Above photo: The outside of the large hyperbaric chamber at Sea-Force Hyperbaric Inc. Photo by Nick Travis
Sea-Force Hyperbaric Inc. has moved to reduce its carbon footprint with the help of the Canadian and Newfoundland and Labrador government, receiving $36,910 from each party and contributing $73,820 itself.
The $147,640 was used to replace three oil furnaces with air to water heat pumps. This changeover reduces Sea-Force’s greenhouse gas emissions by 150 tonnes annually. Sea-Force is home to North America’s first onshore hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, also known as a recompression chamber. The chamber was built in the United Kingdom and shipped to St. John’s, N.L.
These chambers are used to treat decompression sickness, also known as the bends, a sickness frequently seen in deep-sea divers where bubbles form in the blood and tissue, usually caused by rapid depressurization. The main purpose of the Sea-Force Hyperbaric facilities is to service the offshore oil industry, though its use is available for other scenarios.
Sea-Force’s director, Jim Hynes, spoke on the broad range of uses and the need for facilities like Sea-Force Hyperbaric.
“We also have an MOU (memorandum of understanding) and are working with the folks at Eastern Health to support inshore diving in the community, which is huge in Newfoundland with aquaculture, and professional divers and recreation divers,” said Hynes. “There’s somewhere around over 200 local divers in the waters in Newfoundland every single day.”
In an announcement held at the Sea-Force Hyperbaric facility in St. John’s, N.L., Bernard Davis, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Seamus O’Regan, Canadian Minister of Labour were in attendance to announce both the provincial and federal funding of this project.
O’Regan spoke on how investments in reducing energy demands from local projects like Sea-Force Hyperbaric can make a world of difference.
“It’s been a crazy year. We’ve had some historic fires and we’ve had some historic floods and some storms and some lives lost and homes destroyed. And I think there’s just a growing realization that the need to mitigate climate change and adapt to it has never been greater,” O’Regan stated.
“I think a lot of the work is going to be done around smaller things. Things that each of us do at home, things that our businesses do — smaller investments that accumulate and add up and can make really big differences.”
The funds provided by the federal government are a part of the Low Carbon Economy Fund (LCEF), a program designed to reduce Canada’s carbon footprint. The funds come from one of two envelopes, the Low Carbon Economy Challenge, which is a $500-million program set aside for use by provinces and territories, businesses, not-for-profits, municipalities and Indigenous communities and organizations. The Low Carbon Economy Challenge is a program that is done by application.
Davis also spoke on the importance of lowering emissions in the commercial sector, noting that the project makes good business sense given the price of oil heating.
“Renovating our places of business to become more energy-efficient are becoming a real option for more and more people. Every action lowers greenhouse gas emissions, which is where we need to be,” said Davis. “We applaud Sea-Force Hyperbaric with this fuel-switching project as they continue their efforts to improve their work facility in energy efficiency and energy consumption. This is good business. This is also savings for the costs associated with operating the business, but also helps us environmentally.”
Hynes thanked the government of Canada as well as the provincial government for their contributions, noting that the move away from oil furnaces is saving approximately 52,000 litres of oil every year. He commented on the positive benefits of private industry and government cooperation.
“It certainly shows that when the levels of government partner with private industry, it produces positive results that you can see here today,” said Hynes. “These heat pumps are Canadian made in New Brunswick and were provided and commissioned by Centinel Services in Mount Pearl. The insulation of these heat pumps was done by the skilled tradespeople of Newdock.”
