PowerTourist - Julianne Couch

About new coal plants

2011-12-20T09:04:00.001-08:00

Here's something I came across researching updates for my chapter on coal-fired power plants.It is often less expensive to mine for surface coal than it is to drill for natural gas. That’s one reason that when the price of natural gas skyrockets, developers are encouraged to propose new coal plants to take advantage of that less expensive fuel source. The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory tracks the progress of new power plant development. According to their 2011 report, “Experience has shown that public announcements of power plant developments do not provide an accurate representation of eventually commissioned power plants. Actual plant capacity commissioned has historically been significantly less than new capacity announced.” But as of July 2011, eleven new power plants were under construction and one near construction, for a combined capacity of 7,704 megawatts from burning coal. The year 2010 was active for new coal plants, too, after many years of very few coal plants coming online. In fact, the DOE reports that more new capacity came online in 2010 than in any of the previous 25 years.

University of Nebraska, Spring 2013

2011-12-13T06:57:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to announce that the University of Nebraska press plans to publish Traveling the Power Line: Electricity from the Mohave Desert to the Bay of Fundy, in spring 2013. The book title has changed a bit since I started this project and may still change again if the marketing folks can think of something better. The delay in publication since this project has transferred from Texas Tech press to UNeb has given me the opportunity to update much of my research. I'm currently at work revising and updating my chapter on wind. I learned that there is much more wind development in Wyoming on private land on public. That's because the regulatory environment on public land(state and federal, such as BLM) is vastly more layered than on private land development.I've also revisited the 2009 Harris poll on attitudes toward energy development in the United States. In the 2011 survey, respondents say much the same thing: while only 12 percent of Americans say they are "very knowledgeable" about energy development, 53 percent say they are interested in learning more.I hope a few of those folks are regular readers!I'll continue to post some of my new findings in this blog. The publication impasse lulled me elsewhere, but I'm back!

Writing about Solar

2011-11-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

Even though my book travels, writing and general progress have been glacial of late, my interest in energy and sustainability continues. Thankfully I have Sustainable City Network as a place I can write for on these subjects. Case in point: in about fifteen minutes I'll be interviewing Barry Shear with Eagle Point Solar in Dubuque, Iowa. We'll be talking about the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that involved his business with a plan to provide rooftop solar panels for a city works building in Dubuque. Short version: Iowa law isn't clear whether these sorts of arrangements, that give renewable energy tax credits to tax exempt municipalities, are legal. We'll be talking about that. I'm also hoping to hear back from someone in Nevada, a state where so-called third party PPAs are legal. Nevada is the state I visited for my power tour, stopping by Acciona Solar Power outside of Boulder City. It was a PPA that made their arrangement to provide solar power to Boulder City and beyond possible.

Constantly changing plans

2011-08-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all all of you who've been asking when the book is coming out. Texas Tech University Press, with whom I had a contract, originally speculated it was to come out this fall, so that's the date I was going with. Then they pulled out of the project due to their own scheduling issues. I've since spoken with several publishers, who've asked for the manuscript. None seemed to feel the sense of urgency I do (whether or not I should, I still do.) Friday I got an email from a publisher who sounds very interested. It is a press I'd be crazy to pass up. But I can't let another two years go by only to once again find out they've dropped the project. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic this time, hopefully not to the point where they think I'm going to be Difficult. Fingers crossed, please...

Just a matter of time

2010-06-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

There has been so much vilifying of BP in the last month or so, much of it with good reason, as oil gushes from a gash in the Gulf of Mexico floor and glubs its way on to the marshes. But may I point out, it was just a matter of time before this happened. It was BP's bad luck to be the oil company it happened to. Perhaps BP should now stand for Bad Planning. At any rate, it could be too soon to focus on the good that can come from this disaster while the bad is still so very bad, and the families of 11 men are in mourning. But sometimes it takes a crisis to wake people up. Consider for a moment how many solutions are being put forth by interested individuals to solve this problem. Some of them are impractical at 5,000 below the surface, but others of them might just work. My main point, though, is the ingenuity of people. Ingenuity to make deep water drilling work is what got us here.
We are all responsible for the disaster in the Gulf: we all demand energy and transportation fuel every day. Sometimes directly to turn on lights or drive our car, sometimes indirectly, like to eat processed food, take medicine, wear clothing. Oil is a part of the energy portfolio that makes the world go around. Maybe we can find better ways to get that oil, better ways to use it safely, better ways to prolong the inventory of it we have. We're getting a whole lot closer to running out. Thanks, BP.

Final chapter in

2010-05-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

I think I set a land speed record in finishing the final chapter of Earth Wind & Sky: A Power tour. I sent the Chapter 9, A Maine Tidal Power Project, off to Texas Tech University Press on Thursday. When I say final chapter I actually mean draft. I look forward to some quality revision time this summer. I've already thought of things I'd like to change in the final chapter. For example, I read a story in the paper today about how many people are watching the Gulf of Mexico oil leak on the internet. An AP story today quoted a man who said seeing it all gush out made him think hard about how much energy he himself was using. Aahhh. The power of seeing things for oneself. In a nutshell, that's what has driven me in this project.

