Chip & Crystal ExpEriEncE EnErgy

TOpicS“GREEN” HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5ENERGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7COAL 1639 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8WOOD AND CANDLES 1800S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10ALBERTITE AND KEROSENE 1852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12OIL 1859 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14ELECTRICITY 1884 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16NATURAL GAS 1909 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18THERMAL GENERATION 1931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20OIL REFINING 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22NUCLEAR ENERGY 1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24WIND AND OTHER RENEWABLE ENERGY 2003 . . . . . . . 26HOW ENERGY GETS TO HOMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY MAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30SAVING ENERGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32STONEHAMMER ENERGY HIGHLIGHTS MAP . . . . . . . . . 34GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Our story starts at Chip and Crystal’s house in

2016...

Written by: Trudy A. Kelly Forsythe

WWW .TRUDYKELLYFORSYTHE .COM

illustration and Design by: Dawn m. Drew

INK GRAPHIC DESIGN SERVICES CORP . WWW .INKGDS .CA

Stonehammer UnEScO global geopark would like to thank the following supporters for their contributions to this publication:

ISBN: 978-0-9952868-0-1 © SUGG 2016

STONEHAMMER UNESCO GLOBAL GEOPARK WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMAGES TO THIS PUBLICATION:

THE NEW BRUNSWICK MUSEUM, NB POWER AND IRVING OIL .THE STONEHAMMER UNESCO GLOBAL GEOPARK KIDS’ ADVISORY COMMITTEE

"It's amazing, when you think about it, how something as simple as plugging a cord in the wall can charge a tablet," she says, tilting her head and staring at the ceiling where a solar-powered light bulb brightens the room.

"Have you ever wondered how that works?"

"How what works?" Chip asks, looking up from his book.

"You know? How plugging something in can make it work."

"Not really," says Chip. "Too bad the tablet isn't working or we could look it up."

Crystal rolls her eyes, again.

“At school, my teacher said an energy resource provides energy, or the power to make things work,” says Crystal. “The sun provides energy for plants, food provides energy for people and animals, gas provides energy for cars, electricity provides energy for ...”

“Tablets!” interrupts Chip.

“Right,” Crystal smiles. “And for lights and heat and running appliances.”

“We use solar energy to power our lights, heat our house and run our appliances,” says Chip.

“True, but other people do those things with other sources of energy,” says Crystal, watching Chip frown in concentration. “And electricity is just one form of energy.”

Chip’s eyes grow wide, “But how did people do all of that before electricity?”

“When the tablet is charged, we’ll check it out,” she says.

Later, Crystal unplugs the charged tablet and with Chip beside her on the couch, powers it on and types:

What did people do before electricity? She hits return.

Crystal sighs and looks over at Chip reading a book about trilobites. “You forgot to plug it in when you were done with it.”

Chip bites his lip apologetically. “Sorry,” he says. “Plug it in now.”

Crystal rolls her eyes as she plugs it in.

The tablet is dead.

Sorry! Plug it in now.

What did people do before electricity?

chip AnD crySTAl livE in A grEEn hOUSE bUilT WiTh EnErgy-EFFiciEnT prODUcTS.WHAT DO ENERGY EFFICIENT PRODUCTS DO? THEY CAN:•saveenergy•lowerutilitybills•reduceimpactson THE ENVIRONMENT

WHAT’S IN A “GREEN” HOUSE ?

LED LIGHT BULBSSOLAR PANELS

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY APPLIANCES

yOU mEAn iT’S nOT ThE cOlOUr grEEn?

4 5

EnErgyMAKES THINGS MOVE

HEATS THINGS UP COOLS THINGS DOWN

Suddenly, the lights begin to flicker. Objects in the room become transparent. The walls ripple near then far.

“I feel funny,” says Chip, as a vortex opens and he sees pictures of historical times flashing by. There’s a giant whoosh and he and Crystal disappear into the swirling green light.

I feel funny.

USES OF EnErgy:•powervehicles •heatandcoolhomes •runappliances •makelight •chargeelectronics

SOUrcES OF EnErgy:•energycomesfromrenewableand NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES .•renewableresourcesreplenishthemselves. NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES DON’T .

ExAmplES OF rEnEWAblE-EnErgy rESOUrcES: SUN GEOTHERMAL HEAT WIND HYDRO / TIDAL

ExAmplES OF nOn-rEnEWAblE EnErgy rESOUrcES: COAL OIL NATURAL GAS URANIUM

SOmE FOrmS OF EnErgy:•electrical •kinetic •chemical •mechanical •gravitational •light •sound •thermal

6 7

ThAT’S EnErgizing!

