Finally home!

Hi everyone,

I am finally back in Canada. As much as I love travelling, I am very happy to be home with my family. This trip was amazing! I learned a lot of things I never knew before, and met people from all around the world with great ideas and stories to share about their country's success and efforts towards a better environment.

Since I've been home, I've had many people ask my thoughts on the fact that thousands of delegates flew from around the world, increasing their carbon footprints, just to meet with others like them to collectively agree on an action plan for combating global warming. My response has been simply that in order to come up with an agreement, world leaders and experts require a face to face meeting. After spending over a week at the Bella Centre, going to meetings and trying to get as much information as possible, I realized that this agreement would never be met over teleconferencing. The fact that these delegates care enough to take time out of their busy schedules to fly across the world for the cause should be admired, not criticized.

Just so you know, I will be presenting at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in January (email me for dates if interested). There will be other presentations to come that have yet to be confirmed. I am also making a transportation documentary, with a theme something along the lines of "Canada vs. Europe; what we SHOULD be doing". I will post this once it is finished.

Thank you all for your interest, and a special thanks to those who donated, encouraged, and helped out!

Copenhagen Accord

Hi everyone,

The Copenhagen Accord has been released. The conclusions drawn were less than satisfying. We need a very strong action plan to combat global warming. While this agreement is a good start, we must continue to work towards a solid solution.

The Accord has a few main points:
-Global emissions must be reduced to a point that will eliminate any human interference to the climate system.
-An increase in temperature must not exceed 2 degrees Celsius.
-Developing countries need aide in building resilience to the effects of climate change, and that developed countries will help financially.
-Countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol will meet their targets by January 31st, 2010 and will continue their efforts thereafter.
-Establishment of REDD+, to enhance the removal of emissions by forests, therefore reducing the rate of deforestation and forest degradation.

There is more to the agreement than what I have stated here, but these are the first few points that were agreed upon. As you can see, these are great starting points. However, they leave no incentive to further reduce emissions from the targets set by the Kyoto Protocol. In order for governments to act, there has to be a target to work towards. By signing this accord, countries are essentially saying that they understand the consequences of global warming, yet have no reason for actually reducing emissions. We need something more than this.

Until next time! :)

Wind Farm Tour

Hi everyone,

As many of you may know, Denmark is the leading country when it comes to wind power technology. They have about 5,200 wind turbines! Imagine! And yet none of the citizens seem to complain about this, much like we would expect Canadians to. It is said that on a windy day, the wind turbines could meet all electricity requirements for all Danish households, even during the peak hours of 5 to 7pm. This is amazing!

Almost 75% of wind turbines within Europe are located in Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Portugal and Denmark. Of course, Denmark has a massive off coast wind farm called the Horns Rev 2. It contains 91 wind turbines, with an estimated annual production of 209 MW. The Horns Rev 1 has 80 turbines, with a total capacity of 160 MW. A few members of our delegation were lucky enough to book a tour to these turbines (Horns Rev 1), to get an up close and personal experience.

The boat ride took only 10 minutes, and then before we knew it we were right under a gigantic turbine. Pictures do not do it justice. It was huge!! And surprisingly quiet. On the boat, we were given sandwiches and drinks, just to complete the whole experience. It was a little cold out, but a great day nonetheless. Check out Ryan's video below.

On the bus ride back to the Bella Centre the host of the tour was explaining to us the company's success stories. This company aims at introducing other countries to wind power technology, and is very happy when someone follows by their example. Only a couple of years ago, a representative from Ontario was here to find out more about this wind farm. He promised the Danes that he would push to have wind power in his province, and sure enough, only a few months later, this proposal was adopted. The Danes within this company are very proud of this. And it made us look good for once during this trip, which we were very happy about.

Until next time! :)

Meeting with the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin

Hi everyone,

We had the honour to meet with former Prime Minister Paul Martin Sunday evening. This was an amazing opportunity to hear his personal thoughts on the issues of climate change. Mr. Martin spends much of his time working closely with issues regarding the deforestation, as well as Aboriginal rights in Canada and Africa, among others. He gave a truly inspirational speech about his experiences and knowledge on the Congo basin and the reasons that local communities have resorted to the deforestation of the tropical rain forests. Unfortunately, Mr. Martin states, that the trees found in these rain forests are worth more dead than alive.

