Current Events: Wind Power Hiccup in Texas; Nuclear Shutdown in Florida
Texas has gone gaga for wind (as has native son and oil man extraordinaire, T. Boone Pickens)—and it cost the state this week. During an evening peak electricity consumption load, the wind died to a whisper in many parts of the state, causing the local grid operators to cut power to folks who had agreed to accept such interruptions in exchange for lower rates. But this blip pales in comparison with the inconvenience caused to residents of Florida when a fire in a substation caused the Turkey Point nuclear reactor near Miami to shut down. Such measures are part of normal safety procedures; a nuclear reactor without reliable backup power would not be able to operate safety systems in the event of a meltdown. But the breakdowns left a huge gap in the power supply of the state—ultimately causing much of the grid in southern Florida to fail in a cascade. That left thousands of people throughout the state without power and grid operators in the dark as to how the problem spread so quickly. (Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT; AP article)

Survey Shows U.S. National Parks Tainted by Pollution

There's no getting away from the polluting hand of man, yet another study shows. A survey of 20 western U.S. national parks and monuments found traces of a slew of man-made chemicals and pollutants in even the most remote areas. Even banned substances, such as the insecticide DDT, still showed up in fish in the survey, leading researchers to question the source of such pollution. For more common pollutants, like mercury and other pesticides, it's pretty clear that it rides through the air before dropping out in rain. For Glacier National Park in Montana—which had the highest overall levels—it was an added blow to the scenic refuge that is suffering the continuing shrinkage of its eponymous glaciers. ( NPS research; San Francisco Chronicle)

New Technology Puts a Chill on Carbon Capture and Storage

FutureGen—an ambitious effort to build a coal-fired power plant with carbon capture and storage technology—has died from budget cuts. But that has not killed off the carbon sequestration effort. We Energies, based in Milwaukee, Wisc., has attached a device to the smokestack of one of its coal-fired power plants that will chill emissions from 130 degrees to 41 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees to 5 degrees Celsius). At that temperature, and in the presence of ammonia, carbon dioxide turns into a crystallike snow. The test process will capture roughly 1 percent of the emissions from the plant—and then immediately release that carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere. It is the first of three demonstration projects by various power producers in the Midwest and many more are planned throughout the country—and the world. After all, without innovative technology, operators of coal-fired power plants may find it difficult to raise money or even continue their operations. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; USA Today)

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