Ocean Renewable Power Company: Worth the Wait

2010-05-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

Finally, I made my trip to Maine to visit Susy Kist and Bob Lewis with Ocean Renewable Power Company. Susy is the marketing manager, who is based in Portland, Maine. Bob is the director of operations, based right there in Eastport. Susy took charge of me right away, making our first stop a mercy visit to the IGA where I could get a cup of coffee. From there we visited the Boat School, where final assembly of ORPC’s Beta Turbine Generator Unit (Beta TGU) took place this spring. Morrison Manufacturing in nearby Perry, Maine, built the Energy Tide 2 vessel, from which the Beta TGU is deployed. There are many cool things about the TGU. One of the things that struck me as most interesting is that the foils (not blades) in the TGU revolve in only one direction, yet their design allows them to spin regardless of the direction of the tides. ORPC's immediate goal is to gather data showing power created during one full lunar cycle. This process of being licensed to put power onto the electrical grid is a long one in which energy developers have to prove they know what they are doing and can do what they know how to do. Thanks to Skip Harris for taking Susy and me out on his cousin Butch's lobster boat so we could get a close up view of the TGU at its mooring site. And thanks to Bob for letting us into the craft shop so we could see the Quoddy Dam model, created to show a now-abandoned plan for tidal power developed during FDR's presidency.

Ground hog day and Maine

2010-05-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

The date approaches for me to try (again) to get to Eastport, Maine. I'm supposed to fly out of Laramie on Monday to Denver. That's as far as I got the last time I tried this stunt. The weather for this Monday is supposed to be cool and rainy (what else is new) but hopefully the pilots of the plane will be able to see the runway well enough to actually land on it and take me away. Let us all hope I get out of Laramie, get to Denver, then to Laguardia and on to Bangor. Tuesday morning I should be able to get up bright and early and head for Eastport. Susy Kist, bless her heart, is going to make another trip out there from her office in Portland to meet me. She is a saint.

Rescheduling Maine

2010-04-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

This is so depressing. I was sitting at the Laramie airport Thursday morning waiting for my 8 a.m. flight to Denver, then on to New York, then on to Bangor where I'd rent a car and get myself to Eastport.
Then whadya know. About 4 a.m. a big blizzard comes and doesn't stop. The airplane, which was coming down to Laramie from Worland, couldn't land in the half-mile visibility. It kept trying and even thought the visibility had increased to three-quarters of a mile, and all us passengers had high hopes, no luck. When the airport lady came out and said it couldn't land and they'd rebook us all on the 11:25, I knew my trip plans were ruined. My plane out of Denver was to take off just after 10 a.m. Even if the roads weren't closed, there was no chance to make it. There was also no way to reschedule my departure for later in the day. It is pretty hard to travel east, it turns out.
So, I'm going to try again. Hopefully Susy and Ocean Renewable Power Co. can fit me in for another visit in May. I plan to give myself an extra day between travel and touring, just in case. There's no reason to believe it won't still be snowing in Laramie in May.

Maine visit almost here

2010-03-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

I've been emailing Susy Kist at Ocean Renewable Power Company about my visit to Eastport, Maine, to see their Tidal Generating Unit in action. She's setting up a few people to meet with me. More importantly, she's given me good driving directions from Bangor, where my plane will land, to Eastport. I have motel reservations in Eastport and think I can wing it my first night in Bangor (I hope so - I'll be getting in there late, picking up my rental car, and hoping to collapse at the first motel I see.)
I just hope I survive changing planes at Laguardia. I don't know why but I'm a bit freaked out by the fact that I'm stopping there. I'm sure once I've done it and see that it is ok, I'll wonder why I was dreading disaster. Breathe, Julianne, breathe...

Remembering Maine

2010-03-12T11:18:00.000-08:00

Now that I have sent off most of the manuscript of Earth, Wind & Sky: A Power tour to Texas Tech University Press, I need to remeber I have one more chapter to write! That chapter will take me to Eastport, Maine, in just a few weeks. There I will meet with Susy Kist and others from the Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC.) In a press release they announced that on March 2 they unveiled the tidal energy company's proprietary Turbine Generator Unit (TGU) "With a capacity rating of 60 kilowatts, the TGU will be the largest ocean energy device ever deployed in U.S. waters.'
I expect I'll be seeing the TGU when I visit, and I'll meet lots of interesting people. I'd better get going and confirm my plans with her.

It's in the Mail

2010-02-24T11:46:00.000-08:00

If I may participate in a little self horn-tooting, my manuscript of Earth, Wind & Sky: A Power Tour was in the hands of the U.S. Postal Service as of yesterday. My husband packed it up in multiple layers of bubble wrap and plastic and bundled the whole thing into a Priority mail box. It is on its way to Texas Tech University Press. There editor-in-chief will send it out to various readers. I should know by early summer whether the book has been accepted, that is, whether it fulfills what I was contracted to do way back last summer. If so, then I imagine the readers will have ideas for revisions, and that's what I'll work on this summer. Then after I do that, the book will be copy edited, and I anticipate receiving many great ideas for improving my prose. If all goes well, the book will be released in early fall 2011. That seems like a million years from now but I think it will go by quickly. That is, if they accept it. There's always something to worry about!

