Brad, from Shawnigan Lake, wrote to SqWALK!, and said this:

Hi. I'm a youth from Shawnigan Lake and I'm doing an assignment on (the GSX) pipeline and I'm wondering if you could give me just a brief overview of why this is such a bad thing? And what some solutions would be.

Hi, Brad

Thanks for writing. I hope I can give you the information you need about the Georgia Strait Crossing Pipeline Project, which is usually referred to as the GSX.

I'll attempt here to be brief, but there's a lot of stuff to cover. If you want me to expand on anything I mention here, ask away.

British Columbia and Vancouver Island have been well served for many years by hydro-electric power. Decades ago we dammed many of our major rivers and created a cheap, reliable, environmentally benign source of power for the province. (If any of those dams were proposed today, they would not get environment approval, however, because we know how destructive big dams are to fisheries, water bodies, streams, local climates, etc. We are today the beneficiaries of environmental atrocities of yesterday.)

BC Hydro, the crown corporation that looks after electricity supplies in BC, owns and operates a number of cable systems that bring electricity to Vancouver Island from huge hydro-electric dams on the mainland. Some of them terminate up near Qualicum. Others terminate just north of Duncan (near the Highway 18 turnoff to Lake Cowichan).

Two of the systems that terminate at Duncan are wearing out.

BC Hydro believes that instead of replacing the cable systems, they should build a natural gas pipeline to Vancouver Island. The pipeline is to fuel three electricity generation plants.

The first of the plants is called Island Cogeneration Project. It's in Campbell River and is just now trying to start up. They're having trouble with it, but hope to have it running at half capacity or full capacity by December or January.

This is a "cogeneration" plant, which means that it burns gas, which turns a turbine, which generates electricity and heat. The heat is used to make steam, and the steam is used in the Elk Falls pulp mill nearby. So, it produces both electricity and steam - cogeneration.

The rated capacity for the Island Cogen plant is 240 megawatts. How much power is that? Vancouver Island uses about 2200 megawatts. All of British Columbia uses 11,000 MW.

The second plant is planned for Port Alberni. It is also 240 megawatts. The companies who were orginally going to build the plant have dropped out, and BC Hydro is now looking for new partners. They hope to have this plant running by 2003/2004.

The third plant is scheduled for 2006/2007 and some BC Hydro documents say that this plant is intended for Duncan. BC Hydro will not now state where they hope to put this plant - just that Duncan is what they call a "planning contingency". This will most likely be a 660 megawatt plant.

Your question was, what solutions are there, if we do not believe the pipeline is a good thing. And you are right. We do not believe that the pipeline is a good thing.

We include the three generation plants together with the pipeline in most of our discussions, because the pipeline is not necessary without the plants, and the plants can't run without the gas from the pipeline.

But first we need to talk about global warming, greenhouse gases, and talk a bit about natural gas.

Global warming, as you may have heard, refers to the earth warming up. As the earth warms up, many things happen and none of them are viewed as good. Entire species of living things are dying off. World climate patterns are changing, with more drastic effects - hurricanes, floods, and so on. Many respected scientists and governments believe that ability of the earth to support human populations is declining, because of global warming.

Global warming is caused, it is believed, mostly by human beings. When we burn wood for heat, or gas to run our car, or oil and coal and natural gas to generate power, we contribute to global warming. These are called "fossil fuels" because originally they were living things, that have transformed over millions of years into "hydro-carbons". The gases that we create when we burn these hydro-carbons are called "greenhouse gases". That is because when they get into earth's atmosphere, they act like a greenhouse, and keep heat in, warming up the earth.

With greenhouse gases it does not matter where on earth we create them. Greenhouse gases created in Australia warm the Arctic, and so do greenhouse gases created on Vancouver Island. This is a global problem and needs a global solution. Other types of air, soil, and water pollution are local in their effect, but not greenhouse gases. When we make them, we truly affect the whole earth. That is why, in 1997, most nations of the earth met in Kyoto, Japan, and agreed to reduce greenhouse gases around the world. The agreement was called the Kyoto Protocol.

