Keep cool and save on your power bill

<p>As summer sets in, a local utility is offering tips to help ensure the heat doesn’t get the best of your health or your wallet.</p><p>”Although summer officially started June 2l, people living in southeast Louisiana have already experienced temperatures in the low 90s with heat and humidity indexes reaching over 100 degrees,” said Joe Ticheli, manager of South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association.</p><p>Based in Bayou Blue, the utility serves about 16,000 customers in Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, St. Mary and St. Martin parishes.</p><p>Some tips:</p><p>Limit your activities: If you know you have work to do outdoors, plan it for the morning or evening, when the weather is cooler and the sun not so strong.</p><p>Keep cool: Dress in light, loose and comfortable clothing. Drink plenty of liquids. </p><p>Don’t add heat: Cook outdoors in late afternoons when possible, and bake as little as possible. Save washing, ironing and other hot chores until late evening or early morning. Use the microwave rather than the conventional oven. Take short showers and baths and use exhaust vents to remove moisture and humidity.</p><p>Fans can help: Use box, oscillating or ceiling fans to supplement or replace air-conditioning demands.</p><p>Air conditioning: Every degree you set your thermostat below 78 adds 3 percent more to the cost of cooling your home. Change air filters once a month. Have your air conditioning system checked and serviced regularly. If you don’t have air conditioning, go someplace that does.</p><p>Keep out the sun: Close curtains, blinds or shutters during the day to reduce sunlight invading your home. Strategically planted trees can be your best ally in this effort.</p><p>Other options: Do you have enough insulation in your attic? What about those leaky hot water faucets? Is the damper in the fireplace closed? How often do you unnecessarily open and close the refrigerator and freezer doors?</p><p>”The more energy you use the more it costs,” Ticheli said.</p><p>For more, call SLECA’s member services department at 876-6880.</p>

Keep cool and save on your power bill

German Green Power Forces Neighbors to Bolster Blackout Defenses

Germany’s drive to harness wind and solar power is producing so much electricity that it’s spilling over into neighbors’ grids and increasing the threat of blackouts.

Poland and the Czech Republic are spending $180 million on equipment to protect their systems from German power surges, while Austria is curbing some trading to prevent regional networks from collapsing. On a windy day, the overflow east can exceed the output from four atomic reactors.

Germany’s fivefold increase in green energy in the past decade has outpaced investment in power lines to move it across the country. Electricity is looping through Poland and the Czech Republic to reach southern Germany, where supply is constrained as Chancellor Angela Merkel shuts nuclear plants after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. The disruptions show the limits to the European Commission’s vision of a single power market.

“A huge accumulation of overflow increases the threat of a blackout,” Zbynek Boldis, the head of trade and international relations at Czech grid CEPS AS, said in an interview in Budapest. “The root of the situation is allowing a huge amount of electricity to be generated regardless of the capacity of the grid.”

Grid Upgrade

German grid companies plan to spend at least 22 billion euros ($24 billion) on high-voltage power lines as they upgrade their grids to accommodate more solar and wind power before the last of the eight remaining reactors close in 2022. Nine units generating almost 10 gigawatts — enough to power 20 million European homes — have been shuttered since 2011, with the latest on June 27. Nuclear power now accounts for 16 percent of Germany’s electricity, compared with 26 percent for renewables.

German power overflows are increasingly forcing Poland to protect its grid from overloading and triggering a blackout. The nation’s grid operator had to double the amount of last-minute changes to power-plant output to balance the surges in the first quarter from a year earlier.

On the windiest days, sometimes more than 50 percent of the power sent from northern Germany to its southern states and Austria travels through Poland and the Czech Republic, according to CEPS.

Surge Impact

Polish grid operator PSE SA says the surges take up so much of its import capacity that there’s not enough remaining for it to regularly carry lower-cost German power that could be made available to commercial users. German electricity for delivery next year is about 18 percent cheaper than Polish power, close to the widest gap since at least 2008, broker data show.

“My boss keeps asking why we aren’t buying power from Germany, but this is practically impossible,” said Henryk Kalis, the energy buyer for ZGH Boleslaw, a zinc processor controlled by ArcelorMittal. The Bukowno, Poland-based company pays more than $26 million a year for electricity.

