Fukushima accident and the lessons for the US and the world

Source: www.fairewinds.com/updates

The Implications of the Fukushima Accident on the World's Operating Reactors from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

Risk from spent nuclear fuel is greater in the US than in Japan, Study says

Todays NYT has an interesting article comparing the risk from spent nuclear fuel in the US vs. Japan. In the case of Fukushima, the explosion at Unit 3 was postulated to be a detonation of the nuclear fuel in the spent fuel pool (not a hydrogen explosion), leading to uncontained volatilized dust of plutonium and other radioactive materials to be sent far and wide. Traces of plutonium from Fukushima was detected here on the West Coast and as far as New England. (You can read more about this from nuclear engineer Gundersen's analysis at www.fairewinds.com/updates). However, the risk from spent nuclear fuel in the US is much greater than in Japan, according to a study by the Institute of Policy Studies. The amount of spent fuel in the single-reactor Vermont Yankee power plant alone, for example, exceeds the inventory in all four of the damaged Fukushima reactors combined.

Read the article excerpt below or click here for the full article.

Risk From Spent Nuclear Reactor Fuel Is Greater in U.S. Than in Japan, Study Says

NYTimes By MATTHEW L. WALD Published: May 24, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/business/energy-environment/25nuke.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

WASHINGTON — The threat of a catastrophic release of radioactive materials from a spent fuel pool at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant is dwarfed by the risk posed by such pools in the United States, which are typically filled with far more radioactive material, according to a study released on Tuesday by a nonprofit institute.

“The largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet will remain in storage at U.S. reactor sites for the indefinite future,” the report’s author, Robert Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, wrote. “In protecting America from nuclear catastrophe, safely securing the spent fuel by eliminating highly radioactive, crowded pools should be a public safety priority of the highest degree.”

Adding to concern, President Obama canceled a plan for a repository at Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert last year, making it likely that the spent fuel will accumulate at the nation’s reactors for years to come....

Update on Fukushima - nuclear meltdown is now officially admitted

Below is an excerpt from Telegraph:

Nuclear meltdown at Fukushima plant

One of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant did suffer a nuclear meltdown, Japanese officials admitted for the first time today, describing a pool of molten fuel at the bottom of the reactor's containment vessel.

By Julian Ryall in Tokyo 2:01PM BST 12 May 2011

Engineers from the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) entered the No.1 reactor at the end of last week for the first time and saw the top five feet or so of the core's 13ft-long fuel rods had been exposed to the air and melted down.

Previously, Tepco believed that the core of the reactor was submerged in enough water to keep it stable and that only 55 per cent of the core had been damaged.

Now the company is worried that the molten pool of radioactive fuel may have burned a hole through the bottom of the containment vessel, causing water to leak.

"We will have to revise our plans," said Junichi Matsumoto, a spokesman for Tepco. "We cannot deny the possibility that a hole in the pressure vessel caused water to leak".

Tepco has not clarified what other barriers there are to stop radioactive fuel leaking if the steel containment vessel has been breached. Greenpeace said the situation could escalate rapidly if "the lava melts through the vessel".

....

Greenpeace said significant amounts of radioactive material had been released into the sea and that samples of seaweed taken from as far as 40 miles of the Fukushima plant had been found to contain radiation well above legal limits. Of the 22 samples tested, ten were contaminated with five times the legal limit of iodine 131 and 20 times of caesium 137.

-------

To read the full article, please go to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8509502/Nuclear-meltdown-at-Fukushima-plant.html

Could San Juan County Achieve Energy Independence?

Below is an interesting post that I found on Energy San Juan blog by Vince Dauciunas. I have been dreaming about the idea of energy independence or at least moving towards energy self-sufficiency. And here is an island of comparable size to us, also in Salish Sea, that has taken a step to take a stock of their energy needs and resources and found that they could do potentially do it! Read on:

-----

The Institute for Environmental Research and Education tested the idea on Vashon-Maury Island, in the middle of Puget Sound, and here are the results.

First, they surveyed energy use on the island and estimated the renewable energy available on island.

They wrote a how-to manual for other communities to do the same assessment.

They found that there was more than enough energy available to power the entire island, most of it (to their surprise) was solar power. Even in this cloudy, rainy Pacific Northwest community, there was plenty of energy to support their mostly-middle-class lifestyle. They found that there was already all the technology they needed to be a net-zero community (generating more energy than they used) but the biggest barrier was lack of political will.

