Our Sustainable Northwest

Federal Waters to Open for Ocean Energy Leasing

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Starting next week, the federal Department of Interior will begin to accept proposals to lease deep offshore ocean waters for renewable energy projects. The agency is holding public workshops in Seattle tomorrow and in Portland on Thursday to explain its rules. Correspondent Tom Banse has more.

Top Power Producers in the Northwest

The Northwest Power and Conservation website provides an interactive, Google-generated map that displays power plants and their output in the Northwest.  By selecting different energy projects such as; hydroelectric, wind power, coal projects, biomass, nuclear energy, and natural gas, the map will display the location and output of the plant.

 

Coastal Towns Need Persuading To Embrace Wave Energy

NEWPORT, Ore. – R&D engineers rig a wave energy buoy during sea trials earlier this September. (Photo by Al Schacher, Columbia Power Technologies)

Posted: Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Harnessing the power of ocean waves to make electricity is all the rage among Northwest politicians and conservationists. Oregon State University and the University of Washington just got a big grant to work on wave and tidal energy. Even the Presidential candidates are all for it as part of the quest for "energy independence". But the possible effects on fishing, crabbing and whales make some coastal residents uneasy. Correspondent Tom Banse reports backers of wave energy have some persuading to do.

Pullman's Lost Artesian Wells

Washington State Magazine just released an article called What Lies Beneath, Pullman and its Water. They've also gathered a collection of photographs, including the one you see here. "What Lies Beneath" tells the tale of a western town founded on what seemed an endless supply of free-flowing water.

Enviros Recruit Ratepayers into Dam Fight

November 14, 2007

OREGON/Environmental groups and an Indian tribe are stepping up pressure on Portland-based Pacific Power. They're recruiting utility ratepayers into a fight over dam removal on the Klamath River.

Tom Banse reports.

NW Awash in Tidal Energy Project

A contract crew retrieves an 
 expensive current meter from the bottom of 
 Admiralty Inlet, Washington (Photo by Tom Banse)

Posted: Tuesday, September 25, 2007

KEYSTONE HARBOR, WA - There’s a veritable gold rush underway on Northwest waters. Developers, governments, and utilities have staked claims on the most promising wave energy and tidal power sites. This has often been a case of leap first, ask questions later. Now the questions are getting a closer look. Correspondent Tom Banse reports on what it’ll take to light your lights with the power of the tides.

Milestone Reached in Removal of Elwha Dams

September 17, 2007

WASHINGTON/Construction crews broke ground Friday afternoon on a new drinking water treatment plant on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. It's a key step in the eventual removal of two dams on the Elwha River.

Read more on the story.

Dam Safety

September 6, 2007

NORTHWEST/We have a lot of old dams. Roughly 25-hundred hold back waters here in the Northwest. Even the sturdiest structures made from concrete and wood don't hold up forever.

Correspondent Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports on the status of dam safety and why some groups are raising a red flag.

Dam Removal on Elwha Creeps Closer

August 20, 2007

NORTHWEST/Removal of Marmot Dam on the Sandy River in Oregon is almost complete. But in Washington, two decades of efforts to remove dams on the Elwha River remain stalled. Still, as Tom Banse reports, there is some prospect of action.