The Northwest Powerline Coalition May 29 released “Delivering Green Power to Northern British Columbia,” an updated report based on a 2008 document by the Mining Association of B.C. Delivering Green Power to Northern British Columbia provides a detailed and timely overview of the environmental and economic benefits that the proposed power line along the Highway 37 Corridor will have for northern B.C., and all Canadians.
The global economic crisis, coupled with increasing concerns regarding climate change, and the availability of new information related to many projects and communities that will benefit from access to reliable power along the corridor prompted the update of the report.
The British Columbia government has committed $10 million to complete the environmental assessment process for the power line and will invest a further C$250 million to construct the line if additional partners can be secured.
Planners estimate that immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions from the shutdown of current diesel generation combined with the estimated avoided emissions from the generation of green energy of approved and licensed run-of-river projects from Terrace to Dease Lake would total 208,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, or the equivalent of nearly 35,000 automobiles.
Emissions avoided by powering all of the area’s potential mining projects off the power line grid instead of using diesel – the only current alternative – would exceed 3.7 million metric tons of CO2 per year, or the equivalent of removing 629,000 cars from the road.