Chip and Crystal hear picks striking rock and turn to see men wielding shovels as they scoop up black chunks they’ve removed from rocks sticking out along the river and drop them into a small, wooden handcart.

“Where are we?” Chip asks.

“You’re in Minto,” says one of the men, swinging his pick. “And you best be digging for coal like the rest of us.”

Chip and Crystal look at each other, eyes wide.

“I think the tablet took us back in time,” Crystal says. “If I remember correctly, the first coal mined in New Brunswick was here in Minto in 1639.”

“That’s right,” says the miner. “In fact, we’re about to make the first coal shipment ever from Canada and it’s going to Boston.”

“Cool,” says Chip, digging in with his pick. As his pick hits the hard rock, the sun’s beams soften and Chip notices he can see through the miners. “Oh. Oh. Here we go again.”

Adults call that an outcrop.

You best be digging for

coal like the rest of us!

NEW BRUNSWICK’S COAL BEGAN FORMING MORE THAN 300 MILLION

YEARS AGO DURING A TIME WHEN MANY OF THE CONTINENTS WERE LOCATED

NEAR THE EqUATOR .

LUSH TROPICAL FORESTS AND SWAMPY WETLANDS WERE FOUND ACROSS

WHAT IS NOW EASTERN CANADA (AND NORTHEASTERN USA) AND WESTERN EUROPE . THIS WAS KNOWN AS THE UPPER CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD (OR

PENNSYLVANIAN PERIOD) . AS GIANT TREES AND LARGE FERNS

GROWING IN THE FORESTS AND SWAMPS DIED THEY WERE BURIED UNDER LAYERS OF SAND AND CLAY . OVER THOUSANDS AND MILLIONS OF YEARS THEY WERE COMPRESSED AND TRANSFORMED INTO COAL .

hOW cOAl FOrmS

1639 Minto is the site of the first coal mine in Canada

with coal being shipped to Boston.

1760 The Industrial Revolution

begins in England.

FOllOW ThE EnErgy TimElinE!

8 9

“Could you help me with this stew?” interrupts a young girl by the wood stove.

Chip runs over to her. “That smells good,” he says. “What is it?” “Beef stew,” says the girl. “Please give it a stir and I’ll be right back. I have to get more wood to keep the stove hot.”

“Will do,” says Chip. Taking a wooden spoon from her, he lowers it into the cast iron pot to stir it.

The candles flicker, the walls ripple and objects start to disappear.

“Oh. Not now,” says Chip. “I’m hungry.”

Now where are we?

“Now where are we?” Crystal asks as she watches two brown workhorses pull a wagon past the open doorway in front of her.

Turning, she notices a little boy on a straw mat pushing a wooden toy near a hearth with iron hooks inside. Dried herbs hang from the ceiling and a woman rocks in a rocking chair while mending a pair of woolen socks, her work lit by the light coming in through a small nearby window and flickering candles.

“We’re in the early 1800s, Chip,” says Crystal. “People heated their homes and cooked with wood and used candles and whale oil lamps for light.”

FUn FAcTS

WHALE OIL WAS MADE BY BOILING THE BLUBBER, OR FAT, OF WHALES .

IN THE 1800S, NO ELECTRICITY MEANT NO ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES . PEOPLE WASHED CLOTHES IN WOODEN TUBS WITH WASHBOARDS, PRESSED THEIR CLOTHES WITH IRONS MADE FROM

HEAVY CAST IRON THAT WERE HEATED ON TOP OF WOOD STOVES AND ALWAYS WASHED THEIR DISHES BY HAND, AFTER

FETCHING WATER OUTSIDE THEIR HOMES BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T HAVE

RUNNING WATER .

PEOPLE BURNED TALLOW CANDLES MADE FROM ANIMAL FAT AND BEESWAx

CANDLES FOR ExTRA LIGHT .

1800Wood is the fuel of choice because of its low cost and abundance.

Candles and whale oil lamps are used to provide light.

Could you help me with

this stew?

WHAT’S THAT SMOKY SMELL?

10 11

FUn FAcTS

ALBERTITE IS A SOLID FORM OF BITUMEN NAMED FOR ALBERT COUNTY, NEW

BRUNSWICK . IT IS ALSO KNOWN AS SOLID PETROLEUM OR ASPHALT .