Daily Yonder Nevada Solar One

2010-02-23T08:14:00.000-08:00

My story about Nevada Solar One that ran in the Daily Yonder recently has gotten a bit of attention. Thought I'd share the link here, too. Bill Bishop and Julie Ardery at Dailyonder.com ran the story with a picture of the desert tortoise, which figures into the debate about commercial scale solar power in the desert. Take a look! Here's the link.
http://www.dailyyonder.com/julianne-sun/2010/02/15/2590

EPA testing wells around Pavillion, Wyoming

2010-02-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

I was able to talk by telephone yesterday with Luke Chavez, who works for the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, in Denver. He is overseeing the testing of water in various wells in the area of Pavillion, Wyoming. This is an area long used to a mix of uses from agricultural to oil and gas development. About a year ago residents brought to the attention of the EPA that odd things were floating in their well water. Not only that, but the water smelled bad and tasted worse. Some of these wells were for human consumption, while others were devoted to agricultural purposes. Still others were production wells used in gas drilling.
The first round of testing turned up no chemicals that the Clean Water Act identifies as toxic. But that doesn't mean something bad isn't in the water, Chavez told me. That's why the EPA did another round of well testing in January. The results of this last round of testing should be released some time in May, he said. Then they hope to have a better idea of the source of the unpleasant water. The EPA is not assuming the cause is gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing, agriculure, or anything else. That's why they test.
Stay tuned.

Putting on finishing touches

2010-02-09T11:42:00.001-08:00

Well, at least for the draft of Earth, Wind & Sky: A Power Tour. I've received feedback from almost all of my outside readers. Jeffe Kennedy was the most recent reader to give me feedback. I'll take her great advice on my chapter about visiting a natural gas field in Texas. While there I saw drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and water recycling. Needing to update my information about well contamination in Wyoming possibly due to "fracking" I'll hope to contact Luke Chavez this week. He is the Superfund site project manager in charge of reviewing the problems at Pavillion, Wyo.

Remembering Maine

2010-01-04T13:13:00.001-08:00

I took the plunge and booked the flight for my trip to Maine. As soon as I corresponded with Susy Kist, the marketing manager with Ocean Renewable Power Company, I hopped on to Expedia. I wish I could control my itchy fingers when it comes to booking flights. I'm always paranoid that flight prices will go up and available seats from Laramie to Denver and back will disppear. There - I think I've just comforted myself that booking three months in advance was the right thing to do. Especially since I'm traveling on Easter weekend. I plan to fly out of Laramie on Thursday April 1 (uh oh) at 8 a.m. and get into Bangor at 8 something p.m. I'll be changing planes at Laguarida airport, which I don't think I've ever done before unless it was in 1973 when I went to Europe with my parents. Anyway, I've managed to pick the flight that doesn't change airlines a million times along the way. I'll fly into Bangor on Thursday, drive up to Eastport Friday morning, see the tidal generating unit in action (I hope) on Friday afternoon, and on Saturday make my way back to Bangor. There I'll catch a mid-morning flight on Sunday and repeat the process home. Except I'll gain back the two hours I'm losing by flying to the easternmost point of the country.

Winding down the chapters

2009-12-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

I'm at a stopping point on the last chapter I will write for awhile, this one on Wyoming coal. While I wasn't able to visit a coal mine, with John McPhee's smart words ringing in my ear I realized I could write about Powder River Basin strip mines, which I've seen many times. Who needs a stinkin' tour?
All of my chapters are either in the hands of readers or have been read and returned to me. I'll give the coal chapter over in a few days to Paul Wolff, in Tennessee, who knows from coal. Thanks also to writer/reader friends Laurie Milford, Jeffe Kennedy, RoseMarie London, Bill Markley, Doug Couch, John Freeman and the various folks who work for the power companies who've read for the technical details. I couldn't have gotten this far without you. And big thanks to Judith Keeling at Texas Tech University Press. She has given me an extension on my chapter about tidal energy. I could not arrange my trip to Maine to see the work being done there because it is still a work in progress. I have until the end of May to submit that last chapter. Everything else is due March 1 and I've no doubt I can get it all together by then. Scary!

The John McPhee Connection

2009-12-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that this morning I spoke with John McPhee by telephone for close to a half hour. What an interesting man, very generous with not just his time but with his advice. I won't say that the following is a quote, but something he said about visiting coal mines and such reminds me of an old saying: It is better to ask forgiveness than permission. Not that he said that!
Anyway, thank you Universe, and thank you John McPhee!

