Green Nova Scotia First (GNSF) is urging both the Federal and Provincial governments to carefully reconsider initiatives promoting Nova Scotia as a ‘global leader’ in hydrogen and ammonia production. GNSF acknowledges the importance of renewable energy development but believes that pursuing reported 'green' climate change solutions should not come at the expense of our environment, biodiversity and quality of life.
GNSF has identified problems of both local and global concern regarding the hydrogen/ammonia industry:
The proposed hydrogen projects will do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Nova Scotia. Everwind Fuels has estimated that only 10 to 20% of the wind energy produced may be directed at reducing our province's heavy reliance on fossil fuels. The rest will be used to power hydrogen and ammonia production for export.
These projects may even increase our overall greenhouse gas emissions through the loss of forests and wetlands and their carbon storage capacity, as well as through the energy-intensive process of building the components of the projects.
We urge that all renewable energy in Nova Scotia be used directly to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels before any exporting projects are considered.
Nova Scotia needs a comprehensive landscape-level plan. Provincial and Federal leaders are promoting Nova Scotia as a global leader in reported green hydrogen/ammonia, but they have not done their homework to determine where these large wind turbine and hydrogen projects could be developed with minimal negative impact. A landscape-level plan will provide a comprehensive strategy to manage and conserve our natural resources, such as water, soil, and wildlife habitats, across large areas. This approach will take into account various factors like land use, biodiversity, and human activities to promote sustainability and balance in Nova Scotia’s landscape. Multiple projects close to one another must consider cumulative effects and density impacts. The Province must also develop specifications and requirements to regulate all wind energy projects to ensure that all Nova Scotians are protected consistently.
Economic and social impacts. The large industrial wind turbines that power hydrogen/ammonia projects require the destroying of thousands of acres of land. This threatens wildlife, ecosystems, trails, recreation opportunities, tourism, economic development, natural beauty and quality of life. The cost of these impacts does not receive the critical consideration it deserves in economic or social assessment reports if and when these reports are completed at all.
The scale and size of the proposed hydrogen projects represent a considerable risk to Nova Scotia communities’ land and water. Hydrogen production through electrolysis technology at the proposed scale has not been tested. In addition, proposed projects are based primarily on the delivery of ammonia exports, which, according to industry analysis by Michael Liebrach, are very expensive and energy-inefficient.
Hydrogen/ammonia projects require massive taxpayer-dollar support to be economically viable. Julie Levin, associate director for national climate at Environmental Defence Canada, has referred to these hydrogen ventures as “subsidy harvesting projects.” To date, the federal government has allocated hundreds of millions to hydrogen export projects in Nova Scotia, even though these projects have yet to secure markets for their hydrogen export.
We urge all levels of government to reallocate these taxpayer dollars to incentivize Nova Scotians to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and invest in local green energy projects.
They compete with wind energy projects where energy is directed to reducing Nova Scotia’s carbon emissions. We are a small province. Large hydrogen/ammonia projects will require significant amounts of our wind resources. Reported ‘green’ hydrogen projects will compete for space on our energy grid, the best wind sites, workers, supplies, contractors and government support. They will leave little room for local wind energy projects that can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
These projects will require billions of litres of fresh water a year. What risk might this present to communities? How will it impact drinking water, the ability to fight forest fires, and other ecological impacts?
We question whether the NS power grid has the capacity to support hydrogen/ammonia projects and whether the extra energy produced from projects is directed entirely to domestic use. The current model, as proposed, calls for the export of energy—in the form of ammonia—produced by wind energy and hydrogen plants. At the scale proposed, the electrolysis plants will require constant energy to produce hydrogen. Given the recognized intermittent nature of wind as an energy source, how will these plants receive backup power? How will this impact ratepayers in the province? Will taxpayers be impacted by the infrastructure upgrades?