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EDMONTON
SUN By THORUNN HOWATT Entrepreneurs hot under the collar about natural gas costs are heating things up with coal instead. The move helps the bottom line but carries its own challenges - and annoys the environmentalists. St. Albert Greenhouses manager Chris Wirblich, 41, said he's been using coal since 1985. "At that time there was a huge increase in gas. Costs doubled in about two or three years, but nothing compared to now," he said. Natural gas prices more than tripled over the past winter compared with a year earlier. When Wirblich's energy costs skyrocketed to $26,000 in 1985, he was convinced it was time to start looking for an alternative. "Right now we save two-thirds over gas. Our coal costs work out to about $14,000. It's helped us stay in the game." Wirblich said coal heating does have its downside. "The greenhouse effect," interrupted Wirblich's 12-year-old daughter Michelle Kenny. "And the fly ash is annoying," Wirblich said, referring to the coal's dirty grey byproduct. He spreads most of the ash on local roads. Wirblich said his furnace has a firebrick afterburner to make the coal burn hotter and more efficiently. "And there's less smoke. When it's below -20 C, it's like a gas furnace. White smoke." Wirblich recalled a potentially more serious problem - a fire in 1986 that cost $6,000 in damages, caused by accumulations of ash. "We had no ash box. We didn't know any better back then." The damage was contained in the furnace building and didn't spread to the greenhouse. Wirblich said the set-up cost is higher than gas. He estimated it cost $35,000 in 1985 to switch. "We can still run on gas if we have to but I'm sure the price of coal won't go up like gas," he said. The greenhouse pays $35 for a delivered tonne of coal from Dodds Coal Mine. It's the only small coal mine left in Canada, said operator Don Bowal. The mine is located near Riley, about 90 km east of Edmonton. "A small mine means anything less than 45,000 tonnes," Bowal said, adding the family-run mine produces between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes per year and has been operating since 1905. Bowal said coal sales have gone up since natural gas prices headed skyward. "We sell to farmers and acreage owners." He said it's difficult to use coal in urban areas because lots of room is needed to store it. "There's and unlimited supply of coal," said Bowal, who sells it for $27 to $30 per tonne." "And there's only 7% ash in our coal." The sulphur content is only 0.05% he added. Sulphur is the key factor in acid rain. Environmental concerns were on Aaron Falkenberg's mind when he decided to switch his Skyline Poultry Farms barn over to coal in December at a cost of $65,000. "These new boilers are very efficient," he insisted. He said emissions are one-third the amount allowed under government guidelines. "We use the ash in our yard. It makes great gravel," said Falkenberg. But environmentalists feel differently. "It's basically and unfortunate switch," said Matthew McCulloch, and eco-efficiency analyst at the Pembina Institute in Drayton Valley. "It there are going to be any metals in the coal, they can show up in the ash. It gets carried away by the rain into the water system and the crops". He said fine particles are suspended in the air and that could lead to respiratory problems. McColloch said there are cleaner alternatives, like solar-thermal energy which has a 10 year payback. But when faced with the choice of coal or gas, McColloch said, "it's hard to say one is better or worse than the other because both are bad." Environment Canada has no regulation now for small coal-heating units like the ones used by small businesses, according to Ernie Belanger, owner of Nova Metal Tech of Sherwood Park. Family-owned Nova has been making coal-burning furnaces since 1990, "but they've picked up this year, since gas prices have skyrocketed," he said. "Everybody's looking for alternatives. A competitive edge," he said, adding sales are up 50% in the last year. "They're quite efficient. I won't say pollution-free - but clean burning." Afterburners made of firebrick are built into the system to reignite unburned gases. "It will get so hot that it will ignite flu gases that need a higher temperature to burn," he added. Smoke is the telltale sign of an inefficient burner but fireplaces are the worst culprits. "Before they start regulating our units, Environment Canada will have to regulate fireplaces."
Trevelles Contracting Ltd. RR#2, Site 3, Box 9, Kingman, AB T0B 2M0 |