August 2008
Vol. 14 No. 8
Editor - Jan Weaver
208 Tucker Hall, MU 65211
The Devil in the Details - Electrical Power
by Jan Weaver
Even if conservation efforts take a significant bite out of our electrical consumption, growing population and aging power plants will require us to find new sources of electricity. However, in spite of all the news stories, columns, editorials and analyses, I feel like I am only getting part of the picture about our choices. As I tell my students, the devil is in the details. It's the fine print that reveals the real consequences of a decision. In the interests of getting at the fine print myself, I made a list of the questions that should be considered in deciding how to meet growing electrical demands in the next couple of decades. And then I went looking for the answers, putting all the ones I could find in the table below.
This effort is definitely not perfect, so I strongly urge anyone interested in the issue to do their own homework. I have provided many of the sources I used below just for that purpose. My goal here was to just lay out all the issues that should go into a decision about a community's power supply. How many jobs are generated per dollar spent, what is the current subsidy structure, what are the life cycle green house gas emissions, not just the emissions from power generation, how much land is disturbed, what is the occupational death rate, what are the public health implications? The most important criteria may be cost and reliability, but the failure to consider these other questions, especially in the long term, is what got us into this crisis in the first place. But a crisis is also an opportunity. Let's make the best of this one.
Issues to Consider Coal Natural Gas Nuclear Solar PV Wind current contribution
(US) 49.6% 18.7% 19.3% 0.02% 0.8% number of plants (US) 1493 5470 104 na >16,000 turbines total megawatts 522,073 196,830 203,145 259 9,149 growth rate/year
(period) 19.0% (10y) 1.2% (9y) 0.2% (9y) 1.8% (9 y) 19.6% (10 y) construction cost per kW $1,300 $500 $1,700-4000 $4000 $200-1000 operating cost per kWh $0.01-0.05 $0.03 $0.06 negligible $0.05 installed power
availalbe 90% 90% 80% 20% 20-60 % jobs per MW construction 0.3 0.3 0.7-0.9 5.806.2 0.4-2.5 jobs per MW operation 0.8-1 0.7 0.4-0.7 1.2-4.8 0.3 lead time for plant
construction 6 years 6 years 10 years 0.5- 2 years 0.5 - 2 years subsidy per MW $155,000 $442,514 $312,092 ? $4,223 fuel supply at current use &
price 240 years 120 years 80 years limitless limitless transmission system centralized centralized centralized distributed distributed greenhouse gas
equivalents 470 g/kWh 259 g/kWh 12 tons/MW 21-43 g/kWh ? sulfur dioxide 4000 tons/MW ? negligible negligible negligible nitrogen oxides 1040 tons/MW ? negligible negligible negligible mercury 416 tons/MW negligible negligible negligible negligible cadmium 3.1-6.2 g/GWh 0.2 g/GWh 0.5 g/GWh 0.3-0.9 g/GWh ? radiation threat (excluding
terrorism and proliferation) negligible negligible no long term storage
solution negligible negligible pollution deaths per
year 23,600 ? ? negligible negligible occupational deaths per
year 20/10,000 < 5.1/10,000 4.5-24 /10,000 ? ? land disturbance 4 acres / MW ? ? ? ? wildlife impacts habitat destruction from
mining climate change habitat destruction from
mining ? 1-7.5 bird
deaths/turbine/year other issues carbon taxes would increase
costs carbon taxes would increase
costs currently too risky for private
financing cost per kWh dropping could provide significant income
for rural communities
Special Events/Programs/Classes/Talks
August 1 and August 9- Superhero Bats to the Rescue (family event) - Rock Bridge Memorial State Park - http://www.mostateparks.com/rockbridge/geninfo.htm
August 2 and 8 - Bats Are Connected (12 and up) - Rock Bridge Memorial State Park - http://www.mostateparks.com/rockbridge/geninfo.htm
August 7 through 17 - Missouri State Fair - Sedalia
September 4 - Tomato Festival - Bradford Farm - http://aes.missouri.edu/bradford/events/
September 6 - Lost in the Woods: Orienteering, map and compass skills - Rock Bridge Memorial State Park - http://www.mostateparks.com/rockbridge/geninfo.htm
September 13 - Sustainable Liviing Fair - Unity Center, 1600 W. Broadway - http://www.slfcolumbia.org/
September 13 - Wildflower Seed Collection - http://wildones.missouri.org/calendar.html
September 19 & 20 - Columbia Bioblitz - Twin Lakes Park - http://bioblitz.missouri.edu/
September 27 - Spider Sniff and Owl Prowl - Rock Bridge Memorial State Park - http://www.mostateparks.com/rockbridge/geninfo.htm
October 11 - Invasive Plant Removal - http://wildones.missouri.org/calendar.html
October 18 - Wild Area Adventure: 2 mile hike in the Gans Wild Area - Rock Bridge Memorial State Park - http://www.mostateparks.com/rockbridge/geninfo.htm
November 22 - November Night Sky: identify constellations - Rock Bridge Memorial State Park - http://www.mostateparks.com/rockbridge/geninfo.htm
February 4 to 6, 2009 - Missouri Natural Resources Conference - Tan Tar A - http://www.mnrc.org/index.html
Organization Meetings and Contact Information
AUDUBON SOCIETY: 874-3904 / columbia-audubon.missouri.org Meet 3rd Wed 7:30 pm, Unitarian Church, 2615 Shepard Blvd.