The Poles and Czechs will by the end of next year finish installing transformers on two power lines connecting with Germany to control the unplanned flows and help free up capacity that can be traded or auctioned off to domestic customers.

While that will ease the pressure from overflows, the Polish and Czech grids still face congestion from the demand for cheap German power in Austria, which shares a wholesale electricity market with Germany.

Grid Congestion

For more than a decade, Austrian traders have bought German electricity when it’s cheap to sell to other countries at higher prices. This aggravates grid congestion as the amount traded has “significantly exceeded” the planned physical capacity between the countries, Jochen Homann, the president of German grid regulator Bundesnetzagentur in Bonn, said in a May interview.

Homann didn’t respond on Tuesday to multiple requests by phone and e-mail to the grid regulator’s office for additional comment.

Austria’s network operator is increasingly stopping traders from buying German same-day power, blocking purchases for 766 hourly periods in the first quarter, compared with 807 in all of 2014, grid data show.

Trading stops have “exploded since the fourth quarter, especially on the import side,” Manfred Knabl, head of trading at Verbund Trading GmbH in Vienna, said on July 3.

European Union lawmakers are preparing rules for an “energy union” for 2020, which aims to break down national barriers for power and gas flows, bolster energy security and reduce pollution. A draft outline will be unveiled July 15.

“We’re in an absurd situation,” Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s economy minister, said at a utility conference in Berlin on June 24. “We produce cheap power in the north and can’t ship it south.”

German Green Power Forces Neighbors to Bolster Blackout Defenses

Obama works to expand solar energy for all Americans

Zachary Toliver | Shale Plays Media

President Barack Obama is continuing the push for more solar energy into the mainstream as the White House revealed a handful of initiatives to make the energy source accessible to lower-income households.

Solar may fall in price year after year, but the majority of panels in homes are skewed towards the upper-classes of America. According to a George Washington University Solar Institute report, of the roughly 645,000 homes in the U.S. that have installed solar panels, less than 5 percent are households making less than $40,000 per year (As reported by Mother Jones).

The current administration stated that the new solar initiatives are a part of its endeavor to address climate change, promote clean energy and creating good paying jobs. But in that, “we must also work to expand opportunities for families to use cleaner sources of energy that can help households save on their utility bills,” the administration said.

On Tuesday, the Obama administration detailed its plan to reduce this particular energy disparity. In the launching of the National Community Solar Partnership, a goal was set to unlock access to solar for the nearly 50 percent of households and business that are renters or do not have adequate roof space to install solar systems, including issuing a guide to developing community solar programs.

In addition, the press release announced the goal of installing 300 megawatts of renewable energy in federally subsidized housing. This is nearly triple the previous goal for 2020 set by President Obama. The White House stated that Housing authorities, rural electric co-ops, power companies, and organizations in more than 20 states across the country are committing to put in place more than 260 solar energy projects. This includes projects to help low and moderate income communities save on their energy bills and further community solar programs.

The White House noted that in 2014, the United States brought online as much solar energy every three weeks as it did in all of 2008, and the solar industry added jobs 10 times faster than the rest of the economy. Since the beginning of 2010, the average cost of a solar electric system has dropped by 50 percent.

In related news, Music artist Akon to open first-ever “Solar Academy” this summer.

Obama works to expand solar energy for all Americans

Are bridge-mounted wind turbines a viable option?

Wind turbines might be common sight all around the world, but situating them in open fields or on breezy ridges isn’t always a practical option. Ideas like placing turbines under bridges have been proposed, but is that a viable alternative? According to new research out of Europe, the answer is yes.

The study is based in models and computer simulations, which were carried out by researcher Oscar Soto and his colleagues in Kingston University (London)

The researchers from Spain and the UK, used the Juncal Viaduct in the Canary Islands as a basis for computer simulations designed to establish whether the wind blowing between the pillars on bridges is sufficient to move turbines and create energy.

The study showed that the best way to create power would be to use two different-sized turbines, or even to create a matrix of 24 small turbines because of their low weight and the amount of power that can be produced by each unit.