Waiting for McPhee

2009-12-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

I am up to 18 months and counting with my request to visit Arch Coal in the Powder River Basin of northeast Wyoming. I'm starting to take the hint that they will not let me come for a tour to aid in my book research. Being the resourceful writer that I am, I had the idea that if I can't go to the source, perhaps I could go to someone who has been to the source. That led me to my Eureka moment: John McPhee.
I've read much of his work and he is my non-fiction writing hero. He has written pretty extensively about Wyoming but I have never met him. This morning I emailed the publicity people at Farrar Straus and Giroux, who published Uncommon Carriers. In that book he travels around with various folks in the transportation industry. One of those industries is the coal train beat, and he rides the train into one of the mines I wanted to visit. He talks quite a bit about Bill, Wyoming. You might recall that Bill is one of the stops in my book Jukeboxes & Jackalopes: A Wyoming Bar Journey.
I just fired off an incoherent and giddy email to FSG. Let us hope it works!

Nevada Solar One with photos

2009-11-29T11:56:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Michele Rihlmann-Burke at Nevada Solar One for sending me a DVD of a film produced by National Geographic. The film is about new technologies in solar power, with an emphasis on the concentrating solar technologies used at Nevada Solar One, just outside Boulder City, Nevada. I wish I'd seen it on a sunny day, but the DVD helps me imagine how it would have looked. The DVD also talks about other forms of solar power technology, such as power tower and linear fresnel systems, which might be coming down the pike in the U.S. soon. From the DVD I learned that the Las Vegas strip requires 4.5 million kilowatts of power each day. The Nevada Solar One plant is helping provide that power. But I gotta say, folks, would the world come to an end if the Strip powered down? Las Vegas is the brightest city on Earth, as seen from space. That's according to the U.S. Geological Survey. I guess if it weren't for solar power, that much more electricity would be coming to the strip from fossil plants. But just because we HAVE the power, do we have to USE it?

Computer troubles slow down posting

2009-11-21T08:05:00.001-08:00

The trip to Nevada was a rousing success for the Power Tour. I made two stops. First the Hoover Dam, where I got to wander around the area plus get a public tour of the power plant. Now I have a better idea how things work at Kentucky Lake and other dams, in general. The following day I was given a tour of Nevada Solar One. I didn't get to visit the actual power block but I got to wander the grounds (lots of wandering on this trip) and see the concentrated solar power facility at work. I will post pictures of this trip as soon as my computer gets its new motherboard installed.

Back in the game

2009-11-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

After several weeks getting off task visiting family around the country and working on the publication I edit, I'm renewing my efforts for the Power Tour. Tomorrow morning I leave Laramie, fly to Denver, then on to Las Vegas. I'll rent a car and head to my hotel at Boulder City, overlooking Lake Mead. I'll be busy on Wednesday. In the morning I'll be given a tour of Nevada Solar One, the third largest concentrating solar plant in the world. In the afternoon I'll take in the Hoover Dam. That'll allow me to put the finishing touches on my chapter about hydrolectric power, which focuses mostly on the TVA project at Kentucky Dam. The solar plant will be its own chapter. Look for occasional snippets of reporting from these places in my monthly contributions to DailyYonder.com.

Hope restored

2009-10-15T07:49:00.001-07:00

After temporary depression about not hearing back from folks, I heard back yesterday from John Harrison, Information Officer with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. He provided me with this language about the Council's view regarding dam renewal on the lower Snake River.
"For the purpose of planning for this Fish and Wildlife Program, and particularly the hydropower system portion of the Program, the Council assumes that, in the near term, the breaching of any dams in the mainstem will not occur. The Council revises its Fish and Wildlife Program every five years, at a minimum. If, within that five-year period, the status of the lower Snake River dams or any other major component of the Columbia River hydropower system has changed, the Council can take that into account as part of the review process. "
Now if the 10 other people I've contacted will call me back I may have a book chapter!

Questions about dams and fish

2009-10-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

I have moved full speed ahead into my research and writing about hydroelectric power. Specifically, I am writing about my recent trip to Kentucky Dam, part of the TVA power system in the Tennessee Valley. I say "system" because the TVA also operates fossil fuel and nuclear plants in the Valley. I'm introducing the chapter with a diversion into the Snake River, which commences here in Wyoming and eventually joins the Columbia River to flow into the Pacific. I'm coming across an initiative to remove four dams from the lower Snake River in Eastern Washington. These aren't flood control dams; they are there for hydropower. Naturally, if one removes a dam built for hydropower, one loses that source of electricity. I've got emails in to the environmental group leading the initiative, and to a power coalition in the northwest that considers policy. I want to know more about this effort. Now I just need to sit back and hope one or both returns my messages. I'm finding in this research that people return phone calls and emails about 20 percent of the time. Sigh.

Interview tomorrow with Jay Ewing

2009-10-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

I'm making good headway writing about natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale of North Central Texas. But I realized after my visit to the fracking site with my tour guides from Devon Energy that I needed help with some basic concepts. I have been hearing about problems dealing with industrial waste water left over from hydraulic fracturing of shale rock. I got some good information from Brent Halldorson with Fountain Quail, the company that is recycling that water for Devon. Tomorrow I'll speak with Jay Ewing, completions manager with Devon. I'll ask him about the recycling issue, and also about the fact that some people say fracturing can cause contaminants to seep into well water. I'll get to the bottom of it, I hope!

