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"title": "Can Renewable Energy Reduce California's Fire Risk?",
"headTitle": "Can Renewable Energy Reduce California’s Fire Risk? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://kqed02.streamguys.us/anon.kqed/radio/science/2013/09/2013-09-30-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9429\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/DSC01010.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9429\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/DSC01010.jpg\" alt=\"A hot spot smolders in the Rim Fire (Photo: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A hotspot smolders in the burn area of the Rim Fire. (Photo: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3660/\">Rim Fire\u003c/a>, still smoldering in Yosemite National Park, is expected to be fully contained on Tuesday, six weeks after it started. The record-breaking blaze is calling attention to California’s overloaded forests, stocked with fuel after a century of aggressively snuffing out fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reducing the fuel load acre-by-acre is costly and runs headlong into a decades-old environmental debate over forest management. Now, California is making a new push to use forest fuels in biomass energy power plants, part of the state’s ambitious renewable energy goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For U.S. Forest Service scientists assessing the Rim Fire damage on the ground, the case for tackling the fuel problem is becoming increasingly clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Forests Like a “Teenager’s Room”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9425\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/rimfire-compare.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9425\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/rimfire-compare.jpg\" alt=\"CAPTION\" width=\"350\" height=\"547\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dense tree stand \u003cstrong>(above)\u003c/strong> after the Rim Fire. A tree stand just across the road \u003cstrong>(below)\u003c/strong> was previously thinned out and still has green pine needles. (Photos: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The trees we see here today aren’t going to make it,” says Forest Service Ecologist Carol Ewell, slogging through a foot of powdery, white ash amid seemingly endless stands of blackened tree trunks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees in this part of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.usda.gov/stanislaus/\">Stanislaus National Forest\u003c/a> are bare, with no pine needles and few branches remaining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We use the word, it was ‘torched,” Ewell says. “The fire went all the way up the crown.” About 40 percent of the vegetation in the fire burned at this kind of “high severity” and is unlikely to survive, according to Forest Service estimates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ewell and Stanislaus National Forest fire planner Shelly Crook are doing some “fire forensics,” cataloging the damage to assess how past fuel reduction projects fared in the blaze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dense trees in this stand, just three and four feet apart, remind Crook of a teenager’s bedroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What happens if you let him go three years without cleaning their room,” she offers. “You know what the room is going to look like. So that’s what the forest is — and the vacuum cleaner out here is fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Historically, the Sierra Nevada saw more low-intensity burns that cleared out the understory every 5-to-20 years. Ewell says that stopped nearly a century ago, when the Service instituted its legendary “10 ‘clock” policy, the goal of putting out any fire by 10 a.m. on the day after it was reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service dropped that policy 30 years ago, but the legacy is still visible on the landscape. The Rim Fire used small trees like ladders, climbing upwards to create high-intensity crown fires that commonly leave just charred trunks behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet, right across the road, it’s an entirely different scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">All the climate change modeling, everything predicts this kind of stuff to happen, and we have to do something about it.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“I can see some really bright green, healthy needles showing through this canopy,” Crook says, peering upward. The needles at the base of the trees are brown, but green becomes increasingly dense farther on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The difference between two the plots, Crook says, is that one side of the road had been thinned out. The small trees were removed, leaving 10 to 20 feet of space between the larger trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s painfully obvious to me when you look at this,” she says. “This makes sense; the fire didn’t do as much here. The forest is in better condition here and it might survive it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bigger, Hotter Fires\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Rim Fire is like a wake-up call,” says Hugh Safford, regional ecologist for the Forest Service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is only the latest of a series of really big fires that we’ve been seeing, bigger and bigger and bigger over the last 25, 30 years,” he says. “All the climate change modeling, everything predicts this kind of stuff to happen, and we have to do something about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Safford says the best way to reduce forest fuels is to restore fire as a natural process. Forest managers have the option to allow some naturally caused fires to burn in remote areas or if they pose little threat of spreading. Fire officials saw the benefit of so-called “wildland fire use” when the Rim Fire slowed down as it hit areas inside the park boundary that had recently burned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9418\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 324px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/RimFuels-1024x787.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-9418\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/RimFuels-1024x787.jpg\" alt=\"CAPTION\" width=\"324\" height=\"249\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003cstrong>Click to Enlarge\u003c/strong> – Map showing previous fuel treatment projects around Rim Fire over past 12 years by the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. Includes prescribed fire, thinning (mechanical) and naturally caused fires allowed to burn (wildland fire use). (Source: Stanislaus National Forest)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Making the decision to let it burn is often more challenging for the Forest Service than for the National Park Service. National forests are often closer to developed areas and the agency juggles a number of internal priorities, including recreation, timber sales and hunting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have all the towns,” says Safford. “We have all the utility corridors. We have all the private inholdings. We’re a multiple-use agency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closer to development, the Forest Service focuses on prescribed burns and forest thinning, where small trees are taken out with machinery. It’s expensive work, running in the hundreds to thousands of dollars per acre. Only about 8 percent of national forest land within the Rim Fire perimeter had been treated in some way over the last 12 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not just simply that the federal government dumps a whole bunch of money on a landscape and we do the work,” says Safford. “It’s done by private contractors almost always. They have to make some kind of a profit or the work doesn’t get done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contractors make their profit on the few trees that are big enough to use for lumber. But most of the material is too small, so it’s usually piled up and burned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Renewable Energy in the Forest\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People like Brett Storey say there’s a better way to handle forest material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What you’re seeing right here, this is where the facility would be,” he says, pointing to a lot next to Placer County’s recycling facility, about ten miles northwest of Lake Tahoe. His hope is that next year, it will be the \u003ca href=\"http://www.placer.ca.gov/news/2012/july/cabin%20creek\">Cabin Creek Biomass Facility\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whole towns get heated like this in Scandinavian counties,” he says. The power plant would be small compared to its fossil-fuel cousins, around 2 megawatts, enough electricity for about 1,500 homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The facility would run on wood and scrap that’s normally piled and burned during forest thinning operations in the area. Storey says the Forest Service produces a ready supply within 30 miles of where we stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9440\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 326px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/Mike-McMillan-USFS.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9440\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/Mike-McMillan-USFS.jpg\" alt=\"(Photo: Mike McMillan, USFS)\" width=\"326\" height=\"253\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At more than a quarter-million acres, the Rim Fire is the largest Sierra Nevada fire in recorded history. (Photo: Mike McMillan, USFS)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I kind of joke around – they have this ten-year plan and I call it my super-size menu because it shows what years, how much acreage and how much material they’re going to be taking out,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Storey calls it a win-win: the local utility gets renewable energy and the money helps the Forest Service reduce fuels on more land. “It has the potential to solve multiple issues,” he says. “It can help with the fire. It can help with renewable energy. It can help with the air emissions from burning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is trying to jump-start the market for similar projects. Last year, the legislature passed \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/energy/Renewables/hot/SB_1122_Bioenergy_Feed-in_Tariff.htm\">SB 1122\u003c/a>, a bill that requires the state’s largest electric utilities to purchase 50 megawatts of power from small biomass plants that run on forestry material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That could add 15 to 20 new biomass projects in the state. The electricity is likely to be much more expensive than solar and wind power, but unlike those sources, provides a constant “baseload” supply. The California Public Utilities Commission is currently setting up conditions for the power contracts, which must be approved by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It helps us do more with the same amount of money,” says Larry Swan, a biomass utilization specialist with the Forest Service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having a market for small forest materials could help the Forest Service treat 10-20 percent more acres, he says, if the power plant is within 30 miles. Beyond that radius, the cost of transporting and trucking materials often makes biomass projects uneconomical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Biomass Opposition Emerges\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Because [biomass plants] are relatively new, people are a little afraid of them.