BITUMEN IS A BLACK, THICK, STICKY MIxTURE OF HYDROCARBONS . PEOPLE USE IT FOR

SURFACING ROADS AND ROOFING .KEROSENE IS A SMOKELESS OIL REFINED

FROM ALBERTITE AND OIL SHALE . IT BEGAN REPLACING WHALE OIL AS THE STANDARD LIGHTING FUEL IN HOMES IN THE 1850S .

OVER THE YEARS IN ALBERT COUNTY, PEOPLE HAVE MINED FOR MANY DIFFERENT MATERIALS

INCLUDING GOLD, SILVER, LEAD, zINC, COPPER, MANGANESE, GRAVEL, GYPSUM, NATURAL GAS, ALBERTITE, OIL AND GAS .

“Yeah,” says Crystal. “Remember we saw a picture of that geologist who lived in Saint John when we went to the New Brunswick Museum last month?”

“Dr. Abraham Gesner, right?” says Chip. “Now I remember. He found a way to make kerosene from Albertite.”

The man hands Crystal a shovel and she digs into a pile of Albertite with a smile as the lamp dims, the rock walls shimmer and the Albertite tunnel begins to vanish.

“Are we inside a real coal mine this time?” asks Chip. He looks around a dark tunnel, dimly lit by some glass lamps and light streaming in from a round hole in the rock leading outdoors.

“This is an Albertite mine,” says a man as he drops a shovelful of shiny black chunks into a wooden cart.

“Albertite?” asks Chip. “Didn’t that have something to do with the invention of kerosene?”

This is an Albertite mine.

1825 The first large-scale commercial coal mining

operation begins in Minto.

1852 Mining of Albertite (a solid form of bitumen named for Albert

County, NB) in Albert Mines makes New Brunswick the site of the first commercial extraction of petroleum products in the world.

1853 Abraham Gesner, perfects the process for distilling kerosene, a smokeless

oil refined from Albertite and oil shale, which will replace whale oil as the standard lighting fuel in homes.12 13

“Someone found oil seeping out of the ground not far from here,” says the man.

“It must come from the same Albert Formation rocks we’ve seen near Norton where they say the oldest fossil forest in Canada is,” Crystal says. “I remember hearing they mostly explore for oil and gas in this area of New Brunswick because of that.”

Chip reaches out to touch a pool of oil that has formed on the ground and Crystal braces for the next leap as the scene around them becomes transparent.

Chip and Crystal scrunch up their noses as the air fills with a strong pungent smell. They watch wide-eyed as black oil shoots out of the top of a tall, triangular, wooden tower.

“That’s one of the very first oil wells in North America,” says a man watching the gusher with a big smile on his face. “Mr. Tweddle came all the way from Pittsburgh to drill it.”

“That’s exciting,” says Chip. “But, how did he know to look for oil here?”

hOW Oil & nATUrAl gAS FOrmS

•newbrunswick’soilbegantoformABOUT 350 MILLION YEARS AGO IN LARGE LAKES DURING THE DEVONIAN AND LOWER CARBONIFEROUS (OR MISSISSIPPIAN) PERIODS .•whensmallanimalsandplantslivingIN LAKES DIED, THEY SANK TO THE BOTTOM AND WERE COVERED BY SAND AND CLAY .•astheybecameburieddeeperunderLAYERS OF SEDIMENT, RISING TEMPERATURES AND PRESSURE TURNED THE ORGANIC MATTER INTO DIFFERENT KINDS OF PETROLEUM, A SOLID BITUMEN CALLED ALBERTITE OR OIL .•naturalgasalsoformedduringBURIAL AND DECAY OF THE ORGANIC MATTER .

DiD yOU KnOW?OIL AND GAS CAN MOVE THROUGH TINY

SPACES IN THE ROCK UNTIL THEY ARE TRAPPED .SOME OF THE OIL IS STILL FOUND IN THE ANCIENT LAKE SEDIMENTS IN ROCKS

GEOLOGISTS CALL OIL SHALE .

What’s that smell? WOW!

That’s some gusher!

A REFINER FROM PITTSBURGH NAMED HERBERT

TWEDDLE DRILLED ONE OF THE FIRST OIL WELLS IN NORTH AMERICA

NEAR MONCTON IN 1859 .

1859 Oil is discovered near the village of Dover which becomes

the site of one of the first oil wells in North America.brace for

the next leap!

That’s one of the very first oil wells in

North America.

14 15brace for

the next leap!

A hydroelectric power plant at Tobique Narrows begins production in 1953 and has a fish ladder to help migratory fish get past it.

