An Ottawa greenhouse operation has hit a hydro snag in its attempt to mimic Mother Nature. SunTech Greenhouses in Manotick had installed a million dollar L-E-D lighting system to grow produce year round but after doing the math, the owner decided not to flip the switch.
Two years ago, SunTech installed row upon row of L-E-D lights in one and a half acres of its greenhouses. It was an expensive experiment trying to mimic Mother Nature. The problem is the sun is free; hydro not so much.
[…]
What’s happening here is happening to greenhouse growers throughout Ontario. Soaring power prices was one reason why NatureFresh Farms recently expanded into Ohio.
Peter Quiring is the CEO of NatureFresh Farms, “You know what’s really crazy?” he says, “In Ohio, we’re buying power for what Ontario is paying other jurisdictions to take that power. So instead of expanding here, we’ve expanded there using our power, so to speak.”
h/t Maz2
So sad the same thing is happening in Manitoba, we sell our left over hydro to Minneapolis at a cheap rate then buy it back when we need it at a higher rate. How stupid is that, is there no way to store this left over hydro energy. If they can store the solar power energy why not the hydro energy produced from other sources!! Why are we building more dam’s at billions of dollars and selling the power to the states at cheap rates!!
Why would anyone want to be able to afford to grow produce locally when you can just burn millions of barrels of oil to truck it in?
Jeez.
Power storage technology is the weak link for just about all technology right now. Even a modest improvement in battery technology would have huge ripple effects. The biggest single problem with solar and wind is the inability to efficiently store the intermittent and low wattage energy they produce.
Growing tomatoes during an Ontario winter is not economical. Worse if you are depending on government controlled hydro.
I suspect that are other subsidies he received… buying the lights, modifying the greenhouses, etc… all paid by the taxpayers.
The biggest single problem with solar and wind is the inability to efficiently store the intermittent and low wattage energy they produce.
I’ve been examining renewable energy systems for the past 25 years. Ideally, they would produce just enough power to meet the load demand at any given time. However, they can produce more than needed, but not all of it can be stored in batteries due to limits on charge currents.
Similarly, those systems might have a shortfall but there might not be enough available from the batteries either due to insufficient capacity or limits on the discharge current.
When there’s not enough from both the primary sources or batteries, auxiliary power will be needed, unless there’s some capability to shed some of the load.
…….unless there’s some capability to shed some of the load.
Why, yes there is. That is what smart meters are for.
Right about now, it should be common knowledge that for the social engineers the math is not only hard, the concept is entirely foreign to them.
One question here is just begging to be answered, social “engineers”?
Are you kidding me?
They could not “engineer” a kindergarten class.
As for the socialists, who it appears are in power full time now and include the social “engineers”, they completely sidestep any questions that involves addition and subtraction, as in mathematics, of the money that they strip the working stiffs off and the money they spend on their pet projects in self-aggrandizement.
Of course the problem is with many of the working stiffs thinking that the stuff they get from the ruling class after the ruling class strips most of the wealth off for themselves, is free.
That is how the ruling class keeps in power.
What are complaining about ? This is GREAT NEWS! for the eco-Socialists and Gaia-worshippers ! Raising energy prices to unaffordable levels not only serves to FREEZE more humans to DEATH … but now it may STARVE people to DEATH by limiting food production in greenhouses. The Eco-fascists must be cheering wildly as the central tenet of their religion is drastic human population reduction.
Unaffordable energy prices are contributing to more DEATH and destruction than even the wildest eco-ghoul dream.
The greater irony is the fact that their operation in Ohio is partly being powered by cheap power Ontario gives away on windy days when supply exceeds demand. Demand being down since so many companies have left because of high electricity costs.
As Ayn Rand said (paraphrased), the only difference between socialism and communism is that the former is suicide because it arises from the ballot box while the latter is simply murder. Canada and most of western civilization has opted for suicide but murder still exists at the margins. Ontario and Quebec are leaders in this trend. The ROC follows accordingly. Castro’s young buddy, the Spawn, personifies the phenomenon.
This business has been a viable enterprise for a dozen years or more, producing quality tomatoes, peppers and other produce, and employing a steady work force, Obviously they were able to make a a profit before Ont enacted draconian legislation to ensure electricity price escalation and a carbon tax to increase gas inputs. Even without the switch to LED lights, the story mentions a gas increase for Jan of $6200 directly related to Wynne’s carbon tax.
The unintended consequences of a carbon tax should have been obvious to consumers; food is one of the very first items to pass along the tax in the form of higher prices. Whether the Ont greenhouse industry is forced out of the market or not, the imports from Mexico and elsewhere are also affected by higher diesel prices. There is no escaping higher food prices for consumers; Wynne, Butts, Trudeau might have considered this before embarking down the green Utopian road
of reduced carbon usage.
And all of these higher food prices will affect world climate patterns how? Wynne and the others should have this question drilled at them daily, Not that they would have any answer but it would be nice to see them try.
Kathleen Wynne should retire as Premier and open up the Wynne School of Business. With government subsidies I’m certain she would become the number 1 business school in Canada. She would probably even get a trophy.
Such smug Eco arrogance….bottom line sonny boy, is cost. The ECO madness that has overtaken this country’s Politicians, primarily propelled by Gerald Butts and a totally False presumption that CO2 is heating the planet, will destroy Canada.