Home from Southern Tour

2009-09-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Driving 2,000 miles in six days, taking in two energy sites, eating Chex Mix from the bag instead of meals and drinking more Diet Coke than I normally do in a year: That's what I call a Power Tour. I flew into Little Rock, Arkansas, kept to the scenic back roads as much as possible, and stayed a night at Brinkley, Ark. The next day I crossed the Mississippi River in Missouri, into Tennessee. Drove northeast into Kentucky, swung through Paducah, where I did not have the time to visit the uranium enrichment plant, much to my disappointment. But I stayed the night at the Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park. Long name, awesome views. Next day I visited with Jeff Ring, head tech at the dam, who showed me around. I wanted to take a different route across the river so this time I headed mostly straight south. I spent the night in Oxford, Mississippi, and got to see Oxford Square and much of the Ole Miss campus. That is quite the place. Just being there I started to feel the Vibe of the Southern Writer. Next day was a 12-hour drive across the river, through southern Arkansas, and damn near halfway across Texas. Spent the night in Decatur, which is just northwest of Dallas. Spent half the next day with Alesha and Fred from Devon Energy, who showed me a drilling rig, a fracking site, and a water recycling site in the Barnett Shale. Then yes, back in car, halfway back across Texas into Arkansas. Spent the night at Malvern, just outside Little Rock. Trees are still green, flowers still blooming. Then a short drive to the Little Rock airport, caught the flight to Dallas, of all places. Quick transfer to Denver, Laramie, then home. More later about the tours, but for now a few pictures.

Information is coming fast and furious

2009-09-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

Every type of renewable energy has the capacity to be a two-edged sword. That was one of the first things Nathanael Greene of the NRDC told me when we spoke on Monday. Since he is the renewable energy expert there, I was happy to know he saw the same issues with renewables, and traditional energy forms, that I've been noticing. His main point of emphasis to me had to do with energy efficiency in plants and in the transmission system. If we have smart systems, we'll need less of all types of energy, renewable included.
Meantime, I'm packing up for my trip south. I'll be meeting with Jeff Ring at the Kentucky Lake Dam on Tuesday, and with Alesha Leemasters and other folks with Devon Energy at a North Texas gas shale field on Thursday. Hope the incessant rain down south ceases for a few days.
In a few hours I'm off to a public information session about Gateway West, Pacificorp's proposed addition to the electrical transmission system that will go through Wyoming. More to report on that, soon.
My story about visiting the Geothermal Power Plant appeared in today's Daily Yonder. Here's the link: http://www.dailyyonder.com/geothermal-power-offers-hot-hand/2009/09/16/2348

National Resource Defense Council interview

2009-09-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

I'm working simultaneously on my chapters about biomass and geothermal power. I've got a space saved in each piece for the answers to questions I still need to ask. I'm happy that on Monday I am scheduled to have a phone interview with Nathanael Greene. He is the renewable energy expert with the National Resources Defense Council. I plan to ask him the basis questions one might ask about NRDC policies regarding renewables. I don't especially want to ask him to pit one form of renewable against another. I just hope to learn if the Council supports the idea of various forms of energy, with renewables taking the place of traditional forms one day. Or perhaps they support the notion of using a resource that makes sense for an area, without a "one size fits all" approach. Any of you readers who have an idea for what I should ask Mr. Greene about any form of renewable energy, please let me know.

Nevada One is a Go!

2009-09-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Julie Zellman and Michele Rihlmann-Burke, I'm almost set for my visit to the Nevada One Solar Station outside of Las Vegas. Still working out the details and the exact date. But it will most likely be the week of November 9. I've never been to Vegas before - I know, it is hard to believe. Anyway, I'm very excited.
In other news, I just had an interesting email exchange with someone at the Energy Information Administration. I asked a question about a certain renewable energy chart, and included my University of Wyoming, Department of English affiliation in my signature. She wrote back with the answer, very promptly. Then she said "Good luck in the English department. Hope this isn't too confusing." Youch! Was that a slam!? How funny...

Biomass chatting

2009-08-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

I had two good conversations in the last few days to help me think about the use of biofuel. My focus is to think about biomass for electricity, rather than for various sorts of fuel like ethanol or biodiesel. I talked to Robert Cleaves with the Biomass Power Association in Portland, Maine. He explained the PURPA legislation that resulted in various sorts of renewable power plants being constructed. Then he got me in touch with Mike Whiting, who owns Decker Energy, based in Winter Park, Florida. He explained to me how biomass plants function as ways to dispose of wastes from the lumber industry. From their Web site, here is photo and some information about the Grayling Generating Station in Michigan.

