Four the Future - Energy Generation

• Wind farm proposed on Palouse
  Source: Spokesman-Review; October 27, 2010
  Summary: Even though the Palouse is not as well suited for wind turbines as the Columbia gorge, a ridge near Oakesdale is and a permit has been requested to create a $170 million wind farm which will meet the needs of 25,000 homes.
  Opinion: The saddest part of the article reads as follows: "[The Palouse has] been farmed for over 100 years, so it doesn’t have great wildlife habitat left. It’s pretty well suited for development." I hope that wind power is the only development it attracts.
• Harnessing the wind
  Source: Ashland Daily Tidings; December 22, 2010
  Summary: Smaller cylindrical wind turbines are quieter than bladed windmills and can take advantage of winds closer to the ground. That makes them safer for birds, too. These Michigan-manufactured windmills cost, including installation, around $11,000 early last year, but demand is making for long delivery times, and have driven the cost up to $15,000 now. However, Oregon and federal tax credits shaved $7,500 of the cost of each.
  Opinion: The earlier concerns about noise and extremely large towers are partially mitigated by this turbine format. They also have the advantage that it doesn't matter from which direction the wind blows, as it doesn't need to turn to face into it.
• PGE's coal-fired Boardman plant gets approval to close in 2020, with fewer pollution controls
  Source: Oregonian; December 9, 2010
  Summary: A coal-fired plant in Boardman, just south of the Columbia River in eastern Oregon, avoided adding $500 million in additional pollution controls by receving permission from Oregon’s Environmental Quality Commission to close by December 31, 2020. Instead, $60 to $90 million in pollution controls will be installed. The plant produces 4 million tons of greenhouse gases and more than 25,000 tons of other pollutants each year, including acid rain and smog producing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. A Sierra Club lawsuit is attempting to close the Boardman plant earlier, asserting that more pollution controls should have been installed upon initial construction. The agreement still requires EPA approval. If approval is given, the Boardman plant will be the youngest coal-fired plant to be closed due to environmental concerns.
  Opinion: There will be more stories like this, but not necessarily due to environmental concerns. A great number of coal fired plants will get old enough to be abandoned anyway, and we must either find a way to replace the energy they produce or reduce our demand. The second is preferable, being the more resilient position.
• Interest in algae's oil prospects is growing
  Source: Los Angeles Times; September 17, 2010
  Summary: While we here in Washington are trying to get rid of algae, there are nearly 300 Californians who are raising it on purpose in order to create liquid fuel. $176 million was invested in one year to develop biofuel from algae, but what it currently produces is exceptionally expensive, between $20 to nearly $33 per gallon (and some estimate rise as high as $60 per gallon). Kai BioEnergy Corporation claims that it can currently produce 20 gallons per minute and just needs to get to 300 gallons per minute to become economically viable.
  
  
  
  Opinion: If they reach their price point at a 300-gallons-per-minute daytime average, and considering solar obliqueness in the morning and evening, they’d be making around 144,000 gallons per day. The United States currently consumes nearly 900,000,000 gallons per day. Thousands of such facilities would be necessary to make a significant dent in the problem.