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“You know it’s funny, renewable energy – everyone says they like it,” Storey says. “But because [biomass plants] are relatively new, people are a little afraid of them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cabin Creek project was originally proposed for a site in Kings Beach, closer to Lake Tahoe, but the local community was fiercely opposed. Environmental groups also took a stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can call it thinning, but thinning is really logging,” says Kevin Bundy of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/\">Center for Biological Diversity\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to build roads and skid trails and landings,” he says. “There can be a fair amount of environmental damage associated with thinning operations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bundy says biomass power plants would only add pressure to thin, when fire should be used to reduce the fuel load instead. “When you install brand new energy infrastructure that requires a continuous 24/7 supply of fuel, that creates a demand,” he says. “That demand is going to affect the management of the forest in the immediately surrounding areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9441\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 311px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/Ewell.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9441\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/Ewell.jpg\" alt=\"Forest Service ecologist Carol Ewell surveys the Rim Fire damage. (Photo: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"311\" height=\"353\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Forest Service ecologist Carol Ewell surveys the Rim Fire damage. (Photo: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then there’s question of climate change – whether the carbon currently stored in the forest goes into the atmosphere or stays in the trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As they grow, they will continue to take carbon out of the atmosphere,” he says. “When you cut those trees down and burn them for bioenergy, you put all that carbon into the atmosphere where it warms the climate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New trees will eventually reabsorb that carbon, but Bundy says the climate can’t afford even a short-term increase in emissions. The Center for Biological Diversity opposed the Cabin Creek project, though the group entered into negotiations with Placer County. Bundy is currently opposing a similar project proposed for North Fork in Madera County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back at the remains of the Rim Fire, signs of life are appearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ants survive!” exclaims Shelly Crook, spotting an ant colony emerging through the layer of ash. Recovery will take decades, she says, but she’s hoping the lessons from the Rim Fire will be taken to heart long before then.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://kqed02.streamguys.us/anon.kqed/radio/science/2013/09/2013-09-30-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9429\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/DSC01010.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9429\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/DSC01010.jpg\" alt=\"A hot spot smolders in the Rim Fire (Photo: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A hotspot smolders in the burn area of the Rim Fire. (Photo: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3660/\">Rim Fire\u003c/a>, still smoldering in Yosemite National Park, is expected to be fully contained on Tuesday, six weeks after it started. The record-breaking blaze is calling attention to California’s overloaded forests, stocked with fuel after a century of aggressively snuffing out fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reducing the fuel load acre-by-acre is costly and runs headlong into a decades-old environmental debate over forest management. Now, California is making a new push to use forest fuels in biomass energy power plants, part of the state’s ambitious renewable energy goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For U.S. Forest Service scientists assessing the Rim Fire damage on the ground, the case for tackling the fuel problem is becoming increasingly clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Forests Like a “Teenager’s Room”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9425\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/rimfire-compare.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9425\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/rimfire-compare.jpg\" alt=\"CAPTION\" width=\"350\" height=\"547\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dense tree stand \u003cstrong>(above)\u003c/strong> after the Rim Fire. A tree stand just across the road \u003cstrong>(below)\u003c/strong> was previously thinned out and still has green pine needles. (Photos: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The trees we see here today aren’t going to make it,” says Forest Service Ecologist Carol Ewell, slogging through a foot of powdery, white ash amid seemingly endless stands of blackened tree trunks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees in this part of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.usda.gov/stanislaus/\">Stanislaus National Forest\u003c/a> are bare, with no pine needles and few branches remaining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We use the word, it was ‘torched,” Ewell says. “The fire went all the way up the crown.” About 40 percent of the vegetation in the fire burned at this kind of “high severity” and is unlikely to survive, according to Forest Service estimates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ewell and Stanislaus National Forest fire planner Shelly Crook are doing some “fire forensics,” cataloging the damage to assess how past fuel reduction projects fared in the blaze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dense trees in this stand, just three and four feet apart, remind Crook of a teenager’s bedroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What happens if you let him go three years without cleaning their room,” she offers. “You know what the room is going to look like. So that’s what the forest is — and the vacuum cleaner out here is fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Historically, the Sierra Nevada saw more low-intensity burns that cleared out the understory every 5-to-20 years. Ewell says that stopped nearly a century ago, when the Service instituted its legendary “10 ‘clock” policy, the goal of putting out any fire by 10 a.m. on the day after it was reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Forest Service dropped that policy 30 years ago, but the legacy is still visible on the landscape. The Rim Fire used small trees like ladders, climbing upwards to create high-intensity crown fires that commonly leave just charred trunks behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet, right across the road, it’s an entirely different scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">All the climate change modeling, everything predicts this kind of stuff to happen, and we have to do something about it.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“I can see some really bright green, healthy needles showing through this canopy,” Crook says, peering upward. The needles at the base of the trees are brown, but green becomes increasingly dense farther on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The difference between two the plots, Crook says, is that one side of the road had been thinned out. The small trees were removed, leaving 10 to 20 feet of space between the larger trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s painfully obvious to me when you look at this,” she says. “This makes sense; the fire didn’t do as much here. The forest is in better condition here and it might survive it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bigger, Hotter Fires\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Rim Fire is like a wake-up call,” says Hugh Safford, regional ecologist for the Forest Service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is only the latest of a series of really big fires that we’ve been seeing, bigger and bigger and bigger over the last 25, 30 years,” he says. “All the climate change modeling, everything predicts this kind of stuff to happen, and we have to do something about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Safford says the best way to reduce forest fuels is to restore fire as a natural process. Forest managers have the option to allow some naturally caused fires to burn in remote areas or if they pose little threat of spreading. Fire officials saw the benefit of so-called “wildland fire use” when the Rim Fire slowed down as it hit areas inside the park boundary that had recently burned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9418\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 324px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/RimFuels-1024x787.