Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives

Creating Opportunities Consultations

Adding Value in Rural and Northern Manitoba

 

Alternative Energy

OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities in alternative energy production were talked about consistently throughout the consultations:

• Ethanol
• Methane gas
• Other biomass fuels
• Solar power
• Wind
• Biodiesel
• Hydrogen

There are a wide variety of energy opportunities in the province, from rendering animal fat and turning canola into biodiesel in Gladstone to biomass and pellet opportunities in Morden. Many Manitobans are interested in turning our energy advantages into opportunities for their communities. Agricultural producers are especially affected by opportunities that rely on converting agricultural products into energy, or by projects such as wind farms that require large areas of land.

Manitobans were supportive of existing provincial initiatives to promote alternative energy and harness energy from wind, ethanol and biodiesel, and conservation programs such as Manitoba Hydro’s Power Smart program. They also feel that there is more that government, communities and industry can do to take advantage of using Manitoba’s resources to produce alternative energy.

The Creating Opportunities Committee toured the St. Leon wind farm and saw the potential for revenue creation for rural communities as well as for individual landowners. St. Leon receives annual funding from the wind farm corporation that operates in the area. This money is used for local and regional economic development projects. There also has been an increase in tourism because people are drawn to visit this unique project.

CHALLENGES

• Financial – Participants spoke about their need for equity financing to develop the infrastructure needed for biodiesel projects, wind development and other opportunities. This is because high-capital ventures often exceed the investment capacity of local residents.
• Human Resources – There is a lack of skilled labour available for current alternative energy projects, which could hamper community efforts to develop future projects. Communities want more local training and apprenticeship to ensure resources are available for projects.
• Community Capacity – Participants indicated they felt the ability of communities to develop bio-energy opportunities is often affected by demographics such as aging and decreasing populations. Local projects can be hampered by a lack of local leadership, vision, confidence or teamwork. Communities across Manitoba are struggling to find ways to promote local co-operation and to work together with other communities to address these problems on regional levels.
• Infrastructure – Some alternative energy production industries may need expansion of existing infrastructure, such as upgrades to roadways, to accommodate heavy trucks.
• Regulations – There is a need for more regulation in some areas such as composting and burning of specific risk materials (SRMs). There is also a need to examine outdated regulations that may unnecessarily restrict alternative energy development. Some participants felt that local producers of electricity should be allowed to connect to the existing electrical grid and to enter into a standard price contract to sell electricity to Manitoba Hydro.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Communities, governments and industry should work together to:

• Develop policies that would simplify and encourage the participation, development and ownership of alternative energy production by agricultural producers and communities (ex: wind, biogas and biodiesel).
• Investigate capital support and/or tax credits to encourage participation in bio-energy development.
• Create a research fund to explore new alternative energy production in the areas of gasification, wind, biogas, etc.
• Strengthen the identification of labour and skills requirements, human resource planning and business development planning to meet rural human resource priorities in the alternative energy sector.
• Work with Manitoba Hydro to develop alternative energy opportunities that benefit rural and northern economies.

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