We Can Replace 1000 Megawatts. We Can't Replace Salmon And Orcas

Technology is rapidly making the need for complete dependence upon hydroelectric power obsolete, and will help pave the way to remove inadequate dams. Just in the past few weeks Home Depot, Sam's Club, Costco and Lowes have all offered kits for home installation of solar panels. No installation is needed for temporary use, or you can mount the 40-pound panels to the roof, and drill holes - two per panel - into the rafters. After adding a barrier to prevent leaks and a couple of brackets, the panels are bolted to the roof. These affordable panels even manage to wring energy out of our soggy Pacific Northwest skies, and will offset the power used for our holiday lights, or provide power to that new flat screen TV.Even so, the government continues to drag its feet on the issue of dam removals on the lower Snake River.On Nov. 23 Judge James A. Redden held a hearing in Portland that could set the stage for implementation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Biological Opinion (BiOp) as law within a few months. The BiOp, written by the Bush administration, would allow dam operation until 2018 despite the dam's devastating effects on endangered salmon. Along with salmon disaster, the BiOp will lead to likely extinction of endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales, which depend on some of these same salmon for their survival.A biological opinion is required when federally licensed or federally funded activities, in this case federal hydropower operations on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, might harm a species listed under the Endangered Species Act as endangered or threatened. It is supposed to outline how the responsible agencies will adapt the activity to avoid harming the species. The ESA list includes 13 distinct populations of salmon that spawn in the Columbia and Snake River watersheds, including some chinook runs that are essential for survival of the Southern Resident orca population.The volumes and varieties of information that make up the BiOp are vast, immensely complex and interwoven with changing climates both earthly and political. This BiOp, with its explicit core assumptions based on massive models of salmon runs responding to shifting conditions, also has implicit foundations: considerations of costs and benefits of barging wheat (as opposed to using rail), and especially assumptions about trends in the ways electric power is generated in the Pacific NW and how it is used.This BiOp is mostly about securing hydropower, and not salmon, in the Columbia/Snake watershed. It really is more concerned with electricity than anything else. For instance, it proposes to reduce the amount of water currently spilled over the dams at crucial periods of juvenile salmon migration. These finger-length smolts require flowing water to take them to the sea. Even with massive, expensive downstream barging of many smolts, most of them don't make it, which amounts to the single biggest loss of salmon to the dams. Because court-ordered spill during peak smolt migrations has been a vital part of recent improved returns of salmon and steelhead, Judge Redden seemed surprised by the planned reductions. The spills look like they worked, said Redden. Why change them? "Your honor, that comes with a cost, answered the government's lead attorney. I'm talking about carbon. The more we spill, the more we are going to have to offset that with natural gas and coal."That statement reveals, first, the administration's inability to see beyond a perpetually strained electric power supply. Hence, not only must the dams remain in place, but even a small mitigation like adding some spill for a few weeks a year takes away too much power from the grid. This vision seems based on panic and devoid of problem-solving imagination. But second, it also reveals the government's apparent lack of interest in conservation to meet energy demand, even though the NW Power and Conservation Councils 6th Draft Plan relies heavily on conservation to take the place of fossil-fuel-based electricity. