Costco gets green light
Published Tuesday April 28th, 2009
Big box | Store planned for Corbett Centre
A1
By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
mclaughlin.heather@dailygleaner.com
Councillors have cleared Costco to build in the capital city.
The vote was unanimous Monday night to grant the approval for the store's construction at the Corbett Centre atop Regent Street.
"There was a well-rounded discussion and a tremendous amount of input from professional engineering organizations that specialize in watershed management and staff reports, so I'm very satisfied that it was well vetted," said Mayor Brad Woodside.
University of New Brunswick students, professors and citizens who belong to environmental lobby groups recently urged the city to reject the application.
The 38 groups and individuals who protested at city hall two weeks ago want a freeze on further development of the UNB woodlot and most oppose big-box stores.
Most of the land needed for the store site and its parking area already had zoning approval.
There was confusion two weeks ago about whether approval of a gasoline bar was part of the discussion. Woodside clarified that Monday night. The gas bar had been approved on a variance application that went before the planning advisory committee.
That meant the only issue for councillors to decide was whether to allow site developers to fill in part of a man-made wetland to expand the parking area.
"The gas bar has been approved and could be constructed tomorrow," Woodside said. "But we do have a lot of information on the gas bar and I think that's because there has been a genuine concern with respect to the environment."
While the city has been dealing with UNB's consultant on the application, Woodside said his next step will be to contact Costco to inform it of the decision.
"I'll ask them to get the shovel in the ground just as soon as they can," Woodside said.
Coun. Bruce Grandy had asked for a staff report on whether the Costco project, including the gasoline station, had any impact on the city's drinking water supply.
"It is reasonable to expect that any spill of significant volume to be considered a threat to the aquifer would be detected and remediated long before it had an opportunity to contaminate the city's drinking water," said the city's wellfield protection officer Kathy Edwards in the report.
Deputy mayor Tony Whalen said he has been assured that the developer is meeting all Environment Department approvals and that a 30-metre buffer zone around the marsh will be maintained.
"I'm confident in all the information we have received from all the experts," Whalen said.
That, coupled with information from Terrain Group Inc. about containment measures that will be adopted along with Costco's own policy on avoiding leaks and spills, was provided to city council.
"There are a lot of conditions, a lot of protections in there," Grandy said after receiving the data.
"There has been intense scrutiny on this application," said Coun. Dan Keenan. "We've spent a lot of time on this development proposal ... We do that because we have an environmental conscience."
Coun. Stephen Chase, who works in salmon conservation, said he has come to the conclusion that the development can be done in such a way as to protect Corbett Brook and the surrounding marsh.
Coun. Jordan Graham said the development is needed because of the downturn in the economy in North America.
"I think it will do a lot of good for our city," said Coun. Marilyn Kerton.
In 2004, UNB adopted a land management strategy to turn half of its 1,526-hectare (3,815-acre) woodlot in Fredericton into future development lands. Because its land is an endowment from King George III dating back to 1800, the university can't sell it, but can lease it.
The university has already leased land for a Home Depot and a number of other retailers.
Coun. Mike O'Brien said Costco is only one component of the development plan, which has had extensive public and government consultation over four years.
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Fredericton company hopes carbon is the new black
Published Tuesday April 28th, 2009
A5
By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com
A Fredericton company wants to take natural gas, one of the cleanest-burning fuels, and make it even cleaner using high technology and hydrogen.
And Atlantic Hydrogen Inc. is attracting attention from around the world in the process.
"These are exciting times at Atlantic Hydrogen," said company president and CEO David Wagner on Monday.
The company held an open house Monday to show off the latest stage in its research.
Atlantic Hydrogen uses plasma technology to pass an electrical current through natural gas, removing a portion of the carbon. The bonds of methane molecules are broken during the process to form solid carbon and gaseous hydrogen.
Some of the carbon is captured and removed and about 10 per cent of the hydrogen goes back into the natural gas. More than 10 per cent hydrogen would require modifications to an engine that burns natural gas.
Up to 90 per cent of the nitrogen oxide emissions are eliminated when the hydrogen-enriched natural gas is burned. Carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide have both been linked to greenhouse gases and climate change.
What's unique about Atlantic Hydrogen's technology is that the carbon is captured from the natural gas before it's burned.
In addition, the resulting hydrogen-enriched natural gas burns more efficiently and can be used in engines that use regular natural gas.
Wagner said the process removes seven per cent of the carbon and engine efficiency is increased by six per cent.
"What that really means is you are burning less fuel," he said. "We are getting all the benefits we expected."
The company is generating 75 kilowatts of electricity using a modified 454 Chevy car engine running on hydrogen-enriched natural gas and selling that energy to NB Power. It also uses the heat the process generates to heat the building in the winter
About a litre of pure carbon in powder form is generated a half an hour.
The company has raised more than $9 million since 2002 to do research and build a prototype of its carbon-saving technology.
That includes $2.2 million from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, $2 million from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, $3 million from Encana and $2 million from the province of New Brunswick.
"Atlantic Hydrogen is a true New Brunswick success story," said New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir.
The company has 18 employees and is located in the Wilsey Road industrial park.
Recently it operated on natural gas pressured at 150 pounds per square foot, the equivalent of 10 atmospheres.
"This has never been done before with natural gas under pressure," said Wagner.
Working with pressurized natural gas is important because natural gas distribution pipelines are all pressurized.
Wagner said one of Atlantic Hydrogen's carbon-saver units could be installed along a main pipeline or at a power plant leading into a city and every homeowner would benefit from hydrogen-enriched natural gas.
"Our goal is to scale the technology such that it can handle the volume of gas required," he said.
Wagner said he doesn't expect any problems in convincing the public that his technology can make natural gas even cleaner.
There's no problem for power companies to have consumers pay a premium from green energy such as hydro and wind power, he said.
"We believe a greener natural gas is kind of like a premium unleaded gasoline," said Wagner.
The next step is commercialization and Atlantic Hydrogen has set up a committee that will meet for the first time this week.
Wagner said the first small commercial application could be sold within a year.
"Most of our challenges right now have to do with codes and regulations," he said.
He said the cost will depend on the size of the carbon-saver unit.
Wagner said the pure carbon that's removed from natural gas may be valuable enough to pay for the operation of the carbon saver and more.
The University of New Brunswick is studying the value of the carbon right now, he said.
David Young is the vice-president of research and development with Columbian Chemicals near Atlanta, Ga. It has 11 plants around the world, including one in Canada. Young is on the Atlantic Hydrogen commercialization committee.
His company is interested in the carbon the Atlantic Hydrogen process captures.
Young said companies such as his have to burn oil and gas to create what's called carbon black. But half of the carbon is burned off in that process, he said.
"What we have here is a process that gives us 100 per cent carbon," he said. "It is an opportunity to produce our product using a completely different process to enhance our economics."
Carbon black is used in the manufacture of rubber, tires, plastic, window seals, paint, printer cartridges and anything that is coloured black, including clothing, said Young.
He said eight million tonnes of carbon black is used every year around the world.
"I am not aware of anyone else that is working on this type of technology," said Young.
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