Renewable

Renewable energy sources are those that produce electricity or thermal energy without depleting resources. Renewable energy includes solar, wind, water, earth and biomass power, and energy from waste.

ATCO Power owns and operates the Oldman River Hydro, which is a renewable water project. We have been actively reviewing renewable energy opportunities and ATCO Power is optimistic that some of these opportunities will be developed over the next few years.

Information on renewable energy can be found on the Natural Resources Canada website at www.CANRen.gc.ca. A brief description of the different technologies is provided below.

Hydroelectric energy is produced when water flows through a hydro turbine. It is dependent upon the hydrologic cycle of water, which involves evaporation, precipitation and the flow of water due to gravity. Canada has abundant water resources and a geography that provides many opportunities to produce hydro energy.

Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy that is present in the wind into more useful forms of energy such as mechanical energy or electricity. Wind energy potential is site dependent, because the amount of wind varies from location to location. Windmills that were used to grind grain are an example of early uses of wind energy.

Bioenergy is produced by the release of stored chemical energy contained in fuels made from biomass. Biomass is actually a product of solar energy that has been stored by the photosynthetic activity of plants. The plants remove CO2 from the atmosphere and combine it with water to produce biomass. Biomass is in many common waste products, such as:  agricultural waste; forest waste; municipal waste; and food processing waste.

Earth energy uses temperatures found in the earth or below water to cool or heat air and water for buildings. For example, a heat pump can extract heat from underneath the ground to heat a building. In the summer, the pump can be reversed to provide air conditioning by moving hot air out of the building and down into the ground. Earth energy is used widely in northern Europe, especially in the Scandinavian countries.

Geothermal energy uses steam or hot water in the earth’s crust to power turbines or to heat buildings or water. The earth’s crust contains a large amount of energy. The lava that flows from a volcano is a vivid example of the energy in the earth’s crust. If the local geography has the right features, geothermal facilities can be installed. The facilities capture steam as it escapes from cracks or holes in underground rocks.

Solar energy is energy from the sun in the form of light or heat. At any particular time, the available solar energy is dependent upon how high the sun is in the sky and current cloud conditions. On a monthly or annual basis, the amount of solar energy available also depends upon the location.