Energy in Washington and
Oregon
Kathleen M. Saul
gCORE
November 16, 2010
Revisiting past questions
Aerial view of
Columbia
Generating
Station
http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_
power/reactormap/reactors/columbiagenerating-station.html
Nuclear Waste
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
oversees on-site storage of nuclear waste at
U.S. reactors.
• Most spent nuclear fuel is stored in specially
designed pools at individual reactor sites.
– Fuel rods are stored in water at least 20 feet deep.
– The NRC periodically inspects the design, fabrication,
and use of dry cask storage systems by sending
inspectors to licensee and cask vendor facilities.
Dry Cask Storage
Once the spent fuel has
cooled, it is loaded into
special canisters. Each
canister is designed to hold
approximately 2-6 dozen
spent fuel assemblies,
depending on the type of
assembly. Water and air are
removed. The canister is
filled with inert gas, and
sealed (welded or bolted
shut).
http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/diagram-typical-dry-casksystem.html
The Russian Nuclear Program
• The first Russian reactor, and the first in the world to
produce electricity, was the 5Mwe Obninsk reactor, in
1954.
• The first commercial scale reactors came on line in
1963-64.
• By the mid 1980s Russia had 25 commercial power
reactors in operation; the program stalled after the
accident at Chernobyl.
• In 2000, reactor construction revived with reactors
starting up in 2001, 2004, and 2010.
• Russia also exports reactors to Iran, China, and India.
•http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf45.html
World Uranium Supplies
• Per the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the world
has about 200 years supply of uranium, at
current rates of consumption
– Current suppliers to the U.S. include Canada,
Australia, and Kazakhstan
– If the price of uranium goes high enough, new
technologies could be introduced to capture the
uranium from seawater
–
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=finding-fissile-fuel&page=4
Clarification
• Electrical plant capacity can be stated in terms
of annual production or the installed capacity of
the equipment.
– Ex: 1150 Mw (installed) is the maximum amount that
can be produced at any given time.
– Ex: 21 billion Kwh is the amount of electricity
generated over a given year.
Energy in Washington and Oregon
Electricity Generation in WA
Natural Gas, 9.5%
Coal,
8.5%
Natural Gas
Nuclear, 7.5%
Coal
Nuclear
Hydro
Hydro, 69.2%
Other
Based on: http://www.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=WA
Electrical Generation in OR
25.8%
Natural Gas
Coal
Hydro
55.2%
8.3%
Other
Based on http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=OR
“Where Coal Was King”
The History
• 1833: Coal discovered near Fort Nisqually.
• 1853: First mine opened near Bellingham.
– Much of the exploitation of coal resources in WA had
to wait until railroads were built across the Cascades.
• 1870: Mines near Renton and Newcastle
shipped by rail to the ports.
– Finds near Issaquah were described as “a bed of coal
unsurpassed by anything of the kind in any part of the
world.”
• 1873: Construction of a railroad across the mts
began. http://www.issaquahhistory.org/bagley/coal/coal.htm)
(
• 1880s: Mines opened along the Cedar River
(Black Diamond), in Roslyn and elsewhere.
– Unfortunately, ownership of the mines passed to
outsiders, taking the coal and the profits with it (unlike
the timber industry, which reinvested in the state).
• 1920s and 30s: Coal in WA suffered with
completion of large scale hydro projects.
• 1972-73: Construction of the Centralia Coal
Plant revitalized the industry.
• 1975: the last underground coal mine in WA
closed
(http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5158)
Coal no longer is king in WA
• 2006: Deteriorating conditions at the open pit
Centralia mine led TransAlta to close it.
(http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Washington_(state)_and_coal)
– WA currently imports over 6 million short tons of coal
from Wyoming and Montana each year.
(http://www.statemaster.com/graph/ene_coa_con-energy-coal-consumption)
• Note: There is no history of coal mining in OR;
OR import 250, 000 short tons per year to feed
its one coal fired plant at Boardman, on the
Columbia River.
• Why might Washington State look like had
hydro not replaced most of the coal?
Hydro—Grand Coulee Dam
• 1920s: Feasibility studies initiated for a dam to
provide irrigation to the desert of eastern WA.
• 1933: Work began on a low height dam.
• 1935: The height of the dam was raised to
generate more electrical power.
• 1941: The main dam was completed.
• WW II: Production of electricity became the
overriding factor for the dam.
• 1951: The irrigation pumping plant was
completed.
http://users.owt.com/chubbard/gcdam/html/history.html
• 1974: A third powerplant came on line.
• Dam statistics:
–
–
–
–
Capacity: 6809 Mw.
Height: 550 ft.
Length: 5223 ft.
Contains almost 12 million cubic yards of concrete,
enough to build a sidewalk four ft. wide and four
inches thick and wrap it twice around the equator.
