Live Small and Prosper Pt 2: The more solar projects the better

The government of Ontario - duly-elected and much-loved - would like its citizens (that includes me, over here in Wortley Village, London) to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel energy sources.

So, it’s facilitating the building of wind turbines and solar panel projects (19 solar arrays are expected to proceed as early as 2011), and offering green-energy producers really good prices for every kilowatt-hour they send to the electrical grid.

The more the merrier, I say.


[“Could these line any of our 1000s of corn fields?”: link to photo]

The Ontario projects will reportedly “translate into hundreds of millions in total construction value (think the green economy), and as many as 2,500 Ontario jobs (think green jobs and freshly minted green backs), because at least 60% of the components must be Ontario-sourced” for green-energy producers, e.g., Recurrent Energy from the US, to qualify for the premium return on their dollar. (Aug. 30, London Free Press)

It’s not a bad economic process for Ontarians.

Entice American or European companies to invest in Canada and grow jobs and a green economy in the process.

Why, pretty soon, our children and grand-children might be working for a company that is connected to a sustainable product and is providing 60 - 100% of the components.

Our homegrown pension plans - now knee deep in cow patties - might receive a boost too.

Green economy. Green jobs. A sustainable product.

It might cost us more for hydro now but, in the long-term, it’s a win-win-win situation.

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Do solar arrays spoil the view or are they the view?

Would you put solar panels on your roof if the price was a bit lower?

Will the price come down as some of the above projects go on line?

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