The $16.2-billion Mackenzie Valley natural gas project could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make Northern communities economically viable, proponents told the regulatory panel reviewing the project.

           The project “provides a clean source of energy,” Dave Collyer of Shell Canada told the Joint Review Panel as it wrapped up hearings on the proposed 1,200-km Arctic gas pipeline. Randy Ottenbriet, of Imperial Oil Limited, reminded the panel that many local communities also are looking to the project and the additional development it will bring to boost the economy in local communities.

           Nellie Cournoyea of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation – long one of the pipeline’s strongest…

           3^rd Annual Water and Land Management in Alberta: Dec. 10-11, Calgary. FMI visit http://www.insightinfo.com/index.cfm?ci_id=25128&la_id=1

           Western Canada Renewable Energy Forum: Dec. 10-11, Vancouver. FMI visit http://www.insightinfo.com/index.cfm?ci_id=25063&la_id=1

           2^nd National GeoExchange Business and Policy Forum: Dec. 10-11, Calgary. FMI visit http://www.centreforenergy.com/outsideNav.asp?
href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egeo%2Dexchange%2Eca%2F&template=1,0

           Aboriginal Energy Forum: Dec. 10-11, Toronto. FMI visit http://www.insightinfo.com/index.cfm?ci_id=25134&la_id=1

           GreenXchange Leadership Conference: Dec. 10-11, Los Angeles. FMI visit http://www.greenxchangexpo.com/live/50/

           Nuclear Power International: Dec. 11-12, New Orleans. FMI visit http://npi07.events.pennnet.com/fl/index.cfm

           Carbon, Cash and Climate: Jan. 15, Calgary. FMI visit http://www.cpican.com/seminars_16353.php

           Canadian Oilsands Summit: Jan. 16-17, Calgary. FMI visit http://www.insightinfo.com/index.cfm?ci_id=25058&la_id=1

           CERI Training Courses:

. Introduction to the Natural Gas Industry:…

           A Calgary businessman wants to turn a hardy tropical plant into a new energy source for Cuba and other developing countries.

           Adam Gagnon, president of Crude Country Biofuels, is working on a proposal with the University of Eastern Cuba to generate electricity in rural Cuban communities using locally produced biofuels. He believes that the perennial Jatropha curcas could be used to produce plant oil that could be readily processed and used as a fuel.

           Jatropha, which can grow in wastelands and fertilizes the soil in which it grows, yields more than four times as much fuel per hectare as soybean and…

           Knives, forks and spoons made from potatoes are part of the mountain town of Banff’s strategy to manage waste generated in public spaces and from large public events.

           Banff deployed the biodegradable and reusable cutlery for Canada Day festivities last summer as part of the town’s “towards zero waste events” initiative, says Anne Ruzicka, regional recycle coordinator for the Bow Valley Waste Management Commission. The event also included compostable bags in bins for organic waste, and biodegradable drinking cups made of corn starch.

           Ruzicka and other speakers discussed the often-neglected opportunities for reducing waste in public spaces and from…

           Shannon Hames cuts bicycle tire inner tubes into purses with pizzazz – turning a profit at the same time.

           Neil Wiens’s company pulverizes otherwise waste drywall into a compost that farmers can use to counter the high amount of salt used in animal manure-based fertilizers.

           Hames and Wiens were among several entrepreneurs who spoke at the Recycling Council of Alberta’s annual conference, where participants learned that recycling trash is creating unexpected and environmentally friendly business opportunities.

           “Entrepreneurs are the backbone of the Alberta (economy),” Norm Jede, director of environmental products and services at Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry, told the conference…

           It is impossible for Canada to reach the greenhouse gas-reduction targets the country committed to in the Kyoto treaty, says a federal government advisory group.

           At the same time, the Stephen Harper government’s climate change plan overestimates the amount of emissions reductions the plan will achieve, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) says in a report to government.

           The federal government’s Climate Change Plan and Statement “will result in carbon emission reductions during the 2008-12 period,” although it’s likely the plan “overestimates the extent of emission reductions . . .,” the NRTEE says in its report. “With respect…

           Lack of clarity over which jurisdiction has authority to manage air quality in Prince George, B.C. has contributed to the city having some of the worst air in the province, according to a task force report and local residents.

           The Prince George Mayor’s Task Force on Air Quality Improvement, released in October, says the city has among the highest levels of dangerous particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) in the province. It recommends that the city ask the provincial government to create a standard for fine particulate matter that can be used to issue air quality advisories, and that both jurisdictions…

           The Alberta government is providing $30 million for research on water, amid warnings by a U.S. expert that the province needs to learn from California’s mistakes to ensure the long-term, sustainable management of water resources.

           The research funding is being provided through Alberta Ingenuity by the Alberta Water Research Institute, which has issued its first call for proposals to tackle some of Alberta’s most pressing water-related environmental issues, including habitat decline, biodiversity loss, water flow and water quality.