In terms of practicality, however, the study suggests that the best option would be to use two identical medium sized 0.25 MW turbines, which could theoretically generate enough energy to power 450-500 homes, as well as reduce CO2 emissions compared with fossil fuel sources.

“This kind of installation would avoid the emission of 140 tons of CO2 per year, an amount that represents the depuration effect of about 7,200 trees,” said researcher Oscar Soto.

A paper outlining the findings has been published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

Source: Sinc

Are bridge-mounted wind turbines a viable option?

Nation's renewable energy consumption highest since the 1930s

SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. consumers are increasingly turning to solar, wind and biomass for their energy needs, driving domestic renewable energy consumption to its highest peak since the 1930s.

A recent analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration — an independent research service of the U.S. Department of Energy — found that renewables’ share of the nation’s energy consumption hit 9.8 percent in 2014.

That percentage, the analysis said, returns the country to its 1930 levels of renewable energy consumption, when wood was a larger contributor to domestic energy supplies.

Year to year growth, on average, was 5 percent from 2001-2014 for renewable energy consumption, due in large part to the growing use of wind, solar and biofuels, according to the analysis.

As an example:

• Wind energy grew by 70 trillion British thermal units in 2001 to 1,700 trillion Btu in 2014.

• In the same period, solar energy grew from 64 trillion Btu to 427 trillion Btu and the use of biomass for the production of biofuels grew from 253 trillion Btu to 2,068 trillion Btu.

(A Btu is the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit).

While hydroelectric power remained the nation’s largest source of renewable energy in 2014, wood held onto its No. 2 spot, with the analysis pointing to the high demand for wood pellets contributing to its recent growth.

The administration said Americans are increasingly turning to wood to heat their homes and the transportation sector is pushing a larger appetite for biofuels, including ethanol and biodiesel.

In 2014, the industrial sector used 24 percent of the nation’s renewable energy, with nearly all of that coming from biomass — which includes wood, waste and biofuels used in the manufacturing process and the production of heat and power.

Utah renewables

None of these energy dynamics are lost on Utah’s landscape of power production, with multiple renewable projects slated to come online and research that is ongoing to diversify the state’s energy portfolio.

The Utah Biomass Resources Group estimates there are 15 million tons of woody biomass available in the state each year, with combustion techniques that produce very little smoke or vapor.

Organized in 2010 and drawing together multiple state agencies, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and Utah State University Extension Service, the group is looking to tap into Utah’s biomass resources for energy, and at the same time boost forest health and improve watersheds.

The group says a total of 45 million tons of “green energy” could be utilized in the state over the next five years. Demonstration projects on the economics of utilizing woody biomass have drawn substantial interest and a unique partnership is being broached to convert the material to energy, according to co-chairman Darren McAvoy.

Utah is also poised to see billions in new solar investments over the next 18 months, with nearly 900 megawatts of new solar slated to be turned on, said Jeffrey Barrett, deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Energy Development.

“Southern Utah is abuzz with solar contracts,” he said.

And in late June, Sustainable Power Group announced its purchase of a 62.1-megawatt wind farm in San Juan County that is expecting to begin energy production this year, inking a 20-year contract with PacifiCorp to purchase the power.

The Sierra Club’s national director, Michael Brune, said Utah state officials may be able to point to future projects coming online, but the reality is “very little” is happening in the state when it comes to renewable energy.

“Iowa will soon get 40 percent of its electricity from renewables and Colorado will soon be at 30 percent,” he said. “Nevada will soon be the leader with advanced energy batteries. All of these things are happening, but very little of it is happening in Utah. Instead you see this rush to extract fossil fuels from a world-class resource. It is tragic.”

Brune, in Moab a few weeks ago of an environmental advocacy road trip, bemoaned the oil and gas development that is occurring near Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park.

Standards and goals

While acknowledging that development is happening via leases owned by the federal government — and not within the state’s control — Brune said the state could do more to require investments in renewable energy, including the adoption of a renewable energy standard that is more than just a wish.

Brune said the majority of Utah’s neighboring states have renewable portfolio standards that require a percentage of their energy be derived from alternative sources such as wind or solar, while Utah’s remains just a “goal.”

“It would accelerate clean energy and it would create an enormous amount of jobs in the state,” he said. “It would reduce the amount of air and water pollution. It would be a boon for the state of Utah.”