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council was created by Congress to give the citizens a stronger voice in determining the future of the electricity generated at, and fish and wildlife affected by, the Columbia River Basin hydropower dams. See http://www.nwcouncil.org/energy/powerplan/6/default.htmBut do we need the hydropower generated by those particular dams? At first glance, which seems to be all the federal government has devoted to the question, one might say yes, as the government did. We need carbon-free power. Coal-fired plants will also need to be replaced if we are serious about slowing down global warming, and we'll even need to move away from cleaner gas-fired plants, so we'll need even more replacement energy.But we don't need the Snake River dams to produce it. The dams kill salmon, which in turn depletes whole habitats of vital sustenance, including orca habitat. Fortunately there are some very smart people who have worked out how we can have all the juice we need and still let the salmon have the rivers. In a clearly worded, no-jargon description of how it can be done, the NW Energy Coalition says in a recent update to its Bright Future report:Energy efficiency is the powerhouse. We can save enough energy to meet all normal demand growth, roughly 60% of our total new power needs. An enforceable regionwide target to acquire 340 aMW of low-cost energy efficiency per year through 2050 is a reasonable goal given Northwest utilities already solid energy-saving programs and because saving energy is cheaper and creates more jobs than any other option. Energy efficiency isn't sexy; it just works.New clean renewable sources - wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, etc. - will provide the rest of our new power needs. Much of what we need by 2020 is already in the pipeline, mostly in the form of wind power. After 2020, falling costs will likely make solar the growth leader. [See below for more on solar power.]In parallel, we can create a smart grid to deliver these clean resources. A smart grid will shift from integrating fossil-fueled power with hydropower to integrating dispersed renewable sources in new ways. The transition is already underway, and will be accelerated by new policy innovations and some new transmission lines. And as our cars, trucks and buses go electric, their millions of batteries will act as a giant, dispersed storage system helping to provide back-up for the entire electric grid.The report goes on to demonstrate how we can replace about 1,000aMW of existing hydropower (the amount produced by the four Snake River dams) with clean sources, thereby rebuilding salmon and the salmon economy.Upfront financing is critical for small-scale solar installations so we'll need to overcome some legal hurdles to allow local jurisdictions to provide financing. We'll also need an energy-efficiency financing bill to pass in the upcoming Washington legislative session (NW Energy Coalition is working on that).Now the breaking news: In just the past few weeks news of dramatic cost reductions and widespread installation of new thin-film photovoltaic panels have made even NWECs projections seem too conservative. The economic feasibility of a new generation of thin-film photovoltaic solar collectors (Solar's rapid evolution makes energy planners rethink the grid) on rooftops could alone produce far more electricity than the four lower Snake River dams produce. And, the BBC reports that the cost of installing and owning solar panels will fall even faster than expected, according to new research. Tests show that 90% of existing solar panels last for 30 years, instead of the predicted 20 years, making them more competitive with current power sources.If we the citizens lobby governments at all levels to mandate efficiency, support renewable energy and promote widespread installation of photovoltaic panels, Snake River salmon will not have to be sacrificed to generate electricity, and Southern Resident orcas may have enough to eat for generations to come