"The facility burns about 400,000 tons per year of wood, which is obtained within a 50-mile radius of the plant. Wood fuel is supplied by AJD Forest Products, which operates the largest sawmill in Michigan adjacent to the power plant site. Wood sources include sawdust and other mill waste from AJD and other area sawmills, residue (tops and limbs) from logging operations, wood chips, and clean wood waste recovered from area landfills. Almost all the wood burned is waste material or a byproduct of another operation. Very little of the wood comes from trees cut down solely for producing fuel. Some of the ash produced is recycled, being land spread for use as a soil enhancement by local farmers. Consistent with this recycling theme, much of the water used for cooling in the facility is supplied by the City of Grayling from highly treated effluent from its sewage treatment plant. "

Intermission

2009-08-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

I'm in a bit of a lull trying to wrap up some other projects which have taken me away from PowerTouring and writing. The wind chapter has taken on a life of its own because there are so many developments in Wyoming related to wind. More developers proposing sites for wind farms and transmission towers, and more citizen groups trying to prevent these from landing in their backyards. Gov. Freudenthal is trying to get everyone to work together on planning and bringing in wind-related jobs. Not just transient folks to build the farms and a few technicians to keep it going, but actual manufacturing jobs related to wind. We'll see.
Meantime, I'm also working on the Biomass chapter but have a couple more interviews that won't happen for another week or two. One is with the owner of several biomass power plants in the East, and the other with the renewable energy expert at the National Resources Defense Council. So that chapter is in pretty good shape but still hanging.
I'm still trying to work out a tour to a solar facility and I'm hoping that the folks at Nevada One Solar say yes. They are thinking it over and I believe I'll hear something from them this week.
On top of that, I'm trying to get the Geothermal chapter mapped out. For inspiration I re-read Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. It is quite good if you can get James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Francis and that stupid duck from the movie out of your mind. Here's a quotation from the book I plan to use as an epigraph for the chapter.
“The situation is virtually hopeless, but there exists a possibility of salvation, and it is that possibility which I am examining. If we may die at any moment, we may also at any moment be saved.”

Blundell crew solves mystery and book error

2009-08-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Gary and the other control room operators at the Blundell plant, I have become aware of an error in my previous book, Jukeboxes & Jackalopes: A Wyoming Bar Journey. The error comes from my chapter about a visit to Rowdy's Spirits & Bait in Hyattville, Wyoming. The riddle involved interpreting a sequence of drawings that would answer the question about the score of a baseball game. For anyone who has read the book I correct the first clue here, about the clock. The small hand is on the four, the large hand is on the 11.
If you want more information about the riddle, comment here or email me. I will send you a photo of the riddle.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

2009-08-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

I had a very productive morning at the Blundell plant, operated by Pacificorp Energy. Most of the time I spent with Rene Andrews, the operations supervisor. I also met Garth Larsen, Steve Austin, and a few other folks on duty that day. I thought I'd be able to see the plant from quite a distance in the southwestern Utah desert. I figured I'd see tall towers and lots of transmission lines. But really the place is pretty small, tucked back into the rock, and painted a color picked specially by the BLM, which owns the land.

The plant sits on a geothermal resource which is basically a very hot aquifer called Roosevelt Hot Springs. Once upon a time there were recreational hot springs but those are gone. Now there are four wells that go about 5,000 feet deep. Just like most power plants, steam is used to turn a turbine to generate electricity. Eventually the water goes through an injection well and back into the ground.

My first SER-supported trip. Thanks, folks.

Travel APlenty

2009-08-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

I leave Tuesday morning for southwest Utah, to spend the night in Beaver. Then Wednesday morning it is off to Milford, where I'll be given a tour of the Blundell Geothermal Plant. It is the oldest geothermal plant outside of California. I'm sure I'll know much more about it when Garth Larsen, the plant manager, finishes with me. I'll post pictures and a summary of what I've learned here in this space this weekend.
Meantime, the worst of my worries about the next leg of my journey are over. I've set up times to visit the oil shale in North Texas (thanks Devon Energy) and the dam at the Kentucky Lake near Paducah (thanks TVA). I'm hoping to make time to see the uranium refinery while at Paducah. The folks there have been very nice to extend an invitation for my visit. This trip will happen the week of September 20.
So, thanks UW SER for the funding you've extended me. I'm about to start using it, big time!

Iowa pictures

2009-08-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from my trip to Iowa. One shows a few guys working on converting biomass to fuel through alcohol fermentation. The man by himself is Norm Olson, director of the BECON facility. The other picture is of the Mississippi River, taken from a river side restaurant in Dubuque.

BECON - Biomass Energy Conversion Facility

2009-08-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

I am back from Iowa and my nice visit with Norm Olson at BECON. The facility is part of the Iowa Energy Center, administered through Iowa State University. The place is in Nevada, Iowa, just east of Ames. I'll put pictures up, soon. At present I'm thinking through what Norm explained about using biomass to replace petroleum products for transportation fuel and just about anything else we use petroleum products to create. That's a pretty long list. But I'm also really interested in various biomass feedstocks are either burned or gasified to serve as the fuel in a traditional electrical power plant. I'm reading that even though this burning creates emissions (seems logical) the plant material that is planted to replace what is burned is enough to reabsorb the carbon released from the power plant. The word for this is biopower. I had thought the research for this chapter would be fairly simple, compared to nuclear, at least. I'm here to say that it would be simpler, if only I had a degree in organic chemistry. But I'm trying to make sense of it!