He leans against a lamppost and feels off balance as it begins to feel like rubber.

Crystal and Chip quickly step out of the way as a streetcar rattles towards them on a busy street filled with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages.

“Hey,” says Chip. “We’re at Market Square in Saint John.”

“And it’s after people started using electricity for power,” says Crystal. “That streetcar is electric-powered and those streetlights have light bulbs in them.”

“Where does the electricity come from?” asks Chip.

“From a nearby generating station,” says Crystal. “At the very beginning of the 1900s, generating stations were probably powered by coal and then water.”

Chip remembers reading about New Brunswick’s first hydroelectric dam on the Meduxnekeag River. Larger dam projects start later, in the 1950s, to meet energy demands.

Where does the

electricity come from?

From a nearby

generating station!

THE WOODSTOCK ELECTRIC

RAILWAY LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY BUILT THAT FIRST

HYDROELECTRIC DAM .

hOW WATEr gEnErATES ElEcTriciTy

1879 Thomas Edison invented the first

incandescent light bulb in 1879, and large-scale electricity followed soon after.

1884 In 1884, Saint John becomes the first place in New Brunswick to have commercially available electric

power, just two years after New York City.

1893 Electricity powered more than just homes and streetlights. Electric trolley cars took to the streets of Saint John in 1893

and provided public transportation for 55 years.

1900 Coal-generated electricity is

being provided through local grids in Saint John and Moncton.

1906 Hydroelectric Power: A dam on the Meduxnekeag River produces

the first hydropower-generated electricity to be distributed to homes and businesses in New Brunswick.

AS A TURBINE SPINS, IT TURNS A METAL SHAFT CONNECTED TO AN ELECTRIC GENERATOR, WHICH IS

BASICALLY A MOTOR THAT PRODUCES ELECTRICITY . IN THE CASE OF A HYDROELECTRIC DAM, FLOWING WATER IS USED AS THE POWER SOURCE TO TURN THE TURBINE .

16 17

go again! And away we go again! And away we

Chip nods, then asks the man, “May I help?”

“Sure. Just watch out for moving cables,” he says as Chip touches the side of the well.

Hearing a thumping sound, Chip and Crystal turn to find themselves back at an oil well.

“What’s going on here?” asks Chip as he watches a large tool bang repeatedly into the ground.

“That’s a cable-tool rig,” says one of the workers. “We discovered natural gas and oil here last year and this is how we get it out of the ground.”

“We must be at the Stoney Creek oil and gas fields not far from Moncton,” says Crystal. “Remember how the gas and oil are trapped here in sandstone that’s part of what that

guide at the museum called the Lower Carboniferous Albert Formation?”

That’s a cable-tool rig! We

discovered natural gas and oil here last year and this is how we get it out

of the ground.

May I help?

We must be at the Stoney Creek oil and

gas fields not far from Moncton.

1909 Oil and natural gas are discovered in Stoney Creek just south of Moncton.

1910 Stoney Creek wells start

producing oil and natural gas.

1912 Hillsborough becomes the first municipality in Canada to have a natural gas supply available

to all households and public buildings.

1920On April 24, the New Brunswick Electric

Power Act is enacted and the New Brunswick Electric Power Commission is established.

1925 The last oil shale mine in

New Brunswick closes.

DiD yOU KnOW ?

THE CABLE-TOOL METHOD OF DRILLING OIL AND NATURAL GAS WELLS INVOLVED USING A STEAM

ENGINE TO RAISE A HEAVY TOOL UP INTO THE AIR AND THEN LETTING IT DROP REPEATEDLY ONTO THE GROUND . THIS PULVERIzED THE GROUND AND

ROCK, WHICH WAS THEN MIxED WITH WATER AND PULLED UP OUT OF THE HOLE BY A BAILER ATTACHED TO ANOTHER CABLE . PIPE CASING WAS SUNK INTO THIS DRILL SHAFT SO THE OIL AND GAS COULD BE REMOVED .

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING – THE

PROCESS OF BREAKING APART ROCK WITH PRESSURIzED LIqUID – IS ONE WAY TO GET NATURAL GAS OUT

OF THE GROUND .

FUn FAcT ELECTRICITY WAS NOT INVENTED .

IT IS A FORM OF ENERGY THAT OCCURS IN NATURE . ELECTRICITY FROM SAINT

JOHN’S FIRST GENERATING STATION ON PARADISE ROW WAS FUELED BY COAL .

18 19

Loud banging echoes across the field where Chip and Crystal stand.

“What’s that?” Chip asks a man as he walks past on his way towards the sounds coming from a large square building.

“This is the Grand Lake Generating Station,” he answers. “It’s going to be powered by coal from Minto.”

“The Grand Lake Generating Station was built in 1931, Chip,” says Crystal. “It was New Brunswick’s first large scale thermal generation plant.”

“What’s thermal?” asks Chip.

“Thermal generation makes electricity when a fuel is burned,” she says. “Thermal energy fuels include coal, natural gas, wood, uranium and geo-thermal, or heat from the earth.”

Chip reaches down to touch the cool ground and just hears Crystal say, “From deep in the earth, Chip,” as the scene evaporates.

FUn FAcTSGRAND LAKE

GENERATING STATION WAS BUILT TO SERVE

FREDERICTON AND THE COTTON MILL IN MARYSVILLE . IT WAS CLOSED DOWN IN 2010 .

THERMAL GENERATING STATIONS PRODUCE

ELECTRICITY BY BURNING A FUEL

SOURCE TO MAKE HEAT . THAT HEAT TURNS

WATER INTO STEAM WHICH THEN TURNS THE BLADES OF A TURBINE SO A GENERATOR CAN CREATE ELECTRICITY .

THE GRAND LAKE

GENERATING STATION USED ABOUT 20,000 TONS OF COAL EACH

YEAR .

It was built in 1931.

1931The first coal-fired thermal generating plant is built at Grand Lake to take advantage of New

Brunswick’s coal from Minto.

1940 In response to growing prosperity and demand for electricity

following World War II, the provincial power grid is expanded to supply electricity to all areas of New Brunswick.

1950 Energy demand exceeds supply and the era of large hydro dam

projects begins.

1953 Tobique hydroelectric

power plant begins production.

1955 Beechwood hydro dam

brought on line.

It closed in 2010.

20

FAScinATing.

20 21

“Didn’t people start to use oil in the 1950s to heat their homes because it didn’t cost a lot?” asks Chip.

“That’s right,” says Crystal.

Chip and Crystal blink their eyes as a sunset replaces the view of the Grand Lake Generating Station.

“We’re back in Saint John,” says Chip. “That’s the Irving Oil Refinery.”

“It was opened in 1960 to refine oil,” says Crystal. “I remember reading that it produces lots of different products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, jet fuel, propane and asphalt.”

“That’s why New Brunswick built more thermal generating stations that were fueled by oil to support New Brunswick’s ever-increasing electricity demands, and by the 1970s, a lot of people in New Brunswick heated their homes with electricity generated by oil.”

That’s the Irving Oil

Refinery!That’s right!

FUn FAcTSTHE SAINT JOHN OIL REFINERY IS

CANADA’S LARGEST OIL REFINERY . IT PRODUCES OVER 300,000

BARRELS OF FINISHED ENERGY PRODUCTS EACH DAY .

THE IRVING OIL REFINERY GETS THE CRUDE OIL IT NEEDS TO

PRODUCE ITS PRODUCTS FROM CANADA AND OTHER PLACES

AROUND THE WORLD . LARGE SUPER TANKERS DELIVER THE CRUDE OIL .

THE CRUDE OIL IS HEATED TO OVER 370°C TO BEGIN THE DISTILLATION PROCESS .

TANKER TRUCKS, RAIL CARS AND

SHIPS DELIVER THE IRVING OIL REFINERY’S PRODUCTS TO MANY

LOCATIONS IN ATLANTIC CANADA, qUEBEC, CALIFORNIA AND NEW ENGLAND .

1955 The low price of oil makes it a

popular and economical choice for residential heating.

1955 Oil-fired thermal generating stations are

brought on line to support New Brunswick’s ever-increasing electricity demands.

1960 Courtenay Bay Generating Station – first unit comes on line with the second unit in

1965 and third and final unit in 1966.

1968The Mactaquac Dam, New Brunswick’s

largest hydro-electric dam, begins partial operations and is fully completed in 1971.

1969 The Dalhousie thermal generating station #1 Boiler using heavy fuel

oil is brought into production.

1970 Significant shift towards

residential electrical heating from oil in New Brunswick.

1972 Construction of the Coleson

Cove oil-fired generating station begins.

1973 The North American Energy Crisis brings a rapid

increase in the cost of oil, making thermal powered generating stations less economical. New Brunswick

begins discussing the possibility of nuclear energy.