Vashon is similar in size and population to San Juan Island! The report looks at energy consumption and many possible renewable sources. It is a fascinating read, and a possible model for us if we were to undertake a similar study.

Bringing local power to the people

Chris Greacen, Islands Energy Coalition

The islands are making impressive gains in food that is locally produced. Working together, we can do the same with electricity, building clean renewable energy generation that is distributed across islanders’ homes, business, and farmlands on the islands. By doing so, we take local, practical steps to increase our energy independence, alleviate global climate change, and lessen the need for nuclear power as well as demands on our region’s limited hydropower resources.

Since 1998, OPALCO members have opted in to the Green Power program, paying a little bit more each month on their power bills to support renewable energy development that mostly came from off-island – mostly windpower from the Columbia Gorge. OPALCO’s supplier, the Bonneville Power Administration no longer offers this off-island renewable energy. OPALCO is proud to unveil a new generation of green power: Member Owned Renewable Energy, or MORE. The MORE Program collects member donations for green power, as before, but now 100% of all donations will go toward supporting local members who are generating renewable energy and are interconnected to OPALCO’s system.

Here’s how it works: if you’ve got a sunny roof, a windy field or a mountain stream, you can invest in solar, wind, or a micro-hydropower generator on your property. At the end of each year you will receive a check from OPALCO reflecting a premium payment for every kilowatt hour of electricity you produced that year.

All of the funds for this program come from OPALCO customers who opt to make a voluntary monetary contribution on their monthly power bill to support local energy production by MORE generators. If you chose to participate, your MORE contributions help those who invest in local renewable energy to leverage state and federal incentives that make investing in renewable energy cost-effective. The program is set up so that your MORE contributions are guaranteed to have an impact: the MORE program distributes funds when electricity is actually generated, incentivizing efficient, effective renewable energy installations.

OPALCO board member Winnie Adams said of the MORE program, “We have the culmination of a great policy from a really thoughtful committee that did a very sound community process, and is a bold continuation of OPALCO’s long-running support of local renewable energy generators. “

How can I join? If you’re already part of OPALCO’s Green Power program, you don’t need to do anything. You will be rolled into the program automatically, unless you opt out by July 31^st. If you’re not part of Green Power program and would like to be, please contact OPALCO to sign up. MORE “Superheroes” can opt into full participation by signing up for a four-cent premium per kilowatt hour for all energy

consumed on their monthly bills. Or you may sign up for 1, 2, 4, 8 or 10 participation blocks per month ($4/block). The more people that sign up, the more local generation we can support. 100% of MORE local power contributions collected by OPALCO are passed to the MORE program.

“My wife and I have been 100% Green Power subscribers for the past 5 years -- and I've been happy to pay the additional amount since I'd like to see this program be stronger,” said Bruce Crebs, a Lopez island woodworker, “but I really think really everyone should pay more for green power because clean energy benefits everybody. The cheapest power for today is not the cheapest power 10-20 years from now. The utilities are looking out for the long-term interest of the public, and with that in mind I think they – and all of us -- should be strong supporters of clean energy.”

For those interested in generating renewable electricity on the San Juans, this is perhaps the best time in history to do so. OPALCO makes it easy to interconnect and ‘spin your meter backwards’ by using renewable energy produced at your home or business to offset electricity consumption. In addition, the MORE program and a separate Washington State solar Production incentive provide payments for every unit of electricity you generate until at least 2020. An investment tax credit can lower your federal income tax by 30% of the cost of a solar electric system. And purchases of renewable energy equipment in Washington enjoy sales taxes exemption. All told, a solar installation in a sunny location can earn a return better than a money market fund – not counting the effect of higher home resale value with solar.

According to Adams, “'Since this is a new program, the MORE committee will welcome any OPALCO members who would like spread the word to introduce this program to other members of the coop.” These members will form “green teams” on each of the islands to help spread the word. If you are interested, please get in touch with the author (Chris -- 468-3189).

Whether you choose to be a MORE local power supporter or a producer or both, we all can help move our energy system towards self-sufficiency. Let’s bring local power to the people!

