1 UW electricity
The Source of Our Power
where is it from
Ross Dam
Diablo Dam
Gorge Dam
Newhalem Dam
Electricity at the University of Washington
2%
Air Chilling
12%
Computers/Office Equipment
16%
Laboratory/Process Equipment
Boundary Dam
Box Canyon Dam
WASHINGTON
Main Canal Dam
Summer Falls Dam
South Fork Tolt Dam
Cedar Falls Dam
RD Smith Etopia
Branch Canal Dam
Ventilation Fans
35%
Priest
Rapids Dam
Columbia Generating
Station (Nuclear)
Potholes East
Canal 66 Dam
84.4%
Lights
35%
How much do we use?
.85%
* Building heat is provided by a steam
plant powered with natural gas.
In one year, the University of Washington consumes about
295 million kilowatt hours of electricity at a cost of $15 million
dollars. The diagram above shows how it is distributed.
“Green Power” is electricity from renewable or
sustainable sources. Electric utilities across the
country are offering the option of purchasing
“green power” to replace electricity from nonrenewable sources such as coal or natural gas.
When Seattle City Light customers buy
“green power”, the funds go to purchase
additional electricity from the Stateline Wind
Farm and other renewable energy projects.
4.3%
9.3%
Klamath Falls Combustion Turbine
(Natural Gas)
UW and green power...
What is Green Power?
1.0%
Stateline Wind
Project
Where is it From?
6% of the power supplied by Seattle City Light (SCL) comes from nonrenewable sources. To counter this, the University of Washington
purchases this amount of additional wind power:
94%
Standard SCL
Electricity Mix
+
6%
Green Power
=
100%
UW electricity Mix
The map above shows where the electricity
used at the University of Washington comes from:
15 hydroelectric dams
1 wind farm
1 nuclear plant
1 natural-gas plant
1 coal-burning plant
(not shown on map)
Seattle City Light
Standard Mix
UW fuel mix
Lucky Peak Dam
(Idaho)
How Electricity is Generated?
These 5 sources of electricity all use the same
basic process for converting movement into
electrical current:
1 Wind, water, steam or hot air spins a turbine
2
The turbine spins a shaft
3
The shaft spins a loop of wires between
magnets generating electrical current
2
Limited Supply:
3 UW electricity
NATURAL GAS
A Cleaner Fossil Fuel
non-renewables 4
Non-Renewable Fuels at the
University of Washington
NUCLEAR POWER
Actual Fuel Consumption
Troubling Legacy
(per year)
University of Washington
Nuclear power is plagued by concerns about the
challenges of safely managing radioactive wastes.
Per kilowatt produced, natural gas releases about half
the amount of greenhouse gases as coal
Coal
Natural Gas
93.7% renewable
2x
Reactors partially built,
then demolished
.5 cubic foot
nuclear fuel
6.3%
non-renewable
Greenhouse gas emissions
enough coal to fill
10 Coal Cars
enough natural gas to fill
51 Blimps
Cogeneration for Efficiency
The University of Washington’s natural gas-generated
electricity comes from a cogeneration facility in Oregon.
The plant produces both electricity and heat for nearby
buildings resulting in greater efficiency:
United States Average
Completed,
operational reactor
Nuclear Power in Washington
In the 1950s-1970s there were plans to build 5 nuclear
reactors in Washington. After extreme costs overruns and
public response, construction ceased on all but one.
Comparison (if the UW
fuel mix matched
the national average)
Storing Waste - 10,000 years
Cogeneration (Heat & Electricity)
18.7%
natural
gas
waste
Spent nuclear fuel is hazardous for tens of thousands of
years - an enormous length of time in human history:
9.3%
nuclear
1.1 cubic feet
nuclear fuel
fuel
49.7 %
coal
useful heat
Conventional: Power Plant + Heat Plant
waste (mostly heat)
Dawn of Agriculture Information Age
population:
population:
6.6 billion
5 million
8.8% renewable
electricity
3%
petroleum
91.2%
non-renewable
8,000 BCE
927 Blimps
586 Coal Cars
Mining & Milling Uranium
COAL: The Dirtiest Fuel
fuel
electricity
fuel
12000
enough natural gas to fill
enough coal to fill
Power
Plant
+
today
?
waste
Heat Plant
useful heat
Burning coal releases CO2, NOx, SO2, mercury, nickel, arsenic, and
small particulates. Seattle City Light, the UW’s electric utility does
not own or operate coal-fired power plants, but they do purchase
a small amount of power from other sources which do.
