Improving Peak Energy Capacity
by J.D. AdamsJuly 16th, 2007 at 17:14:24
To implement a renewable power grid in Oregon consisting of intermittent power sources such as wind and solar, it will be necessary to add supplemental peaking capacity, a topic I covered in a July 2006 blog.
The current obstacle to wind power is a worldwide shortage of turbines:
sustainablebusiness.com and peakoil.com
The long lead times have resulted in a volatile mix of start-ups and industry giants: GE, Siemens, Clipper and Vestas.
The reality of the northwest energy strategy is that there is no one saving technology; it will consist of improvements made on several fronts: conservation, solar, wind and wave power, hydropower and transportation infrastructure.
All of our options for energy must be considered, not any one item as a panacea, but as a coordinated set of steps toward energy independence. The attendant limitations of each technology should be openly considered to avoid dialogues marked by division.
Solar energy, hailed as the cleanest and one of the cheapest renewable sources, is less than 20% efficient, and requires a huge surface area to even begin to make an appreciable dent in power demand. Energy gurus speak in terms of supplementation in regard to solar energy, not as a central source of power. Not being available at night, solar power needs storage or other back-up potential to be utilized
The wave-driven generators being developed at OSU, god bless ‘em, will be working in a highly corrosive environment, and the cabling required to link this energy to land will be subject to constant pounding and ingress by moisture. Maintenance costs could be high, at least in the initial versions.
Wind power shares a similar intermittent nature as solar energy. Will it be there when needed? Storage schemes like pumped hydro can store this energy on a large scale.
The Army Corps of Engineers was requested by Congress in 1975 to make an assessment of potential pumped-storage sites within the Columbia River basin. Their 1976 report notes 530 sites exist within the region, and acknowledges the environmental impact such development would have. Each site could potentially offer 1000 MW or more of capacity, and being a renewable source it would be eco-friendly in a broad sense. The University of Oregon Libraries Archive contains the complete report. The Summary is at boundless.uoregon.edu and a list of sites on the Clackamas, Santiam, and McKenzie watersheds, including a study of Tumble Lake, above Oregon’s Detroit Reservoir, as a pumped-storage site.
A glimpse of the future, where limited environmental impact is weighed against ecological gains on a global scale.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
When Cheney gets his hands on something, it turns shadowy and evil, LOL. But in the context of this article, energy independence refers to the ability to source renewable power locally, versus the centralized model of the past. I should distinguish between the power grid of the western states, and that of Oregon, not to cut ourselves off but to maximize efficiency by avoiding long runs across 2 time zones. A renewable power grid, however you say it, is one where a substantial amount of energy flows back into the grid from sustainable sources that may be distributed across the state. Not a parallel or alternative grid, although that’s possible in isolated circuits, otherwise you have to pay attention to things like regulation and synchronization of line frequency.
July 18th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Here’s an interesting comment from a friend of mine in response to the WA Post story on the Cheney Energy Task Force meetings:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701987.html?nav=rss_email/components
July 19th, 2007 at 9:23 am
My next blog submission contains news of a new development in batteries. The new technology introduces a room-sized battery capanle of storing huge amounts of electriccity, obivating the need for most peaking plants. The technology was not developed in this country — I’m tempted to say ‘of course’, but in Europe. Siemans is involved.
July 19th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
The WA Post story exposes the dark underbelly of the Bush-Cheney regime, how it has undone years of environmental and social progress with paranoid lurkings behind a veil of secrecy and misguided privilege. It’s a locked-in triangle of doom formed by Iraq, Peak Oil, and the Bush-Cheney carbuncle, while the Europeans, unhindered, are making solid investments in their energy future, and advances like the storage devices mentioned above.