New Possibilities For Hydrogen-producing Algae

Photosynthesis produces the food that we eat and the oxygen that we breathe ― could it also help satisfy our future energy needs by producing clean-burning hydrogen? Researchers studying a hydrogen-producing, single-celled green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, have unmasked a previously unknown fermentation pathway that may open up possibilities for increasing hydrogen production.

C. reinhartii, a common inhabitant of soils, naturally produces small quantities of hydrogen when deprived of oxygen. Like yeast and other microbes, under anaerobic conditions this alga generates its energy from fermentation. During fermentation, hydrogen is released though the action of an enzyme called hydrogenase, powered by electrons generated by either the breakdown of organic compounds or the splitting of water by photosynthesis. Normally, only a small fraction of the electrons go into generating hydrogen. However, a major research goal has been to develop ways to increase this fraction, which would raise the potential yield of hydrogen.
In the new study by Dubini et al., published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Plant Biology, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), examined metabolic processes in a mutant strain that was unable to assemble an active hydrogenase enzyme.
The researchers, who include Alexandra Dubini (NREL), Florence Mus (Carnegie), Michael Seibert (NREL), Matthew Posewitz (CSM), and Arthur Grossman (Carnegie), expected the cell's metabolism to compensate by increasing metabolite flow along other known fermentation pathways, such as those producing formate and ethanol as end products. Instead, the algae activated a pathway leading to the production of succinate, which was previously not associated with fermentation metabolism in C. reinhardtii. Notably, succinate, a widely used industrial chemical normally synthesized from petroleum, is included in the Department of Energy's list of the top 12 value added chemicals from biomass.
"We actually didn't know that this particular pathway for fermentation metabolism existed in the alga until we generated the mutant," says Carnegie's Arthur Grossman. "This finding suggests that there is significant flexibility in the ways that soil-dwelling green algae can metabolize carbon under anaerobic conditions. By blocking and modifying some of these metabolic pathways, we may be able to augment the donation of electrons to hydrogenase under anaerobic conditions and produce elevated levels of hydrogen."
Grossman points out that it makes evolutionary sense that a soil organism such as Chlamydomonas would have a variety of metabolic pathways at its disposal. Oxygen levels, nutrient availability, and levels of metals and toxins can be extremely variable in soils, over both the short and long term. "In such an environment", Grossman says, "these organisms must evolve flexible metabolic circuits; the variety of conditions to which the organisms are exposed might favor one pathway for energy metabolism over another, which would help the organism compete in the soil environment over evolutionary time."
Grossman led the effort to generate a fully sequenced Chlamydomonas genome, which has allowed researchers to identify key genes encoding proteins involved in both fermentation and hydrogen production. Grossman feels that it is of immediate importance to generate new mutant strains to help us understand how we may be able to alter fermentation metabolism and the production of hydrogen. NREL's Michael Seibert, the project's Principal Investigator, observed that "the overarching goal of the work is to gain a fundamental understanding of the total suite of metabolic processes occurring in Chlamydomonas and how they interact; this discovery effort will lead to the development of novel ways to produce renewable hydrogen and other biofuels, which will benefit all of us".
"These are really exciting times in the field," says Matthew Posewitz. "The tools developed at Carnegie and by other groups in the field are presenting unprecedented opportunities for scientists to make important advances in our understanding of the basic biology of organisms such as Chlamydomonas."
As an energy source to potentially replace fossil fuels, hydrogen would greatly reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Proponents of algal-based hydrogen production point out that, unlike ethanol produced from crops, it would not compete with food production for agricultural land.
The Project is being supported by the US Department of Energy's GTL Program within the Office of Biological and Environmental Research.
Journal reference:
Alexandra Dubini, Florence Mus, Michael Seibert, Arthur R. Grossman and Matthew C. Posewitz. Flexibility in Anaerobic Metabolism as Revealed in a Mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Lacking Hydrogenase Activity. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2008; 284 (11): 7201 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M803917200
Adapted from materials provided by Carnegie Institution, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

North West Tidal Barrages Could Provide 5% Of UK's Electricity

Engineers at the University of Liverpool claim that building estuary barrages in the North West could provide more than 5% of the UK’s electricity.

