07-03-2014, 09:19 AM
In western Washington state we enjoyed very low electric rates though the generation source was largely from Bonneville Dam, nearly a hundred miles away. So I suspect that the distribution cost is much less of a factor than the generation cost. Another good argument for geothermal with its free heat source! And not only does geothermal have free "fuel" like hydroelectric generation, drilling a few bore holes is much cheaper than building a half mile long dam across a major river. Even with the cost of the dam, hydropower was substantially cheaper than any other alternative, so geothermal should very comparable, or less, in its cost of operation.
Going back to the garbage to electricity topic, I noticed in the opala.org link described H-Power as taking all of Oahu's waste and reducing the volume 90% by volume with the remainder ash for the landfill. The article also noted H-Power actively culled the waste stream for recyclables. Just the fact of reducing waste by 90% should make some sort of waste to energy operation attractive to the Big Island. Doesn't the plasma type of incinerator produce little or no pollution?
Going back to the garbage to electricity topic, I noticed in the opala.org link described H-Power as taking all of Oahu's waste and reducing the volume 90% by volume with the remainder ash for the landfill. The article also noted H-Power actively culled the waste stream for recyclables. Just the fact of reducing waste by 90% should make some sort of waste to energy operation attractive to the Big Island. Doesn't the plasma type of incinerator produce little or no pollution?