I need a travel agent

2009-07-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Funny, I haven't posted in several days and yet am no farther along in some areas than before. For instance, I am still trying to coordinate my trip to north Texas and the Barnett Shale with my trip to see a hydroelectric dam. I thought I was going to Pickwick Landing in Tennessee, but now that is out. Keith Jones at the TVA is being very helpful, but for some reason, it is hard to get in to see one of these dams. Instead, he's trying to arrange for me a visit to the Kentucky Hydro Plant at Grand Rivers, Kentucky. If I can go there it would be bonus - for I'd then for sure get the uranium enrichment plant in Paducah back on my schedule.

Thanks, SER

2009-07-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook might remember my recent request that the universe shake out some money to support my research travels. Well, the universe ponied up, in the form of a grant from the School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming. Now my planned trips to Utah, California, Maine, Texas and Tennessee won't have to bankrupt me. Thanks so much, SER!

Support for nuclear power increasing, sort of

2009-07-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Gallup’s annual Environment poll has shown a slow but mostly steady increase in American’s support of nuclear energy (http://www.gallup.com/poll/117025/support-nuclear-energy-inches-new-high.aspx.)
Since 1994, when Gallup first began asking about nuclear energy, support for its use has been fairly steady in the mid-fifty percent range. Then in 2009 the poll showed a new high level of support for using nuclear power, with 59 percent favoring its use and 27 percent strongly favoring it. And even though men favor nuclear energy at a much higher level than women (71 percent versus 47 percent), both groups show an increase in support. This was about the time their polls showed Americans willing to make environmental sacrifices in the name of energy production.
And 75 percent of households that earn at least $75,000 annually support nuclear energy, compared with 41 percent of those in households with annual incomes of less than $30,000. Republicans and Democrats have both stepped up their support for nuclear power, but Republicans have always it more strongly since the polling began and still do, at 71 percent compared to 52 percent.
Gallup asked survey respondents whether they were concerned about potential health risks from nuclear accidents or nuclear waste. The majority, 56 percent, believe the plants are safe but at 42 percent, a substantial majority disagrees. Those who believe most strongly that plants are safe are men, upper income households, and Republicans.
In spite of the stronger numbers of nuclear energy supporters, Gallup has found the majority of Americans are reluctant to build a power plant in their vicinity. The are 29 commercial nuclear power reactors in the U.S. that were formerly licensed to operate and are now permanently shut down. Another 64 planned nuclear power projects have been canceled. No new nuclear plants have been built in decades.

Frustrating tire spinning

2009-07-07T15:36:00.001-07:00

Today was one of those days of getting a lot done while making little progress. I'm planning my trip to the BECON biomass research facility in Nevada, Iowa, just outside of Ames. I'm working on my story about my tour of the Cooper nuclear plant with my Daily Yonder editor, Julie Ardery. I'm touching base with the Devon Energy folks about visiting the gas shale sites north of Ft. Worth Texas and trying to figure out how to morph that into a trip to Tennessee to see some hydroelectric dams. Maybe while I'm there I can take in the uranium enrichment plant in Paducah. Or should I skip Tennessee and go instead to some of the big dams on the Missouri river in South Dakota? But then readers of the Power Tour book will get too much east of the Mississippi. Only Maine will remain. Sigh. No wonder I'm taking so much comfort reorganizing the Table of Contents instead of writing. It'll all sort itself out. And isn't that most of writing? Sorting out detail?

NRC works darn fast

2009-07-01T10:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I sent a form email to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C. I wanted someone there to comment on a couple quotes I had from the Snake River Alliance, an anti-nuclear activist group in Idaho. The Alliance quotations had to do with nuclear power safety, both practically and within the workplace culture. I figured I'd get lost in the NRC backwaters for awhile, especially with a holiday approaching. Not the case. Bam! Got a call on the actual telephone this morning from Eliot Brenner. We chatted for a long time, and he's going to follow that chat up with emailed material and more stuff by regular mail. The NRC is obviously very passionate about the commitment to safety!

Gas Drilling in McCullough Peaks, Wyoming

2009-06-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a portion of an article I saw yesterday, along with a link to the full story. Bottom line, there's to be more drilling for natural gas in one of the few areas of Wyoming not already an industrial watseland.
"The US Bureau of Land Management’s Cody, Wyo., field manager signed a decision record on June 29 for seven proposed natural gas wells in the McCullough Peaks area east of Cody. The action by Michael P. Stewart followed a 30-day review of a BLM environmental assessment of a proposal by Denver independent producer Bill Barrett Corp. for the wells and associated facilities in the Rocktober Natural Gas Unit. The analysis determined that no significant long-term impacts would occur as a result of the project, BLM said. It also addressed issues raised during the EA’s public comment and review periods including impacts on wild horses, sage grouse and other wildlife; visual intrusions, and air and water quality, the US Department of the Interior agency said. It received 55 comments on the proposed project."
More here:
http://tinyurl.com/kkytgo

A day of progress

2009-06-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

One backwards step to report: Texas Tech's Barnes & Noble campus bookstore is out of the shirt I ordered. So I called and talked to a nice young lady who helped me select a different T-shirt to wear representing my new (second) favorite school. On the forward progress note, I set a date to visit the BECON biomass research facility outside of Ames, Iowa. I'll wander around my fantasy new town of Dubuque for a few days then head over, in late July. Second bit of progress, I have a phone interview scheduled for the morning with Bob Engles, mayor of Auburn, Nebraska, near the Cooper Station nuclear power plant. And finally, I learned from an Oklahoma geologist what that industrial development was I flew over while visiting last week. My contacts at Devon Energy weren't sure what I was seeing, but it turns out it was the oil fields near Enid. Mystery solved.

