Greenpeace says solar power is the future

Ontario would be better served investing in green energy, such as solar power, than repairing and building new nuclear reactors, according to a report co-authored by the Pembina Institute and Greenpeace.

‘‘We’ve seen a rapid growth of green energy in Ontario,’’ says Shawn-Patrick Stensil, an energy analyst at Greenpeace Canada. ‘‘Green energy can be deployed quickly, nuclear energy takes at least 10 years.’’

The report, released in the beginning of September, comes at the same time as the provincial government is reviewing Ontario’s long-term energy plan.

According to the report, previous forecasts of Ontario’s energy demand have been overestimated.

By 2022, the demand of the electrical grid will have dropped to the levels of 1992 due to more efficient equipment and revised structures in the electrical grid, the report says.

The report also states that nuclear power cost 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, whereas green energy could produce the same amount of energy for just over 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.

But Ted Gruetzner, a media relations manager at Ontario Power Generation, says nuclear power is less expensive than wind power.

Nuclear power is a form of baseload power, which is the least amount of power used by customers in an electrical grid, says Gruetzner.

‘‘It’s cost-efficient. It provides a very different kind of energy [than wind power]. They’re playing different roles,’’ says Gruetzner.

Stensil says the current system is set up in a way where you buy your power from someone else, whereas green energy gives you more options.

‘‘Solar power allows people to be producers of their own,’’ says Stensil. ‘‘[It’s] going to change the whole market in Canada, and that’s quite exciting.’’

Photo: David Monniaux via Wikimedia Commons