Energy Expo

Friday, 23 January 2015 06:07

Four keynote speakers were on hand Wednesday night for the 2015 Sustainability Energy Expo in Woodstock

WOODSTOCK - Over 200 people descended on the Quality Hotel and Suites for the 2015 Energy Expo Wednesday afternoon.

Director of Business Development for Faromor CNG Murray Logan was on hand todiscuss the possibilities of natural gas being used as fuel for vehicles. While this seems like a huge step for Canada in the fuel industry, the results from the United States have shown great success. Logan stated that this fuel source would cost significantly less than what we currently pay at the pumps. "One of the things that we want to do is build an awareness and the opportunity for people or fleets and municipalities to use natural gas or bio gas as an alternative."

Helmut Schneider President of Oxford Community Energy Co-op spoke on their new initiative, Gunn's Hill Wind Farm, highlighting that over the next year ten windmills will appear in the area, which tests have proven pose no health threats.

"We are very excited to have community involvement in a project called the Gunns Hill Wind Farm and that the project is due to built in 2015 hopefully we will complete that construction by the end of this year or the beginning of 2016 and produce renewable energy for this county for over 6000 households for the next 20 years."

John Rood who took the stage to promote solar thermal energy, and Oxford Gardens is one of the largest locations that uses solar thermal energy in this area from heating the indoor pool to providing air conditioning in the summer months. Rood pointed out why solar thermal energy is an effective tool to benefit from.

"Solar water heating can be used for much more than just heating water, we can use it for air conditioning in the future we will be able to use it for producing electricity and that there is so much more than just heating water."

Rolf Maurer, owner of a Solar Energy Service broke down how one could afford putting in solar panels on their home or business. Even though they will assist in saving money, it is important to get them regularly checked to make sure they are running at full power. "...by putting a solar system on there with an income of about $4000-5000 I can pay for my utilities, I can pay for my guards, I can pay some of my taxes s now I have a home that is actually providing for me with doing a one time investment with it."

Even though they will save you money in the long run, Maurer highlights it is important to get them checked annually to ensure they are running at full power. "...they do require very little maintenance but we still recommend once a year to at least have someone looking at to see if the metering is going okay, all the electricity connections are done, if the panels are functioning. Specifically with every new product we find failures within the first 3-6 months."