Local advocates Utah Clean Energy also point out that the state’s goal is flawed because it lacks any interim goals or targets to reach its stated desire to get to 20 percent by 2025.

Under Utah’s provisions, utility companies are only required to use renewable energy if it is cost effective, according to the group.

Barrett said the critics will always be right: There’s more to be done on the renewable energy front.

“Everyone can always do more to incentivize, more to encourage the development of renewable energy,” he said. “There’s always more that you can do. The growth in Utah in renewable energy may not have kept pace with the rest of the country in terms of what is being consumed.”

But Barrett argues that Utah — with its 82 percent energy production arising from coal — is poised to see nearly 15 percent of its capacity come from renewables by 2016.

“If all of the resources are actively generating at their full capacity post 2016, then non-hydro renewable energy will account for about 15 percent of that total capacity,” he said.

Barrett said by waiting and letting the cost of solar come down so it has become a more economically attainable option, Utah consumers will be able to get renewable energy at about the same cost as natural gas, rather than the high prices California consumers are paying.

“You can rail against Utah’s policy, but the fact is Utah gets to have its cake and eat it, too,” he said. “They get it at roughly half the cost of neighboring states that took the more progressive action of creating a mandate.”

Barrett said he believes that factor speaks to the attractiveness of letting the “market” dictate what happens with renewable energy.

“We are behind some states and in a couple of years we will be ahead of some states in terms of portfolio numbers,” he said. “What matters is that we are getting the renewable at a really good price for ratepayers.”

Brune and other advocates contend that Utah is missing out on a bounty of economic development activity with its insistence on staying with a mere goal — which does not reflect what the majority of states have done. The District of Columbia, three territories and 29 states all have standards, not goals.

“If Iowa can invest in clean energy, why can’t Utah?”

But Barret said Brune’s blanket accusation doesn’t reflect the reality of what is happening.

Clean energy jobs

“We are investing to the tune of millions of dollars a year depending on the year through tax incentives, both refundable and nonrefundable,” he said. For every megawatt hour of renewable energy generated in this state, we pay a production tax credit. If that is not investment, I don’t know what is.”

A recent report issued by an affiliate of another prominent national environmental organization, too, lists Utah among the top 10 states in the country for clean energy job creation announcements and related transportation for the first three months of 2015.

The Wednesday compilation was researched and produced by E2, or Environmental Entrepreneurs, which is affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In its state by state analysis, the report pointed to the 300 jobs that are slated to come online in Utah with a large-scale solar farm planned for Iron County. Those jobs are among the nearly 10,000 clean energy and clean transportation jobs announced during early 2015.

Barrett said that type of concession by an environmental group bolsters his contention that Utah is making strides in the renewable energy arena.

“We are a proactive partner for companies looking to develop these resources. We do everything we can to encourage this activity, short of mandating a certain resource mix to our utility companies, because we don’t think that is appropriate.”

Email: amyjoi@deseretnews.com

Twitter: amyjoi16

Nation"s renewable energy consumption highest since the 1930s

With more work, solar is the future

When the Wright brothers began their experiments with flight, no one could have imagined that years later air travel would become thoroughly routine. To be successful, the brothers had to overcome numerous hurdles. When no manufacturer could supply them with an engine light and powerful enough to propel them into the air, they built their own. By doing so, they changed history.

Now, with the record-breaking Solar Impulse 2, history is being written once more. As The National reported yesterday, the aircraft completed the most difficult leg of its journey around the world on Friday when it successfully landed in Hawaii after crossing much of the Pacific. Swiss explorers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the driving forces behind the project, have effectively succeeded in creating the first plane capable of perpetual flight.

The flight was made possible after years of hard work, research and development. However, it’s also important to note that this is just the start of a much longer journey. More work needs to be undertaken to develop solar flights that are currently impractical due to the slow travel time, unpredictable weather and weight constraints of the aircraft.

The focus should now be on reducing the weight of solar-powered aircraft and improving speed in the air. Another area to improve is the power storage system. Batteries are not yet efficient enough to allow solar power to compete with fossil fuels. Their cost remains relatively high and they store limited amounts of energy.