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-9418\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/RimFuels-1024x787.jpg\" alt=\"CAPTION\" width=\"324\" height=\"249\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003cstrong>Click to Enlarge\u003c/strong> – Map showing previous fuel treatment projects around Rim Fire over past 12 years by the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. Includes prescribed fire, thinning (mechanical) and naturally caused fires allowed to burn (wildland fire use). (Source: Stanislaus National Forest)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Making the decision to let it burn is often more challenging for the Forest Service than for the National Park Service. National forests are often closer to developed areas and the agency juggles a number of internal priorities, including recreation, timber sales and hunting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have all the towns,” says Safford. “We have all the utility corridors. We have all the private inholdings. We’re a multiple-use agency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closer to development, the Forest Service focuses on prescribed burns and forest thinning, where small trees are taken out with machinery. It’s expensive work, running in the hundreds to thousands of dollars per acre. Only about 8 percent of national forest land within the Rim Fire perimeter had been treated in some way over the last 12 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not just simply that the federal government dumps a whole bunch of money on a landscape and we do the work,” says Safford. “It’s done by private contractors almost always. They have to make some kind of a profit or the work doesn’t get done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contractors make their profit on the few trees that are big enough to use for lumber. But most of the material is too small, so it’s usually piled up and burned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Renewable Energy in the Forest\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People like Brett Storey say there’s a better way to handle forest material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What you’re seeing right here, this is where the facility would be,” he says, pointing to a lot next to Placer County’s recycling facility, about ten miles northwest of Lake Tahoe. His hope is that next year, it will be the \u003ca href=\"http://www.placer.ca.gov/news/2012/july/cabin%20creek\">Cabin Creek Biomass Facility\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whole towns get heated like this in Scandinavian counties,” he says. The power plant would be small compared to its fossil-fuel cousins, around 2 megawatts, enough electricity for about 1,500 homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The facility would run on wood and scrap that’s normally piled and burned during forest thinning operations in the area. Storey says the Forest Service produces a ready supply within 30 miles of where we stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9440\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 326px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/Mike-McMillan-USFS.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9440\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/Mike-McMillan-USFS.jpg\" alt=\"(Photo: Mike McMillan, USFS)\" width=\"326\" height=\"253\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At more than a quarter-million acres, the Rim Fire is the largest Sierra Nevada fire in recorded history. (Photo: Mike McMillan, USFS)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I kind of joke around – they have this ten-year plan and I call it my super-size menu because it shows what years, how much acreage and how much material they’re going to be taking out,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Storey calls it a win-win: the local utility gets renewable energy and the money helps the Forest Service reduce fuels on more land. “It has the potential to solve multiple issues,” he says. “It can help with the fire. It can help with renewable energy. It can help with the air emissions from burning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is trying to jump-start the market for similar projects. Last year, the legislature passed \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/energy/Renewables/hot/SB_1122_Bioenergy_Feed-in_Tariff.htm\">SB 1122\u003c/a>, a bill that requires the state’s largest electric utilities to purchase 50 megawatts of power from small biomass plants that run on forestry material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That could add 15 to 20 new biomass projects in the state. The electricity is likely to be much more expensive than solar and wind power, but unlike those sources, provides a constant “baseload” supply. The California Public Utilities Commission is currently setting up conditions for the power contracts, which must be approved by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It helps us do more with the same amount of money,” says Larry Swan, a biomass utilization specialist with the Forest Service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having a market for small forest materials could help the Forest Service treat 10-20 percent more acres, he says, if the power plant is within 30 miles. Beyond that radius, the cost of transporting and trucking materials often makes biomass projects uneconomical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Biomass Opposition Emerges\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Because [biomass plants] are relatively new, people are a little afraid of them.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“You know it’s funny, renewable energy – everyone says they like it,” Storey says. “But because [biomass plants] are relatively new, people are a little afraid of them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cabin Creek project was originally proposed for a site in Kings Beach, closer to Lake Tahoe, but the local community was fiercely opposed. Environmental groups also took a stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can call it thinning, but thinning is really logging,” says Kevin Bundy of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/\">Center for Biological Diversity\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to build roads and skid trails and landings,” he says. “There can be a fair amount of environmental damage associated with thinning operations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bundy says biomass power plants would only add pressure to thin, when fire should be used to reduce the fuel load instead. “When you install brand new energy infrastructure that requires a continuous 24/7 supply of fuel, that creates a demand,” he says. “That demand is going to affect the management of the forest in the immediately surrounding areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9441\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 311px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/Ewell.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9441\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/09/Ewell.jpg\" alt=\"Forest Service ecologist Carol Ewell surveys the Rim Fire damage. (Photo: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"311\" height=\"353\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Forest Service ecologist Carol Ewell surveys the Rim Fire damage. (Photo: Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then there’s question of climate change – whether the carbon currently stored in the forest goes into the atmosphere or stays in the trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As they grow, they will continue to take carbon out of the atmosphere,” he says. “When you cut those trees down and burn them for bioenergy, you put all that carbon into the atmosphere where it warms the climate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New trees will eventually reabsorb that carbon, but Bundy says the climate can’t afford even a short-term increase in emissions. The Center for Biological Diversity opposed the Cabin Creek project, though the group entered into negotiations with Placer County. Bundy is currently opposing a similar project proposed for North Fork in Madera County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back at the remains of the Rim Fire, signs of life are appearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ants survive!” exclaims Shelly Crook, spotting an ant colony emerging through the layer of ash. Recovery will take decades, she says, but she’s hoping the lessons from the Rim Fire will be taken to heart long before then.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Is Raising Shasta Dam the Best Bet for California’s Water Supply?",
"headTitle": "Is Raising Shasta Dam the Best Bet for California’s Water Supply? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/08/2013-08-19-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Audio report by KQED Science Editor Craig Miller\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_7208\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/shasta-featured-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7208\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/shasta-featured-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Lake Shasta is the largest reservoir in California (Craig Miller)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shasta Lake is the largest reservoir in California (Craig Miller)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just north of Redding sits the imposing Shasta Dam, and behind it, the largest single reservoir in California, accounting for about 17 percent of the state’s total water storage capacity. Government officials are now completing plans to make Shasta Lake even larger by raising the height of the dam. The proposed dam expansion is motivated by California’s projected population growth and increasingly limited water storage options. The estimated cost of adding 18 1/2 feet to the 600-foot edifice is over $1 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unsurprisingly, the expansion proposal has sparked intense debates among local residents, Central Valley farmers, environmentalists, tribal groups and developers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Same War, New Battle\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s tempting to say, “Welcome to the newest chapter in California’s never-ending battles over water” — though it’s not really new. The idea dates back at least a decade, to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.calwater.ca.gov/\">CALFED Bay-Delta water planning initiative\u003c/a>. But the proposal is getting fresh buzz now that the federal Bureau of Reclamation has issued a draft \u003ca title=\"USBOR - Shasta\" href=\"http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=1915\">environmental impact report\u003c/a> on the plan recommending the extra 18 1/2 feet, and political pressure for more water storage is mounting in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anytime you want to change anything in California water, it’s a big deal” said Jay Lund, who directs the \u003ca title=\"UCD - CWS\" href=\"https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/front?destination=node/116\">Center for Watershed Sciences\u003c/a> at the University of California Davis. “There’s always 500 different interests lined up on 500 different sides. There’s always going to be someone who’s unhappy, and they all have lawyers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/shasta-map05.