A precedent could be examined at Alloy, West Virginia, USA where Union Carbide built such a project in the New River Gorge many decades ago. At a loop of the New River considerable vertical drop (perhaps 1000 feet) was harnessed by boring a tunnel through the mountain ridge to rejoin the river several miles downstream. The outlet of the tunnel houses a turbine power plant. This plant has been operational for many decades, so those interested could gather facts regarding its cost per watt generated and various ecological considerations and outcomes. Such a project seems to have lower impacts than downstream dams and installations which adversely affect fish migration, create flooding of valleys, and introduce potential dangers from dam failure to toxic sedimentation. This project became feasible due to point of use generation for a large induction furnace to make technical metal alloys requiring clean firing. If, on the other hand, the power had to be transmitted long distances, the economic and ecological profiles would change considerably. Among those added costs would be intangibles such as environmental and health factors from transmission magnetic fields, disruption of backland ecosystems and the like. The assessments which make it to the light of day generally ignore large aspects of the complex equation of real costs to real benefits ratios. If all of the costs and impacts were accounted for, I think it unlikely that any large, centralized project could be honestly justified contrasted to distributed generation by low impact technologies such as photovoltaic and wind generation at point of use.
On 17 Oct, 2007, at 2:24 PM, Terry Dyck wrote: > > Hi Fritz, > > Sorry for taking so long to get back to you and answering your > questions. In BC the mountains are very high and there are rivers in > these high mountains. I believe that it is possible to have some high > river water diverted to a hole made in the mountain to create a drop > for the water to create electricity. At the lower end of the mountain > the water simply goes back to its original stream. > > Terry Dyck> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: > sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org> Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 > 08:23:42 -0400> Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Hydropower doesn't count as > clean Power> > Hi Terry,> and how do de get the Water on top of the > mountain?? :)) But wont this water be missed in the river it belongs?> > Fritz> ----- Original Message ----- > From: Terry Dyck > To: > sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org > Sent: Saturday, October > 06, 2007 3:19 PM> Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Hydropower doesn't count as > clean Power> > > > Hi Fritz,> > A new Hydro project in BC, Canada is > being planned which does not involve a dam. The water will spill into > a hole in the top of a mountain and produce a lot of electricity. The > project will not interfere with fish or the forest. Only damage will > be roads to the facility.> > Terry Dyck> From: > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org> Date: > Sat, 6 Oct 2007 08:47:12 -0400> Subject: [Biofuel] Hydropower doesn't > count as clean Power> > Hi Keith and all,> if one counts how sloppy > Hydro-dams have been built here in Quebec,Valleys had been flooten > with little clesn up before flooding!Whole eareas of Forest submerged> > (a lot of them also in BC),wich creates on top of the Methane also a > high Mercury-pollution (via Tannin/zyanide),so the Government recomend > only restrictet Fishconsumption!> Fritz> -------------- next part > --------------> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...> URL: > /pipermail/attachments/20071006/cf5409a0/attachment.html > > _______________________________________________> Biofuel mailing list> > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org> > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel> > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever:> > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html> > Search the combined > Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archiv!> es (70,000 messages):> > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/> > _________________________________________________________________> > Have fun while connecting on Messenger! Click here to learn more.> > http://e > ntertainment.sympatico.msn.ca/WindowsLiveMessenger> -------------- > next part --------------> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...> URL: > /pipermail/attachments/20071006/58346788/attachment.html > > _______________________________________________> Biofuel mailing list> > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org> > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel> > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever:> > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html> > Search the combined > Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages):> > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/> > -------------- next part --------------> An HTML attachment was > scrubbed...> URL: > /pipermail/attachments/20071007/efba733e/attachment.html > > _______________________________________________> Biofuel mailing list> > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org> > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel> > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever:> > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html> > Search the combined > Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages):> > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > _________________________________________________________________ > Are you ready for Windows Live Messenger Beta 8.5 ? Get the latest for > free today! > http://entertainment.sympatico.msn.ca/WindowsLiveMessenger > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: /pipermail/attachments/20071017/67a69ecb/attachment.html > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