1978 #2 Boiler at Dalhousie thermal

generating station is brought on line with coal as its fuel source.

WOW, WhAT A bUSy TimE!

22 23

“Hey,” says Chip. “What did you touch to move us this time?”

“Sorry,” says Crystal. “I accidentally leaned against a tree.”

She looks around the room at the many buttons, knobs and screens.

How do they generate power

here?

hOW nUclEAr EnErgy iS prODUcED

THERMONUCLEAR GENERATION USES THE POWER OF STEAM AND NUCLEAR FISSION ENERGY TO

PRODUCE ELECTRICITY . NUCLEAR FISSION SPLITS URANIUM ATOMS

INTO TWO PARTS BY FIRING NEUTRONS AT IT . AS THESE ATOMS SPLIT APART, THEY GIVE OFF HEAT

AND RADIATION . THAT HEAT TURNS WATER INTO STEAM WHICH

THEN TURNS THE BLADES OF A TURBINE SO A GENERATOR CAN

CREATE ELECTRICITY .

1983 Nuclear generating plant at Point Lepreau comes on line

February 1st.

1993 Belledune coal burning thermal

generating station begins operations.

2000 The Maritimes and Northeast natural gas pipeline is

constructed to link the offshore fields near Sable Island with consumers in New England and New Brunswick.

2000 A new natural gas field known

as McCully Field is discovered near Sussex, New Brunswick.

2003 The Stoney Creek oil and natural gas field reopens

using new recovery and drilling techniques (hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling).

“This is the control room at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station,” says a woman watching the screens. “This is where we monitor all of the plant’s equipment.”

“Wow,” says Chip. “How do they generate power here?”

The woman explains how power is generated using uranium and a process called nuclear fission - a nuclear reaction where a uranium atom is split into smaller parts by firing neutrons at it. This gives off energy in the form of radiation and heat.

“Wow,” says Chip again as he plops down in a chair and begins sinking through it. IT’S ATLANTIC CANADA’S

ONLY NUCLEAR POWER GENERATING PLANT .

24 25

“Impressive,” says Crystal. “Wind is a renewable energy. Others are hydro, tidal, solar, biomass and geo-thermal.”

“I know tidal power comes from the tides, solar energy from the sun and geo-thermal from the earth, but what’s biomass?” asks Chip.

“Wood is one form of biomass but people can also create bioenergy by burning other forms of plants and animal waste,” says Crystal. “New Brunswick is still looking into a lot of these sources of energy to use for electricity.”

“It’s amazing all the sources of energy, isn’t it?” says Chip, reaching down to pluck a blade of grass.

Chip looks up to watch the big white propeller blades of a tall windmill turn in the wind.

“We’re getting close to our time, Chip,” says Crystal. “Since 2003, New Brunswick has developed three wind energy projects in Kent Hills, Caribou and Lamèque.”

“I know how these work,” says Chip. “The wind makes the propellers turn and that spins the generator inside the windmill to make electricity.”

“But what happens when the wind stops blowing?” asks Crystal.

“Scientists and engineers are working on a way to save energy to use later, kind of like a battery,” says Chip. “They call it storage.”

DiD yOU KnOW ?CURRENTLY, APPROxIMATELY 40 PER CENT OF THE ELECTRICITY

CONSUMED IN THE PROVINCE COMES FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES IN THE FORMS OF HYDRO-ELECTRIC, WIND

ENERGY, AND BIOMASS .THE KINETIC ENERGY OF WIND CAN GENERATE ENERGY .DENMARK PRODUCES MORE THAN 25 PER CENT OF ITS

ELECTRICITY FROM WIND .

OThEr rEnEWAblE EnErgy SOUrcES:

SOLAR ENERGY USES SOLAR PANELS TO CAPTURE THE SUN’S ENERGY TO HEAT WATER AND GENERATE ELECTRICITY .

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY USES THE EARTH’S NATURAL HEAT TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY .

HYDRO / TIDAL ENERGY USES THE POWER OF THE TIDES TO TURN A GENERATOR’S TURBINES TO CREATE ENERGY . ATLANTIC CANADA HAS THE ONLY TIDAL ENERGY PLANT IN NORTH

AMERICA – THE ANNAPOLIS TIDAL STATION IN NOVA SCOTIA .

BIOMASS ENERGY IS ALSO CALLED BIOENERGY . IT USES THE ENERGY STORED IN ORGANIC MATERIALS LIKE WOOD AND

AGRICULTURAL WASTE .

2003 Residential solar panels and

geothermal heating systems become more commonplace.