All in all, this evening was very educational, and we were all pleased to be able to have a more intimate conversation with Mr. Martin. He is clearly working very hard for the issues he feels are important, and has no doubt made progress with his efforts.

Until next time! :)

Beautiful Malmo

Hi everyone,

Sunday morning started off beautiful and sunny. The perfect day to go to Sweden. Malmo is one of the most popular cities within Sweden, only 30 minutes from Copenhagen. Fadi, Marielle, Ryan, Antoine and I jumped on the train at about 1pm. Of course by the time we reached the city centre it was dark and cloudy out.

This city is absolutely amazing. One of the first things we saw was a beautiful skating rink right in the middle of the city. There was Christmas music, children skating, pony rides, and lights everywhere. It was right out of a cheesy Christmas movie, but amazing to see firsthand. We went to a restaurant called Gozzip, where we tried a Scandinavian beer and some great food. Of course, we walked around the city, took pictures, and did a little shopping. But this wasn't the type of place you wasted indoors buying things. Regardless of the extremely cold weather, we had to take in the scenery. The architecture was amazing, with very modern brick buildings lining the streets.

We unfortunately could not spend much time there, but it was well worth going to. Very few cars on the road, mostly pedestrians and bicyclists as usual. Just the perfect city to spend a nice Sunday afternoon in.

Until next time! :)

Fun day of Shopping

Hi everyone,

This blog might make it sound like we took a day off. And I guess in all honesty, most of us did. Of course we did some work at the Bella Centre, had a productive meeting, did some Day 6 video introductions, and what not, but for the most part we decided to finally take a day for ourselves. Not everyone did this by the way. There are a few, including Liz, who worked all day.

At about noon, Ryan, Antoine, Marielle and I went down town Copenhagen to find a nice cafe for brunch. We ate at Kaffesalonen, which I think means Coffee House. It was great! We walked around for a bit down town until we had to get back for our meeting. On our way we heard that there were protests going on outside of the Bella Centre, and that we might have a hard time getting in. We finally got there, and found no protests going on near the entrance that we usually used. There were no security issues at all. It wasn`t until we left that we saw the huge crowd protesting right outside. It was unreal! I wish I had pictures to share, but I`m sure they would be easy to find on the Internet.

Mike and I went shopping down town after the meeting. We reached the walking streets at 5pm, and yet most stores were already closed, and it was completely dark out. This, of course, did not stop us from hunting down some open stores and buying some souvenirs :) Being down town is really amazing! The lights, the people, the lack of cars. A great place to just walk around for hours, which is exactly what we did.

When we returned to our apartment, Chris, our landlord, made a very Danish Christmas drink for us, called.. well I don't remember what it was called. But it was really good! He was telling us about the charity that he runs called ACHELP. This charity looks at helping people with AIDS. Truly amazing work. He also explained to me some of the Danish cuisine, which consists mainly of potatoes from the sounds of it :) I love it here!

Tomorrow we are off to Sweden for the day!

Until next time! :)

Interview with Mayor of Toronto re: Fossil of the day Award

Hi everyone,

Today was an interesting day at COP-15. Canada won the Fossil of the day award, AGAIN! This award is voted on by NGO's at the conference each day. It is presented to the country that has caused the most obstruction during the process towards the climate agreement.

So far, Canada has been on the top three list of ALL countries each day of the conferences. Today, not only did we win, but we won both first AND second place. This couldn't get more embarrassing! This is how the entire world sees our country. How do you feel about this?

Ryan was able to get a great interview with the Mayor of Toronto, David Miller, who was the lucky individual who recieved the award on behalf of our country. See the interview at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v207VsT-e9g

Until next time! :)

Waste to Energy Tour

Awesome hard hats!

