In my local area in Courtenay BC, ozone damage is very severe because we live near the BC Hydro power station on the Puntledge River.
I have spoken with the local authorities about the tree deaths along the river which is exacerbating the soil erosion caused by high water flows.
Our urban vegetation is dying leaving lots of urban wildlife without habitats to protect them or feed them.
Zero emissions power can be very toxic as it’s not a creation problem, it’s a transmission problem- our supply lines for electricity have lots of leaks of corona discharges which cause ozone and other toxic gases like acid rain.
Ground-level ozone is a “secondary pollutant” which can be formed by chemical reactions between pollutants in the air and forms on power lines and at any electric exchange with a space bigger than a few millimeters. At ground level, ozone has a potent GHG potential as it absorbs radiation causing warming, increasing evaporation rates and consequently affecting cloud formation, precipitation levels, and atmospheric circulation.
Although ground level ozone has a short lifespan of only a few hours, it can become trapped in polluted urban areas which extends its lifespan to a few days to weeks. Elevated ozone concentrations can cause serious health problems like respiratory illness and cardiovascular disease.
The European Union has already included Ozone in its GHG list. I believe that Canada needs to recognize ground level ozone as a Greenhouse gas because at ground level ozone is dangerous to humans, can affect plant health, and has a significant heating effect on our environment and can affect our weather patterns.
Our electricity grid is the backbone of energy supply to our homes, industries and services and now that electrification has become the poster child for “clean and renewable “ energy the role of the electricity grid has become more prominent. Also the usage of electricity has grown with other energy transitions like electric cars, bikes, air-conditioners, heat pumps etc. All adding to the demand for battery and hydroelectric “clean” energy.
There is no denying that electricity is renewable energy, however, is it really clean energy? A closer look at our electricity grids reveals that the transmission lines are not insulated because they carry hundreds of thousands of volts and it isn’t practical to cover them with enough insulation (additionally PFAS is used to insulate electrical wires) to contain that amount of voltage.
These exposed transmission lines create a phenomenon known as a Corona discharge which occurs when electric field strength exceeds the dielectric strength of the surrounding air. This dielectric strength is the maximum electric field that air can withstand before it breaks down and becomes conductive resulting in ionization of the air surrounding the conductor or power grid lines.
The air surrounding our power grid lines contain approximately 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen (ps. Only 3% Carbon) which once ionized becomes reactive oxygen and nitrogen to form compounds known as nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide and Ozone. Even more alarming is that in the presence of water vapour; growing problem as ozone induced warming causes more evaporation of water, corona discharge will produce nitric acid which is part of acid rain.
The science of the corona discharge is difficult to calculate because of the environment around the electrical current is constantly changing due to chemical composition of the ambient air, wind, air pressure and humidity. In industrial areas chemicals contained in factory exhaust emissions can introduce a completely different combination of gases that once ionized can form greenhouse gases and other toxic gases.
Increases in small ion concentrations and charged aerosols caused by a corona discharge can be measured downwind of power lines and results suggest that these corona ions cause an increased risk of childhood leukaemia. As such, conditions under which more voltage is used needs to be measured and tested for increased emissions from the corona discharge.
There are millions of miles of exposed electric wires running throughout our country which is all a potential source of greenhouse gases and other toxic chemicals including acid rain. We need accurate data before we call this decarbonization of our electricity production is “clean”.
Plants cannot survive ground level ozone and neither can humans. We need rolling blackouts to stop ionizing the air over our heads especially in the summer.