Small-Scale Hydropower Bill

The Small-Scale Hydropower Bill was designed to encourage the construction and production of small scale hydropower facilities. The bill also encourages that the hydropower facilities take advantage of smaller water sources for the production of power. With the current federal regulations, all hydropower facilities are seen equal whether big or small. The small facilities become very expensive and often times the funding for the projects fall through due to the overburden of federal regulations.

The act is for conduit style hydropower facilities that produce less than 1.5 megawatts. The Greybull hydropower facility will be creating just under 5 megawatts. My hope for the future is that other acts will be designed for tax relief on hydropower facilities in the 4 to 5 megawatt range. A 5 megawatt hydropower facility is small enough that most people would not even notice the facility. In most cases the size of the facility is small in reference to the large concrete or earth dam.

People are becoming more and more conscience about the nation’s reliance on oil production. With the cost of a barrel of oil rising tremendously, people will become more proactive in the development of renewable energy resources. Tax credits are ways to promote the construction of such facilities.

Hydropower and the Hydrologic Cycle

The article on the New York Times website titled Hydroelectric Power is a great short article that sort of summarizes the main focuses of hydroelectric power production. I most appreciate the description of hydropower from the United States Department of Energy, “Water constantly moves through a vast global cycle, evaporating from lakes and oceans, forming clouds, precipitating as rain or snow, then flowing back down to the ocean. The energy of this water cycle, which is driven by the sun, can be tapped to produce electricity or for mechanical tasks like grinding grain.” This description is great because it relates the production of hydroelectric power to the natural water cycles of the earth. It really drives the idea of hydroelectric power being a natural and renewable source of energy. The biggest concern with the Greybull hydroelectric facility is the cost of the project. The best way to offset the large cost is to relate the construction of the facility to the ongoing battle to change the world’s reliance on oil. With more and more renewable energy sources being developed and constructed, the environment will become a cleaner and more self reliant system.

The article can be found at http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/business/energy-environment/hydroelectric-power/index.html.

Downside to Hydropower

Many people think that because an energy source is renewal, that makes it 100% environmentally friendly. The problem with that idea is with the classic law of energy conservation. “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transformed from one state to another.” With a hydropower facility the energy that is produced at the turbines is transformed from the energy that is built up and stored in the reservoir. The amount of hydraulic head that is built up as the water level on the upstream of the dam increases is the source of renewable energy.

When a reservoir is built and filled with water the vegetation that is below the water surface is where the problem of greenhouse gas emission starts. Over time bio-matter that has accumulated on the bottom of the reservoir decomposes and methane and carbon dioxide are released. If the reservoir is deep enough the gases will be trapped by the water pressure. Once the water passes through the turbines and spillways in a hydropower facility, the gases are released to the environment. In a warmer climate more gases are produced and released into the environment. Tropic areas are a big concern due to the relatively warm annual temperatures. Areas like Greybull, Wyoming are less susceptible to the gases because of the cold temperatures.

The article found in Green Energy News explores this downside to hydropower facilities and the areas that are more susceptible to the problem. The URL for the article is: http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2007/20070077.html

Keeping Up with China

The Chinese President Hu Jintao said at a United Nations gathering that “by 2020, China would reduce carbon emissions by a "notable margin." China is not known for being an environmentally conscious country. With the high population of people and many of them now owning personal vehicles, severe smog emissions in China have been questioned on numerous occasions. With the continuing competition of which country is the best, hydroelectric energy is the new way for countries to win the competition. With the advancements in hydro technology that are available, many countries are looking to hydropower to increase their production of “green energy”. China is looking to spend $713 million dollars in the next decade to decrease their dependence on burning fossil fuels for energy production. The question that everybody is asking is; does China have enough will power and commitment to follow through with this new initiative? Personally I hope that China succeeds in making a cleaner and more environmentally environment. If all countries can adopt new technologies that will decrease the dependence on oil, the entire world will benefit.

This article relates to my blog and project because the price of building a hydropower facility is hard for many people to swallow. If people understand that the new “green energy” production will benefit the world and environment in the long run they will be more open to funding the projects. With the sky rocketing oil prices that we have now many people are starting to move towards new ways of producing power. With hydropower in the news and on peoples’ minds, more tax credits and grants will be provided to those who are building and funding hydropower facilities.

Hydropower at Lower Sunshine Dam Feasibility

The Greybull Valley irrigation district located in northern Wyoming is a small community of people who are in control of the irrigated water for the valley.  The Greybull valley is located in northern Wyoming in a rural area where people are not real impressed by new projects that cost $9 million dollars. According to a Greybull Valley Irrigation District Feasibility Study done in 2008, the costs of a new hydroelectric facility are shown below.

Cost Items                                                                                Project Cost                                                                 

             
Licensing                                                                                     $200,000
Legal Fees                                                                                   $250,000
Power house (Const. cost)  
                - Building (Includes Turbine)                                        $6,000,000 

                -Turbine upgrade                                                         $1,000,000
 First Yr. O/M                                                                             $45,000
Transmission Lines                                                                     $1,100,000

Design (Engineering Fees)                                                            $600,000
Project Total:                                                      $9,195,000

Electric power is sold in kilowatts per hour (kwh). The secret to making as much money as possible for a particular facility is to sell as much power as possible.  The efficiency of the turbine, generator and pumps all play into how much power that can be produced.  The equation for producing power is shown below.

