Province Invests $500,000 in Renewable, Non-renewable Research
Nova Scotia is investing $500,000 in renewable and non-renewable research to help develop green energy such as tidal power and a better understanding of natural gas deposits.
Premier Rodney MacDonald said government's investment will make it easier to move forward on projects such as in-stream tidal power and create new interest in Nova Scotia's offshore oil and gas fields.
Premier MacDonald said $250,000 will be used to support a strategic environmental assessment for offshore renewable energy and an additional $250,000 will be used to make valuable geological data available online.
"Americans invested almost $30 billion in the alternative energy sector in 2006, which brings new meaning to the term 'going green,'" said Premier MacDonald during a speech today, Feb. 20, to members of the Offshore/Onshore Technology Association of Nova Scotia.
"We have, perhaps, the best tidal-power resource in North America and 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas potential, so we want to keep developing these resources for the benefit of Nova Scotia families and communities."
Energy Minister Bill Dooks added: "Our government is moving forward on the clean and green energy front and, at the same time, we are taking steps to support and build new opportunities in offshore Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia has tremendous untapped energy potential, and we're funding the science to show that potential in detail."
"This strategy is good for OTANS members, and we agree with the approach," said Barry Clouter, chair of the Offshore/Onshore Technologies Association of Nova Scotia. "This industry has huge upsides, and we need to do all we can as a province to maintain momentum and keep our member companies working in Nova Scotia."
The strategic environmental assessment will gauge the impact of offshore renewable energy projects in the Bay of Fundy, a crucial step in moving technology such as in-stream tidal closer to the water. The $250,000 grant is being offered to OEER, an offshore energy and environmental research association, to do an assessment.
The second $250,000 grant will be used to reprocess seismic data and make it available online through the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board's new data management centre. The reprocessing digitization work will be conducted by OETR, an offshore energy technical research association.
"These investments build on last year's $5.2-million commitment to strengthen Nova Scotia's own scientific community through our two offshore research associations," said Mr. Dooks.