Below: Timelapse video of 33.8 kW solar PV installation at Common Ground, Lopez Island. Video by Eric Youngren

Radiation chart

This is a useful radiation chart -- putting widely divergent radiation doses in perspective. (Stay away from CT scans, y'all). Click on image for large screen version.
http://xkcd.com/radiation/

Van Jones speaking about energy on Earth Day

I never thought of it this way -- our economy is powered by death. We dig up 60 million year old oil and 300 million year old coal and burn it without ceremony, and then act surprised...



http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/22/hold_both_parties_to_high_standards

Homes on Lopez That Make More Electricity Than They Consume? Fact – Not Science Fiction

Chris Greacen, Islands Energy Coalition

Did your energy bill put a big dent in your wallet this past winter? What if your home actually produced more electricity than it consumed? Despite an unseasonably cloudy and wet year, between 16 March 2010 and 15 March 2011 four homes at the Common Ground community on Lopez actually did just this. The homes are those of Karan Yvonne, Faith Van De Putte, Donna Hasbrouck, and the family of Chom, Chris, Ty and Sara Greacen.

The homes make their electricity from solar panels which generate electricity when the sun shines. If the solar panel makes more electricity than the home is using, electricity is exported to OPALCO’s grid and ‘banked’ for future use. During the summer time, the homes generated a considerable surplus. During the winter time, the homes drew on this banked surplus to power lights, washing machines, electric ovens, heaters, and other appliances.

A home that generates as much electricity as it consumes is said to be “net zero”. To help meet the net zero goal, conserving energy is key. The homes are exceptionally well insulated, with R-50 insulation in the ceilings, R-45 strawbale walls, and double-pane windows. The homes are so well insulated that the body heat of the occupants provides a noticeable heat source for homes. South facing windows let in plenty of sunlight, warming the house even if it’s freezing outside. Heat collected from the sunlight is stored in concrete slab floors. Household hot water is heated by rooftop solar panels, supplemented by electricity. All the homes have energy efficient appliances including refrigerators, washing machines, and compact fluorescent lights.

User behavior is essential. The homes were able to meet the zero-net goal by turning off lights and appliances when not in use, by using clothes lines instead of electric clothes dryers whenever weather permitted, by minimizing electric heat use, and by lowering insulating shades over windows at night.

OPALCO purchases any excess solar electricity that homes like this make in the course of a year. In addition, the Washington State Department of Revenue provides a payment of 15 cents for every solar kilowatt hour generated. This adds up: last August each household in Common Ground received a check for over $600 for electricity generated. Solar gets a US income tax credit equal to 30% of system cost. And it gets better: in May OPALCO will be launching an incentive program for renewable energy that will make systems like this even more attractive.

OPALCO has great incentives for energy efficient appliances, weatherization, and heat pumps. Or if you don’t know where to start, check out their webpage or sign up for a $25 Home Snapshot Energy Assessment.

As the Fukushima reactor continues to spew nuclear waste, it’s ever clearer that it is important to live lightly and reduce the energy we consume from power plants so that fewer of them need to be built in the first place. This can start at home, by using investing in energy, reducing waste, and even making our own.

Spike of radioactive releases from Fukushima and Xe-133 cloud over Washington

Fukushima forecast shows large radiation cloud over U.S. West Coast on April 14, 15 (video).

What does it mean to see a spike of Xe-133 (an unstable, radioactive isotope of xenon gas)? According to Wikipedia, Xe-133 is one "of the fission products of both 235U and 239Pu, and therefore used as indicators of nuclear explosions". There were also reports of spikes in cesium (Cs-137) and iodine (I-131) releases soon after the 7.1 magnitude aftershock on April 9. See graphs from IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as reported by enernews.com below.



TEPCO however said the spikes of radioactive materials was because "the gauge used to measure radiation was most likely broken" (as reported by NYT). If that's the case, should we be concerned about low readings from the broken gauge? Or the gauge is only "broken" when the readings are high? I am concerned about the lack of information and transparency.

Source:
http://enenews.com/fukushima-forecast-shows-large-radiation-cloud-over-u-s-west-coast-on-april-14-15

Op-ed in Bangkok Post - Nuclear: Far too dear and dangerous for the Land of Smiles

IEC's Chom & Chris wrote an op-ed on nuclear power in Thailand in the wake of the 'slow-motion train wreck' now occurring in Japan.

From Fukushima to San Juan Islands and beyond: the journey of I-131 to our food chain

I've been following the development in Japan's nuclear crisis with great interest and a heavy heart. And the contamination has entered the food chain here (see the news from NYT below). No need for alarm (yet) though.

