Queen’s Park Switches To Renewable Energy

In an attempt to lead its province by example, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario government is taking a step in the fight against global warming by switching to clean renewable energy to cool Queen’s Park. As of Tuesday the legislature will use Enwave’s deep lake water cooling system, which takes water from Lake Ontario and provides a 90 per cent reduction in the amount of electricity required to keep the provincial legislature bearable during the summer months.

“Today’s announcement represents another step forward in our commitment to building a cleaner, greener Ontario for our future,” said provincial Energy Minister Dwight Duncan (pictured, right).

The deep lake water cooling initiative was started in 2005.

Also Tuesday, the Liberals also announced plans to phase-out potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substances in large refrigeration equipment. The announcement comes as discussions heat up about the addition of as many as eight new nuclear power plants to the two that already exist in Ontario. McGuinty says he wants to balance how much of the province’s power comes from nuclear reactors.

“What we’ve got in place now are 14,000 megawatts of electricity coming from nuclear generation and we said we’re going to hold the line on that,” he said. “The overall percentage over the coming years will in fact be reduced . if we can get away with more refurbishment and less new than I think that’s a preference.”

In 2006, Duncan suggested just two new reactors would be built.