Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Fundy tidal power workshops

In January, I blogged about potential tidal power demonstration sites on the Nova Scotia side of the Bay of Fundy. Now the New Brunswick Department of Energy is partnering with the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership (BoFEP) to conduct a series of public open houses about tidal energy in Fundy coastal communities. These sessions are part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of possible tidal power development in the Bay of Fundy.

Within the next week or so, these public forums are taking place in Alma, Moncton, Saint John, Grand Manan Island, Campobello Island, St George & Deer Island.

Background materials about tidal power will be available at these sessions and will be placed in local libraries and municipal offices. There's also lots of info & a session schedule on the BoFEP website.

With 100 billion tonnes of water moving through the Bay of Fundy with each tide, tidal power (assuming that its impacts on Fundy's ecosystem are few - which is, as yet, unknown) has the potential to be a big source of sustainable energy production in the future.

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