Nova Scotia’s doing some interesting things in the area of alternative energy. They are rolling out wind farms, investing in tidal energy and now biodiesel from waste plastics.
The Nova Scotia government is investing in an expansion project that will process plastics into biodiesel. Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald announced last week that the province will invest up to $20.7 million in Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company Limited’s expansion. The company, which currently produces recycled paperboard, will build a biodiesel plastics processing plant for plastic waste.
If there is water anywhere in the Maritimes, I would recommend taking a close look at this:
Bottling companies face opposition around the U.S. as worries grow over
Bottled water, bottled juices, energy drinks, alcoholic beverages, and other products based on water are a fast growing manufacturing sector. But the little activity that we have in the Maritime Provinces is almost exclusively for the local market (there is a little beer exportation).
If, and this is a big if, there were ample supplies of water, this could be an interesting economic development driver. The wages in these plants tend to approach $18-$20/hour for line workers and other functions pay higher. There is also considerable spin off business for trucking firms and other suppliers.
I would suggest that there could be a few thousand good paying jobs (and the spinoffs) for the community that had an ample supply of water to feed these plants.