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We examined bird and bat mortality at a new 89-turbine windfarm constructed in an environmentally sensitive area in north-central Iowa. The windfarm became operational in November 2001. It is located in cropland between three Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's) with historically high bird use. In the past, migrant and resident waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds moved between the WMA's through the area now occupied by the windfarm. Studies of bird collision mortality in California and elsewhere raised concerns about the possibility of mortalities in this area. From April 15, 2003 and December 15, 2003 we searched for dead animals under 26 randomly selected turbines. Six 76.2 m by 3.0 m transects were maintained...
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Some analysts think that biomass offers great potential as a renewable fiel for electricity generation. Biomass’ emissions of greenhouse gases, over its whole fiel cycle, are relatively insignificant when compared to even the “cleanest” of the fossil energy technologies — natural gas. Yet, the external costs (and benefits) of biomass fuel cycles, which stem from impacts other than those associated with greenhouse gases, are not necessarily trivial. Some of these impacts are similar to those that result from the combustion of fossil fbels. Other impacts are unique to biomass fiel cycles. This report describes methods to estimate many of the more important external costs (and benefits) of biomass fiel cycles.
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This paper provides an assessment of wind power effects on technical and economic performance of today's electric power systems. While a small penetration of wind power is unlikely to cause any qualitative changes, significant deployment of wind-generated power will require a major rethinking of generation dispatch and automatic generation control, in particular. We summarize technical risks, as well as the economic implications on total cost of providing power to customers. The discussion is presented for both traditional fully regulated utilities and for the portions of the electric power interconnection which are undergoing restructuring. The paper suggests that the ultimate benefit of wind power to the customers...
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We examined bird and bat mortality at a new 89-turbine windfarm constructed in an environmentally sensitive area in north-central Iowa. The windfarm became operational in November 2001. It is located in cropland between three Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's) with historically high bird use. In the past, migrant and resident waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds moved between the WMA's through the area now occupied by the windfarm. Studies of bird collision mortality in California and elsewhere raised concerns about the possibility of mortalities in this area. From April 15, 2003 and December 15, 2003 we searched for dead animals under 26 randomly selected turbines. Six 76.2 m by 3.0 m transects were maintained...
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We have conducted a detailed analysis of costs associated with today’s technology for CO2 separation and capture at three types of power plants: integrated coal gasification combined cycles (IGCC), pulverized coal-fired simple cycles (PC), and natural gas-fired combined cycles (NGCC). The analysis was based on studies from the literature that analyzed the economics of capturing CO2 emitted at power plants. In this paper, we present a composite cost model and perform a sensitivity analysis to identify the cost-drivers for capture. We conclude that with new developments, CO2 capture and sequestration can become a cost-effective mitigation pathway.
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