The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Green, local energy beckons

Tyler Hamilton
The Toronto Star
08/18/03

It's when the meat in your fridge begins to rot and the milk curdles that you begin to think that, yeah, maybe a less centralized system of delivering power to our homes and businesses would be a good idea.

Tens of millions of Ontarians and Americans learned first hand last week how it feels to be dependent on a massive central power grid that "shock and surprise" is vulnerable to a cataclysmic shutdown.

And how does it feel? It feels bloody hot, actually, considering the absence of working air conditioning on some of the steamiest days this summer.

Isn't it time we become more self-sufficient with our power needs? In the process, we can stop polluting the air.

Environmentalists out there who have been early adopters of wind and solar technologies were more than willing to rub our noses in the dark as they bragged - and so they should - about how "untouched" they were by the whole episode.

"The hotter it gets outside the more power I have," said one boastful caller to CBC radio Friday, proud of her solar-powered independence.

Another solar convert only had one complaint with how the blackout disrupted his life. "The only part of this blackout that's bothering me is that my soap opera has been interrupted for news coverage," he said.

It's times like this when Ian MacLellan, president and chief executive officer of Kitchener-based Arise Technologies Corp., must jump for joy. With every event that painfully shows the vulnerability within the "grid" power system, renewable energy technologies gain credibility and attract more attention from homeowners and businesses. (Read on at: http://www.greatlakesdirectory.org/on/081803_great_lakes.htm)