Re: Baldwin : "crushing ignorance in the United States"

[Bill Prestwich <prestwic@mcmaster.ca>]

The statement that the project has the potential to cool 12,000 homes

puts in perspective the effort for rather small returns. I think this

would be a pretty small fraction of the needs of homes, offices, and

plants in the greater Toronto area.

Bill Prestwich



"Franta, Jaroslav" wrote:



>

>

> 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."



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