But you carry on with your idiocy….the adults will soon change direction once we elect an Intelligence capable of actually running the country.
But you CAN indeed store the energy…. On days of excess generation by Diverting your excess production into hot water storage..?? A common thing among small producers…ie: a guy with 2 – 15′ mills, a bunch of Starrett single Volt Batteries and a Xantrax Inverter…… and thats the rub. Wind Generation on an industrial scale is wholly UN-Economical (especially considering the initial FIT was $ 0.82/kwhr)….the exact situation Ontario finds itself in…And for what.??
Why..? for cleaner air.? To reduce CO2 Emissions.?? The rank stupidity is overwhelming here….and what is maddening, is that They knew Damned well what would happen…they only had to look to Spain, Denmark and Germany for insight. But no, the Ideology took root thanx to Gerald Butts and now look at Ontario – a destitute wrecked landscape of insane Hydro rates, broken dreams, no manufacturing and absolutely NO INVESTMENT….dying on the vine.
He(Butts), continually instructs our child emperor to implement the same…So if there ever was a TRAITOR to the Canadian Public it is Mr. Gerald Butts. I would see this MoFo hanged.
Such poor reading comprehension….. the bottom line sonny boy, is SARCASM.
Only someone with a severe case of Sheldon Cooper disease could possibly interpret that post to be from an Ecotard. I think that makes YOU the one demonstrating idiocy.
You’re assuming that voters are intelligent. They are entirely complicit in Ontario’s downward spiral, which didn’t just happen overnight. And look what’s happening in Alberta. Canada itself is going down the same path.
There needs to be a shake up in Canada not just at the political level but cultural as well. Canadians need to demonstrate that they can see right through silly election promises and instead recognize substance over hair style. Trudeau’s latest failure of a PR tour gives me some hope. I remain to be convinced that that will continue through an election cycle.
Really…not so sure I would call that Sarcasm…. More like you actually would prefer to pay higher prices for boutique tomatoes….? thats the way I read it. If you are offended…that’s unfortunate…maybe try reading your own posts..??
As Whine incurs more debt I wonder at what point in time do the creditors start pondering if there is a risk of default or are they just waiting for an increase in interest rates to put the screws to Ontario?
You’re just being pissy because you don’t like it being pointed out that your assumptions were dead WRONG.
Sad, but I understand.
But you CAN indeed store the energy…. On days of excess generation by Diverting your excess production into hot water storage..??
I’ve come across all sorts of ideas for storing excess energy. Batteries, however, are the most popular as they are readily available, they’re well-understood, and they’re compact.
The main restriction is the limit on the charge current. Keeping below that value prevents, in the case of lead-acid batteries, the formation of hydrogen. The question is what to do with the energy that’s left over after the batteries have either been charged or the maximum input current has been reached.
One possibility is an alternate storage method, but that is often cumbersome or impractical (e. g. pumping water into a reservoir). Another is an auxiliary load which will operate only if there just happens to be enough power available, such as, say, an air conditioner or a heater, depending upon the weather.
Part of the difficulty is that there’s unlikely a solution that’ll fit each situation as there could be an infinite number of combinations of load and available energy. What works for one system and location might not be appropriate elsewhere for something else.
Sad eh..yea well it is what It is. Seriously though, I did take it verbatim…in my eyes, it was written that way….most would use a /sarc off..? Anyway…small matter.
I will however apologize for use of “sonny boy” which was uncalled for.
cheers…I think we are both on the same side of the issue….”Language / English comprehension” notwithstanding….lol
Fair enough, and I will try not to assume in the future that an obvious attempt at humor/sarcasm is indeed that obvious to everyone. Always nice to interact with someone on the web who in the end has the class to ratchet things down instead of up. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Ontario: old Onondaga word meaning “hemorrhoids”.
Canada, a sub arctic country wouldn’t even have an industry that grows tomatoes under glass in the winter without huge subsidies. It turns out the subsidy industry has been trumped by the ‘green’ industry.
“Wynne, Butts, Trudeau might have considered this before embarking down the green Utopian road of reduced carbon usage.”
They did & that’s why we are doing it. Wreck the economy & depopulate Canada. Been the Plan all along & started by Maurice Strong & like minded elites.
How about that capcha: farm stop lol!
don’t blame the wynndefarm. blame the clucking chipmunk hudak for a truly, exceptionally disastrous ‘campaign’.
marching orders from the hardline right wing AMERICAN ‘thimk’ tanks. ya it ‘tanked’ alright. maybe that was the plan all along to get companies to abandon Ontario and move south of the 49th via their bad advice via hudak the clucking chipmunk.
Same Observer…Not interested in a pissing match…it usually ends with one or both getting soaked…! Not exactly something I’m keen on. I will enjoy the rest of my day and similar sentiment to you…6 more hrs to go …inspecting pressure vessels and then its weekend / fine wine time.
I look forward to your next bit of sarcasm…lol.!
cheers
My better half wonders why the greenhouse owner didn’t do the math on hydro costs before he invested $1 million in state-of-art electric lighting. Woman’s logic – LOL.
Re: Storing of energy… it’s called a dam. Considering that the generators at Niagara Falls (Adam Beck) are idle so the taxpayer can buy power from those solar farms and bird choppers at a higher rate.