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-7220\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/shasta-map05-640.jpg\" alt=\"shasta-map05\" width=\"1200\" height=\"868\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand the Shasta Dam proposal, a bit of historical perspective is helpful. When the dam was originally conceived in the 1930s, it was designed to be about 800 feet high. But the dam construction coincided with the outbreak of World War II, so limited manpower and scarce resources forced planners to scale back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, Shasta Dam currently stands at 602 feet, or about 200 feet lower than originally envisaged. So while it’s therefore possible (from a purely engineering standpoint) to raise the dam by an additional 200 feet, no one is seriously considering that. Federal engineers say the proposed 18 1/2 feet of additional concrete would add about 14 percent to the lake’s existing capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea for adding capacity is to have a bigger bank for stockpiling water in wet years, which could then be tapped during dry years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The obvious, immediate consequence of an 18 1/2 foot raise is that several homes and businesses along the shoreline would be inundated, forcing the government to compensate property owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The water’s going to come up, so it’s going to take 11 of my 15 cabins out,” said Harold Jones, unrolling an aerial photo of his property. He and his wife have owned the \u003ca href=\"http://www.shasta-cabins.com/\">Sugarloaf Cottages\u003c/a> on the Sacramento River arm of Lake Shasta for 20 years. He said a government buyout of his property will push him into early retirement, with few alternate job prospects. “If they send us on our way and I lose my income, how am I going to support my family?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_7238\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/Jones-640.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7238\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/Jones-640.jpg\" alt=\"Jones\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harold Jones owns Sugarloaf Cottages, which would be inundated if the lake level rose. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jones and others believe that raising the lake will be the death knell for the resort town of Lakehead, which is a tiny town whose year-round population of about 500 balloons with the influx of boaters during the summer months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, members of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.winnememwintu.us/\">Winnemem Wintu\u003c/a> tribe of Native Americans have been railing against the raise. When the dam was first constructed in 1945, they lost lands they claim as part of their heritage. They argue that the proposed expansion would lead to the further demise of their cultural legacy, including the inundation of 60-to-80 of their remaining sacred sites, many still used for tribal rituals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other side of the debate is \u003ca href=\"http://www.westlandswater.org/wwd/default2.asp?cwide=1920\">Westlands Water District\u003c/a>, a politically powerful agency that supplies water mostly to farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. Westlands is a major beneficiary of Shasta water and would pay approximately 20 percent — or $200 million — of the estimated construction costs. Westlands general manager, Tom Birmingham, talks like it’s a bargain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re talking about creating surface storage in the state of California, this is the best project in terms of bang for your buck from the perspective of providing water for fisheries, providing water for human uses and providing hydroelectric generation,” Birmingham told us in a recent interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl3e4__IIA4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Three Big Ideas\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other surface storage proposals of comparable cost and magnitude include \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/storage/docs/NODOS%20Project%20Docs/Sites_FAQ.pdf\">Sites Reservoir\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/storage/docs/USJ%20Project%20Docs/Temperance_FAQ.pdf\">Temperance Flat\u003c/a>. These projects have larger potential storage capacity, but also come with greater costs. Spokespeople for the Bureau of Reclamation expect draft environmental impact statements for both Sites Reservoir and Temperance Flat to be released in late-2013 or early-2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birmingham and the Bureau of Reclamation claim that the deeper pool of water behind Shasta Dam would allow more frequent releases of cold water to benefit \u003ca title=\"NMFS - salmon - steelhead\" href=\"http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recovery/Steelhead_NCS.htm\">threatened salmon and other fish\u003c/a> downstream. Several environmental and fish advocacy groups beg to differ, saying there are more effective and cost-efficient ways to protect Central Valley salmon than a billion-dollar dam project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Although theoretically there could be additional cold water — and there’s no doubt more of that is always better — it’s not guaranteed,” said John McManus, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://goldengatesalmonassociation.com/\">Golden Gate Salmon Association\u003c/a>. “Add to that the certainty that more water would be channeled north to south across the Delta, which will almost certainly entrain more salmon in the pumps or pull them off their natural migration path to their death in the interior delta, and this is a bad idea for salmon,” McManus wrote in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A crucial point is that raising Shasta dam would not \u003cem>create\u003c/em> water, it would only add storage potential. All in all, Lund is skeptical that spending over $1 billion is the best strategy for ensuring a healthy water supply, let alone water for fish. “I think it depends on what you want to accomplish,” says Lund. “If you’re going to add a large amount of surface storage to the system, Shasta is probably one of the better places to put it. But it does cost you money, and my question is ‘Is that the best investment of that money?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca title=\"CA Water Blog - Lund\" href=\"http://californiawaterblog.com/2012/02/22/expanding-water-storage-capacity-in-california/\">Lund has argued for a more “holistic” approach\u003c/a> to California’s water conundrum, assessing the combined benefits of conservation and integrated management of surface and groundwater, rather than looking at big, individual engineering projects. “That’s the big fallacy around much of the discussion about storage in California,” says Lund. “We have a water shortage, not necessarily a storage shortage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal to raise Shasta requires Congressional approval. The next step will be for the Bureau of Reclamation to submit a final recommendation to the Department of Interior. If Congress approves funding for raising Shasta, it’s expected that the issue will wind up before the courts. After all, this is California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Science Editor Craig Miller contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/08/2013-08-19-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Audio report by KQED Science Editor Craig Miller\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_7208\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/shasta-featured-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7208\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/shasta-featured-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Lake Shasta is the largest reservoir in California (Craig Miller)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shasta Lake is the largest reservoir in California (Craig Miller)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just north of Redding sits the imposing Shasta Dam, and behind it, the largest single reservoir in California, accounting for about 17 percent of the state’s total water storage capacity. Government officials are now completing plans to make Shasta Lake even larger by raising the height of the dam. The proposed dam expansion is motivated by California’s projected population growth and increasingly limited water storage options. The estimated cost of adding 18 1/2 feet to the 600-foot edifice is over $1 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unsurprisingly, the expansion proposal has sparked intense debates among local residents, Central Valley farmers, environmentalists, tribal groups and developers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Same War, New Battle\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s tempting to say, “Welcome to the newest chapter in California’s never-ending battles over water” — though it’s not really new. The idea dates back at least a decade, to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.calwater.ca.gov/\">CALFED Bay-Delta water planning initiative\u003c/a>. But the proposal is getting fresh buzz now that the federal Bureau of Reclamation has issued a draft \u003ca title=\"USBOR - Shasta\" href=\"http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=1915\">environmental impact report\u003c/a> on the plan recommending the extra 18 1/2 feet, and political pressure for more water storage is mounting in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anytime you want to change anything in California water, it’s a big deal” said Jay Lund, who directs the \u003ca title=\"UCD - CWS\" href=\"https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/front?destination=node/116\">Center for Watershed Sciences\u003c/a> at the University of California Davis. “There’s always 500 different interests lined up on 500 different sides. There’s always going to be someone who’s unhappy, and they all have lawyers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/shasta-map05.