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Dalhousie University Press Release

Dalhousie and Emera to Partner on Emissions Research

Thursday, May 13, 2004: Halifax, NS: Dalhousie University and Emera Inc. will partner to work toward advances in solving the emission challenges arising from thermal power generation. Emera COO, Chris Huskilson made the announcement today during a speech at Nova Scotia's first Energy Research and Development Forum in Antigonish.
The partnership will take the form of the establishment of a Carbon Sequestration Research Consortium, with Dalhousie and Emera as the first members. Emera will contribute $100,000 to the project to kick-start efforts that will include the establishment of a staffed office, with costs shared for the administration of the office between Dalhousie and Emera. The collaboration will also provide new opportunities for outreach to funding agencies to further the research.

"This agreement offers us the possibility for some truly exciting science, " says Keith Taylor, Dalhousie's Dean of Science. "We will now be positioned to reach out to national and international funding sources for this kind of work that will result in increased opportunities for hiring highly qualified graduate and post doctorial students.

This project will work toward the development of a sustained collaboration to study problems arising from the emissions created by the burning of the particular fossil fuels used in power generation. Emera is interested in finding practical methods to control the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from thermal power generation facilities and to manage the environmental impact of power generation in general. Dalhousie has, among its faculty, the scientific and engineering expertise to design research programs that could seek out practical solutions to the problems arising from those environmental issues.

Emera Inc. (EMA-TSX) is an energy and services company with 570,000 customers and $4.0 billion in assets. The core business of Emera is electricity and the company has two wholly-owned regulated electric utility subsidiaries, Nova Scotia Power Inc. and Bangor Hydro-Electric Company. Nova Scotia Power supplies over 95% of the electric generation, transmission and distribution in Nova Scotia. Bangor Hydro provides electricity transmission and distribution service to 110,000 customers in eastern Maine. It is a member of the New England Power Pool, and is interconnected with the other New England utilities to the south and with New Brunswick Power to the north. In addition Emera owns a 12.5% interest in the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, which delivers Sable natural gas to markets in Maritime Canada and the northeastern United States; Emera Energy Services which manages energy assets on behalf of third parties and provides related services; and Emera Fuels, which distributes home heating oil and related products to customers in the Maritime provinces.

Dalhousie is a comprehensive, research-intensive university with more than 15,500 students and receives approximately $80 million per year to support the research programs of faculty members and researchers at the university. In The Scientist magazine, it was named the best non-commercial place to work as a scientific researcher outside the United States.

Media inquiries, contact:

Manager, Media Relations,
Dalhousie University,
902-494-1269,
dal.ca