BIG CANOE: 573-875-8590 / bryce_crispies@yahoo.com / http://www.bigcanoemo.org/ - Saturday workdays 10-1 at 406 Sanford
BOONE COUNTY SMART GROWTH COALITION: http://smartgrowth.missouri.org/, 1st Weds 7:15 Boone Co Govt Ctr.
CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING: 875-0539 or http://www.midmopeaceworks.org/sustainableliving.php
CHOUTEAU GROTTO: http://chouteau.missouri.org/, Meet 1st Wed, 7 pm, The Casteel Building, 1518 Business Loop 70 East
COLUMBIA CLIMATE CHANGE COALITION: 573-529-9273, Meet 3rd Thu http://www.columbiaclimatechangecoalition.org/
COLUMBIA FOOD CIRCLE: 882-7463 or http://foodcircles.missouri.edu/sources.htm
COLUMBIA PUBLIC WORKS VOL. PROGRAMS: 874-6271 or http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Volunteer/Opportunities/#PW
COMMUNITY GARDEN COALITION: 875-5995 or cgardenc@yahoo.com or http://cgc.missouri.org 3rd Thursdays 7 pm Columbia Public Library
ENV EDUCATION WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES: http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/teacher/workshops/
FRIENDS OF BIG MUDDY: friends@friendsofbigmuddy.org or www.friendsofbigmuddy.org 2nd Tues, 7 pm, Bryant Cabin
FRIENDS OF ROCK BRIDGE M. S. P.: 815-9255 or http://rockbridge.missouri.org/ Outdoors Bldg, 200 Old 63 S.
GET ABOUT COLUMBIA: http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/GetAbout_Columbia/index.php
GREEKS GOING GREEN: new group for fraternities and sororities at MU sauzp5@mizzou.edu
GREEN SANCTUARY: 1st Fridays, 7:00 pm UU Church 2615 Shepard Blvd alternates green movies and discussions g_baka2002@yahoo.com
GREENBELT LAND TRUST OF MID-MISSOURI: 442-4789, greenbelt.land.trust @gmail.com or http://greenbelt.missouri.org
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY RESTORE: 815-9836, drop off/ buy 1906 Monroe St. Columbia Mon to Fri 8:30 to 3:30, Sat 8-1 1pm,
MISSOURI ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: www.meea.org
MO NATIVE PLANT SOC.: http://columbianativeplants.missouri.org/, 2nd Mon, odd months, 7 p.m., UU Church, 2615 Shepard
MISSOURI RIVER COMMUNITIES NETWORK: 573-256-2602 or www.moriver.org or moriver@coin.org
MISSOURIANS FOR SAFE ENERGY: http://www.mosafeenergy.org/Content/ first Tuesdays, 7:15, Peace Nook on Broadway
PEDNET COALITION: email: pednet@pednet.org or http://www.pednet.org
RIVER RELIEF: http://www.riverrelief.org/
ROCK BRIDGE MEMORIAL STATE PARK: 449-7402 or http://rockbridge.missouri.org
SHOW ME CLEAN STREAMS COALITION: (573) 751-4115 ext 3169 or www.mostreamteam.org
SIERRA CLUB: 875-2916, http://missouri.sierraclub.org/osage/index.htm 3rd Tuesdays 7:30 pm Hillel Found., 1107 University Ave
SUSTAIN MIZZOU: http://students.missouri.edu/~sustainmizzou/
WILD ONES: 573 882-9909, ext 3257 or email wildonesmo@yahoo.com, http://wildones.missouri.org Meetings 2nd Saturdays.
Feedback - Got an opinion? If we have space, we will consider publishing it. Submit it by email (envstudy@missouri.edu), snail mail (Environmental Studies, 211 Lowry , MU, Columbia MO 65211), or call Jan Weaver to talk about it (882-7116). MU Environmental Network News is published by MU's Environmental Studies Initiative. All opinions expressed are the responsibility of the editor. Any part of this newsletter may be copied for distribution but please give us credit.