Hi everyone,

Alex, Ryan and I went to a Waste-to-Energy Tour this afternoon. Very interesting! It smelt horrible, but we learned a lot about Denmark's efforts towards a sustainable future. This plant used incineration to dispose of a large percentage of the household wastes (after the separation of recyclable materials of course) and uses the energy to power thousands of homes. They also went through the emission reports, indicating that they are far below the requirements set by their government in regards to dioxin, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, etc. They have recently incorporated a mechanism to aid in the cleaning of the fly ash, and are continually looking to better their operations.

They also had a gasification unit on site, which was used mainly for wood chips, with the power being linked to the rest of the operation. This was obviously very interesting for me, as my Master's project is based on the use of a gasification unit for biomass conversion. I had to ask whether they were using the bottom ash in any way, which they are not. They simply "dispose" of it. However, they explained that there are other local plants who have been using their bottom ash as a soil amendment (kudos).

Well that's it for now. We finally were able to book the tour to the wind farm off the coast! Very excited about this!! We are having a dinner party for our delegation tonight. Ryan is cooking :)

Until next time! :)
Gasification Unit

Alex and Ryan enjoying the tour

Garbage pile

Metro Confusion

Ryan and Antoine in front of our apartment

Hi everyone,

We just arrived at the Bella Centre. We're currently having a quick YLC meeting to get all the facts straight about policy and communications. We are also organizing our delegation to ensure that we split up and cover as much ground as possible. I'm really excited about this, as we will learn so much more this way.

However, getting here was really interesting. First, our alarms didn't go off. Liz woke us up 10 minutes before we had to leave. Amazingly we were out the door in no time, went to grab some pastries at the bakery across the street (fantastic!), and caught the S Metro. We took the wrong the one, went the wrong way, got off, took the right one, switched to the M Metro, had to wait for at least 10 minutes due to "complications", finally arrived at the Bella Centre only to stand in line for what seems like forever. So all in all we were probably an hour late..

Tonight we are having a diner party so Mike and I are going grocery shopping soon. Can't wait to have some of Ryan's cooking!! Marielle made an amazing curry dish last night. Yum!

Until next time! :)

Meeting after Meeting

Hi everyone,

So today was quite hectic! We didn`t arrive at the Bella Centre until 11am, but didn't leave until 10pm. To start off the day, Marielle and I went to a meeting regarding the observation and monitoring of greenhouse gases. This meeting sounded like it would be very interesting and educational, and I expected there to be more about the actual technologies being used in our current society. However, this was not the case. They mostly spoke about the organizations who conduct the world climate research projects, including the Global Climate Observing System. They stressed the importance for global observations, including the need to support the research being done, as well as understanding the climate through modeling. It was a very educational meeting.

Next we attended a meeting regarding the greenhouse gas inventory. There was an EPA representative who spoke about the inventories that are already existing in developing countries and the need to improve greenhouse gas monitoring. Very interesting information was given at this meeting.

After this meeting we decided to go into the city for the first time to get a late lunch (really late lunch). We went to a great Italian restaurant (see Picture 1). Most people got pizza, I had a tortellini. We walked around for a little bit, but had to get back to the meetings fairly early.

The next meeting I attended was the most interesting for me. It was about the smart grids that are being implemented all around the world. A representative from California spoke about their initiatives and the importance of introducing smart grids. Just as a background on this, smart grids from my understanding are "an electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all uses connected to it". They have the capacity to include alternative energy sources, which is very important in today's economy. I won't get into many details, but it seems to be a great project to look into. One of our delegates raised awareness on the fact that Ontario seems to be leading the way in regards to smart grids. They have them already in place, working well from the sounds of it.

On that note, the following meeting I attended was in regards to the introduction of peatlands as a source of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions. There was a list that showed the countries with the largest peatland occurrences, where Canada is the second. However, Canada is not even on the top 20 list for the most emissions from peatlands. This was great news.

The rest of the night will consist of relaxing finally. We have a good group here right now, discussing what happened throughout the day, and figuring out what's happening tomorrow.

Until next time! :)

Biofuel Talk

Hi everyone,

My first day at the conference has been great so far. Registration didn't take as long a I thought it would. From there we went to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) meeting, which was really crowded and we didn't stay long. Afterwards, Ryan and I went to a talk regarding the Brazilian Sugarcane ethanol as a climate change mitigation effort. This was really interesting. They covered many different issues and projects concerning bioethanol production and use in Brazil, as well as what the EPA is currently doing (drafting final paper for renewable fuels regulations, and doing a life cycle assessment of greenhouse gases, both direct and indirect from the use of ethanol).

