Profits are up, as are emissions, at OPG
But the higher profit came at an environmental cost.
Low water levels caused by a dry spring and summer forced OPG to burn more coal to generate power.
Carbon dioxide emissions are up 45 per cent compared with last year, the company says in its third quarter report.
Although OPG must close all its coal plants by 2014, it appears they came in handy this summer when low water levels decreased output from hydroelectric stations. Production also edged lower at nuclear stations.
But output from OPGÂ’s thermal plants, which mostly burn coal, rose by 250 per cent in the three months ended September 30.
Boosting coal production will get harder as the years go by: OPG permanently closed two coal-fired units at each of its Nanticoke and Lambton stations on October 1.
OPG said its profit increase was also helped by higher returns on funds set aside to pay for the future costs of storing used nuclear fuel and decommissioning nuclear plants.
The companyÂ’s revenue for the three-month period climbed to $1.396 billion from $1.345 billion a year earlier.
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LONDON - On a field in England, three robots have been given a mission: to find and zap weeds with electricity before planting seeds in the cleared soil.
The robots — named Tom, Dick and Harry — were developed by Small Robot Company to rid land of unwanted weeds with minimal use of chemicals and heavy machinery.
The startup has been working on its autonomous weed killers since 2017, and this April launched Tom, its first commercial robot which is now operational on three UK farms. The other robots are still in the prototype stage, undergoing testing.
Small Robot says robot Tom…