The image above is from the Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics of Austria. It shows the spreading radioactivity in the form of I-131 from Fukushima to the US and beyond during March 19-27. The modeling is based on actual data from very sensitive radionuclide stations in the CTBTO (the Nuclear Test Ban Organization) global network. The US seems to be in the direct path of the fallout. I'm relieved though that the toxic plume does not blow directly inland over Japan.

Yesterday (Mar 30), TEPCO (owner/operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant) Chairman announced at a news conference that it was presently unclear how the problems at the plant would be resolved. Looks like we are in for a wild ride. Hold on tight!

On a related note, Obama yesterday in his speech on US energy strategy just reaffirmed the continued need to rely on and safety of nuclear power. To me, this means the need for local action and conversations on reducing our dependency on nuke is greater than ever. Let's start thinking about energy self-sufficiency! :)

And here is the NYT news:

U.S. | March 31, 2011
Low Levels of Radiation Found in American Milk
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Tests of milk samples in Washington State indicated the presence of radioactive iodine from Japan, but officials said that the levels were below public health concern.

Meet the Lopez Energy Challenge Winners

The First ever Lopez Energy Challenge concluded last December with clear winners. The couple of “Take-it-or-Leave-It” fame, Neil Hanson and Ona Blue swept awards in all the three main categories: “Biggest usage reduction”, “Smallest energy footprint” as well as “Best energy conservation story”.

How did Neil and Ona manage to be the “Biggest”, “Smallest” and “Best” all at once?

Firstly, they were not big energy users to start with. The month before the challenge, they used only 298 kilowatt-hours (kWh), compared to the average 1,000 kWh/month for San Juan County residents.

Then, their “experimentation” with low energy living resulted in a drastic 99.7% reduction in power usage! Their OPALCO meter reading barely changed (showing usage of only 1 kWh) during the entire month of the contest (October – November). That's less than eight cents worth of electricity at current rates.

Neil and Ona accomplished this jaw-dropping feat, not by taking a holiday elsewhere, not by any sort of technological trickery. Rather, they took on the Energy Challenge as “the perfect opportunity for a practical experiment that would spare [them] from another frantic reaction to a no-electricity event”.

The single kWh of electricity consumed came from the pilot light of their propane oven used only during bread baking sessions weekly. But other than that, they did not use electricity or propane. They essentially turned off the mains breaker!

To meet energy needs for cooking, heating, cooling and lighting, they relied instead on “really low-tech existing and readily available tools”.

They cooked on a wood stove, a biomass cook stove (using scrap wood scavenged from a disposal burn pile and hauled by bicycle) or a blanket box (to finish off cooking). They also used techniques such as grain soaking to minimize cooking time.

For refrigeration, they tried many techniques (including using rocks left outside at night!) but what “really worked” and was “fun” to make and use was a Nigerian “Zeer pot” (two nested earthen pots with moist sand between them that provides an evaporative cooling effect). Lighting was challenging but they managed with the help of solar lights and kerosene lanterns.

There were of course some mishaps, like Neil “pouring a jar of Ona's salad dressing into the nutritional yeast jar (ruining both) in a very low-light situation” or scalding himself twice when he washed himself and misjudged the temperature of the hot water heated by their woodstove.

Non-electric living also brought wonderful surprises to Neil and Ona's lives. They enjoyed the absence of background droning sound of electrical appliances and having more time to read and learn to play the clarinet and accordion.

In fact, they found the experience to be “very positive” and their lives improved in most regards that they saw “no reason to suspend the experiment” after the challenge ended and decided to completely disconnect their OPALCO service!

To me, Neil and Ona's “experimentation” was nothing short of a courageous experiment in truth. And truth it did reveal. That we do not need to wait for a technological breakthrough to lead a gentle, low-carbon life. That solutions are already here. That it can be done and with such joy. I am very grateful for Neil and Ona for alighting hope and inspiration for us.

You can read Neil and Ona's full story below, for inspiration or useful technical details.

(Written by Chom Greacen, this article first appeared in the Islands Weekly in March.)

