Baldwin : "crushing ignorance in the United States"

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

As you know, actor Alec Baldwin is also a supporter of the Tooth Fairy

Project, another magnificent pillar in the battle against crushing

ignorance.....



The project itself seems like a good idea -- it remains to be seen what Lake

Ontario's zebra mussels think of it, and whether Enwave's "hopes of starting

to earn a return on its deep-lake investment by 2008" will not be dashed

(not to say "crushed") by shortened equipment life (as opposed to

ignorance).....



Jaro



http://www.cns-snc.ca/branches/quebec/quebec.html



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



Project sends a chill through downtown; 

Deep lake water cooling begins Actor helps launch innovative system

The Toronto Star, Wed 18 Aug 2004

John Spears and Bruce DeMara

Toronto has launched its project to cool downtown buildings with cold lake

water on a torrent of hot air. 

Dozens of civic and business leaders jammed a stuffy room at the Steam

Whistle Brewery yesterday to hear a seemingly endless string of politicians

and notables, headlined by actor Alec Baldwin, laud the Deep Lake Water

Cooling Project. 

"What's being announced here is a miracle," gushed Baldwin. 

The miracle cost $169.6 million, the money being used to construct three

pipes thrusting 5 kilometres into Lake Ontario. Cold water is pumped from

the bottom and sent on to a heat-transfer station, where it cools water in a

separate network of pipes flowing into the air-conditioning systems of some

of Toronto's biggest office buildings. The treated lake water - now warmed

by one or two degrees - then flows into the city's drinking water pipes. 

(Don't expect your drinking water to get warmer because of the project. If

anything, it'll be colder, because water from the normal, shallower intake

pipes serving the city is typically at 12 to 15C, according to Dennis

Fotinos, chief executive of Enwave District Energy Ltd.) 

The project is the child of Enwave, owned 43 per cent by the City of Toronto

and 57 per cent by the OMERS pension fund. As of yesterday, it's cooling 20

buildings, including the Royal Bank Plaza, Toronto-Dominion Centre and Air

Canada Centre. But that represents only 32 per cent of the system's

capacity, Fotinos said. Clients include the Steam Whistle Brewery, although

Fotinos laughingly acknowledged that the air conditioning seemed to have

gone missing yesterday as the temperature climbed in the crowded room. 

"It's a small glitch; we'll get to the bottom of it," he said. Enwave is

already in talks with the Sheraton Centre, Bell Trinity Centre and Old City

Hall to add them. Ironically, the city is not looking to add the new city

hall to Enwave's client list, since it only recently overhauled its

conventional cooling system. 

But Enwave is talking with the province about running a new $14 million pipe

north to Queen's Park so lake water could cool the Legislature and nearby

government buildings. Signing Queen's Park would bring the portion of

cooling capacity in use to more than 50 per cent, boosting Enwave's hopes of

starting to earn a return on its deep-lake investment by 2008. 

"I look forward to the day when we sign the deal," said Ontario Energy

Minister Dwight Duncan, who has promised to cut his government's own power

usage by 10 per cent. "Not only will this deep lake water cooling project

save the province 59 megawatts of capacity - the equivalent amount of

electricity required to power 12,000 air-conditioned homes - it also stands

as a shining example of the enormous potential we see for energy-efficiency

programs and for alternative forms of energy." 

Federal Human Resources Minister Joe Volpe came bearing gifts a $10 million

low-interest loan for Enwave.

Baldwin, who has long campaigned for alternative energy in his native New

York state, heaped praise on everyone involved, hailing them as "heroes." He

also slammed businesses that are lobbying the province to back away from its

commitment to shut down Ontario's coal-burning power plants by 2007. And he

praised Canadian governments for backing the project. "For something like

this to succeed," he said, "you have to have a government that's not sitting

on top of you and crushing you with their ignorance, like we have in the

United States right now."