First Coal Discovered in Washington State
Bellingham, WA
1850
Mining and milling uranium have significant environmental
impacts and the sandy material left behind after milling
contains hazardous radioactive material.
Coal in Washington
Coal was mined in western Washington for 156 years. Due to abundant
hydropower resources, it has never been a major source of electricity.
Last coal-fired Power Plant
Centralia, WA
(currently operating)
2,250-2,500 pounds
of typical uranium ore
Last underground coal mine
closed, Ravensdale, WA
=
Last coal mine closed
Centralia, WA
1974
2006
must be milled
to produce
1.2 pounds of nuclear fuel
5 UW electricity
What it takes to produce 276 million kilowatt hours of renewable electricity
Unlimited Supply
nonrenewables
Hydropower and Washington State
Washington’s unique geologic and topographic characteristics create
ideal conditions for hydroelectric dams. In 2007, the state produced
32% of all hydropower in the US.
Boundary Dam (1967)
Supplies almost half
= hydroelectric dam
of Seattle’s electricity
1900s 40%
84.4%
Hydroelectric
249 million kWh per year
1940s 33%
The University’s power comes from 15 dams, but if we
imagined that all of the power came from one dam, Diablo
Dam on the Skagit River, we can get a sense of how much
hydropower the UW consumes:
Characteristics of Diablo Dam
All of the wind power supplied to the University of Washington comes from the
Stateline Wind Farm - the largest wind farm in the United States.
...land use
Portion of UW electricity from renewable sources
Diablo is 389 feet tall and produces
435 million kWh per year
Installing wind turbines does conflict with other
uses of the land. The Stateline land is privately owned
farmland used for growing wheat and grazing
beef cattle. The farmer is paid approximately
$2,000/year for each turbine.
wind farm
*
(and contrast with US equivalents)
Solar electricity produces no emissions, consumes
no nonrenewable fuels and has minimal impacts
on the local ecology.
The UW consumes
257 million kWh of
hydropower per year 60% of Diablo’s output
dimensions of a
Stateline wind turbine
Stateline Wind Farm
Sun in Seattle
The Power of a Dam
It ta
k
Two es 18 t
ur
of th
ese bines to
turb
ines produc
e
coul
d fit the win
d
with
in th power
th
e Hu
sky e UW c
Stad
o
ium nsumes
.
.
8x the height
of a goal post
(.004% Solar)
2000s 10%
245 feet tall
National Average:
6.5% hydroelectric
1967
Much of the hydropower potential of the country has been exploited.
The percentage of electricity from hydropower has decreased as
electricity consumption has increased.
photo used with permission from
Seattle City Light
National Average:
0.8% wind
Grand Coulee Dam (1941)
Not only the largest
dam, but the largest
power plant in the country
1941
Wind Power produces no emissions, consumes no non-renewable fuels,
and has minimal impacts on the surrounding ecology. New wind turbines are being
installed across the country - unlike hydropower, there is significant potential for
new wind power generation.
27 million kWh per year
Hydroelectric power consumes no fuel and produces no
emissions (once the dam is built). However, large dams
profoundly alter the ecology of the river and surrounding area.
1902
Harvesting Wind
9.3%
Wind
Water Power
Snoqualmie Falls Dam (1902)
Washington’s first large
hydroelectric dam.
renewables 6
2When a photon hits the surface where these
plates meet, it knocks an electron free. The
electron moves toward the attractive side
-
1A panel has 2 plates of silicon: 1 modified to be
receptive to electrons, 1 modified to easily
release electrons
3
This sets off a chain reaction of electron
movements through metal plates and
attached wires - an electrical current
Solar Panels at the UW
There are two solar panel installations at the University
of Washington:
1
Mechanical engineering building
(the first UW installation, intended
as an educational showpiece)
2
Merrill Hall, the Urban Horticulture
Center (one of many “green” features
of this building)
2
1
...how many panels?
To generate all of the University’s electricity using the type of solar panels installed on
Merrill Hall would require covering an area the size of campus (yellow box on map). While this
is unrealistic, adding solar power generation features to buildings is not. The U.S. Department of
Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program
predicts that in the future, all buildings will include energy-generating technologies.