Power Hungry (54 page)

16
Robert Bryce,
Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron
(New York: PublicAffairs, 2002), 241.

17
For Senate dates, see Wikipedia, “Phil Gramm,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Gramm
.

18
Lisa Sorg, “Power Play,”
San Antonio Current
, October 30, 2003,
http://www.sacurrent.com/columns/story.asp?id=57671
. For info on Government Canyon, see “Government Canyon State Natural Area,” n.d.,
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/government_canyon/
. Visitors to Government Canyon should request a chat with interpreter/peace officer/all-around good guy John Koepke.

19
See “
StopNYRI.com
: What You Can Do Today,” n.d.,
http://www.stopnyri.com/towns.php
.

20
Kate Galbraith, “Environmentalists Sue Over Energy Transmission Across Federal Lands,”
New York Times
, July 8, 2009,
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/environmentalists-sue-over-energy-transmission-across-federal-lands/?hp
.

21
Earthjustice.org
has the entire July 7, 2009, complaint online at
http://www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/final-complaint-energy-corridors.pdf
.

22
Map of project from Lower Colorado River Authority, available at
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/07/22/WEB0722lcrapowerlinesfinal3.html
.

23
Asher Price, “In the Line of Ire,”
Austin American-Statesman
, July 22, 2009,
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/07/22/0722wind.html
.

24
Laura Hancock, “BLM OKs Milford Wind Project,”
Deseret News
, October 21, 2008,
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705256822,00.html
.

25
All data provided by personnel who worked on the Milford project. Note that in addition to the massive amounts of steel and concrete needed for the project, it also consumed about 700 tons of copper, or about 2.3 tons per megawatt. When accounting for wind's intermittency, that means that each reliable megawatt of wind-power capacity requires about 6.9 tons of copper.

26
Per F. Peterson, “Issues for Nuclear Power Construction Costs and Waste Management,” September 16, 2008,
http://www.ostp.gov/galleries/PCAST/PCAST%20Sep.%202008%20Peterson%20slides.pdf
, 4. Wind's resource intensity is also far greater than coal's. Peterson's report says that coal requires 98 tons of steel and 160 cubic meters of concrete per megawatt of capacity. That means that wind power's steel requirements are 4.7 times as great as those of a coal plant, and its concrete requirements are 5.4 times as great as those of a coal plant.

27
Rybczynski, “The Green Case for Cities.”

28
“A Pragmatic Response to Climate Change,” October 26, 2009,
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/10/26/pm-whole-earth-q/
.

29
David Case, “Texas Oil Tycoon Tackles Renewable Energy,”
Fast Company
, May 9, 2008,
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/a-mighty-wind.html
.

30
The entire STP facility covers 12,000 acres. STP Nuclear Operating Company, “About Us,” n.d.,
http://www.stpnoc.com/About.htm
. The math is straightforward:
12,000 acres is equal to 48 million square meters. The plant produces 2.7 billion watts. Thus 2,700,000,000 / 48,000,000 = 56.2.

31
Based on author calculations. Assumes that the average U.S. gas well produces 4.8 million Btu per hour. Converted to electricity (assuming a loss of two-thirds of the heat energy), that yields about 470 kilowatts. Assuming each well covers 2 acres, it works out to about 235,000 watts per acre.

32
Here's the math: 60,000 cubic feet = 60,000,000 Btu = 60,000 MJ, and 60,000 MJ / 86,400 = 694,444 W. So, 694,444 times 0.33 = 229,166 W, and 229,166 W / 746 W = 307 hp. Assuming a 2-acre well site: 307 / 2 = 153/5 hp per acre.

33
This definition of stripper well comes from ConocoPhillips,
http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/other_resources/energyglossary/glossary_s.htm
. Here's the math: 10 bbls = 58,000,000 Btu, and 58,000 MJ / 86,400 seconds = 671, 296 W. So, 671,296 times 0.33 = 221,152 W (221 kW), and 221,152 / 746 = 297 hp. Again, assuming 2 acres: 297 / 2 = 148.5 hp per acre.

