Unintended Consequences

[zdas04]

I just got a link to a New York Times article from NACE Corrosion Press.

The basic idea was that when the sun goes down or the wind stops, then the large-scale renewable energy sources stop producing any power and the fossil fuel plants have to ramp up to fill the gap. One guy contended that because of inefficiencies inherent in start-up and shut-down, the plants put more NOx and SOx into the air during the start-up than they saved during the shut-down--resulting in MORE regulated emissions with the wind farm than there would be without it. The wind association refutes this conclusion, but it looks to me like they are citing pretty weak sources.

David

 

[MikeHalloran]

The Bonnet Carre Spillway comprises guide levees and a wide control structure erected in the general area where the Mississippi naturally produced crevasses draining to Lake Ponchartrain long before USACE got involved.

http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/bcarre/designadvances.asp

It's about a mile and a half wide, and six miles long, but the elevation change is not great enough for current commercial hydro power technologies, AFAIK.

The Corps was reluctant to open the control structure because the silty flow from Big Muddy wreaks havoc with commercial oyster production in Lake Ponchartrain, which is normally clear. So they're dammed if they do, and dammed if they don't, pun intended.



The other small logistical problem with pumped storage on the Lower Mississippi is that there ain't no high ground to pump to. My informal survey, taken from the car while fleeing Hurricane Gustav, suggests the nearest high ground is Hattiesburg, about 100 miles away, where I rode out the storm in a motel.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> The often proposed water turbines for the Mississippi River

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_A._Murray,_Jr._Hydroelectric_Station

The Morganza and Bonnet Carre Spillways are flood control structures and are used for water diversion. They are built several feet above the normal river height at their respective locations so no water would be flowing through them except when the river is at or above flood stage.

Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[CajunCenturion]

Sorry, mean to hit edit, not submit.

The Old River Control Structure, up river from the Morganza Spillway, is used to divert water from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya river so to achieve a 70%/30% split in total water flow between the two rivers at a specific latitude. That location was a natural fit for a hydroelectric station and that unit has been in use for twenty years.

Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein