Dr. Mark Jaccard presentation in Nanaimo, May 27, 2002, Tom Hackney, Sierra Club of BC

Several hundred people (rumoured: 500) came to hear Dr. Mark Jaccard present the Vancouver Island energy analysis prepared by himself and Rose Murphy, both of Simon Fraser University Energy and Materials Research Group. How often is it that an economist gets enthusiastic applause from an audience? Dr. Jaccard was frequently applauded, both at the public presentation at the Port Theatre and by the people who crowded into the Nanaimo City council chambers, spilling out into the hall and stairway.

The gist of Dr. Jaccard's and Rose Murphy's study is that we don't have to go the natural gas route in order to meet Vancouver Island's energy needs over the next few years, and in fact, the GSX-CCGT alternative (i.e. the GSX pipeline plus combined cycle gas turbines located on Vancouver Island) may only be marginally cheaper in conventional economic terms than an alternative strategy of: a) renewing the electrical cables to VI; b) developing alternative, lower-emissions energy around BC including: cogeneration (largely small-scale); small hydro; and wood waste combustion to produce energy. When you add the fact that the GSX-CCGT plan ignores cost factors such as: air pollution and health effects; global warming; greenhouse gas offset liability; the risk to Vancouver Island of becoming dependent on gas for our electricity, the low emissions alternative has very significant advantages.

While the public was very positive about Dr. Jaccard's presentations, it was harder to read the Nanaimo City Council. One council member seemed to think Jaccard was proposing to replace the Duke Point gas-fired electricity plant with cogeneration plants in the Duke Point area. Questions were raised about emissions from cogeneration, so that Jaccard had to explain that with cogeneration, the idea is that the gas is already being burned to produce heat and releasing emissions, so why not use the gas to generate electricity as well, in effect getting two kinds of benefits from burning the gas once.

Whether council understands or agrees with Jaccard, they will have noticed the spillover crowd. People cheered and clapped in an orderly way during the presentation, and at the end chanted, "Say no now."

Good Energy: Standing O in Nanaimo!