Winning story from Lopez Energy Challenge contestants, Neil Hanson and Ona Blue

(Written by Neil Hanson)

In taking up the Lopez Energy Challenge for a month, we were hoping—in addition to reducing our environmental footprint—that we might learn some skills that would be useful in the event of an extended power outage. We looked at the challenge as the perfect opportunity for a practical experiment which would spare us another frantic reaction to a no-electricity event (e.g. running around researching for candles, worrying about spoiling food, missing baths...) I sent right away for the book Living with Electricity by the Amish author Stephen Scott expecting simple solutions for every problem. I was impressed with the many systems the Amish have developed but disappointed by the highly evolved sophistication of Amish technology. The main thing we learned from the book was that we needed to find and apply some really low-tech existing and readily available tools. The following completely random notes on what we discovered, what we did, and how it worked for us:

1. Ona bakes bread every week. The only time our power was switched on was at the start of each baking session (4 times) when electrical power was used to ignite the gas oven's burner. Otherwise, our main breaker switch was always off.

2. Most of our cooking was done on a Green Fire Technology Biomass cookstove (developed by the Aprovecho Research Center in Cottage Grove, Oregon)We toured the Research Center while visiting our parents who live nearby. It was quite impressive, with all the stove prototypes on display. We fueled this stove with wood scavenged and hauled by bicycle to our home from the Public Works burnpile. (This is wood which would otherwise be burned by the county as a means of disposal with no secondary benefits.) This stove uses a collar which directs the fire heat to the walls of the port, increasing its efficiency greatly. We also used two cast iron Dutch ovens for wood stove-top baking of vegetables. We quickly learned the value of trivets and heat diffusers here. See www.stovetec.net

3. One of the ground rules we decided on prior to beginning the Energy Challenge was that we would not do anything that would pollute the air we breathe in our house. We completely stopped using our kitchen's conventional propane stove for this reason because the exhaust fan (which vents the toxic byproducts of LP gas combustion) requires electricity. The exception to this rule was for weekly break-baking. In this case, we evacuated the house and opened the windows and doors for several hours. We abstained from all indoor candle or kerosene-burning for this reason also.

4. Speeding up and extending the efficiency of our cooking processes included the practice of soaking grains (such as oats) overnight in water and vinegar resulting in half the cooking time. The use of a blanket box (a camping cooler lined with old wool blankets) finished cooking grains and beans after achieving an initial boil on the wood stovetop. The hot pots went into the box and were wrapped snugly with the wool blankets all around, and the lid was closed tightly. Out wood cook stove was used for warming as well as cooking with the
   help of an unpainted metal stand set-up on one side of the stove.

After much research, we have decided to take advantage of this year's energy tax credit for wood burning stove purchases and buy an Amish-made “Kitchen Queen” wood cookstove which is the best stove for bread-baking. Its stainless steel water-heating feature will be plumbed through the wall behind the stove to our conventional hot water tank so that when the stove is in use, we will have running hot water at all the hot water faucets in our house. Using a thermosyphon to cycle the cold water through the stove. Google: Kitchen Queen woodstoves.

5. We share a single freezer with five other household at our housing coop. We utilized our small freezer space during this experiment to make ice—which we carried in plastic containers to our kitchen's conventional refrigerator. Our refrigerator—without electricity—became a simple insulated box where we kept perishable food below, and ice above. By monitoring the refrigerator's average iced temperature we quickly discovered that the temperature on our porch was lower and we set food outside during daylight hours when critters were not roaming. We are still looking for critter-proof draft box which we could use for this purpose either on our porch or attached to an outside wall with a poss-through access opening. We also used bricks and stones which were set out overnight to chill, then placed in our refrigerator to serve the same purpose as ice until the next evening. In addition to the porch, we utilized the ample crawlspace under our house for storage of items such as apples and potatoes. We read that Amish use spring houses to chill perishable foods with cold running groundwater.
   In an emergency, the small ponds in the village park would serve this function (if food was protected from critters.)