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-7220\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/shasta-map05-640.jpg\" alt=\"shasta-map05\" width=\"1200\" height=\"868\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand the Shasta Dam proposal, a bit of historical perspective is helpful. When the dam was originally conceived in the 1930s, it was designed to be about 800 feet high. But the dam construction coincided with the outbreak of World War II, so limited manpower and scarce resources forced planners to scale back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, Shasta Dam currently stands at 602 feet, or about 200 feet lower than originally envisaged. So while it’s therefore possible (from a purely engineering standpoint) to raise the dam by an additional 200 feet, no one is seriously considering that. Federal engineers say the proposed 18 1/2 feet of additional concrete would add about 14 percent to the lake’s existing capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea for adding capacity is to have a bigger bank for stockpiling water in wet years, which could then be tapped during dry years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The obvious, immediate consequence of an 18 1/2 foot raise is that several homes and businesses along the shoreline would be inundated, forcing the government to compensate property owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The water’s going to come up, so it’s going to take 11 of my 15 cabins out,” said Harold Jones, unrolling an aerial photo of his property. He and his wife have owned the \u003ca href=\"http://www.shasta-cabins.com/\">Sugarloaf Cottages\u003c/a> on the Sacramento River arm of Lake Shasta for 20 years. He said a government buyout of his property will push him into early retirement, with few alternate job prospects. “If they send us on our way and I lose my income, how am I going to support my family?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_7238\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/Jones-640.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7238\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/Jones-640.jpg\" alt=\"Jones\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harold Jones owns Sugarloaf Cottages, which would be inundated if the lake level rose. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jones and others believe that raising the lake will be the death knell for the resort town of Lakehead, which is a tiny town whose year-round population of about 500 balloons with the influx of boaters during the summer months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, members of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.winnememwintu.us/\">Winnemem Wintu\u003c/a> tribe of Native Americans have been railing against the raise. When the dam was first constructed in 1945, they lost lands they claim as part of their heritage. They argue that the proposed expansion would lead to the further demise of their cultural legacy, including the inundation of 60-to-80 of their remaining sacred sites, many still used for tribal rituals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other side of the debate is \u003ca href=\"http://www.westlandswater.org/wwd/default2.asp?cwide=1920\">Westlands Water District\u003c/a>, a politically powerful agency that supplies water mostly to farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. Westlands is a major beneficiary of Shasta water and would pay approximately 20 percent — or $200 million — of the estimated construction costs. Westlands general manager, Tom Birmingham, talks like it’s a bargain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re talking about creating surface storage in the state of California, this is the best project in terms of bang for your buck from the perspective of providing water for fisheries, providing water for human uses and providing hydroelectric generation,” Birmingham told us in a recent interview.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/kl3e4__IIA4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/kl3e4__IIA4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Three Big Ideas\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other surface storage proposals of comparable cost and magnitude include \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/storage/docs/NODOS%20Project%20Docs/Sites_FAQ.pdf\">Sites Reservoir\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/storage/docs/USJ%20Project%20Docs/Temperance_FAQ.pdf\">Temperance Flat\u003c/a>. These projects have larger potential storage capacity, but also come with greater costs. Spokespeople for the Bureau of Reclamation expect draft environmental impact statements for both Sites Reservoir and Temperance Flat to be released in late-2013 or early-2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birmingham and the Bureau of Reclamation claim that the deeper pool of water behind Shasta Dam would allow more frequent releases of cold water to benefit \u003ca title=\"NMFS - salmon - steelhead\" href=\"http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recovery/Steelhead_NCS.htm\">threatened salmon and other fish\u003c/a> downstream. Several environmental and fish advocacy groups beg to differ, saying there are more effective and cost-efficient ways to protect Central Valley salmon than a billion-dollar dam project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Although theoretically there could be additional cold water — and there’s no doubt more of that is always better — it’s not guaranteed,” said John McManus, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://goldengatesalmonassociation.com/\">Golden Gate Salmon Association\u003c/a>. “Add to that the certainty that more water would be channeled north to south across the Delta, which will almost certainly entrain more salmon in the pumps or pull them off their natural migration path to their death in the interior delta, and this is a bad idea for salmon,” McManus wrote in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A crucial point is that raising Shasta dam would not \u003cem>create\u003c/em> water, it would only add storage potential. All in all, Lund is skeptical that spending over $1 billion is the best strategy for ensuring a healthy water supply, let alone water for fish. “I think it depends on what you want to accomplish,” says Lund. “If you’re going to add a large amount of surface storage to the system, Shasta is probably one of the better places to put it. But it does cost you money, and my question is ‘Is that the best investment of that money?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca title=\"CA Water Blog - Lund\" href=\"http://californiawaterblog.com/2012/02/22/expanding-water-storage-capacity-in-california/\">Lund has argued for a more “holistic” approach\u003c/a> to California’s water conundrum, assessing the combined benefits of conservation and integrated management of surface and groundwater, rather than looking at big, individual engineering projects. “That’s the big fallacy around much of the discussion about storage in California,” says Lund. “We have a water shortage, not necessarily a storage shortage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal to raise Shasta requires Congressional approval. The next step will be for the Bureau of Reclamation to submit a final recommendation to the Department of Interior. If Congress approves funding for raising Shasta, it’s expected that the issue will wind up before the courts. After all, this is California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Science Editor Craig Miller contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Valero Rail Project Fuels Tar Sands Speculation in Bay Area",
"headTitle": "Valero Rail Project Fuels Tar Sands Speculation in Bay Area | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/08/2013-08-12-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Valero, the nation’s largest oil refiner, wants to start using trains to bring crude oil to its \u003ca href=\"http://www.valero.com/ourbusiness/ourlocations/refineries/pages/benicia.aspx\">Bay Area refinery\u003c/a>. But the project is raising concerns about congestion, safety and air pollution in the East Bay city of Benicia – and the connection it may have to Canada’s controversial tar sands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6923\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/Marilyn-cropped-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6923\" title=\"Marilyn Bardet \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/Marilyn-cropped-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Marilyn Bardet has pushed for a more thorough review of Valero's crude-by-rail project. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marilyn Bardet has pushed for a more thorough review of Valero’s crude-by-rail project. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Small City, Big Industry\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benicia sits near the mouth of the Sacramento River, in the northeastern corner of San Francisco Bay. It has a small-town vibe: antique stores, a pretty marina, nice views of the water. But it’s no stranger to heavy industry. Freight trains rumble past on the outskirts, and there’s a big industrial park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.ruszelwoodworks.com/\">Ruszel Woodworks\u003c/a> has been in the industrial park for more than 30 years. Brothers Ed and Jack Ruszel manage the company, which builds custom retail displays, among other specialty items. Their shop is just down the road from the refinery. They say Valero’s been a generally good neighbor, but they’re not happy with its latest proposed project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero wants to \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/Sites/%7B3436CBED-6A58-4FEF-BFDF-5F9331215932%7D/uploads/Valero_CBR_Project_Description.pdf\">build a rail terminal\u003c/a> on its property — currently it gets crude oil from pipelines and tanker ships. The $70 million rail project would allow it to source crude from the Midwest and Canada. The plan includes equipment to unload up to 70,000 barrels of crude oil a day. That’s almost half the daily capacity of the refinery. Two 50-car trains a day would deliver the oil, which would replace some of the crude that currently arrives by ship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many Benicia residents support the project. Valero is a big employer. It gives to local charities, and its taxes represent a fifth of the city’s general fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Ruszels are concerned about the impacts on traffic, because the tracks are on either side of their building, and cross their driveway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6937\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/ruszel-crop-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6937\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/ruszel-crop-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Ed Ruszel and his brother run Ruszel Woodworks, which is surrounded by the tracks Valero would be using to bring crude to the refinery. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Ruszel and his brother run Ruszel Woodworks, which is surrounded by the tracks Valero would be using to bring crude to the refinery. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“And it doesn’t just affect me,” adds Jack. “It affects all the businesses up and down here, and all the people along the rail lines all the way back to the source.