34
The calculations for the energy densities of the renewable sources is based on work done by Jesse Ausubel. See Ausubel, “The Future Environment for the Energy Business.”

35
Ibid.

36
Ibid.

37
Ibid.

1
Global Wind Energy Council, “Global Wind Energy Outlook 2008,”
http://www.gwec.net/index.php?id=92
, 46.

2
When asked for data, officials at the American Wind Energy Association pointed to a report by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) that estimates possible carbon reductions. The report, “Analysis of Transmission Alternatives for Competitive Renewable Energy Zones in Texas,” dated December 2006, is available at
http://www.ercot.com/news/presentations/2006/ATTCH_A_CREZ_Analysis_Report.pdf
. The American Wind Energy Association officials also pointed to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy projecting that if wind power in the United States reached 20 percent of electricity generation, then some 825 million tons of carbon dioxide would be “saved.” See U.S. Department of Energy, “20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy's Contribution to US Electricity Supply,” May 2008,
http://www.20percentwind.org/20percent_wind_energy_report_05-1
1-08_wk.pdf, 12.

3
Global Wind Energy Council, “Global Wind Energy Outlook 2008,” 46.

4
Lawrence J. Makovich, Patricia DiOrio, and Douglas D. Giuffre, “Renewable Portfolio Standards: Getting Ahead of Themselves?” Cambridge Energy Research Associates, February 2008, summary page.

5
Ibid., 14.

6
Keith Johnson, “Wind Power: Everything's Bigger in Texas,” WSJ blogs, April 13, 2009,
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/04/13/wind-power-everythings-bigger-in-texas/
.

7
Office of the Governor (Texas), “Gov. Perry Dedicates Desert Sky Wind Farm in Pecos County,” May 3, 2002,
http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/4304/
.

8
Lone Star Sierra Club, “Cool Texas: A 12-Step Plan for Meeting Electricity Needs That Is Good for Texas' Economy ... and Our Climate,” n.d.,
http://lonestar.sierraclub.org/Conservation/coolTexas2page.pdf
.

9
Richard S. Dunham, “President Points to a Benefit for Texas,” Hearst Newspapers, June 25, 2009,
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/President_points_to_a_benefit_for_Texas.html
.

10
Data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. See
http://www.ercot.com/about/
.

11
Electric Reliability Council of Texas, “ERCOT Response to US Rep. Joe Barton,” March 29, 2007,
http://www.ercot.com/news/press_releases/2007/ERCOT_Response_to_Rep._Barton.html
.

12
Electric Reliability Council of Texas, “Report on the Capacity, Demand, and Reserves in the ERCOT Region,” May 2009,
http://www.ercot.com/content/news/presentations/2009/2009%20ERCOT%20Capacity,%20Demand%20and%20Reserves%20Report.pdf
, 13.

13
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “Wind Powering America,” n.d.,
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_installed_capacity.asp
. Texas capacity numbers were current as of September 27, 2009.

14
Electric Reliability Council of Texas, “Report on the Capacity, Demand, and Reserves in the ERCOT Region,” 13.

15
Rowena Mason, “Wind farms produced practically no electricity during Britain's cold snap,”
Daily Telegraph
, January 11, 2010,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/6957501/Wind-farms-produced-practically-no-electricity-during-Britains-col-snap.html
.

16
Makovich et al., “Renewable Portfolio Standards,” 15.

17
Peter Lang, “Cost and Quantity of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Avoided by Wind Generation,”
Carbon-sense.com
, February 16, 2009,
http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/wind-power.pdf
, 5.

18
Renewable Energy Foundation, “Wind Power Study Reveals Hidden Cost and Reliability Issues,” press release, June 7, 2008,
http://www.ref.org.uk/Files/pr.07.07.08.pdf
. The full article, by James Oswald, Mike Raine, and Hezlin Ashraf-Ball, appeared in
Energy Policy
36 (2008): 3212–3225, and is available at
http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wp-content/uploads/oswald-energy-policy-2008.pdf
.

