Tag: jack

Part 2: Tidal Power in the Atlantic

  • A team from Verdant Energy attempts to install a turbine. (Photo courtesy of Verdant Energy)

An emerging industry has begun to harness the motion of waves, tides, and currents.
On the East Coast, several companies are already testing various technologies to
capture this new form of renewable energy, often called tidal power. While tidal
power is still in its infancy, companies studying it say it could
eventually be more profitable and more environmentally-friendly
than other forms of renewable energy. Amy Quinton reports:

Transcript

An emerging industry has begun to harness the motion of waves, tides, and currents.
On the East Coast, several companies are already testing various technologies to
capture this new form of renewable energy, often called tidal power. While tidal
power is still in its infancy, companies studying it say it could
eventually be more profitable and more environmentally-friendly
than other forms of renewable energy. Amy Quinton reports:


(Pare:) “Coming in it hits this shore pretty heavy, going out it hits the
Newington shore pretty heavy, it is a dramatic roar. It really is.”


Jack Pare, a retired aerospace systems engineer, points to the water
under the Little Bay Bridge in Dover, New Hampshire. Here, tides
from the Great Bay move quickly through a narrow opening to the
Piscataqua River – at almost nine feet per second at its maximum.


Pare sits on a state commission that will study tidal power generation
here under the bridge:


“It’s just one of many things you have to do if you want to – quote – ‘save the
planet’ or otherwise cut down on our carbon emissions.”


Renewable energy experts say energy from tides, currents and
waves could double the hydropower output in the U.S., producing
20% of the nation’s electricity. Right now, only one company
is producing tidal power so far in the United States.


A little known start-up called Verdant Power has six underwater
turbines, resembling windmills, in the East River in New York. Founder
Trey Taylor says those turbines can generate power 18 hours a day:


“That power is then put directly into a supermarket and a parking
garage. Oh and by the way, in that parking garage in New York City there are
electric vehicles that plug into tidal power, which we think is pretty
cool.”


Taylor foresees a time when 300 of these underwater turbines will
power about 8,000 homes in New York. Verdant Power has also
spent more than two million dollars putting high-tech equipment in
the water to test how fish would react to the slow moving turbines:


“All we’re seeing so far, and this is all recorded, is what we were told by fish biologists who we went to who did some modeling, is that fish would swim through them because they’re moving so slowly or that fish will swim around them. And what we’re seeing is, fish are swimming around them because there’s a lot of separation between the turbines.”


But Jack Pare points out the turbine technology that works well in
New York’s East River might not be appropriate for the Piscataqua:


“We have deep water shipping, we have harbor seals, we have stripers
and we have lobster, none of which are present on that other site. And so there’s
a little bit more to be careful of.”


But another company studying tidal power on the East Coast has
come up with a type of technology that may alleviate that problem.
Oceana Energy, which holds permits along the Piscataqua River, has
technology that looks like a large wheel, with an open center.
Project Manager Charles Cooper says that allows marine mammals
to swim through:


“The open center approach we think is both more environmentally
friendly and likely less costly and also likely to be able to be scaled to
different sizes and generate a lot for the amount of
hardware that has to be put together.”


But Cooper says each site is different, and Oceana remains open to
using other companies’ technology. He says tides in the Piscataqua
could theoretically produce about 100 megawatts of power,
enough for about 100,000 homes:


“That’s a substantial amount of power but I think that’s not really the main
emphasis of this type of development, this is going to be something that can be looked at as supplemental to the real base load energy generation.”


Cooper says while east coast tides have less strength than those on
the west coast, they come with more regularity and typically
surround heavily populated areas.


Verdant Power officials believe the renewable energy will eventually
be profitable – an early analysis shows tidal power costing Verdant
seven to eight cents per kilowatt hour.


Those energy costs are slightly higher than natural gas and fuel oil.
And so far, Verdant has produced that without government
subsidies.


For the Environment Report, I’m Amy Quinton.

Related Links

Some Extreme Climates Disappear

A new study predicts global warming will prompt some types of climates
to disappear from parts of the world. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A new study predicts global warming will prompt some types of climates
to disappear from parts of the world. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Scientists asked that if the planet warms up, where would new climates
be created and where would existing climates disappear? Geography
professor Jack Williams heads a research team at the University of
Wisconsin and University of Wyoming.


Using computer modeling, he predicts by the year 2100,the main changes
will be in low-lying tropical areas, at the top of very high
mountains, and at the poles:


“So the warmest areas get warmer and are first to move outside the
range of what we experience at present and then the coldest areas,
also get warmer… so that these sets of cool or cold climates
disappear as we move to a warmer world.”


Williams says where climates disappear, that will put local species in
danger. He says it’s not clear what the new climates will be like.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach

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Governments Accountable to Great Lakes?

A commission that advises the US and
Canadian governments on the Great Lakes wants to
see more accountability from Washington and
Ottawa. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A commission that advises the US and
Canadian governments on the Great Lakes wants to
see more accountability from Washington and
Ottawa. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


The International Joint Commission is focusing its latest report on
getting the US and Canada to set up an accountability plan for
restoring and protecting the Great Lakes.


US Commissioner Allen Olson says one example of accountability is
getting Congress to approve money for an Asian Carp barrier near
Chicago to keep the foreign fish out of the lakes.


“There are a number of members of the United States Congress of both
parties that are immediately accountable to address that issue.”


Canadian Commissioner Jack Blaney says the governments also have to be
accountable to what citizens said at recent IJC hearings:


“They want to swim at their beaches, they want to be able to eat the
fish. They want to be able to take water out of the lakes that they
don’t have to spend enormous sums treating.”