A representative from Sweden spoke about the increasing transport emissions in Sweden, increasing 30% recently. They set targets to reduce fossil independence by 2030. In order to do this they will begin by replacing fossil fuels with electricity, biofuels, and energy efficiency. The EU targets for 202 are to have 20% renewable energy and 10% renewable energy in the transportation industry.

One quote from a representative of Brazil was that "biofuels are not the silver bullet for climate change mitigation, but should be the driving force for sustainable development". This could very well be true. Biofuels have been looked upon in a negative sense due to the food security issues, as well as the fact that it takes a lot of energy to produce them. However, this is a very cost effective way of moving into an age of alternative fuels. In Brazil they use mostly sugarcane, whereas in the US the use corn. Whether or not one is better than the other, I don't know. But it seems that, based on our current technologies, growing certain feedstocks, such as rotation crops, would be a good next step. This is not the long term solution, but it is a start.

Ryan suggests that algae is the way of the future. This is the solution that will be sustainable in the long term. He is a pilot, passionate about alternative fuel. He has done much research on the use of algae as a biofuel, saying that it follows the three main factors that are required to produce what would be known as a true green energy source; socio, economic, and sustainable development. I agree with him; this should be the future of biofuel.

P.S. Don't walk in the bike lane.. lesson learned!

Until next time! :)

Finally in Copenhagen!

Hi everyone!

I've finally arrived in Copenhagen! It has been one of the longest days of my life. First, my flight was delayed from Halifax, then 3 hour stop over in Montreal, then 6.5 hour stop over in Frankfurt, got sick (probably airplane food), haven't felt great since, got lost when I got off the Metro in Copenhagen, bag handle broke while I was trying to find my way around, and.. well I think that is it.

I am beyond tired so I think I will take it easy tonight. Probably going to fall asleep pretty soon.

Copenhagen, from what I have seen so far, is beautiful! As soon as I got off the Metro there was a side walk filled with bikes that you can just take to get to your destination. They seem to have realy figured things out here. The Metro was really easy to understand too. And there's bike lanes on every street. Amazing place!

Until next time! :)

Bonjour from Montreal

Hello again,

Just arrived in Montreal. I love the fact that there's Internet everywhere now! Never a dull moment when you have a laptop with you. Might make this trip a little easier to handle.

So as promised I've started reading this book, and will provide my comments and feedback on it up to now. I've only got through the first couple of chapters (it was a short flight), but I really like it so far. Andrew Weaver seems to be a very acknowledged scientist, with a background filled with climate research, writing for the IPCC Assessment Reports (IPCC AR4 can be accessed from http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report.html), and teaching at the University of Victoria. He nicely outlines the skeptism that scientists are faced with, due mainly, he states, through media outlets. He goes into the scientific method, which I refuse to touch on, as many of my scientist friends know can be a very boring topic to discuss further. He uses this section as a reason why scientific literature is sound science, yet how the media turns it into debatable opinions, rather than facts.

I just had to through in this image of the front page of the Sun in 1995. The article's title is "Oceans Rising 150 Ft. & flooding coastal areas - Will your city Survive?". In the small list of "shocking map inside shows danger zones including:..." Halifax is actually included in this. So I thought it was worth while throughing it into this post. The point that he brings up in regard to this article is the fact that, first of all, the Statue of Liberty stands some 300 ft. tall, not including the land that the statue is mounted on. Therefore, for the water levels to reach her chest would take the water rising 250 ft. Anyways, just an interesting way of showing how the media works at grabbing the public's attention. (By the way, he goes on to disprove this entire worry of the water rising to this extreme).

So what are your thoughts? Is the media really this bad? Or is it just a result of a tabloid, which can never be trusted? Media is always an interesting topic to get into, and I'm curious to know what people think about the news that we listen to every day.

More updates on the book and my travels to come.

Until next time! :)

At the Airport

Hi everyone,

So I'm sitting at the Halifax Airport right now.. just waiting.. Andre dropped me off, and he just left a minute ago. I miss him already! It was hard to leave Sophie today. But I know she's in good hands. I just have to remind myself.. only 2 weeks..

My flight has only been delayed 30 minutes so far, which is great considering the snow storm we are getting. I just bought a book "Keeping Our Cool" by Andrew Weaver to keep me occupied during this trip. I'm sure I'll have it finished before I land in Copenhagen, so I'll give you my review tomorrow. It looks interesting, talking about the science behind global warming and how the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change works, as well as the media's effect on the public knowledge. The great part about the book is it's based on Canadian perspective and the future for Canadians in particular. Should be a good read! Here's a quote from the back of the book that I think is relevant this week:

"It's a compelling read that will arm you with the sense that there is much we can do as individuals and as a nation both to slow global warming and to prepare for its climactic consequences, provided that we keep our cool"

This works on so many different levels. First, we need to work together, as a nation, to make things happen. Second, each one of us as individuals CAN make a difference, we just need hope. Third, there are consequences that we are not prepared for, and this could be very devastating to our way of life. We need to prepare ourselves for any possible outcome. Just this from the back of the book? Can't wait to read the rest!

Well I guess I should get on this plane now. I'll be in Copenhagen in 22 hours... what a long day!

Until next time! :)

Leaving for Copenhagen Tomorrow!

Hi everyone,

So I leave for Copenhagen tomorrow! I think I'm all packed, probably forgetting something but what can you do. I finished my last exam yesterday, so I've finally had time to get excited about this trip. However, I've also had more time to think about how much I'm going to miss my family, especially my baby and boyfriend. I'm getting nervous about not being around Sophie for 2 weeks! I don't know how I'm going to manage.

But other than this, I'm all ready to go! I'm in shock that in only a couple of days I'll be sitting in a room filled with some of the world leaders that I admire and people who share the same concern about the environment as I do. It'll also be really interesting to here what other people's ideas and concerns are. I still can't believe that I've been given this opportunity.

I land in Copenhagen monday evening at 5pm (Copenhagen time), so I'll probably be at the apartment by 8, if all goes well. I'll post again when I arrive.

Until next time! :)

Town Hall a Success!

Hi everyone,

Last night we held our Town Hall "Your Earth Your Say - Canadians for Copenhagen". I couldn't have asked for a better night! A great turn out, great ideas, and just a lot of fun. Dr. Ralph Martin, moderator of the event, put together a great way of sharing ideas and insuring that everyone's voice was heard. We gathered in groups of 4 and did role playing activities to discuss policy that should be implemented to aid in the fight against global warming.
My mom was the MC of the night. She did a great job, although it will be the last time I allow my mother to introduce me at an event! :) Mark Austin also had great things to say. I am really interested in the Cool Truro initiative, and am glad to hear that it's working!
We had a few groups show up, including the Campus Sustainability Initiative, Cool Truro, Young Liberals of Canada, and Ecology Action Centre. All of these groups had great displays showing demonstrating their community action against climate change. I'd like to thank them all for coming out last night.
I would like to give a special thanks to those who helped me organize this event, including Jenna, Alisha, Stephanie, Becky, Mike and Sarah. You guys helped me so much with everything, and I really appreciate it.
Finally, thanks to everyone who came out and gave opinions and comments
this cause.

Until next time! :)

Getting Ready for COP-15

Hi everyone,
I'm leaving for Copenhagen to attend the UN Climate Change Conference in only one week! I'm going to blog about everything that is going on, both before I leave and while I am there.

I'm getting really excited about this trip! I'm still in shock that I've been given this opportunity to go to what will be one of the most important environmental conferences of our time.

This Monday we are holding our Town Hall to get the public's opinions and concerns heard. It's looking like the place is going to be packed, which is so nice to see! It shows how important our environment is to Canadians.

Other than this, I am just finishing up my school work. The last day of classes is this coming Friday so there's lots to do in the next few days. Packing will have to wait until all school work is done.

Follow this blog to find out more about COP-15. I will be posting hopefully everyday with my experiences and what I am learning.

Until next time! :)