19
Jing Yang, “China's Wind Farms Come with a Catch: Coal Plants,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 28, 2009, A17,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125409730711245037.html
.

20
Kent Hawkins, “Wind Integration: Incremental Emissions from Back-Up Generation Cycling, Part 1,”
MasterResource.org
, November 13, 2009,
http://www.masterresource.org/2009/11/wind-integration-incremental-emissions-from-back-up-generation-cycling-part-i-a-framework-and-calculator/comment-page-1/#comment-3244
.

21
Kent Hawkins, interview with author via phone, November 14, 2009. For more on Hawkins's analysis of wind, see his blog, available at
http://whitherindustrialwindpower.wordpress.com/
.

22
Global Wind Energy Council, “Global Wind Energy Outlook 2008,” 39.

23
Ibid, 46.

24
The math is straightforward: 731/18,708 = 3.9%.

1
CBSNews.com
, “Transcript: Obama's Earth Day Speech,” April 22, 2009,
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/22/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4962412.shtml
.

2
BBC, “Denmark ‘World's Happiest Nation,'” July 3, 2008,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7487143.stm
.

3
BBC, “Denmark ‘Happiest Place on Earth,'” July 28, 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5224306.stm
.

4
Cal Fussman, “The Energizer,”
Discover
, February 20, 2006,
http://discovermagazine.com/2006/feb/energizer/article_print
.

5
Hannah Sentenac, “Denmark Points Way in Alternative Energy Sources,” Fox News, November 28, 2006,
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203293,00.html
.

6
Thomas L. Friedman, “Flush with Energy,”
New York Times
, August 9, 2008,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10friedman1.html?_r=2&oref=slogin
.

7
Joshua Green, “The Elusive Green Economy,”
Atlantic Monthly
, July/August 2009, 79,
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/carter-obama-energy
.

8
Ibid., 86.

9
Energy Information Administration, “Denmark Energy Profile,”
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/country_time_series.cfm?fips=DA#coal
.

10
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009,
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2008/STAGING/local_assets/2009_downloads/renewables_section_2009.pdf
. In 2007, Denmark got 26 percent of its primary energy from coal, whereas the United States got 24.3 percent of its primary energy from coal.

11
Energy Information Administration, “Denmark Energy Data,”
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/excel.cfm?fips=DA
. See also Erik Matzen, “Danish Oil Reserves 200 mln Cubic Metres on Jan. 1,” Reuters, June 15, 2009,
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSLF39693020090615
.

12
Danish Energy Agency, “Energy Statistics 2007,”
http://www.ens.dk/en-US/Info/FactsAndFigures/Energy_statistics_and_indicators/Annual%20Statistics/Sider/Forside.aspx
.

13
International Energy Agency,
World Energy Outlook 2008
, 166.

14
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009. One ton of coal is equal to 7.33 barrels of oil.

15
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009.

16
Energy Information Administration, “Denmark Energy Data.”

17
Tony Lodge, “Wind Chill: Why Wind Energy Will Not Fill the UK's Energy Gap,” Centre for Policy Studies, June 2008,
http://www.cps.org.uk/cpsfile.asp?id=1026
, 7.

18
David Pimentel, ed.,
Biofuels, Solar and Wind as Renewable Energy Systems
(Ithaca, NY: Springer, 2008), 147.

19
Lodge, “Wind Chill,” 7.

20
Hugh Sharman, e-mail to author, August 11, 2008.

21
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009, data from 2007.

22
Danish Center for Political Studies (CEPOS), “Wind Energy: The Case of Denmark,” September 2009,
http://www.cepos.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/Arkiv/PDF/Wind_energy_-_the_case_of_Denmark.pdf
, 2.

23
According to BP, Denmark's total primary energy consumption in 1981 was 18.2 million tons of oil equivalent per year. That's about 365,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. By 2007, the figure was 18.1 million tons of oil equivalent per year. Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009.

24
Energy Information Administration, “Electricity Prices for Households,”
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/elecprih.html
.