           “What we are really looking for is research that can be translated directly into stakeholder information and practical applications for water management…

           The B.C. Ministry of Environment issued more tickets and reported more convictions for environmental offenses during the first half of this year compared with the same period last year.

           There were 41 convictions reported in the first two quarters of 2007 – more than twice as many as during the same period in 2006, according to the ministry’s second Quarterly Compliance and Enforcement Summary for 2007. The number of tickets issued totalled 731 – up from 679 from the same period last year.

           The ministry also issued 10 orders in the second quarter (April 1 to June 30, 2007) to…

           The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) has issued an enforcement action against Suncor Energy Inc. over flaring and venting of sour gas from the company’s $2.1-billion Firebag in situ oilsands project.

           The EUB said that Suncor is in non-compliance with EUB requirements, because the venting exceeds allowable levels specified in Alberta’s ambient air quality objectives for hydrogen sulphide. “The EUB views this as a serious non-compliance, and has ordered Suncor to immediately implement measures to correct the situation.” The action comes after joint inspections by the EUB and Alberta Environment.

           Until the Firebag project is in compliance with EUB requirements, no operational…

          The Alberta Court of Appeal has granted Carbon Development Corp. and EnCana Corp. leave to appeal an Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) decision that allows coalbed methane drilling on land where the ownership of the resource is disputed.

           The court granted Carbon Development (previously known as Luscar) and EnCana leave to appeal on three points related to the EUB’s assertion that natural gas in coal is separate from the coal itself – effectively making the gas public property.

           At stake is ownership of trillions of cubic feet of coalbed methane (CBM) on so-called “split title” lands where one party owns the gas,…

           The Woodland Cree First Nation in northwest Alberta has launched legal action against Royal Dutch Shell’s proposed expansion of its Carmon Creek oilsands project in the Peace River region.

           A Woodland Cree delegation of about a dozen people filed a judicial review application in Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary, asking the court for a ruling that will require the Alberta government to hold “meaningful consultation” with the Woodland Cree about the granting of all oil and gas leases. The First Nation is also asking the court to order a halt to any Alberta Energy and Utilities Board approval of Shell’s Carmon…

           Noise pollution and its impact on energy sector workers and the public is becoming a big issue – from the toll noise takes on employee productivity to the opposition it generates to new projects.

           The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) issued a new directive on noise control earlier this year. And complaints about noise from wind turbines causing health problems have cropped up at several sites across Canada.

           Providing education and taking action on noise pollution is vital to improving not only the workplace, but also industry’s bottom line, says Boris Rassin, president of ATCO Noise Management Ltd., which…

           The Alberta government is making amendments to Bill 46 in the face of mounting opposition to its proposed legislation to create a new utilities regulator, but critics say the changes don’t go far enough.

           As EnviroLine went to press, the government was planning to use closure in the legislature to limit debate on the legislation, which will split the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) into two regulatory bodies. A new Alberta Utilities Commission will be responsible for regulating natural gas rates and electricity transmission, while a reconstituted Energy and Resources Conservation Board will be in charge of regulating oil and gas facilities.

          …

           AltaLink Management Ltd. is putting what it sees as a new energy- and land-efficient proposal for a new high-voltage transmission line from Edmonton to Calgary before the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB).

           AltaLink’s original proposal called for a 500-kilovolt transmission line to be constructed alongside two existing 240-kV lines. The new option is to add a new row of transmission towers on the 330-km right-of-way that would carry both the new 500-kV line and one of the existing 240-kV lines, alongside the other existing 240-kV line. The company then would remove the centre row of 240-kV transmission towers – leaving…

           Canada needs to be a global leader in responding to climate change and protecting its environment and sovereignty if the country wants to be a true energy superpower, says a senior official with the World Energy Council (WEC).

           Very few countries have Canada’s rich diversity of energy supplies and electricity-generation base, Gerald Doucet, WEC’s secretary general, said in an interview. “But on the other side – in terms of water management . . . protecting Canada’s sovereignty in the North, our role in the debate on climate change, for example – Canada hasn’t been in the vanguard. And my argument…

           Wayne Henuset, co-founder of nuclear energy proponent Energy Alberta, has sold all major concessions of a project to bring nuclear power to Alberta to Ontario-based Bruce Power.

           Those concessions include the rights of the land, the site application and the exclusive agreement with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Henuset told the Calgary Herald at the end of November. Energy Alberta will now be dissolved, and a new special purpose vehicle will likely be set up by Bruce Power to move the project forward, he said.

           Privately held Bruce Power operates six nuclear units and is in the process of…

           Emerging “pebble bed” nuclear reactor technology would be a much better fit for supplying energy to Alberta’s expanding in situ oilsands development than Canadian-made CANDU reactors, two international experts say.

           Pebble bed reactors are not only safer and easier to build, they are “right-sized for the Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) operation in terms of temperatures and pressures that are needed for the steam injection in the ground,” Andrew Kadak, nuclear engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said in an interview with EnviroLine.

           For supplying high-pressure steam to a 40,000 to 60,000 barrels-per-day…