that they chose this shoreline because of the shallow shelf the bluffs provided.
Will the existence of this mass of forty story high-towers with their revolving blades affect the wind and water currents? If so will their presence hasten the erosion of the shoreline and threaten the very existence of the bluffs?
Thousands of migrating birds pass over this part of lake Ontario. Reassurances from Hydro, with its vested interests are not convincing. Statistics from the National Audubon
Society are alarming. Donald Fry of the American Bird Conservancy stated that at the present rate, the wind industry will be killing 900,000 to 1.8 million a year.
The low frequency noise emitted by the blades may drive the wildlife away from the bluffs and into our living area where they will perish.
The trial Wind turbine in Pickering was built near the edge of the lake and it has never worked effectively as wind power. There simply isn't enough wind. In April 2008, the Ontario Power Authority commissioned the Helimax Report, which confirmed the fact that the north shore of Lake Ontario in the vicinity of Toronto does not get enough wind to make wind development viable. If this information is already known, why spend a million dollars to build an anemometer?
If Hydro does build this wind farm and the turbines don't run at least 30% of the time on wind power they will be adding to pollution. Generators burning natural gas will have to back them up. They must be able to ramp up and down so as to accommodate surges of wind thus adding more co2 to the atmosphere. If they are inefficient, due to lack of wind, they are not green!
Health Issues
Sounds being emitted from the blades being of low frequency travel easily and vary according to the wind. The French Academy of Medicine warns that these sounds constitute a permanent risk for people exposed to them.
Ernie Marshall, who lives near a wind farm in Goderich, Ontario, said that once the turbines got rolling his health began to suffer. "I had problems with my heart, with my eyes, my digestive system," Marshall told CTV News. "It traumatizes the whole body".
Dr. Nina Pierpont categorizes this as "Wind Turbine Syndrome".
What health risks will we encounter? Will Toronto Hydro compensate us at today's fair market value if we are forced to sell our houses and move away as a result of health issues caused by these turbines?
Aesthetics
The Scarborough Bluffs and the eastern beaches form the last bit of natural shoreline left existing in Toronto. The area is full of parkland, beaches connected by pathways for walking and cycling. I suspect this area is as popular among tourists as High Park in the west end. Yet the City of Toronto is ready to sacrifice this pristine land for a mere 15-20 years of questionable power. Why?
The Conservation Authority has spent the last thirty years stabilizing the bottom of the bluffs and reconstituting the nearby land allowing this area to become a wild life sanctuary in the heart of a crowded city. Why does the city put so little value on such a green treasure?
Economics
Wind-farm owners are not responsible for providing the generators or the transmission lines that carry the electricity. That cost will be provided by Toronto Hydro and passed on to us. The costs of subsidies and tax breaks given to the wind-farm owners will also be passed on to us. Wind-farm owners in Ontario are paid 11 cents per kilowatt-hour. We now pay 8 cents per kilowatt-hour for reliable on-demand power.
Jay Wilgar of AIM a Toronto based wind developer said in reference to offshore wind development, "You need vast, vast, amounts of generation to offset the costs."
This project at best promises to generate a mere 1% of Toronto's energy needs .
Wilgar added, "There is considerable research and further study required before offshore wind development would be considered feasible."
Longevity
Wind turbines last 15-20 years.
Questions for our community and all Toronto.
Why would the province of Ontario and the City of Toronto risk over 1 billion dollars of tax payer's money on such a questionable project?
Considering the potential for severe environmental damage, and the certainty of using more fossil fuel to back up the turbines, how can any one call this project "green"?
The above points outline some of our concerns.
Even if Toronto Hydro were to attempt to answer any of our questions, we would not trust their answers because of the obvious conflict of interests. The entire process is flawed. Toronto Hydro does not have a mandate to create power and hiring a private company to cover for them should be illegal. Since the Ontario government has streamlined the environmental assessment process so as to allow the developer to choose the members of the environmental assessment team (The fox looking after the Henhouse) there are no checks and balances. Once they have permission to build the anemometer, there is nothing to stop them from building the wind turbines. That is why this project must Stop Now!
|
|