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another local business got a cease-and-desist order stalling upgrades to the nearby Union Pacific tracks, which would support the project. Caltrans has weighed in too, with fears that the long, slow-moving trains crossing near off-ramps could back traffic up onto Interstate-680.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“For California, rail is the equivalent of the Keystone pipeline.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But traffic is just one of the issues locals have raised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Where does it begin, where does it end?”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marilyn Bardet is the founder of the Good Neighbor Steering Committee, a Valero watchdog as she describes it. She sits on \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?SEC=%7B77A312F2-B156-4443-98A9-3857BBF7BC47%7D&DE=%7B7432AB46-421A-4AB9-A22B-0DC25F451E77%7D\">Valero’s community advisory panel\u003c/a>. She’s among those who have been pushing for a more thorough review of the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have an accident where you spill this stuff, how are you going to clean it up?” she asks. “Where does it begin, where does it end?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracks go through \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/suisun/\">Suisun Marsh\u003c/a>, the largest brackish marsh on the West Coast, and a delicate wildlife habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are safety concerns. Last month in Quebec, a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded, killing 47 people. The \u003ca href=\"http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-08/rail-agency-probes-possible-safety-flaws-in-crude-transit.html\">Federal Railroad Administration has set rules\u003c/a> to help prevent that type of accident from happening here, but Bardet says it’s been on her mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there’s perhaps the biggest question of all: what kind of crude will be coming in?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6951\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/refinery-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/refinery-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"The Valero refinery in Benicia refines about 165,000 barrels of oil a day. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6951\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Valero refinery in Benicia refines about 165,000 barrels of oil a day. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will Crude From the Tar Sands Come to the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All crudes are not created equal,” claims Brant Olson, a campaigner with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.nrdc.org/\">Natural Resources Defense Council\u003c/a> in San Francisco. He says Valero has hinted to its investors that it wants to start bringing in crude from Canada’s tar sands, also known as oil sands. That oil is heavy, and environmentalists say, exceedingly “dirty” – it contains heavy metals, and the chemicals used to dilute it for shipment can be toxic, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re taking in dirty oil from Canada on the front end, you’re going to have more pollution in Benicia out the back end, and that’s really our concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olson says it also takes more energy to refine tar sands crude, which creates more greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentalists hope to stifle the refining opportunities for tar sands crude, because of the climate change implications. Groups including the NRDC have been fighting the extension of the Keystone pipeline, which would pump crude from the Alberta tar sands to refineries in Texas. (NRDC \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7B3436CBED-6A58-4FEF-BFDF-5F9331215932%7D/uploads/Report_by_Dr._Phyllis_Fox.pdf\">commissioned a report\u003c/a> explaining why they think the crude could be coming from Canada, and what the air quality implications could be.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For California, rail is the equivalent of the Keystone pipeline,” Olson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“There’s no such thing as dirty oil or clean oil.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Oil companies, on the other hand, are eager to find a way to get that low-cost crude to refineries in the United States, including here on the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether it’s in Texas, up in Canada, in the Northeast, in the Marcellus Shale, up in the Dakotas in the Bakken Shale, that’s where the new crude oil is coming from, and there are huge amounts of it,” says Bill Day, a spokesman for the San Antonio-based Valero. “There’s no such thing as dirty oil or clean oil, I want to be very clear about that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Day won’t get more specific than to say that the crude would be coming by rail from “North America.” He says that no oil from the tar sands is currently being processed at the Benicia refinery. The plant is however, designed to be able to process “a variety of crudes,” from heavy to light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Concerns About Air Pollution\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is reviewing Valero’s permit application for the project. Jim Karas, director of engineering for the Air District, says Valero is already close to the limit of what it can put in the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On a conceptual basis, I don’t see how those emissions can possibly increase,” he says. “Our rules don’t allow it. Our conditions don’t allow it. Our monitoring will verify it. So I don’t see how that could happen.” And if it did happen? “We would absolutely catch it, and there would be significant consequences.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Air District has installed monitors in and around the refinery, Karas says, and inspectors go out and do tests. But Bardet is worried that the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2013/07/31/124051/a_year_after_richmond_refinery_fire_community_air_monitors?category=science\">coverage is spotty\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They do not have other monitors in town,” she says. “They have a monitor at Tuolumne Street in Vallejo and one in Concord, and that’s supposed to give us some sense, triangulated, what our ambient air is like.” \u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“This is not just a California thing and it’s not just a Valero thing.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>She also claims that the Air District measures pollution over time, focusing on averages and missing the impacts of emissions spikes or accidents. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Crude-by-Rail and the Future of Oil\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This would be the first major crude-by-rail project in the Bay Area. Of the other four refineries here, Tesoro Corporation is the only one using rail to import crude, and on a scale far below what Valero would be capable of, should its rail expansion go through. Valero’s Day says, he wouldn’t be surprised if others are looking into it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6942\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/train-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6942\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/train-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Union Pacific owns the tracks that serve the Valero refinery. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Union Pacific owns the tracks that serve the Valero refinery. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is not just a California thing and it’s not just a Valero thing,” he says. “This is a phenomenon that we’re seeing across the country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7B3436CBED-6A58-4FEF-BFDF-5F9331215932%7D/uploads/CBR_Notice_of_Preparation.pdf\">City of Benicia is studying\u003c/a> the impacts of the project. Its planning commission is expected to make a decision on it in December or January.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Valero wants to start using trains to bring crude oil to its Bay Area refinery. But the project is raising concerns about congestion, safety and air pollution in the East Bay city of Benicia – and the connection it may have to Canada’s controversial tar sands.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/08/2013-08-12-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Valero, the nation’s largest oil refiner, wants to start using trains to bring crude oil to its \u003ca href=\"http://www.valero.com/ourbusiness/ourlocations/refineries/pages/benicia.aspx\">Bay Area refinery\u003c/a>. But the project is raising concerns about congestion, safety and air pollution in the East Bay city of Benicia – and the connection it may have to Canada’s controversial tar sands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6923\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/Marilyn-cropped-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6923\" title=\"Marilyn Bardet \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/Marilyn-cropped-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Marilyn Bardet has pushed for a more thorough review of Valero's crude-by-rail project. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marilyn Bardet has pushed for a more thorough review of Valero’s crude-by-rail project. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Small City, Big Industry\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benicia sits near the mouth of the Sacramento River, in the northeastern corner of San Francisco Bay. It has a small-town vibe: antique stores, a pretty marina, nice views of the water. But it’s no stranger to heavy industry. Freight trains rumble past on the outskirts, and there’s a big industrial park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.ruszelwoodworks.com/\">Ruszel Woodworks\u003c/a> has been in the industrial park for more than 30 years. Brothers Ed and Jack Ruszel manage the company, which builds custom retail displays, among other specialty items. Their shop is just down the road from the refinery. They say Valero’s been a generally good neighbor, but they’re not happy with its latest proposed project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero wants to \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/Sites/%7B3436CBED-6A58-4FEF-BFDF-5F9331215932%7D/uploads/Valero_CBR_Project_Description.pdf\">build a rail terminal\u003c/a> on its property — currently it gets crude oil from pipelines and tanker ships. The $70 million rail project would allow it to source crude from the Midwest and Canada. The plan includes equipment to unload up to 70,000 barrels of crude oil a day. That’s almost half the daily capacity of the refinery. Two 50-car trains a day would deliver the oil, which would replace some of the crude that currently arrives by ship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many Benicia residents support the project. Valero is a big employer. It gives to local charities, and its taxes represent a fifth of the city’s general fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Ruszels are concerned about the impacts on traffic, because the tracks are on either side of their building, and cross their driveway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6937\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/ruszel-crop-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6937\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/ruszel-crop-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Ed Ruszel and his brother run Ruszel Woodworks, which is surrounded by the tracks Valero would be using to bring crude to the refinery. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Ruszel and his brother run Ruszel Woodworks, which is surrounded by the tracks Valero would be using to bring crude to the refinery. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“And it doesn’t just affect me,” adds Jack. “It affects all the businesses up and down here, and all the people along the rail lines all the way back to the source.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another local business got a cease-and-desist order stalling upgrades to the nearby Union Pacific tracks, which would support the project. Caltrans has weighed in too, with fears that the long, slow-moving trains crossing near off-ramps could back traffic up onto Interstate-680.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“For California, rail is the equivalent of the Keystone pipeline.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But traffic is just one of the issues locals have raised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Where does it begin, where does it end?”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marilyn Bardet is the founder of the Good Neighbor Steering Committee, a Valero watchdog as she describes it. She sits on \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?SEC=%7B77A312F2-B156-4443-98A9-3857BBF7BC47%7D&DE=%7B7432AB46-421A-4AB9-A22B-0DC25F451E77%7D\">Valero’s community advisory panel\u003c/a>. She’s among those who have been pushing for a more thorough review of the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have an accident where you spill this stuff, how are you going to clean it up?” she asks. “Where does it begin, where does it end?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracks go through \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/suisun/\">Suisun Marsh\u003c/a>, the largest brackish marsh on the West Coast, and a delicate wildlife habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are safety concerns. Last month in Quebec, a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded, killing 47 people. The \u003ca href=\"http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-08/rail-agency-probes-possible-safety-flaws-in-crude-transit.html\">Federal Railroad Administration has set rules\u003c/a> to help prevent that type of accident from happening here, but Bardet says it’s been on her mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there’s perhaps the biggest question of all: what kind of crude will be coming in?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6951\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/refinery-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/refinery-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"The Valero refinery in Benicia refines about 165,000 barrels of oil a day. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6951\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Valero refinery in Benicia refines about 165,000 barrels of oil a day. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will Crude From the Tar Sands Come to the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All crudes are not created equal,” claims Brant Olson, a campaigner with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.nrdc.org/\">Natural Resources Defense Council\u003c/a> in San Francisco. He says Valero has hinted to its investors that it wants to start bringing in crude from Canada’s tar sands, also known as oil sands. That oil is heavy, and environmentalists say, exceedingly “dirty” – it contains heavy metals, and the chemicals used to dilute it for shipment can be toxic, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re taking in dirty oil from Canada on the front end, you’re going to have more pollution in Benicia out the back end, and that’s really our concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olson says it also takes more energy to refine tar sands crude, which creates more greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentalists hope to stifle the refining opportunities for tar sands crude, because of the climate change implications. Groups including the NRDC have been fighting the extension of the Keystone pipeline, which would pump crude from the Alberta tar sands to refineries in Texas. (NRDC \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7B3436CBED-6A58-4FEF-BFDF-5F9331215932%7D/uploads/Report_by_Dr._Phyllis_Fox.pdf\">commissioned a report\u003c/a> explaining why they think the crude could be coming from Canada, and what the air quality implications could be.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For California, rail is the equivalent of the Keystone pipeline,” Olson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“There’s no such thing as dirty oil or clean oil.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Oil companies, on the other hand, are eager to find a way to get that low-cost crude to refineries in the United States, including here on the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether it’s in Texas, up in Canada, in the Northeast, in the Marcellus Shale, up in the Dakotas in the Bakken Shale, that’s where the new crude oil is coming from, and there are huge amounts of it,” says Bill Day, a spokesman for the San Antonio-based Valero. “There’s no such thing as dirty oil or clean oil, I want to be very clear about that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Day won’t get more specific than to say that the crude would be coming by rail from “North America.” He says that no oil from the tar sands is currently being processed at the Benicia refinery. The plant is however, designed to be able to process “a variety of crudes,” from heavy to light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Concerns About Air Pollution\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is reviewing Valero’s permit application for the project. Jim Karas, director of engineering for the Air District, says Valero is already close to the limit of what it can put in the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On a conceptual basis, I don’t see how those emissions can possibly increase,” he says. “Our rules don’t allow it. Our conditions don’t allow it. Our monitoring will verify it. So I don’t see how that could happen.” And if it did happen? “We would absolutely catch it, and there would be significant consequences.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Air District has installed monitors in and around the refinery, Karas says, and inspectors go out and do tests. But Bardet is worried that the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2013/07/31/124051/a_year_after_richmond_refinery_fire_community_air_monitors?category=science\">coverage is spotty\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They do not have other monitors in town,” she says. “They have a monitor at Tuolumne Street in Vallejo and one in Concord, and that’s supposed to give us some sense, triangulated, what our ambient air is like.” \u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“This is not just a California thing and it’s not just a Valero thing.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>She also claims that the Air District measures pollution over time, focusing on averages and missing the impacts of emissions spikes or accidents. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Crude-by-Rail and the Future of Oil\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This would be the first major crude-by-rail project in the Bay Area. Of the other four refineries here, Tesoro Corporation is the only one using rail to import crude, and on a scale far below what Valero would be capable of, should its rail expansion go through. Valero’s Day says, he wouldn’t be surprised if others are looking into it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6942\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/train-640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6942\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/08/train-640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Union Pacific owns the tracks that serve the Valero refinery. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Union Pacific owns the tracks that serve the Valero refinery. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is not just a California thing and it’s not just a Valero thing,” he says. “This is a phenomenon that we’re seeing across the country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7B3436CBED-6A58-4FEF-BFDF-5F9331215932%7D/uploads/CBR_Notice_of_Preparation.pdf\">City of Benicia is studying\u003c/a> the impacts of the project. Its planning commission is expected to make a decision on it in December or January.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Poll: Strongest Support Yet for Climate Action in California",
