Last week I considered solar heating as a way of heating our
homes applying the usual economic grid. Solar heating makes sense economically,
but its economic viability is affected by projected energy prices, the ability
to add extra heat on the coldest, shortest days of the year, and perhaps a
willingness to modify lifestyle, that is, to demand our hot water when the sun
shines. Economics may be one reason to choose solar.
But a more powerful reason to choose solar is that a well
planned solar installation decreases vulnerability. There is a vulnerability
inherent in a dependence on energy generated or extracted thousands of miles
away, whether that is hydro from northern Manitoba
or natural gas from Alberta .
One hardly needs a vivid imagination to envision an electrical power
disruption. We experience some every year. The ones we have experienced always
are short, but what assurance is there that they always will be?
Similar things could be said about our supply of natural
gas. How many vulnerable spots are there along that pipeline from the gas field
in Alberta to
my house? I may not know what they are, but we all know they exist. That is
simply the nature of any constructed system.
Solar thermal panels on a south facing roof may not keep us
toasty warm on the coldest days of the year, but when used on a well insulated
house, solar panels will maintain an adequate temperature even on the coldest
days. Although a solar heating system is dependant on pumps to circulate the
fluids, but the system can be designed with a special photoelectric panel on
the roof to power the necessary pumps.
Perhaps the strongest argument for solar heating is that it
simply is the right thing to do. It is gentle, it does not require a huge
infrastructure, it affirms our link with the environment around us and it is
sustainable on the long run. Heating with natural gas is not sustainable because
natural gas is a fossil fuel. The amount of natural gas available is limited. Although
fracking technology has made it possible to access natural gas today that was
not available just twenty years ago, and although it may be that after we have
exhausted the shale gas deposits, other gas may be found, we have no assurance
of that. To live a lifestyle that conserves scarce resources for future
generations is living responsibly.
Getting the heat we need from electricity, whether it be
through direct heat or through a heat pump system does offer some
sustainability here in Manitoba ,
where our electricity is hydro generated. However our supply of electricity is
dependent on the flow of water through the Lake Winnipeg
system, and who knows what impact climate change will have on that.
Furthermore, we now know that building dams in northern Manitoba has an impact on the environment
and the people there that has not been considered by Manitoba Hydro.
Join us this Thursday, February 23, 7:00PM at the Eastman
Education Centre for a discussion of solar possibilities.
Eric Rempel
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