Researchers, working in collaboration with Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, examined ways to generate electricity from tidal sources of renewable energy in the Eastern Irish Sea. The study showed that four estuary barrages, across the Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay and the Mersey and Dee estuaries, could be capable of meeting approximately half of the North West region’s electricity needs.
Funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, the team investigated different types of tidal power, including barrages – which run from one bank of an estuary to another and guide water flow through sluices and turbines – using advanced two-dimensional computational modelling. They found that the most effective mode of generating electricity was ‘ebb generation’, which involves collecting water as the tide comes in and releasing the water back through turbines once the tide has gone out.
The barrages would provide substantial sea defence, as well as flood alleviation, by draining the estuary following heavy rainstorms. Electricity generation could also help to achieve the UK’s CO2 emission reduction targets.
Professor Richard Burrows, from the Maritime Environmental and Water Systems Research Group, in the University’s Department of Engineering, said: “With concerns mounting over the UK’s future energy provision it will soon become paramount that all sources of renewable energy are fully developed. Unlike the wind, tides are absolutely predictable. The geographical location of the UK, and the seas that surround it, provide a great platform for marine renewable sources.
“The best places to harness tidal power at meaningful scales are areas with a high tidal range such as estuaries. Tidal barrages would alter the natural motion of an estuary’s flow as the sea level changes, usually by holding back the water at high tide and then releasing it when the tide has subsided. This water level difference across the barrage is sufficient to power turbines for up to 11 hours a day, and, in terms of the four North West barrages, the energy extracted could equate to 5% of the UK’s electricity generation needs.”
Joe Flanagan, Head of Energy and Environmental Technologies at the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) said: “The NWDA is pleased to have supported this project, which has provided an important stimulus to the concept of tidal power in England’s Northwest. There are a variety of groups and individuals promoting a number of schemes in the region, which have now been brought together under the Northwest Tidal Energy Group.
“Building on the work of the Liverpool team, I expect that a number of more detailed feasibility studies of individual schemes will be undertaken in the near future. Although most of the focus for tidal energy has been in the Severn estuary I would welcome the UK's first major tidal scheme here in the Northwest."
Dr Judith Wolf, from the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, added: “The problem with renewable energy generation is that it is intermittent; electricity can only be generated in line with the tidal flow. However the tide arrives in the North West around four hours after the Severn, where plans to build a barrage of similar scale are currently underway, so together they could increase the number of daily generation hours. In the future, other tidal energy schemes around the UK coast could extend the generation window.”
The research was funded by the North West Development Agency through the Joule Centre.
Adapted from materials provided by University of Liverpool.

The cool hot news: 70-yr-old builds Innovative eco-friendly air conditioner

It was a hot summer day this June, the electricity had gone off at M B Lal’s Saket home and, sweating profusely, the septuagenarian thought up his first ‘invention’: an ice-cooler.
“The electricity department said it would take four or five hours to restore power; I thought I was going to melt,” says Lal. At 78, with large spectacles, and a frail frame, Lal doesn’t look like the mad inventor that movies and cartoon would like us to believe. Yet, he has devised this way to keep his room cool, even when the rest of the city seethes under the post-summer heat and humidity. Toying with the idea since that June day, Lal invented his ice-cooled air-conditioner over the past fortnight.
“I can’t take the Delhi heat any more,” he says. “That day, I asked my wife to bring me a tub of water but, instead, she brought all the ice from the fridge. And the entire room cooled down.”
It was then, Lal says, that he decided to harness ice as a cooling agent। A retired journalist who worked with The Statesman in Delhi for 31 years, Lal has no experience in engineering or manufacturing, yet he had to think of a way in which air could be optimally cooled without melting all the ice at once. “At that time I was thinking about desert coolers, so I decided to create a method by which air would be forced through ice and cool it down.”

That’s when the neighbourhood carpenter stepped in. “We took a wooden box and created spiral grooves in it,” Lal says. “We later put metal foil on them and placed a metal box full of ice in it.” With the help of a small but powerful fan, the air was forced to move around the cold metal box, in a spiral dictated by the grooves. “By the time the fan pushed out the air it was actually cold.”
But his experimenting didn’t stop there, for Lal wanted to make his contraption even more efficient. So, with further assistance from the carpenter, Lal was able to change the ice-cooler to fit it smugly into a large plastic drum. Today, it stands proudly in his room, blowing cold air with a reassuring hum.
“Everything I used was locally available. Even the fan, which is very powerful, uses less than half the energy of a 60-watt bulb.” Put together, the ice cooler is able to quickly bring down temperature by around seven degrees centigrade, for Lal that difference is a lifesaver.
“Getting the ice is also not a problem. If you can’t freeze it yourself, you can buy it from vendors; there are plentiful of those everywhere.”
Although ‘snow breeze’, as he has dubbed the ice-cooler, can chill a room for almost six hours on eight kilogrammes of ice, Lal says it can be used all over the country with minimal electricity। A Gandhian, Lal doesn’t want to patent his ‘snow breeze’. “Anyone can make one of these coolers, and only if they do will we know how to improve it.” View the video at Videos of blue waters