Go Geothermal Saskatchewan!

This post will be Saskatchewan specific, but if you’re from another province or state, check with your energy provider to see what their protocol is!

Ok so FIRST… here is a quick re-cap on what Geothermal Energy IS...
It is energy that can be produced by extracting the earth's internal heat.

“Ok, sweet… now how do WE in Saskatchewan harness the Geothermal Energy... ?”

By using a Ground Source Heat Pump - a central heating and/or air conditioning system that actively pumps heat to or from the ground. It uses the earth as either a source of heat in winter or as a coolant in the summer!

“Awesome, I want it soooo now what?...”

-In order to install Geothermal Heating in your home or community we must first consulting with a contractor, as your geothermal system must be designed and installed by qualified professional.

-There are a number of venders in the province who will sell you small-scale environmentally friendly electricity systems, however SaskPower working is working with the Canadian Geothermal Coalition (CGC) to promote Geothermal and accredit installers and drillers – to make sure the ground source heat instalments are safe and up to SaskPowers standards. So check into them first perhaps?! http://www.cgcgroup.ca/

…. And don’t forget in support of the province's Go GREEN PLAN, SaskPower has loan plans ($1,000 to $50,000 ) and rebate program (15% rebate) in place to provide Saskatchewan residents and business owner’s financial support for setting up their geothermal heating systems.

“NICE…. Sign me up”…

- But before you get toooooooooo excited the contractor may require a feasibility study to be done to ensure your building site/home location is suitable for geothermal heating.

- The total installed cost of earth-energy systems varies according to site-specific conditions, but can be up to twice the cost of a gas, electric, or oil furnace with add-on air conditioning. However, the initial installation cost should be recovered through energy cost savings within five to seven years dependent upon the system. But don’t forget the incentives being offered by SaskPower!!!!

“Yaaaaaaaaaa, I’m riding the geo train everyone join in”

If you have any further questions don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call SaskPower!

Think about it!

Heather & Chanel

Nuclear or Not-ear?

Unless you're living under a rock (with uranium as your bed... in which case you should move AWAY from us because chances are you are HIGHLY radioactive)... You should know about the controversial nuclear power plant being proposed in Saskatchewan.

There is a HUGE list of pro's and con's to the use of nuclear power as an energy source. This will be forever debated and mulled over whether it is approved or not. As a society trying to find sustainable ways of living, nuclear power has been proposed as a possible solution. Whether it's the best solution or even an appropriate solution is in question, but it is being proposed as "A" solution.

Public forums have been held across Saskatchewan, and continue to be held, and the government is surely on board (read the news, listen to their program... definitely on board). You have doooo voice, so get informed and use it. If you want to know more, do your research. If you don't care, don't! But if things go to h*** in a handbasket, you can't be upset, because you didn't at least try to. It is up to YOU AND ONLY YOU. We know most of you are cringing at us in this moment, thinking "another thing to add? "These girls have got to be kidding! We have children to feed, soccer to play, life to live!" But as our timeless theory says: add by subtraction. You make your priorities, so make them!

Soooo through our research, we have compiled a list of pro's and con's (NOTE: these are not OUR pro's and con's, but they are those of the general public taken from the news and the internet. We did this to help make your research a little easier, so here it is:

Con's:

-Uranium mines inevitably pollute their environment, tailings dams cause pollution through leakage.

-Uranium tailings retain almost all their radioactivity, which continues for hundreds of thousands of years.
-Uranium is potentially hazardous to miners' health.
-There is no safe level of radiation exposure.
-Nuclear wastes (as, or in, spent fuel) are an unresolved problem.
-The nuclear industry is responsible for horrific wastes which will endure as a nightmare for our grandchildren.
-Nuclear reactors are unsafe, Chernobyl was typical, and resulted in a huge death toll.
-Nuclear reactors are vulnerable to terrorist attacks like that on the World Trade Centre in 2001, waste and spent fuel storage is even more so.
-Insurance companies will not insure nuclear reactors so the risk devolves on to government.
-Nuclear power enjoys massive government subsidies.
-In the whole fuel cycle, nuclear power uses nearly as much energy as it produces.
-Transport of uranium and other radioactive material is hazardous.
-Reprocessing spent fuel gives rise to plutonium which is likely to be used in bombs.
-Mining Australian/Canadian uranium contributes to nuclear weapons proliferation.
-We cannot be sure that our uranium does not end up in weapons, eg in France or China.
-Nuclear energy makes only a trivial contribution to world energy needs.
-The capital costs of nuclear power are massive. The unsupportable debt created by Canada's Candu reactors has already surpassed $10-billion, not including additional billions hidden in the federal debt after decades of public subsidy.
-The consequences of an accident would be absolutely devastating both for human being as for in nature.
Pro's:
-Ideally, it could provide an alternative to the use of fossil fuels, especially coal-fired power plants that are high emitters of GHG and pollutants.
-Nuclear power generation does emit relatively low amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂). The emissions of green house gases and therefore the contribution of nuclear power plants to global warming is therefore relatively little.
-This technology is readily available, it does not have to be developed first.
-It is possible to generate a high amount of electrical energy in one single plant.

Think about it, Nuclear or Not-ear?

Chanel & Heather

Runnin' back to Saskatoon!

Hey Guys, well I’m back and although it was a wonderful trip I have to say I am happy to be home!

The pace of Toronto, (although fun for a few days,) is reallllly exhausting!!!

Between the commuting and the go, go, go attitude, the “I am to busy to smile and say Hello” feel you get from everyone when you walk down the street, I am remembering why I decided to move back to Saskatoon after school!

Although there are mannnny great things Toronto and the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) have and offer for the busy working class to keep the city working smoothly with great transit systems in place etc. At the end of the day I just don’t quite get WHY they do it? I mean let’s assess…

On average Torontonians commute 79 minutes for a round trip a day, which is equal to roughly 340 hours of commuting a year or two whole weeks. Yikes!!!

OK yes, there are definitely more job options and larger companies in big cities. And many people ARE driven to have the success and money and all that jazz…. But when (in my opinion) your life is like a broken record and you get up at the crack of dawn, commute, then worked 8 hours or more, and then commute again and by the time you get home you are exhausted so you hit the hay and you get up and do it all over again the next day?! Dang, after doing that for just one week I felt like I was ready for another vacation! How do they do it….??? WHY do they do it?!

Where as in Saskatchewan, where there are still many great jobs and we are the fastest growing province in Canada, and our average commute time is 15 min. max…. and people say “Hello” to you on the street, and there is a sense of calm even when walking downtown….. I will take that any day!

I know, I know... it's a truly different way of life, and “to each his/her own”, however I just have to say, I am truelllly thankful to live in Saskatoon!

When you take a look at your life and where you live, your lifestyle etc. how do you feel about it? I mean… do you feel like you are go, go, go’in it all the time? Or are you happy with the pace?

Send us some of your thoughts!

Heather