(http://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/pubs/factsheet.pdf)
Natural Gas—Western Region
Pipeline Network
Northwest
Pipeline Corp.
Pipeline from B.C.
Gas Transmission
Northwest Pipeline
from B.C.
Pipeline from the
Rockies
History
• As early as the 1870s, natural gas was used for
lighting in homes and on public streets. After
WW II, new welding and steel pipe-making
techniques made it attractive to carry natural gas
long distances to places where it could be used
for heating and cooking.
(http://fossil.energy.gov/education/energylessons/gas/gas_history.html),
(http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Washington-Natural-Gas-Company-Company-History.html)
• 1954, Federal Power Commission granted
Pacific Northwest Pipeline Co. the right to
construct a pipeline to bring natural gas to the
PNW from Colorado and New Mexico.
• 1955: Pipeline design was changed to
accommodate natural gas imports from Canada.
(http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-UUjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=beYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1025,5545111&dq=history+of+natural+gas+in+the+pnw&hl=en)
• 60% of natural gas used in WA comes from
Canada.
• Roughly 1/3 of homes in WA and in OR use
natural gas as the primary source for home
heating.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=WA
• Methane is the cleanest burning of the fossil
fuels.
Pounds per billion BTUs of energy input
Natural Gas
Carbon Dioxide
Sulfur Dioxide
117,000
1
Oil
Coal
164,000 208,000
1122
2591
http://www.naturalgas.org/environment/naturalgas.asp#greenhouse
• But natural gas releases methane, a
greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than
carbon dioxide.
Gg Methane from Energy Production in the U.S.
100%
80%
Other
60%
Petroleum Systems
40%
Coal Mining
Natural Gas Systems
20%
0%
2000
2005
2006
2007
2008
Based on: http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads10/US-GHG-Inventory-2010_Chapter3-Energy.pdf
Issues Related to Natural Gas
• Access to supplies: An estimated 40% of
untapped natural gas lies under land owned by
the U.S. government, some of it in areas of
restricted access. Another 59% those resources
are on federal lands and offshore waters.
• Pipeline Infrastructure: Existing lines provide a
cap on the amount of natural gas that can be
transported at any given time. Aging pipelines
require maintenance, new pipelines may face
land use and environmental restrictions and
resistance.
• Costs
(http://www.naturalgas.org/business/analysis.asp)
1999 Olympic
Pipeline Explosion
and Fire,
Bellingham, WA
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cf
m&File_Id=5468
Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)
• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) has approved an LNG import facility and
pipelines near Astoria, OR.
– Would receive superchilled (-260 F) gas from
tankers, warm it and send it to a pipeline.
seattletimes.nwsource.com/.../2008189311_lngterminal19m.html
Other Renewable Sources
• November 2006: WA adopted a
renewable portfolio standard requiring all
utilities serving at least 25,000 people to
produce 15% of their electricity from
renewable sources by 2020.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=WA
• In June 2007, Oregon adopted a
renewable portfolio standard requiring the
state’s largest utilities to meet 25% of their
electric load with renewables by
2025.
(http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=OR)
Can we learn from past
mistakes?
• One example: In 2009 Washington Dept. of Fish
and Wildlife issued revised Wind Power
guidelines
– Can serve as protocol for all renewable energy
projects
– Topics include siting on already disturbed land,
avoiding sensitive fish and wildlife habitat areas
(conducting habitat studies in advance), minimizing
the use of overhead power lines, mitigation for
impacts
End Users of Energy In Washington State
30.3%
24.7%
Residential
Commercial
Industrial
19.2%
Transportation
End Users, OR
25.8%
25.6%
25%
Residential
Commercial
Transportation
30%
19.4%
Based on http://www.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=WA and OR
Industrial
Additional Sources
• http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2009/12/15/a-lump-ofcoal-in-your-outlet
• http://www.pse.com/energyEnvironment/energysupply/pages/Energy
Supply_ElectricityWind.aspx?tab=3&chapter=1
• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ncwportal.com/media/jp
g/photo/2005/showcase/2005_bor_grand_coulee_dam_aerial_view
&imgrefurl=http://ncwportal.com/community/grand_coulee_dam_aeri
al&h=488&w=650&sz=110&tbnid=w3GFHOMOoBkEeM:&tbnh=103
&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGrand%2BCoulee&zoom=1&q
=Grand+Coulee&usg=__Rd9hf6ozhJIuKPFQBEbPf8HCmRg=&sa=
X&ei=hBDfTJL2AZDmsQO91Yi1Cg&ved=0CDoQ9QEwCQ
• http://www.tsocorp.com/tsocorp/ProductsandServices/Refining/Anac
orteswashingtonrefinery/AnacortesWashRefinery