The Economic Case for Electric Mining Equipment and Technical Considerations Relating to their Implementation

Underground hardrock mining can be very energy intensive and in large part this can be attributed to the power consumption of underground ventilation systems. In general, the power consumed by a mine’s ventilation system and its overall scale are closely related to the amount of diesel power in operation. This is because diesel exhaust is a major source of underground air pollution, including diesel particulate matter (DPM), NO2 and heat, and because regulations tie air volumes to diesel engines. Furthermore, assuming the size of airways remains constant, the power consumption of the main system increases exponentially with the volume of air supplied to the mine. Therefore large diesel fleets lead to increased energy consumption and can also necessitate large capital expenditures on ventilation infrastructure in order to manage power requirements. Meeting ventilation requirements for equipment in a heading can result in a similar scenario with the biggest pieces leading to higher energy consumption and potentially necessitating larger ventilation tubing and taller drifts. Depending on the climate where the mine is located, large volumes of air can have a third impact on ventilation costs if heating or cooling the air is necessary. Annual heating and cooling costs, as well as the cost of the associated infrastructure, are directly related to the volume of air sent underground. This thesis considers electric mining equipment as a means for reducing the intensity and cost of energy consumption at underground, hardrock mines. Potentially, electric equipment could greatly reduce the volume of air needed to ventilate an entire mine as well as individual headings because they do not emit many of the contaminants found in diesel exhaust and because regulations do not connect air volumes to electric motors. Because of the exponential relationship between power consumption and air volumes, this could greatly reduce the amount of power required for mine ventilation as well as the capital cost of ventilation infrastructure. As heating and cooling costs are also directly linked to air volumes, the cost and energy intensity of heating and cooling the air would also be significantly reduced. A further incentive is that powering equipment from the grid is substantially cheaper than fuelling them with diesel and can also produce far fewer GHGs. Therefore, by eliminating diesel from the underground workers will enjoy safer working conditions and operators and society at large will gain from a smaller impact on the environment. Despite their significant potential, in order to produce a credible economic assessment of electric mining equipment their impact on underground systems must be understood and considered in their evaluation. Accordingly, a good deal of this thesis reviews technical considerations related to the use of electric mining equipment, especially ones that impact the economics of their implementation. The goal of this thesis will then be to present the economic potential of implementing the equipment, as well as to outline the key inputs which are necessary to support an evaluation and to provide a model and an approach which can be used by others if the relevant information is available and acceptable assumptions can be made.

Measuring Solar Energy Potentials in Residential Environments: A Comparative Study of Three Neighbourhoods in Kingston, Ontario

Photovoltaic (PV) systems offer a way to generate electricity locally in an urban setting while avoiding the environmental impacts of more widely used energy sources such as oil, coal, nuclear and natural gas. This report attempts to measure the benefits of incorporating solar technologies into urban residential land uses and identifies challenges to their widespread use by comparing implementation among three distinct residential neighbourhoods common to Canadian cities. The City of Kingston, Ontario is used as the location for this study.

Challenges, Strengths and Opportunities Related to Implementing Comprehensive Evidence-Based Guidelines on Breast Cancer Survivorship Care by Primary Care Physicians and Nurse Practitioners in Southeastern Ontario

Background Many breast cancer survivors continue to have a broad range of physical and psychosocial problems after breast cancer treatment. As cancer centres move forward with earlier discharge of stable breast cancer survivors to primary care follow-up it is important that comprehensive evidence-based breast cancer survivorship care is implemented to effectively address these needs. Research suggests primary care providers are willing to provide breast cancer survivorship care but many lack the knowledge and confidence to provide evidence-based care. Purpose The overall purpose of this thesis was to determine the challenges, strengths and opportunities related to implementing comprehensive evidence-based breast cancer survivorship guidelines by primary care physicians and nurse practitioners in southeastern Ontario. Methods This mixed-methods research was conducted in three phases: (1) synthesis and appraisal of clinical practice guidelines relevant to provision of breast cancer survivorship care within the primary care practice setting; (2) a brief quantitative survey of primary care providers to determine actual practices related to provision of evidence-based breast cancer survivorship care; and (3) individual interviews with primary care providers about the challenges, strengths and opportunities related to provision of comprehensive evidence-based breast cancer survivorship care. Results and Conclusions In the first phase, a comprehensive clinical practice framework was created to guide provision of breast cancer survivorship care and consisted of a one-page checklist outlining breast cancer survivorship issues relevant to primary care, a three-page summary of key recommendations, and a one-page list of guideline sources. The second phase identified several knowledge and practice gaps, and it was determined that guideline implementation rates were higher for recommendations related to prevention and surveillance aspects of survivorship care and lowest related to screening for and management of long-term effects. The third phase identified three major challenges to providing breast cancer survivorship care: inconsistent educational preparation, provider anxieties, and primary care burden; and three major strengths or opportunities to facilitate implementation of survivorship care guidelines: tools and technology, empowering survivors, and optimizing nursing roles. A better understanding of these challenges, strengths and opportunities will inform development of targeted knowledge translation interventions to provide support and education to primary care providers.