The IJC wants a preliminary plan to be ready by the summer of next
year.


For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach

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Study: Black Mold Affects Sense of Smell

That black mold you sometimes find in wet basements might cause more trouble than you think. New research finds that toxins produced by black mold are capable of killing cells that help us smell. The GLRC’s Erin Toner reports:

Transcript

That black mold you sometimes find in wet basements might cause
more trouble than you think. New research finds that toxins
produced by black mold are capable of killing cells that help us
smell. The GLRC’s Erin Toner reports:


Toxins found in the spores of black mold have been linked to
respiratory and neurological problems. But now, researchers at
Michigan State University have found that the toxins also affect
the nasal passages.


Veterinary Pathologist Jack Harkema was one of the researchers.
He says in the study, mice were given a small, single dose of black
mold toxin.


“When we examined these animals, we found that the cells that are
important to detect odors, or the sense of smell, that within 24
hours they died.”


Harkema says the toxins killed nearly 80 percent of nasal cells that
send signals to the brain. He says more research is needed to better
understand the effects of the toxin on people. That could be
important for thousands who’ve been affected by flooding,
including the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina.


For the GLRC, I’m Erin Toner.

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Ten Threats: Break in the Food Chain?

  • Diporeia are disappearing from Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The actual size of a diporeia is ½ an inch. (Courtesy of the EPA)

Some of the life in the Great Lakes has been hit hard by industry and trade. Pollution and
invasive species have hurt some of the native plants and animals important to the food
chain. While popular game fish might be the first to come to mind, it’s a little organism
at the bottom of the food chain that has biologists and fishing experts most concerned.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

In a survey, experts said one of the Ten Threats to the Great Lakes is a disappearing
species. Some native fish populations and organisms are declining. Our guide through
the Ten Threats series is Lester Graham.


Some of the life in the Great Lakes has been hit hard by industry and trade. Pollution and
invasive species have hurt some of the native plants and animals important to the food
chain. While popular game fish might be the first to come to mind, it’s a little organism
at the bottom of the food chain that has biologists and fishing experts most concerned.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


(Sound of swinging doors)


Jack Donlan is taking me behind the fish counter at Donlan’s Fish House. In the
backroom he’s scaling and filleting some whitefish.


“Of the fishes caught in the Great Lakes, whitefish is one of the big volume fishes. Lake
perch, walleye bring more money per pound, but I would think from a tonnage-wise,
whitefish, it’s an extremely popular fish.”


This is a popular place to get Great Lakes fish, but Donlan’s suppliers, the commercial
fishers, are worried about the catch. At some places in the Great Lakes whitefish aren’t
doing too well.


(Sound of Lake Guardian motors)


Tom Nalepa is trying to figure out why whitefish are struggling. He’s onboard the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency research ship, the Lake Guardian. Nalepa is a
biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes
Environmental Research Lab. He’s been studying Lakes Michigan and Huron, and on
this day he’s getting ready to study the bottom of Lake Erie.


He’s not studying whitefish. He’s actually looking for a tiny shrimp-like crustacean, only an
eighth to a quarter inch long, called diporeia. Eighty-percent of the whitefish diet is
made up of diporeia.


“And what we’re seeing is a dramatic drop in populations, and not only drops, but there are
large areas now in all the lakes, except Lake Superior, that no longer have diporeia. This
is real concern because diporeia is a very important fish food.”


Researchers used to find eight to 10-thousand diporeia or more in a square meter of sediment just
a few years ago. Now, there are only a dozen or so, or none at all. Diporeia is one of the
mainstays of the bottom of the food chain, and Nalepa says whitefish aren’t the only ones
that eat the tiny critters in the sediment at the bottom of the lakes.


“Just about every type of species found in the Great Lakes will feed on diporeia at some
stage in its life-cycle. Diporeia is high in calories and has a high-energy content. It’s a
very good food, nutritious food source for fish.”


Without it, fish are not getting enough to eat. Marc Gaden is with the Great Lakes
Fishery Commission. He says when diporeia disappears, commercial fishers can’t help
but notice.


“Right now we’re seeing skinnier whitefish. Whitefish that are somewhat emaciated in
some areas because they just don’t have as much of these low-end of the food web organisms
to eat, and we think it’s related to an invasive species that came in.”


That invasive species is the zebra mussel, and more recently another invader that was
likely carried to the lakes in the ballasts of ocean-going cargo ships, the quagga mussels.


Back on the Lake Guardian, Tom Nalepa says he’s seen the connection again and again.


“There’s no question that it’s related to zebra mussels and quagga mussels. In every area
that we’ve studied, regardless of the lake area, declines were happening a couple of years
after the quagga mussel or zebra mussel were first found, but that connection remains
elusive.”


Biologists thought the invasive mussels might have been filtering out all of the food the
diporeia eat, but when they find diporeia, they don’t appear to be starving. They appear
healthy. Now, scientists are wondering if there’s some kind of disease or toxin spread
by the mussels that’s wiping out the diporeia.


Even if researchers learn why the diporeia are disappearing, there might be nothing that
can be done to help. Some scientists worry that the decline of diporeia and other
organisms at the base of the food chain might ultimately lead to a massive collapse of fish
stocks in the Great Lakes.


For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.

Related Links

Are Airports Polluting Our Local Waterways?

For most of us, the arrival of spring means good bye to snow and ice. But not at many of the nation’s airports. Frost on the ground and low temperatures mean planes must be sprayed with de-icing fluids for months to come. But there’s growing concern that these fluids are polluting the nation’s waterways. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports: