[MCN] Hydropower gets established in municipal water pipelines

[Lance Olsen]

Excerpt: "It's a renewable energy source, but hydropower has its 
pitfalls. Its dams can kill fish and other marine life and majorly 
disrupt habitat, and they can also end up emitting significant 
amounts of greenhouse gases - a side effect that many of hydro's 
fellow renewable energy sources, including wind and solar, don't 
share.

"But there's one place with near-constant running water that can be 
tapped for energy without causing environmental problems: cities' 
drinking water pipes. LucidEnergy, a Portland, Oregon-based startup 
that launched in 2007, is starting to capture the energy of water 
pipes, beginning with a pilot project in Riverside, California and 
now with a full-scale project in Portland.

"Gregg Semler, president and CEO of LucidEnergy, said his team 
originally went into the business of hydropower by looking at ways to 
capture energy from streams. But they soon realized that it was 
difficult to predict the flow of a stream, and that generating 
hydropower could be environmentally degrading. Pipes, on the other 
hand, are existing-man made infrastructure, so equipping them to be 
power producers doesn't present any environmental concerns. They also 
pump water daily at a fairly constant rate, which allows for a 
consistent flow of energy.

"'What's really interesting about Lucid is this is a new source of 
energy that's never really been tapped into before,' Semler said. 
'You take the best of hydroelectricity and put it in the pipe'."

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/13/3661575/portland-water-pipes-energy/

-- 
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"The tendency for success to breed complacency and recklessness is as 
ingrained in financial markets as it is in any other walk of life."

Banks : Barbarians at the vault. The Economist, May 15, 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  "Access to more capital makes bigger crises feasible: every now and 
then, somewhere in the world, one is going to happen.

"Is this because the same mistakes are made again and again, or is 
each crisis unique?  The answer is yes to both :  each crisis is 
unique, and the same mistakes are made again and again."

"While a bubble is inflating, reckless lending seems merely bold, and 
appropriately well-rewarded."

The Economist, "A cruel sea of capital : A survey of global finance," 
May 3rd, 2003.

=========================================================================
"Three concepts are almost completely foreign to people who are not 
ecologists: (1) natural ecosystems provide services on which our 
economic, social, cultural and political systems depend; (2) when 
these processes are altered, our quality of life declines; (3) when 
the processes fail, life becomes very difficult or impossible.  As a 
result of this ignorance, conservation is seen by many as a minor 
amenity benefiting a small cadre of birdwatchers or backpackers that 
stands in the way of 'progress' that benefits all."

Brussard and Tull. "Conservation Biology and Four Types of Advocacy." 
Conservation Biology 2007 21 (1) 21 - 24).


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