NB: Provincial funding helps Scott’s Nursery “go greener”

[FREDERICTON, NB] — The provincial government is investing $350,000 in a Fredericton-area company to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Environment Minister Rick Miles made the announcement yesterday.

The Department of Environment is making the investment through the New Brunswick Climate Action Fund (NBCAF) to help Scott’s Nursery Ltd. replace oil-fired boilers with pellet boilers and install an energy curtain in its greenhouse.

“Investments such as this will ensure that the province meets the goals set out in the New Brunswick Climate Change Action Plan (NBCCAP) and continues to be a promoter of environmental sustainability, which we must achieve to remain positioned to be self-sufficient by 2026,” said Miles.

This project is anticipated to reduce 1,866 t of GHG emissions annually, equivalent to removing 339 personal vehicles from the road for one year. The estimated project cost is $902,000.

Established from New Brunswick’s portion of the federal government’s Canada Eco-Trust for Clean Air and Climate Change, the $34-million NBCAF is being used to support projects in keeping with the goals of the NBCCAP. The three-year fund is dedicated to public-sector, private-sector and not-for-profit initiatives that will result in reductions or avoidance of GHG emissions and air pollution.

The province launched the five-year NBCCAP in June 2007. As a result of New Brunswick-led initiatives in the plan, GHG emissions will be reduced in the province by 5.5 megatonnes annually in 2012. With the addition of federal initiatives, the NBCCAP will result in a reduction of New Brunswick’s GHG emissions to 1990 levels in 2012.