Power = (Flow Rate)*(Water Head)*(Unit Weight of Water)

The Lower Sunshine Dam provides 140 feet of total head and a maximum flow rate of 422 cubic feet per second.  The power output will be around 13,502,659 kWh/year and will have an annual income of about $706,000 per year. After the cost of operation and maintenance the project will yield over $200,000 per year which will make the project feasible to the Greybull Valley Irrigation District. 

American Clean Energy and Security Act

Green energy will become more and more important as oil resources decrease.  According to new economic analysis, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) will only cost the average household about the price of a postage stamp, a small price for the preservation of our planet. The idea that more Jobs will be created, less global warming pollution produced, and greater security for such a small price.

Renewable energy accounts for approximately 10% of the electrical power produced in the United States.   With the ACES in place that number is projected to increase to about 15% by 2020. The safety of American people is increased when more power is produced on American soil.  If a disaster was to take place at an oil refining facility overseas, the U.S. would suffer greatly.  It would benefit the American people to have more control of power production that is within our borders. 

One of the driving forces behind the ACES is the fact that thousands of jobs will be created. With the struggling job market that we have today, the idea of creating more jobs while helping the environment is hard to ignore.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act is a way to provide jobs for thousands of American while increasing national security. While being safe and having more jobs is great, the environment is the biggest winner with the ACEs. 

The link for the policy overview is:  http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/cap2.0/files/bargain.pdf

Smaller is Better

When a hydroelectric power facility is designed, acquiring the environmental impacts statements and licensing can be very tedious.  Most hydroelectric facilities are extremely big and loud which causes many environmental problems.  If a facility can be built that is a fraction of the size with the same power output it would save large amounts of materials, resources and money.

                With the prices of nearly everything in the world on a continual rise, innovative and efficient designs of hydroelectric facilities are taking the world by storm.  Before a facility can be built the engineer has to acquire environmental impacts statements and licensing.  For example, the Grey Bull hydroelectric facilities preliminary cost estimate for environment impacts and licensing was about $450,000.  For small projects like the Grey Bull facility, an upfront cost of nearly half a million would make the project unfeasible.  The time and money saved by incorporating a smaller facility would benefit everybody involved with the project.

                The size of the projects footprint on the environment is another important issue to consider.  Smaller projects require less materials, workers, maintenance and land.  Materials that are used to build a hydroelectric facility are energy intensive.  Cement, steel, wood and many other materials take large amounts of power to create and transport to the project location.  If fewer materials are needed then the environment is benefiting.   

The article below from science daily, talks about the development of smaller hydroelectric facilities.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101020101650.htm

What?!?! People will pay more green energy!

            Many people are becoming more and more concerned about the future of non-renewable resources.  Finally, people are thinking in the long run about the availability and future prices of non-renewable resource like oil.   

According to a poll done by WorldPublicOpinion.org (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44775), 77% of the people in the world agree that policy makers should require utilities to invest more money into developing green energy sources.  The twist on the national average of people that agreed on “green” energy sources was the countries that export oil.  Countries like Russia, Azerbaijan and Indonesia are more critical of alternative energy methods than countries that import oil and therefore pay ridiculously high prices for the oil.  Clearly their “green” judgment is affected by the huge amounts of profit that are being accumulated.

All the ideas of a more environmentally friendly ways of producing energy are great ways to get people thinking green, but are they realistic?  Wyoming is not a place that most people would associate with alternative energy methods.  In fact Wyoming is the perfect place to produce “green” power.  The in-state wind energy potential for Wyoming is about 545 billion kWh per year.  With a national average of about 12 cents per kWh, that is over $65 billion in possible revenue per year.  That $65 billion would be much appreciated once the large coal mines start to disappear. 

Another alternative source of energy that is produced in Wyoming is hydroelectricity.  Along with the 12 dams that already produce about 875 mWh, there are another 17 dams in Wyoming that have the potential to produce large amount of hydro electric energy.  The Grey Bull Valley Irrigation District understands the need for alternative energy methods and the hydroelectric power facility at Lower Sunshine is a great location.  The thought that people are willing to pay more for green energy is a great incentive to construct facilities like the one being proposed near Grey Bull.  The project may suddenly be feasible if people understand the need for the environmentally friendly energy source.          

Discussion of Related Blogs

     The Wyoming Hydro power blog is about the Greybull Hydroelectric power project.  The blog hydropowerstation.com is related to my because it talks about the history and different hydro power projects.  The author of the blog is a Professional Hydro Power Engineer and provides great information on hydro power.

     Civilengineerblog.com is another blog that relates to my blog.  The blog talks about different aspects of engineering projects and what makes them feasible.  Both blogs are very informative and interesting to read.  Hydropowerstation.com provides important data and charts to help understand the benefits of hydro power.

Welcome and Definition

Welcome to Wyoming Hydro Power!  The purpose of this blog is to discuss issues associated with the Greybull, WY hydro power project.  The project is in the preliminary discussion phases.  I am a senior in Civil Engineering at the University of Wyoming and the Greybull Hydropower concept is my senior design project.  The blog postings will be centered around the feasibility of the project.