cogeneration facility in Windsor, Ontario. As well as producing primary electricity from natural gas, waste heat in the form of high- and low- pressure steam is piped into the adjacent Ford Motor Company plant to be used for both electricity generation and processes requiring steam. Steam condensate from the Ford powerhouse is returned to the main plant and recycled once more. Construction is expected to start soon on the York Energy Centre ( YEC), a 393- MW natural- gas- fired electricity generating facility that will provide power during peak demand periods in northern York Region. Currently the region receives its electricity supply via a 230- kilovolt line from the Clairville Transformer Station in Vaughan. Ironically, the one completely sustainable project completed so far has unfortunately been mothballed. The British Columbia government has developed an ambitious plan of creating a network of up to 11 biomass generation plants utilizing wood waste from the province's sawmill industry. The Mackenzie Green Energy Centre is an innovative wood waste project designed to produce 50 MW of electricity for the BC Hydro grid. Pristine Power, Harbert Power and Balanced Power Engineering have all been involved in developing an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable solution to meet BC's energy needs. Not only is biomass considered a sustainable source of energy in its own right, but in British Columbia it would constitute a neat solution for the damage caused by the pine beetle epidemic. Countless trees have been killed by the insect and are no longer of interest to the logging industry but would be perfectly suitable as biomass fuel. Unfortunately, the recession has curtailed the demand for logging products, and the Mackenzie site is currently devoid of a supply of waste material. In fact, the whole climate seems to have changed with the coming of the recession. Where once all concerned were gung- ho about building all manner of renewable energy sources, Myers reports that there is now a pervading apprehension that the world doesn't need Canada's energy. As a result, government wheels have slowed down ( if not completely seized up), and Myers is lamenting the lack of clear direction and firm policies around which he can build the future of his business. In the meantime, in true " half full" fashion, he considers that any shake- out of the energy supply industry as it stands at the moment might well lead to future acquisition opportunities. this approach was not considered green enough. It took some time, but eventually lobbying of industry groups, looking into carbon credits and which technologies should be considered green, paid off. Although the first proposal was rejected, two such compressor stations have been built in partnership with Enpower Corporation. Energy recovery generation ( ERG) makes use of the waste energy created as a by- product of many industrial operations. Pristine argues that it creates clean electricity with no incremental increase in emissions. In theses cases, the waste emanates from heat created by existing gas compressors on Spectra Energy's main natural gas pipeline. The ERG process captures waste heat and converts it to pressured vapor to drive a vapor turbine generator, and Pristine has built and jointly owns the electricity generated at two such plants in the same pipeline, almost 300 kilometers apart. Together the two projects produce 10 megawatts of electricity- enough to power approximately 10,000 homes a year while offsetting greenhouse gas emissions to the extent of 25,000 metric tons a year, equivalent to removing 9,000 cars from the roads. Although Pristine has a number of proposals in preparation or under consideration for run- of- river hydro schemes ( electricity generation that doesn't depend on the construction of a dam) and for wind generation farms, most of the construction carried out to date has been on greener versions of gas- fired generation. Natural gas is generally used on plants greater than 50 MW. It's a process that delivers highly reliable regional energy compared with unreliable and intermittent sources of power such as wind and solar. Gas generation provides a firm and quick response on demand and is therefore ideal to fulfill peak demand. Pristine has just brought on stream an 84- MW Pristine Power Inc. JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 205 Vollmer, a multi trade construction contractor providing quality services for more than 45 years, congratulates Pristine Power on the successful completion of its East Windsor Cogeneration Centre. Vollmer is proud to have provided our construction services for this major accomplishment and look forward to working with Pristine Power in their future success. Vollmer

206 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 thepower of Corn two to It's the first company in the country using corn to produce food products and fuel in the same complex. April Terreri talks to the president of Plymouth Oil and Plymouth Energy to learn more