[Subjectivist]

Highway lights, parking lots, bill boards, office buildings, architectural accents....the list goes on and on.....

It is a measure of our collective concern about cc.

It is not that simple, large steam generating stations take hours to go from cold boilers to steady power production. This causes the central utilities to keep them running all the time so at night when other demand is low the power is cheaper to use. Hydroelectric, solar PV and gas turbine units fueled by natural gas can all turn on and off within 30 minute cycles when their energy source is available. Unfortunately for natural gas to be really efficient you need to run the exhaust gasses through a steam boiler plant to recover more of the energy from the fuel. These combined cycle gas turbine plants are much more fuel efficient than the old coal power boilers, but they have the same need to stay running all the time to be efficient.

[Keith_McClary]

May 13, 2014 at 5:37 PM
50-year-old math error may be to blame for Wanapum Dam crack

Preliminary results of what caused a big crack in Wanapum Dam point to a mathematical error during design of the structure more than 50 years ago, the Grant County Public Utility District said Tuesday.

The underwater crack formed across a spillway pier of the huge dam and may have been exacerbated by a weak construction joint, the utility said.

The preliminary findings will be submitted to the utility’s Board of Consultants for final review.

The utility says a team of engineers discovered the mathematical error while examining the original design calculations of the Wanapum Dam spillway. When they recalculated the design formulas, they found that additional concrete and/or reinforced steel should have been used in the construction.