Prince George Wins Award for District Energy System
By 250 News
Thursday, September 30, 2010 03:58 AM
Prince George, B.C.- The City of Prince George and District of Maple Ridge are winners of the 2010 Energy and Climate Action Awards for local governments.
Prince George won the award in the Community Planning and Development category for implementation of its Greenhouse Gas Management Plan, including development of a downtown district energy system and a community energy mapping project for residential buildings. The City addressed technical challenges, issues and perceptions around bioenergy and is now developing the downtown District Energy System (DES) with the support of the community. The DES is projected to reduce GHG emissions by 1900 tonnes per year, and particulate emissions by 100 tonnes per year.
The District of Maple Ridge won the award in the Corporate Operations category for energy efficiency upgrades to the Maple Ridge Leisure Centre and an innovative approach to information services (IT). Extensive retrofits of the Maple Ridge Leisure Centre, including use of solar panels for domestic and recreational water heating, reduced natural gas consumption by 47% and carbon dioxide emissions by 206 tonnes, while the IT project led to a reduction in electrical consumption of 230,000 kWh/year and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 4.6 tonnes.
The awards were presented at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention by John Yap, Minister of State for Climate Action. “I want to thank these communities because they exemplify how local governments across B.C. are being creative in the quest to reduce the size of their energy footprint and build resilient communities,” said Yap. “Local governments that become more energy-efficient are showing they can save money while responding to climate change.”
In accepting the award, Prince George Mayor Dan Rogers said “the District Energy System we are developing will help us capture a number of community benefits. These include a reduction in GHG emissions, improvements to air quality, long term energy security, and economic development opportunities that arise by having a readily accessible source of green energy for downtown.”
“The awards celebrate leadership of local governments taking action on climate change and energy. This year's winners demonstrate that energy planning, energy efficiency and renewable energy are possible no matter where you live in the province,” said Richard White, Co-Chair, Community Energy Association and Director of Community Development, City of North Vancouver.
Previous Story - Next Story
Return to Home
Britain’s leading scientific institution has been forced to rewrite its guide to climate change and admit that there is greater uncertainty about future temperature increases than it had previously suggested.
The Royal Society is publishing a new document today after a rebellion by more than 40 of its fellows who questioned mankind’s contribution to rising temperatures.