But the good news is that research is already underway at Masdar Institute and, indeed, elsewhere to develop more advanced solar energy storage. While this research may not yet have yielded any new advances for solar aviation, the Institute’s focus on sustainable energy systems is likely to throw up new lines of development to pursue.

The history of flight tells us that there are always new technologies that can lead to the next “big thing”. Solar Impulse 2’s journey around the globe will end soon, but the journey towards universal fuel-less flights continues apace.

With more work, solar is the future

Wildfire smoke advisory issued for Fort St. John

Updated with information on a fire ban. — Ed. 

A smoke advisory has been issued for Fort St. John and surrounding areas due to smoke from wildfires in the area.

The situation is expected to persist for at least the next 24 hours.

Exposure is of particular concern for infants, the elderly and those who have underlying medical conditions, such as diabetes and lung or heart disease.

The B.C. Ministry of Environment warns that people with heart or lung conditions may be more sensitive to the effects of smoke and should watch for symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, discomfort, or irritation of airways.

Wildfires are currently burning on both sides of the border.

RELATED STORY: 15 gas plant workers forced to flee Petitot River Wildfire

In the Prince George Fire Centre (which includes all of Northeast B.C.), crews are responding to the 415-hectare Mount Bigfoot Fire about 90 kilometres southeast of Fort Nelson.

The Petitot River Fire is also burning about 115 kilometres northeast of Fort Nelson, which was about 3,600 hectares at last estimate. An evacuation alert was issued by the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality.

On the Alberta side of the border, there are two wildfires burning north of Worsley.

Real-time air quality information is available at www.bcairquality.ca.

How to reduce health risk

— People with heart or lung conditions may be more sensitive to the effects of smoke and should watch for any change in symptoms that may be due to smoke exposure. If any symptoms are noted, affected individuals should take steps to reduce their exposure to smoke and if necessary see their physician. People with symptoms should go to their health care provider, walk in clinic or emergency department depending on severity of symptoms.

— Use common sense regarding outdoor physical activity – if your breathing becomes difficult or uncomfortable, stop or reduce the activity.

— Stay cool and drink plenty of fluids.

— Smoke levels may be lower indoors, however levels of smoke particles will still be increased. If you stay indoors, be aware of your symptoms.

— Consider visiting a location like a shopping mall with cooler filtered air. Keep in mind that staying indoors may help you stay cool and provide some relief from the smoke, however many air conditioning systems do not filter the air or improve indoor air quality.

— Reduce indoor pollution sources such as smoking or burning other materials.

— You may be able to reduce your exposure to smoke by moving to cleaner air. Conditions can vary dramatically by area and elevation.

— Residents with asthma or other chronic illness should activate their asthma or personal care plan.

— Pay attention to local air quality reports, air quality may be poor even though smoke may not be visible.

— Commercially available HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters can further reduce poor indoor air quality near the device.

— Maintaining good overall health is a good way to prevent health effects resulting from short-term exposure to air pollution.

— For general information about smoke and your health, contact HealthLink BC available toll free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 8-1-1, or via the web at: http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/kbaltindex.asp.

Fire ban throughout B.C.

A fire ban also went out on Friday across the majority of the province except areas along the western coast of Vancouver Island that includes campfires and fireworks.

Cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes are exempt. 

The fire ban covers all B.C. Parks, Crown and private lands, but does not apply within the boundaries of local governments that have forest fire prevention bylaws and are serviced by a fire department.

B.C. Wildfire Management does not have jurisdiction within municipalities, says Fire Information Officer Emily Epp.

“But a lot of municipalities have their own bylaws in places about back yard burning,” she said. 

Both the Dawson Creek and Fort St. John fire departments warn residents that there is currently a ban on backyard fires both cities that includes open fires of any size, the use of fireworks, sky lanterns and tiki torches, burning barrels or burning cages of any size, exploding rifle targets or use of forced-air burning systems. 

For more information on the ban call the City of Fort St. John fire department (250-785-4333) or the Dawson Creek fire department (250-782-9898). 

dcreporter@dcdn.ca

© Copyright 2015 Alaska Highway News

Wildfire smoke advisory issued for Fort St. John