2003Between 2003 and 2011, three commercial wind energy

projects (Kent Hills Wind Farm, Caribou Wind Park, Lamèque Wind Park) were developed in New Brunswick.

2010The first horizontal

shale gas test wells are drilled in Elgin.

The wind makes the propellers

turn and that spins the generator inside the windmill to make

electricity.

Impressive!

WIND IS JUST ONE RENEWABLE-ENERGY

SOURCE . Into the vortex again!

26 27 Into the vortex again!

“It is,” says Crystal, looking around their living room once again with a sigh.

“Oh, we’re back,” says Chip, grabbing the tablet to see if it will transport them anywhere else. “That was amazing.”

“New Brunswick certainly has a lot of energy resources going back a long, long time” says Crystal.

“True, but how does it get into our house to make things work?” asks Chip as he flips a light switch and watches a light turn on.

“Well, we know generators at power plants make the electricity,” says Crystal. “Then, it travels along high-voltage power lines to distribution stations. After that, it connects to people’s homes through power lines and that gives us electricity.”

“And our solar panels collect energy from the sun and are directly connected to our house to also give us power,” says Chip.

That was amazing!

We know generators at power

plants make the electricity.

2010Oil, gas, and electricity provide most domestic

heating and home energy needs.

hOW EnErgy gETS TO hOmES

NEVER TOUCH A SERVICE PANEL, KIDS!

POWER PLANTS GENERATE ELECTRICITY

TRANSFORMER STATIONS INCREASE ITS VOLTAGE

ELECTRICITY TRAVELS THROUGH HIGH-VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINES

COMMUNITY SUBSTATIONS DECREASE ITS VOLTAGE

ELECTRICITY TRAVELS THROUGH DISTRIBUTION POWER LINES TO TRANSFORMERS ON POWER POLES

THE POLE TRANSFORMERS LOWER THE VOLTAGE EVEN MORE

ELECTRICITY TRAVELS THROUGH POWER LINES CONNECTED TO THE HOUSE

ELECTRICITY PASSES THROUGH A METER TO MEASURE ENERGY USE

ELECTRICITY GOES THROUGH A SERVICE PANEL WITH BREAKERS OR FUSESAND FINALLY, ELECTRICITY TRAVELS THROUGH WIRES INSIDE THE WALLS

TO OUTLETS AND SWITCHES

28 29

DiD yOU KnOW?NB POWER RELIES ON 13 GENERATING

STATIONS POWERED BY HYDRO, COAL, OIL, NUCLEAR AND DIESEL TO BRING ELECTRICITY

TO OVER 300,000 HOMES AND BUSINESSES ACROSS NEW BRUNSWICK .

NEW BRUNSWICK’S GEOLOGY MAP SHOWS THE COMPLEx STRUCTURE OF OLDER PRECAMBRIAN TO DEVONIAN

ROCKS, OVERLAIN BY ROCKS FROM THE CARBONIFEROUS AND TRIASSIC PERIODS .

What do those colours and lines

mean?

nEW brUnSWicK’S gEOlOgicAl TimElinE SUrE gOES bAcK A

lOng TimE.

“It’s neat to know that however energy gets to us, the story of energy started a long time ago,” says Crystal. “This map of New Brunswick shows us that.”

“I’ve never seen a map of New Brunswick that looked like that,” says Chip. “Why does it look so funny?”

“It’s a geology map made by geologists,” says Crystal. “The colours show us rocks from different periods of geologic time.”

“Why does that matter?” asks Chip.

“Well, the rocks below us have a lot to do with where our energy comes from,” says Crystal. “Coal, oil and gas are found in rocks from the Carboniferous Period. Those are the areas coloured yellow.”

Chip nods as Crystal continues, “Hydroelectric power comes from rivers and rocks control where rivers flow. Wind turbines are found on high hills where it’s windy. The hills are highest where the rocks are hardest. Even the oil and uranium we get from other places is connected to the geology on other parts of Earth.”

“Cool,” says Chip.

It’s a geology map made by

geologists.

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“Maybe,” says Crystal. “We could certainly see mastodons , trilobites and jawless fish like heterostracans and anaspids .”

Chip starts thinking about the search terms he could enter into the tablet at the same time Crystal reaches for it. “Too bad it needs to be charged again,” she says. “In the meantime, we can go to the New Brunswick Museum to see real fossils.”

“It would be neat if we could go back to when all these fossil fuels were actually forming,” says Chip, eyeing his fossil book on the couch. “Maybe we’d see some dinosaurs.”

