U.S. Hydrokinetic Installation Squeezes More Clean Power from Mississippi River

[Why?Town]

Rick is correct about regulation.

This particular project was done at an existing hydropower plant because all the regulatory issues were already addressed.

[Rick Rowlands]

A 250 KW installation is tiny.  That might be enough to run a mid size machine shop. 

Lets say that we would like to put one of these installations along the Mahoning River.  What would be the process and how much would it cost to obtain government permission to do that?  You would need Army Corps of Engineers approval, as well as Ohio and US EPA permits.  Since the river has buried toxins any disturbance of the river bottom would require remediation.  An environmental impact statement would be required as well.  All of this needed before you even think about actually building.  With all of those government hurdles in place, and knowing that the unit would generate 250KW of power, I would instead be content paying the roughly $5,000 a month electric bill to Ohio Edison and say screw it. 

Dennis, The real reason why more of these renewable energy ideas never take off is because there is too much government regulation to overcome, and that huge burden in itself makes most of these ideas not feasible.  You can't just drop a turbine in a river without government approval, just as you cannot develop an alternative motor vehicle fuel without going through a lengthy government approval process.  Every time someone comes along with a good idea the govt. is right there to stomp him out.  The only way to succeed is to find a big corporate sponsor or to get someone like Tim Ryan to funnel large amounts of government dollars to your project. 

If you truly want some of these ideas to take off you should be preaching the relaxation of regulation which strangles innovation. 

[AllanY2525]

I think that the environment impact is low enough that this type of renewable
energy is feasible....a few dead fish are not going to poison the air, water or
the soil under our feet.

Dead fish are fed upon by OTHER fish and scavengers....and the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers are NOT a major source of food to anyone, anyway.

I still wish that someone would try to develop something that could/would
harness whatever power could be gleaned from the Mahoning River.... it
would be a great, practical way to produce power and pump it into the
local area power grid.. maybe even help lower folks' electric bills a little.

What if these kinetic turbines had a mechanism to catch any dead fish,
AS they are caught in these turbines, and either use them as fertilizer
for agricultural purposes or even for processing (non-rotten ones and ones
that are deemed safe to eat, obviously) into food products.

If the few dead fish could be used for these purposes, it would reduce the
net environmental impact of the turbines to basically ZERO.

[iwasthere]

pita people like to eat fish esp on fridays.

[sfc_oliver]

But , it actually is killing 3% of the fish? And PITA hasn't stopped it yet? I wonder what bought their silence?

[irishbobcat]

U.S. Hydrokinetic Installation Squeezes More Clean Power from Mississippi River
Written by Tina Casey
Published on August 21st, 2009

With the flick of a switch, the first ever commercial-scale hydrokinetic power plant in the U.S. officially commenced operation in the Mississippi River yesterday.  The hydrokinetic turbines, manufactured by Hydro Green Energy LLC, are located below an existing hydropower plant at Hastings, Minnesota.  The initial turbine has a capacity of 100KW.  When fully operational, the new facility will have a capacity of 250KW, adding more than 5.7% of sustainable energy generation without the need to expand the existing dam or build a new one.
Hydro Green Energy
Unlike hydropower dams, which operate on water pressure, hydrokinetic turbines produce energy from ambient movement in the water.  Tidal power and wave power are two other examples of hydrokinetic power.  Hydro Green installed the first hydrokinetic turbine in the Mississippi late last year, as a first step in an ambitious plant to draw 1,600 MW of hydrokinetic power from the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.  Commercial operation of the plant had to wait until an intensive study of the impact on fish, which has just been completed by Normandeau Associates.  The study found a survival rate of over 97%.
Hydrokinetic Power
One advantage of hydrokinetic power is its scalability.  Hydro Green's ambitious plans are at one end of the scale.  At the other end are low cost mini-turbines such as those offered by Seattle-based Hydrovolts, Inc., which can be simply dropped into canals or industrial outflows and tethered in place.  Buoy-sized wave power devices are another modestly scaled example.  Either way, both large and small hydrokinetic power installations promise the ability to draw extra power from the U.S. water supply without intensive construction or significant impact on aquatic life.
We have the science and technology to help improve our hydro-power technology today and in the future!

Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Green Party
Ohio Green Party