Welcome aboard, Texas Tech Press

2009-06-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

Forgive a digression from my travel ruminations to announce that Texas Tech Press will publish Earth, Wind & Sky: A Power Tour. The scheduled date of fall 2011 seems a million years away but truly it will come fast. I'll be busy doing little things like traveling and researching and writing and revising and hair pulling. I could not be more thrilled. The first thing to do was to visit the Texas Tech bookstore online and buy a shirt. Go Red Raiders!

Back from OkCity - Learning about Gas Shale

2009-06-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

My trip to Oklahoma didn't yield a visit to the gas fields, as I'd hoped. But I got a nice interview with Chip and Alesha at Devon Energy. One of the more interesting things we discussed was the way natural gas is being developed out of shale. Conventionally, natural gas is extracted from sandstone. They let me know this is not the same thing as oil shale, which is a difficult process not done much. Devon is doing horizontal (aka directional) drilling for gas from shale in areas like north Texas. They use water to blast it out, somehow. I may try to visit this site, or I might try to see it done in the San Juan Basin. I'm waiting to hear back on that request from Alesha.

Headed for the Heat

2009-06-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

So far this spring in Laramie, the temperatures have struggled to get out of the 60s. Tomorrow morning I'm catching the 7 a.m. flight out of Laramie, stopping for a few hours in Denver, and heading to Oklahoma City. It has been in the mid- to high- 90s there the last several days. I believe it will probably kill me. But it'll be worth it to hang out with folks at Devon Energy in downtown OKC and talk about oil and gas development. Oklahoma is the second leading producer in the country. I want to find out how things work there, from development to production and distribution to remediation. Lots to learn!

Setback Update

2009-06-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well, Wayne in Oklahoma and I are not going to connect when I get to Oklahoma City. Very disappointing. The good news is that he gave me the name of a person who works for Devon Energy in Oklahoma City. Got a very kind followup from Alesha in communications there. She will be able to meet with me at their office to answer my questions and give me an overview about gas development in Oklahoma. She is coming in to the office on her day off to do so. What a gal.
As for Greg with the coal mine, still waiting to hear.

Setbacks

2009-06-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

A few setbacks to deal with. First, Wayne in Oklahoma forgot about me. But I have full confidence when I call him back Monday, as he requested I do, he'll have worked out what oil or gas field in Oklahoma to take me to this coming week. Setback number two is ongoing. Greg from Arch Coal and I are having trouble finding a workable time for my mine tour. Now that my schedule is more wide open than it was in recent months, I'm fully confident we'll be able to set something up.

Military-electrical complex

2009-06-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

I learned recently that all power plants use military time rather than regular time. A reader posted a comment on my Daily Yonder story about the Laramie Basin coal-fired power plant at Wheatland, Wyoming and explained the reasons why. You can see the story and the comment at the link below. But thanks to Windharvester we understand that military, or 24-hour time, helps people coordinate their efforts supplying energy to the grid. http://www.dailyyonder.com/wyoming-plant-roars-coal-fired-power/2009/02/18/1939

Wind running a town?

2009-06-11T08:46:00.001-07:00

The small community of Rock Port, Missouri, has built four wind turbines on a ridge outside of town. They claim to be the first town in the U.S. to be 100 percent powered by wind. Since the wind does not blow 100 percent of the time, I struggle to understand how that could be. I wonder if they mean the towers create the energy the town requires over time, on average. That would make more sense. It is hard to imagine everyone in town shutting off their computers and air conditioners whenever the breeze slacks off. Anyone?

Cooper Nuclear Power Station

2009-06-10T07:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I heard back from Mark Becker and Glenn Troester about the story I'd written about my visit to the nuclear plant. Mark is the media wrangler for Nebraska Public Power; Glenn is the communications coordinator at the plant, located in Auburn, Nebraska. They gave me some much needed technical corrections. I'll be sending the story and photos to DailyYonder.com today or tomorrow. I'll let you know when they run the piece.

Out of the wordwork

2009-06-09T10:59:00.001-07:00

Since yesterday I've heard from folks at a geothermal plant in Utah, a uranium enrichment plant in Kentucky, and a biomass research facility in Iowa. They've all okay'd my visit and are ready to set up tours. Now the only tricky part is figuring out where to go when.

The power tourist emerges

2009-06-08T08:52:00.001-07:00

Another cold rainy June day from near the top of Wyoming, at least the top of its towns. While others in the country use boatloads of electricity for air conditioning, I am running the furnance. I'm also wearing sweatpants, a hoodie, and snug warm shoes and socks. At least I have plenty of indoor work to do. I'm working today on getting a few more readers for the windfarm chapter of my book Earth, Wind & Sky: A Power Tour. I'm calling the chapter "Of Megawatts and Meadowlarks."