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Tuesday September 1 2015 9 ENVIRONMENT RENEWABLE ENERGY Little Buffalo solar project powers local health centre By MEAGAN WOHLBERG MelinaLaboucan-Massimo said she isnt sure she under- stood what it meant to cry tears of joy until she saw the dazzling array of solar pan- els in her home community of Little Buffalo. When people talk about crying tears of joy I think a lot of us dont understand be- causeweknowwhatitsliketo cry tears of pain sorrow from grief but I was literally crying tears of joy I was so happy to seetheprojectgoupshesaid. A brand new 20.8 kW solar array got ofcially off the ground last week in the northern Alberta commu- nity of around 350 with 80 panels mounted on poles 15 feet in the air now powering the communitys new health and wellness centre. A climate campaigner for Greenpeace and a member of theLubiconLakeFirstNation of Little Buffalo Laboucan- Massimo has been research- ing renewable energy in First Nations communities for her masters thesis looking for solutions to fossil fuel dependency. After campaigning on re- source extraction for the last decade or so and really seeing the problems that were deal- ing with but not seeing really any tangible solutions we can implement in our communi- tiesIthoughtwhyarentwe using solar as a solution to re- source extraction and climate changebutalsoproducinglocal energy she said noting that Alberta has one of the highest solarpotentialsinthecountry. Laboucan-Massimo said it wasimportantforhertofocus on bringing solar to the com- munityconsideringitshistory dealingwiththeimpactsofoil and gas development. Little Buffalo located in the heart of the Peace River oilsands area was victim to a massive pipeline spill in the spring of 2011 when 28000 barrels of oil leaked from a rupture in Plains Midstreams Rainbow Pipeline system just 10 kilo- metres from the community. I think a lot of people talk about the solutions but im- plementation has not been something thats happening. So I just really wanted to see solar go up in the tar sands. Thesolarprojectbeganover a year ago after residents ex- pressed interest at a commu- nity meeting. After that came thefundraising.Followingsome initialseedmoneysecuredfrom BullfrogPowertheprojectre- ceived a grant through Honor the Earth and even garnered donations from actress and environmental activist Jane Fonda. Panels and inverters werealsosuppliedatdiscount. Serviceswerethendonated in-kind to the community by David Isaac of W Dusk En- ergyGroupinVancouverwho workedwithveto15members of the community each day to do the actual installation as a way to build local capacity. It was basically a hands- on experience for commu- nity members where we just hired as much locally in the community as we could to ensure that especially the youngpeopleweregettingthe training in what solar instal- lation looks like Laboucan- Massimo said. Apart from powering an important new facility in the community Laboucan-Mas- simo said the array is meant as a demonstration project to inspire residents of Little Buffalo and other northern First Nations to look further into renewables. Myauntiewhosinher70s when she came to the launch she said I never thought Id see this in Little Buffalo. Id always just seen it on TV. I think theres just this idea that this is technology thats far away from and not tan- gible in our communities she said. Thats why I was really happy to put it up to give an example especially for the young people and el- ders to give inspiration that wedonthavetobedependent PhotoMichaelAuger Residents of Little Buffalo in northern Alberta cut the ribbon on their new 20.8-kW solar array now powering their new health centre. Get Active Grants Now Available Apply for funding to help your community group organize three physical activity events. Events must be free and open to the public. Apply for three Elders events and receive 1000. Apply for three physical activity events and receive 750. Some past events have included Nordic walking Dene games Elders tea and cross country skiing events. Deadline to apply online is October 4th 2015 at www.nwtrpa.org or call 867.669.8375 for more information Get Active AD.indd 1 2015-08-19 1129 AM on fossil fuels This could be your livelihood your career. Laboucan-Massimo said the new array is hopefully just the rst phase in energy sovereignty for Little Buffalo. We want to do a second phase in the future hope- fully in megawatt size which would power the whole com- munity so community mem- bers wouldnt be spending hundreds of thousands each year on power. As soon as school is back in this fall Laboucan-Massimo will also be presenting to stu- dentsonsolarpowerandwhat the installation the youth will pass every day on their way to class means for the commu- nity. Even the handprints of Little Buffalo youth are im- printed in the cement bases of the pole mounts. We have a warranty of 25 yearsandmostofthemlast30 years up to 50 years so these panels are really going to be there until theyre adults she said. Theyve seen them go up and thats going to be producing energy for the community until that long maybe longer when a lot of the oil companies are gone.