Since then, Canada has done nothing. Our greenhouse gas production has increased, a lot, since then, and continues to increase.

Now, to reasons why we do not need the pipeline and the generation plants:

1. There is not enough demand for electricity to justify these projects, and there are alternative ways to provide electricity on the Island

2. Actual demand for electricity has been level or growing modestly on the Island. BC Hydro's projected increase in demand is not accurate.

3. There are many things we can do, with the support of BC Hydro, the provincial government and our communities, to moderate our use of electricity. We use it very inefficiently right now, because it is cheap and plentiful and we have some very bad habits. We leave lights on. We heat all the rooms in our house. We use electric dryers instead of hanging our clothes out. The whole subject of how we use electricity, is called "demand-side management".

4. The aging cable systems should be replaced so we can continue to use the electricity from the dams on the mainland.

5. We should be getting into progressive or alternative ways to generate electricity in a much bigger way than we are. This also needs the support of BC Hydro, the provincial government, and our communities. In many parts of the world, wind power is being generated in a serious and significant way. There are other progressive technologies, including tide power, solar power, fuel cells, small hydro projects, that we could exploit, if we made up our minds to do so.

There are many problems with the pipeline and the three gas-fired generation plants. Here are some.

1. The pipeline is proposed to run through good working agricultural land. With a pipeline in place, that farmland loses a lot of its value and use.

2. The pipeline is proposed to run through sensitive marine environements, including some areas that are already, or are proposed to be, protected areas.

3. Pipelines are extremely unsafe. Much like years ago nobody thought cigarettes were so unhealthy, we are today only beginning to realize that pipelines pack a real threat of explosion and pollution. Every couple of days a natural gas pipeline breaks in North America. Every four days, someone is injured. Every seventeen days, someone is killed in a pipeline incident.

4. Georgia Strait and Vancouver Island have earthquakes all the time. We are in a high risk area for a really big quake. The pipeline will not be able to withstand that force.

6. Burning natural gas, which is what will happen in the generation plants, creates all sorts of nasty pollution, including sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides, benzene, formaldehyde, and tiny particles of matter that are responsible for many health problems in people and animals.

7. Burning natural gas creates greenhouse gases. The three generation plants on Vancouver Island will produce 4 million tons of greenhouse gases every year. Your family car probably weighs about one and a half tons. Stack up 2,666,666 cars like yours, and that's how much greenhouse gas we'll be putting into the air, every year, from these three plants.

8. Natural gas is made up mostly of a gas called methane. Methane leaks wherever natural gas is stored or shipped in a pipeline. The greenhouse gas effect of methane is 21 times worse than that of natural gas when it is burned.

So, what do you think of that? The greenhouse gas issue is huge. As I mentioned at the beginnng, in BC we get most of our electricity from hydro-electric dams. We don't create a lot of greenhouse gases in making electricity. With the Georgia Strait Crossing pipeline and the three gas-fired generation plants, we will suddenly start. Why would we do that? We know how bad it is!

It's like you don't smoke now, so why would you start?

Here are a few references for you, if you want to read more about these subjects:

SqWALK!, where you and your friends can get in touch with us. http://www.sqwalk.com/
A general overview to the subject. http://www.sqwalk.com/GSX_overview.pdf
GSX route map and other maps. http://www.sqwalk.com/GSX_maps.htm
The official Georgia Strait Crossing (GSX) pipeline project website. http://www.georgiastrait.twc.com/
Global Warming, and Greenhouse Gases. http://www2.ec.gc.ca/pdb/ghg/english/ehome.html
The Kyoto Protocol. http://www2.ec.gc.ca/pdb/ghg/English/eKyoto.html
Pipeline Safety. http://www.sqwalk.com/PipelineSafety2.htm
Earthquake Information. http://www.pgc.nrcan.gc.ca/seismo/hist/large.htm

Do you mind telling me what school you go to, what grade you are in, and your teacher's name?

Is this part of a project that you are doing with your class? Are other students working on the same subject?

Would your teacher like us to do a presentation to your class?

Thank you very much for writing

Arthur Caldicott
arthur.caldicott@sqwalk.com