Many New Brunswickers know and love Crosby’s molasses and the company has undertaken some retrofits to make the company more energy efficient.
Robert Powell, the vice-president of the company’s liquid bulk terminal, said in 2022 they undertook a review to look at the greenhouse gases.
“Like most companies, we’re trying to be net zero,” he said. “We have a goal to be net zero.”
The company undertook a study that surveyed the options for energy efficiency and it discovered a program under NB Power called SaveEnergyNB.
“That really helped us really solidify the projects that we were going to take on and understanding what the funding opportunities were in terms of a rebate if we did some of the projects,” Powell said, speaking with The Courier.
The company replaced its boiler – which is an enclosed piece of equipment that generates heat through liquid, generally water. Powell explained the older one was not efficient – and replaced them with two specifically designed to be energy efficient.
It also made changes to its hot water system – changing to hot water exchangers on demand – which reduced the load on boilers and natural gas.
“It also improved our efficiency on the production line,” he explained. “Imagine in a food facility, we have to clean a lot, and if we don’t have the hot water, we have to stop a lot and wait for cleaning.”
It also replaced all the lights in the facility with light emitting diodes (LEDs).
“That was a big win from a morale stand-point,” he said. “We’ve replaced some of the heating units, what was considered old heating [methods], heat exchangers and heat, ventilation and air conditioning,” he said.
Powell described the program as “easy” to apply for and to manage. He said a big support team wasn’t needed to make these changes.
Elizabeth Matthew, the manager of business programs and energy efficiency services at NB Power, said the biggest challenge can be getting the word out to companies that this program is available.
“We’re delivered by NB Power, but we get funding from the province and the Government of Canada, and our goal is to help customers save money, save energy and reduce [its] carbon footprint,” she said.
She said customers don’t need to start big, but starting with the small, no-costs things are also possible.
Powell said any upgrades to how efficient the plant operates is good news for customers.
“It takes a lot of energy to move molasses and move a container full of it, so I think that’s where we end up saving customers in the long run,” he said.
Matthew said ultimately the end goal is to reduce strain on the province’s power resources and reach New Brunswick’s goals of being net-zero.
With rising population numbers, power demand is expected to reach beyond NB Power’s current capacity.
“It all starts with us, each one of us can do something small, to make a big change for our economy and our environment,” she said.
