Scotian WindFields believes the varied resources in the region could supply 100 percent of the Canadian province’s energy needs.

The abundance of winds, tides and ocean waves in Nova Scotia, along with other renewable resources, should be enough for a 100 percent clean energy mix in the Canadian province, according to Scotian WindFields, a community-owned renewable energy group.

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based Scotian WindFields outlined its proposal, made in response to a call for input from the Nova Scotia Department of Energy, at the Atlantic Climate Change conference in Halifax.

“Wind is cost-competitive, right now, in 2008,” said Dan Roscoe, VP of communications for Scotian WindFields.

His group’s proposal, which calls for a full menu of renewable options in addition to wind, said the Nova Scotia Department of Energy’s assertion that the cost of green energy is higher than fossil fuels is just wrong.

“Every single contract for wind energy in this province has been signed for far less than we paid for it,” he said. “Twenty to 30 percent less than what we paid for it.”

According to Brendan Haley, energy coordinator at Halifax’s Ecology Action Centre, one major hurdle to lowering greenhouse gas emissions is political will.

“The standard excuse being that ‘We can’t have higher energy prices,’” he said. “And every single politician in this province being in complete and utter paralysis because of fear of higher energy prices, and the total lack of political leadership or vision right now.”

“A lot of these policies are not going to go anywhere unless you put a price on carbon,” said Haley.

A report from the David Suzuki Foundation last month said Canada could generate $50 billion in annual revenue from a carbon pricing system.

Nova Scotia has targeted cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2020. The province had 22.7 megatons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2005, according to the Nova Scotia Department of Energy.

Nova Scotia needs to get down to 17.5 megatons of emissions to meet its 2020 target.

Roscoe said in 2020 wind is going to cost the same amount, “because you’re putting a piece of machinery in and the fuel is free.”

“But when we’re purchasing those sources of fuel abroad, and they’re exposed to shortages of supply and geopolitical events, well, the prices are going to continue to go up.”

In 2001, Nova Scotia produced 78 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power, according to the Department of Energy, with most of the coal imported from Columbia, Venezuela and the U.S.

The province has great potential for wind power, with most of Nova Scotia clocking in at well above 5.5 meters per second, which is the average wind speed in the world’s largest wind energy producer, Germany.

And tidal power has received a big boost in the region with the announcement that North America’s first tidal power test site will be set up in the Bay of Fundy, which has the highest tides in the world.

One key to getting on the road to renewable power, according to both Roscoe and Haley, would be setting up an independent system operator for the province’s electrical grid.

Currently, Nova Scotia Power, part of Halifax-based Emera (TSX: EMA), provides 97 percent of the electrical generation, transmission and distribution in Nova Scotia.

Energy choice is also an issue, as independent renewable power producers are not able to sell directly to consumers.

“Embedded generation is something we’re looking at a lot,” said Roscoe. “Inside the fence generation, where we’re putting renewable energy, whether it’s wind turbine, whether it’s solar thermal units, on-site, and selling power directly to that user.”

Scotian WindFields doesn’t have a target for when Nova Scotia could go all-renewable, but the group believes the Department of Energy should provide a roadmap to 100 percent renewable power, rather than continued support of fossil fuels.

Nova Scotia has a goal of getting 20 percent of its power from green sources by 2013.

But Ontario, which is much bigger and has more people than Nova Scotia, is working on getting to 100 percent renewable energy by 2025, and plans to eliminate the use of coal well before that.

Scotian WindFields submitted its proposal to the Department of Energy earlier this year, and it has already gotten some local attention.

“One comment we did get was that, ‘This is the kind of stuff we should be getting from the Department of Energy, not giving to the Department of Energy,’” said Roscoe.

The department is scheduled to release its Renewed Energy Strategy and Climate Change Action Plan in the spring.