Many Worry About Power Lines in Parks - AP

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Many Worry About Power Lines in Parks

Sunday July 15, 2007 10:01 AM

By KIMBERLY HEFLING

Associated Press Writer

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Apple trees have been planted, wood
fences restored and power lines buried in recent years to
transform the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg to the way it
looked when Union and Confederate forces clashed on farmers'
fields in 1863.

But preservationists now worry that the national military park in
Pennsylvania's picturesque fruit belt soon may be in the shadow
of high-powered transmission lines.

It is not just Gettysburg that worries them as a result of a 2005
law that gave federal regulators new authority over where power
lines are built. They fear the law could place hundreds of national
and state parks and other protected sites in the Northeast and
Southwest in or near the path of massive power lines.

-snip-

Using the law, the Energy Department this year proposed making
two large swaths of land in the Northeast and Southwest
“national interest” corridors. If the corridors are approved by
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, federal regulators can order
power lines built in them, regardless of state and local
opposition.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6780622,00.html

[XemaSab]

1. Remember, kids...

If we're going to build huge wind and solar facilities, we have to tie these facilities into the grid somehow.

[philb]

2. Not necessarily: Fuel cells, solar PV, wind with batteries or other storage don't need power lines

Highly reliable fuel cells that provide power, heat, cooling, hot water are becoming cost effective and starting to get widespread use,
examples are use in boats, RVs, commercial trucks, homes, many commercial facilities, backup power supply, etc.
also many military applications
(many of these use DC power rather than AC, avoiding need and expense of conversion- such as appliances used in RVs)
and simialarly there is a rapid growth of solar PV,etc. for off grid application.

New battery technology and other methods are making energy storage more cost effective and reliable.

There are a lot of new distributive power applications that show promise of reliable power/energy off grid.

[XemaSab]

3. Reality check:

LARGE SCALE wind and solar, which is what's being built, needs power lines.

It's a big pet peeve of mine that people conflate renewables with decentralizing the grid. It's two different agendas, and they should not be confused.

Large scale projects are MUCH more economical than some hippie putting 20,000 worth of solar panels on the roof of his 2000 plywood shack.

[philb]

4. you may not be keeping up with the research and trends

technology is advancing rapidly, both fuel cells and solar PV (with concentrators or thin film) In Calif. finance companies will provide the money to install solar PV,etc. with no down payment by the customer, and guarante of energy bills no more than other customers.
So since its even more cost effective to structure your system and do your finacing yourself, the finance company isn't needed. There is exponential growth, granted from a small base, for such systems. But by 10 years these will be big factors.

Fuel Cells that are reliable and becoming cost effective can provide all power and energy needs of large numbers of types of facilities and are already cost effective in many circumstances, since they can operate at over 80% efficiency. Much higher than the less than 40% efficiency of the grid. With lots

See the Walmart and Verizon installations of UTC Power for example:
http://www.utcpower.com/fs/com/bin/fs_com_Page/0,11491,043,00.html

Apartment complexes and malls and commercial sites with sufficient heating, cooling, refrigeration, or hot water loads can do this cost effectively now in some locations and soon in most. Some big companies like Honda and GE and Siemens and others are investing big money in developing equipment and plans to serve these and residential loads by fuel cells soon.

And even ocean, tide, and river power, which is coming on rapidly, has a lot of potential for distributive power and off grid power- its continuous base load power.
for example: http://www.inri.us/pages/2/index.htm
http://verdantpower.com/

you won't see much change in this direction in the next year, but sooner than 10 years it will be clear that the times they are a changing.

[XemaSab]

6. My boss sites energy projects and his minions build them

from solar PV to solar thermal to wind to coal...

pwn3d! :o

[philb]

5. The reasons some worry about power lines: health effects from EMF

Health Effects of EMF Exposure: the Mercury Connection (Gov’t studies)

In a long term comprehensive electromagnetic fields(EMF) risk assessment study by the California Dept. of Health Services, all reviewers concluded that it is highly likely that EMF causes some forms of cancer, along with chronic neurological conditions like ALS(Lou Gehrig’s’s disease) and depression. They also found a significant likelihood that EMF causes cardiovascular problems and increased suicide(1). People are commonly exposed to electromagnetic fields from computer monitors, microwaves, televisions, other appliances, and power lines.
Actually there is strong evidence in the medical literature already supporting these conclusions and documenting mechanisms by which the effects occur. The evidence is based on the fact that chronic mercury exposure has been documented to cause all of these conditions (12-16), and EMF exposure has been documented to cause significant release of mercury into the body, including the brain and Central Nervous System, from those who have amalgam(2). Studies have found persons with chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields(EMF) to have higher levels of mercury exposure and excretion(2,9). Electromagnetic fields are known to induce current in metals and would increase the documented effects of galvanism(9,12-16). Amalgam has also been documented to be the largest source of mercury exposure in most people who have amalgam fillings(12,16).
EMF is also documented in animal and human studies to cause cellular calcium efflux and affect calcium homeostasis(3,4), which may be a factor in the reduction of melatonin levels caused by EMF exposure in animal and human studies(4,5). In studies on chicks this had significant adverse effects on viability of embryos and chicks. Melatonin is known to be protective against mercury and free radical activity and against cell proliferation(cancer)(17), as well as regulating the circadian rhythm cycle and sleep cycle. EMF exposure lowers melatonin production, disrupts the sleep cycle(5,8c), and blocks melatonin’s cell antiproliferation effects (17). Another study provides evidence for an association between occupational electromagnetic fields and suicide(10). The authors indicate that a plausible mechanism related to melatonin and depression provides a direction for additional laboratory research as well as epidemiological evaluation.

Occupational exposure to higher levels of EMF have also been found in many studies to result in much higher risk of chronic degenerative neurological conditions such as ALS(6), Alzheimer’s Disease(7), Depression(11), as well as Leukemia and Cancer(8,6e). Since EMF causes increased mercury exposure in those with amalgam, and mercury is also known to cause these conditions(13-16), again it is not clear the relative importance of the factors since the studies were not controlled for mercury levels or number of amalgam fillings.
References

www.flcv.com/emfeff.html

[razzleberry]

7. real reason --> NIMBYism .n.t

[jberryhill]

9. Then doncha think...

...we should route power lines through parks instead of populated areas?

[philb]

10. I'd rather lines be farther away than closer to me

But with population growth, its hard to find places to run them that avoids populated areas.
And the demand is in populated areas.

[Dogmudgeon]

8. Oppose wind farms, it's NIMBY. Oppose power lines, it's NOBLE.

Of course it makes no sense.

Wind farms should be sited offshore. Even there, odds are that Greenpeace™ will be up in arms within five years.

--p!