Daily Archives: April 8, 2009

04.08.09
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Trash, trains and Talbotville

Ian McCallum

Ian McCallum


Posted by Ian:
One year ago, on May 17, in the St. Thomas Times-Journal, I dedicated a considerable portion of my weekly City Scope column to an interesting speculative exercise. I am reprising that column, and a follow-up response from a key City of Toronto manager, in the belief there are new developments with the property in question located south of Talbotville. Here is the initial observation …

Three intriguing tales of trash, trains and Talbotville have entwined themselves over the past month to the point you would swear they spawned from the same source.
Follow carefully as City Scope sifts through the facts for a common thread.
As reported in yesterday’s T-J, the Green Lane Environmental Group, owned in part by Bob McCaig, sold its waste collection, recycling and materials recovery business to BFI Canada Inc., in a move effective May 1.
Continue reading →

04.08.09
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One-quarter of all corn grown in the U.S. is now used to make ethanol

A new Congressional Budget Office study estimates that one-quarter of all corn grown in the U.S. is now used to make ethanol, and the CBO found that production is pushing up food prices.

However, the CBO did find a reduction in vehicle emissions from the increased ethanol use. Full story

04.08.09
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Scientific surprise over water-hungry ethanol

Scientists from the University of Minnesota are reporting that production of bioethanol — often regarded as a clean-burning energy source of the future — may consume up to three times more water than previously thought.

“Water Embodied in Bioethanol in the United States,” scheduled for publication in the April 15 issue of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) journal Environmental Science & Technology, comes at a time when water supplies are scarce in many areas of the United States, the ACS said in a press release about the study.
Full story

04.08.09
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Feds to provide funding for Red Deer ethanol plant

Permolex, Red Deer, Alberta

Permolex, Red Deer, Alberta


Earl Dreeshen, Member of Parliament for Red Deer, on behalf of the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, announced today that the Government of Canada will provide up to $23.2 million through its ecoENERGY for Biofuels program to Permolex Ltd.

“This investment is an example of how our Economic Action Plan is working for families in Red Deer,” said Mr. Dreeshen. “This will help create local jobs and economic opportunities for local businesses, both of which are more important than ever given the current global recession. In the long run, increasing our supply of cleaner fuels will also reduce greenhouse gasses and contribute a healthier environment for all Canadians.”
Full story

04.08.09
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Natives urge Port Stanley harbour cleanup

Fishing tugs in Port Stanley harbour

Fishing tugs in Port Stanley harbour

Aboriginal voices have joined the call for the federal government to dredge and remove contamination from the harbour at Port Stanley.

The Walpole Island First Nation is even willing to do the work and bury contaminated soil at a secure site on its land along Lake St. Clair, a representative said.

The Walpole Island First Nation claims the harbour and western Lake Erie as its own.

Members of Walpole Island have been watching as Transport Canada and Central Elgin continue talks that may see the harbour turned over to the local municipality. The First Nation has adopted a wait-and-see attitude as talks continue and its land claim lawsuit sits in the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario.

“We are very concerned about our harbour and we want to make sure the contamination is dealt with and there is dredging,” said former chief Dean Jacobs.
Full story