While a proposed Richland solar power project would be the biggest in the state, the economic future of this source of electricity in Washington is not yet written in stone.This will be the first American venture for the French solar power company Neoen. As Neoen studies the potential installation of...
By Don C. BrunellDriving east along Highway 14 these days, you see water pouring out of Columbia River dams. It is already a high water year with much of the run-off from our heavy mountain snowpack yet to come. Don C. BrunellIt is part of our “feast or famine” weather...
By Don C. BrunellSince the construction of Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams, Washington has enjoyed an abundance of low cost, reliable hydropower. It has been one-key competitive advantage for energy intensive industries and now it is vital to our state burgeoning “clean-tech industries.”Hydropower, along with nuclear, solar and wind, produce...
When it comes to hydroelectric power, most people think of a mighty river and a massive dam. Electricity is generated when the build up of water is released from the reservoir. The energy of water falling over the dam is then converted into electric energy through a turbine.There are about...
By Don C. BrunellToday, many elected officials are fixated on tearing down coal-fired power plants and replacing them with solar and wind farms. But that isn’t practical, because when there is no wind or sunlight those plants produce no electricity.There is an alternative.Nuclear power plants supply 10 percent of world’s...
