49. 1 of 3 tidal power plants in the world

Tour Stop: Annapolis Royal

The Annapolis Tidal Power Plant is the only tidal power plant in North America and one of three in the world. It is located at Annapolis Royal on the Annapolis Basin, an inlet off the Bay of Fundy. The plant began generating electricity in 1984. Installed capacity is 20 megawatts and the plant generates between 80 and 100 megawatt-hours per day depending on the tides.

Because of its shape, the Bay of Fundy has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world and is therefore considered to be a prime location for tidal power generation. That, combined with the success of the Annapolis Royal facility, has prompted two new demonstration projects in the Minas Basin northeast of Annapolis. The Annapolis generating station only produces electricity as the tide flows out. Water from incoming tides is trapped behind a dam, and released through the turbine as the tide falls. Newer technologies now being tested, called in-stream turbines, do not require dams. They sit on the seafloor and generate electricity as the tide rises and as it falls.

Because Nova Scotia generates about 90 per cent of its electricity from fossil fuel fired thermal generation, tidal power has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by producing electricity from a clean, predicable and reliable source.

50. 1797-1864 father of invention

Tour Stop: Halifax

Abraham Gesner developed a method of separating liquid fuel from coal. Called fractional distillation, the process involved heating the coal, condensing the resulting vapour and capturing the various condensed components. He called the liquid fuel “kerosene” and used it for street lighting in Halifax. Kerosene soon replaced whale oil as a household lighting fuel because it was cheaper and burned more cleanly, reducing the demand for whale products and, therefore, whaling.

Gesner’s process was adapted to refining crude oil, allowing for the production of gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, aviation fuel and other petroleum products. He is often referred to as the father of the modern petroleum industry.

51. 45 million barrels of offshore oil production

Tour Stop: En route to Sable Island

Cohasset-Panuke, located roughly 250 kilometres off Nova Scotia near Sable Island, was Canada’s first offshore petroleum production development. The two fields were discovered in 1973 and 1986 respectively. Production of high-quality, light crude oil began from the Cohasset and Panuke fields in 1992, and later from the Balmoral field adjacent to Cohasset. Production peaked at 40,000 barrels per day in the mid-1990s. A total of 45 million barrels were recovered before production ceased in 1999. Total investment in the project was about $1 billion.

Exploration, development and production of the Cohasset-Panuke oil field contributed significantly to the Nova Scotia economy. And although short-lived, its legacy is the offshore oil and gas infrastructure that continues to serve exploration and production off the East Coast.

52. 426 million cubic feet of offshore natural gas

Tour Stop: Sable Island

Nova Scotia’s reserves of natural gas totalled 281 billion cubic feet in 2007, and production in 2008 averaged 426 million cubic feet per day. Most of the reserves and all of the production are from the Sable Offshore Energy Project 225 kilometres east of the mainland.

The Sable project consists of five fields — Thebaud, North Triumph, Venture, Alma and South Venture — which produce to a central facility on the Thebaud platform. Production is then piped to a processing facility at Goldboro where the natural gas liquids are removed.

A second project under development is the Deep Panuke Offshore Gas Development Project approximately 250 km southeast of Halifax. Reserves are estimated at 642 billion cubic feet and the production rate is expected to average 300 million cubic feet per day.

The natural gas produced in Nova Scotia is piped to markets in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and New England. Besides employment for Nova Scotians, benefits of the project include increased demand for local supplies and services, provincial royalty and tax revenue, a supply of clean economical energy and infrastructure for future projects such as the Deep Panuke natural gas project.