6. The most interesting (and fun) part of the Energy Challenge was the making and testing of a Nigerian “Zeer Pot” for non-electric refrigeration. This device consists of two unglazed
   earthenware pots of different diameters, one placed inside the other. The space betweenthe two pots is packed with sand, which is kept wet by pouring water into the sand each day. Produce is placed within the inner pot and then covered with a damp cloth, and the system is left in a dry, ventilated area. The water in the sand evaporates throughout the day and the law of thermodynamics ensures the temperature in the inner pot drops keeping the produce fresh. We made one of these in about an hour. It really works! See www.idspreppers.com

7. Night lighting was our biggest initial challenge. We purchased two solar “Firefly” L.E.D. Lamps with mini solar panels to start and found that we really missed the abundant warm light we were accustomed to. Seriously, this was a really big deal for us, and almost made us give up on the experiment altogether. Amazingly, someone brought an old Coleman kerosene pressure lantern to the Take-it-or-leave-it and we learned to operate it for supplemental light. In keeping with our originial ground rule of not polluting the air in our house, we made wire rods to suspend the lantern outside of various windows. This solved our immediate need for more light. The bright light it made for us was the source of much joy and celebration. I found a nice shiny piece of polished aluminum in the recycling bin, bent it into a parabolic curve, and attached it to the lantern's handle. This reflector shielded our neighbors from the
   bright light.

(Photo: Barefoot Power)

8. The most dangerous lesson was learned from heating water in huge pots on our woodstove for bathing and washing. I misjudged the amount of cold water needed in my bucket toa chieve a comfortable temperature to pour over myself in the bathtub, and scalded myself (twice). This is trickier than it would seem to be! We used cold water for all dishwashing, food preparation, etc. One of our biggest surprises was discovering that our electric hot water tank continued to provide hot, then warm water from our faucets for nearly a full week after our power was turned off!

9. Another skill we needed to master right away was the transferal of liquids (fuels) in order to operate the kerosene lantern. We needed to pre-heat the lantern's “generator” with denatured alcohol. This required decanting alcohol from its can into the tiny preheater cup. We solved this problem with a bulb baster which sucked the alcohol into the bulb, then accurately delivered it into the tiny cup. Likewise, getting kerosene from the big can into the tiny fuel tank was accomplished with a small plastic hand pump. (Our initial attempts to do this were extremely messy and wasteful.)

10. Our vegan diet was conducive to making this experiment easier than it would have been if we were storing and cooking meat and diary.

Mishaps included my pouring a jar of Ona's salad dressing into the nutritional yeast jar (ruining both) in a very low-light situation.

Almost all electrically created ambient sound has been eliminated in our house—. We both like it a lot, and don't miss any of these sounds. (Especially our constantly droning refrigerator.)

Eliminating our telephone answering machine has been one of our most appreciated changes.

With no radio, we find ourselves attending to our own activities and thoughts much more—and passively listening to the messages of others—including horrific news—much less. We are both reading more than before the experiment. Ona is learning to play the accordion. I am learning to play the clarinet.

With no clock, we are not constantly monitoring time. This has resulted in time seeming to slow down, or stretch-out. Days seem to last longer than before the experiment.

Through this experiment, we have both become more tolerant of each other regarding mishaps such as collisions, spills, broken cups, crashing noises in the night, etc... At the same time, we have enhanced our ability to solve practical problems and adapt to significant changes. The overall experience has been very positive in most regards and has generally improved our lives. We see no reason to suspend the experiment now that the Energy Challenge has ended. We have decided to completely disconnect our OPALCO service and try to continue becoming more knowledgeable and successful at low-tech non-electric living.

Feel free to contact us if you would like any further information, pictures-or whatever. Thanks for the Energy Challenge. It was a great experience we would have otherwise missed.

Home Power article on "Site Analysis for Wind Generators"

Home Power has published and agreed to share this informative article, written by Mick Sagrillo, with us. It's a great read to inform ourselves about siting wind turbines.

To view the (two-part) article, please click on the links below:

http://homepower.com/article/?file=HP40_pg86_Sagrillo

http://homepower.com/article/?file=HP41_pg60_Sagrillo

Is small-scale wind power welcome in San Juan County?

Article from Islands Sounder by Meredith Griffith
(http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/sanjuans/isj/news/113094144.html)

This isn't your grandfather's long-bladed prairie windmill.

Almost whisper-quiet, the six-foot diameter Energy Ball V200 wind turbine looks like something out of the Howe art gallery: a gleaming silver orb of glass fiber polyester, composed of six blades fused at both ends. John Phillips recently applied for a permit to install an Energy Ball, anticipated to supply 9,000 kilowatt-hours of power annually to his Olga home, but the request was denied – based on a 25-foot height building restriction written into the 2006 Olga Hamlet Plan. The device is normally installed on a 35-foot pole or a rooftop...


Click here to read the full article.