Farms
Kingston: 3rd Annual Conference on Biomass for Energy
The Great Lakes Bio-Region: Market Opportunities and Carbon Pricing
Ban Righ Hall, Queen’s University
Register today for the Early Bird Rate $375 ($425 after April 16, 2010)
Demands for low-carbon sources of energy mean that governments are crafting policy and committing funds to biomass, and businesses are making decisions and allocating their resources. The biomass industry is changing as quickly as it grows, and it therefore remains crucial to share information and to highlight best practices, challenges and successes.
Caution urged on lending land for solar installations
Perth EMC / Amy Hogue / 18 February 2010
Since the FIT program's introduction in 2009, newspaper ads have appeared in local papers aimed at enticing rural landowners with large, open fields to lease these fields for staggering amounts - up to $12,000/acre/year. To put this in perspective, an acre of land can support approximately 1,500 - 100 watt solar modules, which will generate about $80,000 in gross annual income. Over a 20-year contract period, that's a total of $1.5 million.
Overview of the FIT and microFIT Programs - Making Money from your Rooftop
The Green Energy Act, the Feed in Tariff Program (FIT), advantages for Eastern Ontario businesses and homeowners, and key considerations such as determining if your roof is suitable, finding solar contractors, and getting started.
Location: Rideau Canal Museum, 12 Beckwith St. N, Smiths Falls (http://www.rideau-info.com/museum/)
Please note that parking immediately adjacent to the museum is limited, so allow a few extra minutes to park on Main, Chambers or Beckwith Streets, or in the lot by the lock.
A tall order for the Ontario landscape
Toronto Star / Mary Ormsby / 07 February 2010
Industrious 19th century shipbuilding was a source of pride for locals who watched the Royal George and an armada of other craft roll off the Royal Naval Dockyard docks into the great lake.
It's also a reason why Queen's University professor Andrew Graham will plant 5,000 seedlings this spring on his Lansdowne, Ont., property about 50 kilometres from that historic Kingston naval cradle.
Off the Grid and Thriving!
Mother Earth News / Cam Mather / February/March 2010
As we begin to experience the converging challenges of resource depletion, climate change and the ongoing financial crisis, we need to make ourselves more resilient to shocks to the system.
If you do decide to go off the grid, generating your own electricity from the sun and wind provides an incredible sense of well-being — not only from a sense of independence, but also from the realization that you aren’t using any electricity that comes from coal. Powering your home with renewable energy is a huge step toward reducing your carbon footprint. We started with a fairly small solar-electric system that the previous owners of our home had installed, and we’ve steadily added more panels. As we learned more about peak oil, we were determined to reduce our use of nonrenewable fossil fuels for both cooking and powering our gasoline generator. There are times when there isn’t enough sunlight or wind to charge our off-grid batteries, so we use a fossil fuel-powered generator as a backup.
[ Hat tip to SWITCH ]
Webinar: How Climate Change May Affect Your Farm
Presented By: Bano Mehdi
Theme: Agriculture & The Environment
What does climate change mean for a farm? How can farmers make sense of all the climate change information to safeguard their enterprises today? Despite some of the negative impacts that climate change will have on agriculture, the agricultural sector is also presented with several opportunities. Both the potential negative impacts and the opportunities will be discussed.