“Unfortunately, not all the resources we have will be around forever,” says Chip. “We should think of some ways to save energy.”

Crystal nods. “That’s a great idea.”

Walk, ride a bike, take a bus or carpool.

Turn off lights and your electronics when not

in use.Lower the thermostat

and dress warmer, ...use LED light bulbs!

DiD yOU KnOW ?

LED LIGHT BULBS USE 75% LESS ENERGY AND LAST 25

TIMES LONGER THAN REGULAR INCANDESCENT BULBS .

HOT WATER IS 20% OF A HOME’S ENERGY USE . SAVE ENERGY BY TAKING SHORTER SHOWERS,

TURNING OFF HOT WATER WHEN WASHING DISHES AND WASHING

CLOTHES IN COLD WATER .

2012NB Power partners with Siemens Canada to integrate Smart Grid technology into its electrical system. Smart grid is a major infrastructure modernization project

driven by the grid integration of renewable energy. Saint John has a 10-year plan to integrate smart grid technology into its electrical system and help build Canada’s first fully integrated energy internet. This will enable communications between customers and their homes, power plants and distribution systems.

FUn FAcTSTHE FIRST CAMBRIAN TRILOBITES IN CANADA WERE FOUND IN SOUTHERN

NB IN 1863

WHILE FOSSILIzED DINOSAUR REMAINS HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND IN NEW BRUNSWICK, DINOSAURS

WOULD HAVE CERTAINLY LIVED HERE . CONSIDERING PLANT FOSSILS FOUND

IN THE VINEGAR HILL FORMATION NEAR CASSIDY LAKE, THIS AREA HOLDS THE MOST POTENTIAL FOR FINDING DINOSAUR FOSSILS .

I WONDER WHAT OTHER IDEAS WOULD

HELP?

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FOSSIL FISH

PLANT FOSSIL

NEW BRUNSWICK MUSEUM

GEOLOGY GALLERY

Join us for GeoFun!

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“Hey kids, continue your

exploration of energy at

stonehammergeopark.com.”

Click on the learn tab! I can’t wait to learn more

about energy and geology in New Brunswick!

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Ask to visit our website!

ShArE yOUr STOnEhAmmEr mOmEnTS

DiD yOU KnOW ?

THE OLDEST ROCKS, BELONGING TO THE LATE PRECAMBRIAN

GREEN HEAD GROUP, ARE ABOUT ONE BILLION YEARS OLD .

THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH IS RECORDED IN ROCKS THAT ARE CONSTANTLY BEING FORMED, CHANGED, DESTROYED AND

RE-FORMED .

A GEOPARK IS AN AREA RECOGNIzED BY UNESCO

GLOBAL GEOPARKS TO HAVE ExCEPTIONAL GEOLOGICAL

HERITAGE .

THE AREA NOW KNOWN AS STONEHAMMER UNESCO GLOBAL

GEOPARK WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PLACES IN CANADA TO BE

ExPLORED BY GEOLOGISTS .

STONEHAMMER UNESCO GLOBAL GEOPARK INCLUDES GEOLOGICAL STORIES FROM

THE LATE PRECAMBRIAN TIME A BILLION YEARS AGO TO THE MOST RECENT ICE AGE, AND

ALMOST EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN .

glOSSAry

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Albertite: a solid form of bitumen that resembles coal

Anaspids and Heterostracans: extinct jawless fish

Atom: the smallest particle of a chemical element that can take part in a chemical reaction

Biomass: non-fossilized organic matter

Bitumen: a black, thick, sticky mixture of hydrocarbons often used for surfacing roads

Carboniferous: producing carbon or coal

Formation: a group of rock layers with common characteristics in a particular shape

Fossilized: to turn into a stony substance within rock or some other hard material

Geothermal: the internal heat of the earth

Hearth: fireplace

Hydro: electricity

Hydroelectric dam: a dam used to generate electricity using water

Kerosene: a smokeless oil refined from Albertite and oil shale.

Mastodons: extinct large animals that looked like hairy elephants

Neutrons: a subatomic particle, with no electric charge, found in the nucleus of an atom

Nuclear fission: the action of splitting uranium atoms into two parts by firing neutrons at it

Outcrop: a rock formation on the surface of the ground

Pungent: a strong taste or smell

Thermal: of, for or producing heat

Trilobite: extinct marine animals lacking a backbone

Uranium: a radioactive metallic element used for nuclear energy

I’m a trilobite!