"headTitle": "Poll: Strongest Support Yet for Climate Action in California | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6425\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/IMG_0985-e1375304079662.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6425\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6425\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/IMG_0985-e1375304079662.jpg\" alt=\"Californians have generally led the nation in support for climate action. (Photo: Craig Miller)\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Californians have generally led the nation in support for climate action. (Photo: Craig Miller)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Californians have long been ahead of the pack in their support of climate policies, but in new polling, a “record-high majority” of California voters support immediate action by state and federal governments to arrest global warming and prepare for climate impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca title=\"PPIC - poll\" href=\"http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=1065\">According to the poll\u003c/a> by the Public Policy Institute of California, most respondents (63 percent) believe those impacts are already being felt, and three-in-four (75 percent) support taking “steps to counter the effects of global warming right away.” PPIC analysts say that represents a spike of nine percentage points since its 2012 survey. About the same proportion consider the threat of global warming to be at least “somewhat serious.” Support for immediate climate action continues to track significantly higher among Democrats than Republicans, though the gap may be narrowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6423\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/GW_chart_1_PPIC.jpeg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6423\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6423\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/GW_chart_1_PPIC.jpeg\" alt=\"Partisan differences over goverment climate action may be narrowing somewhat. (Graph: PPIC)\" width=\"480\" height=\"335\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Partisan differences over government climate action may be narrowing somewhat but support among independent voters has tapered off. (Graph: PPIC Statewide Survey, July, 2013)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California already has some of the nation’s most aggressive climate policies, with the legislated goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and a mandate that utilities draw one-third of their electrical power from renewable sources by the same year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the rest of the nation has generally lagged behind California in its enthusiasm for climate action, most results from the PPIC poll would appear to reflect a general gathering of momentum toward policies to cope with climate change. President Obama, who had gone silent on climate for most of his first term, has vowed to sidestep Congress if that’s what it takes to tackle the climate problem. And this week, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency \u003ca title=\"WaPo - post\" href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-new-epa-head-gina-mccarthy-vows-to-act-on-climate-change/2013/07/30/dea868e0-f86b-11e2-8e84-c56731a202fb_story.html\">kicked off a road show\u003c/a> to stump for climate action, by saying that carbon-cutting policies will gun the nation’s economic engine, rather than stall it. Surprisingly, in the PPIC poll, less than half of Californians appear to agree (see “Economy,” below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the perceived threats from climate change, some loom larger than others in the minds of Californians. According to the PPIC survey, 57 percent are “very concerned” about more voracious wildfires, and 78 percent are at least “somewhat concerned” that droughts will become more severe. There seemed to be more confusion over a changing climate’s effects on flooding and storms, where responses were more evenly distributed from “very concerned” to “not at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the poll shows support for California’s drive toward more renewable energy, that support drops from nearly 8-in-10, to about one-in-three (35 percent) if it would mean higher electric bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some potential eyebrow-raisers:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Air pollution\u003c/strong>: Despite the Central Valley’s reputation for wretched air quality, much higher proportions of residents of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire describe air pollution as a big problem, 40 and 44 percent, respectively, versus 31 percent of Valley respondents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transit\u003c/strong>: Most (67 percent) still drive to work solo — but about half of Californians claim that they’re ready to look seriously at a hybrid or all-electric car. Latinos and Asians are most likely to lean this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Economy\u003c/strong>: Despite all of the hype about “clean tech” in California, fewer than half the respondents (45 percent) agreed that state’s actions to slow global warming would create more jobs. An equal number said it would mean fewer jobs or no change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Surveys were conducted in mid-July and have a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percentage points.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Californians continue to favor strong, immediate action on climate, but not at any cost. And most of us still drive to work solo.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6425\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/IMG_0985-e1375304079662.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6425\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6425\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/IMG_0985-e1375304079662.jpg\" alt=\"Californians have generally led the nation in support for climate action. (Photo: Craig Miller)\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Californians have generally led the nation in support for climate action. (Photo: Craig Miller)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Californians have long been ahead of the pack in their support of climate policies, but in new polling, a “record-high majority” of California voters support immediate action by state and federal governments to arrest global warming and prepare for climate impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca title=\"PPIC - poll\" href=\"http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=1065\">According to the poll\u003c/a> by the Public Policy Institute of California, most respondents (63 percent) believe those impacts are already being felt, and three-in-four (75 percent) support taking “steps to counter the effects of global warming right away.” PPIC analysts say that represents a spike of nine percentage points since its 2012 survey. About the same proportion consider the threat of global warming to be at least “somewhat serious.” Support for immediate climate action continues to track significantly higher among Democrats than Republicans, though the gap may be narrowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6423\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/GW_chart_1_PPIC.jpeg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6423\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6423\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/GW_chart_1_PPIC.jpeg\" alt=\"Partisan differences over goverment climate action may be narrowing somewhat. (Graph: PPIC)\" width=\"480\" height=\"335\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Partisan differences over government climate action may be narrowing somewhat but support among independent voters has tapered off. (Graph: PPIC Statewide Survey, July, 2013)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California already has some of the nation’s most aggressive climate policies, with the legislated goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and a mandate that utilities draw one-third of their electrical power from renewable sources by the same year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the rest of the nation has generally lagged behind California in its enthusiasm for climate action, most results from the PPIC poll would appear to reflect a general gathering of momentum toward policies to cope with climate change. President Obama, who had gone silent on climate for most of his first term, has vowed to sidestep Congress if that’s what it takes to tackle the climate problem. And this week, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency \u003ca title=\"WaPo - post\" href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-new-epa-head-gina-mccarthy-vows-to-act-on-climate-change/2013/07/30/dea868e0-f86b-11e2-8e84-c56731a202fb_story.html\">kicked off a road show\u003c/a> to stump for climate action, by saying that carbon-cutting policies will gun the nation’s economic engine, rather than stall it. Surprisingly, in the PPIC poll, less than half of Californians appear to agree (see “Economy,” below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the perceived threats from climate change, some loom larger than others in the minds of Californians. According to the PPIC survey, 57 percent are “very concerned” about more voracious wildfires, and 78 percent are at least “somewhat concerned” that droughts will become more severe. There seemed to be more confusion over a changing climate’s effects on flooding and storms, where responses were more evenly distributed from “very concerned” to “not at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the poll shows support for California’s drive toward more renewable energy, that support drops from nearly 8-in-10, to about one-in-three (35 percent) if it would mean higher electric bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some potential eyebrow-raisers:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Air pollution\u003c/strong>: Despite the Central Valley’s reputation for wretched air quality, much higher proportions of residents of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire describe air pollution as a big problem, 40 and 44 percent, respectively, versus 31 percent of Valley respondents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transit\u003c/strong>: Most (67 percent) still drive to work solo — but about half of Californians claim that they’re ready to look seriously at a hybrid or all-electric car. Latinos and Asians are most likely to lean this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Economy\u003c/strong>: Despite all of the hype about “clean tech” in California, fewer than half the respondents (45 percent) agreed that state’s actions to slow global warming would create more jobs. An equal number said it would mean fewer jobs or no change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Surveys were conducted in mid-July and have a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percentage points.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Does Your Range Hood Suck? Cooking Spikes Indoor Air Pollution",
"headTitle": "Does Your Range Hood Suck? Cooking Spikes Indoor Air Pollution | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6122\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 259px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/hood-288x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6122\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6122 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/hood-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"(Photo: Shannon Rosa)\" width=\"259\" height=\"146\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photo: Shannon Rosa)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The summer season often brings outdoor air pollution alerts, but it turns out the air inside your kitchen can sometimes be just as harmful. Several of the same pollutants found in smog come from cooking dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Range hoods are designed to capture these cooking fumes, but even some expensive models aren’t very effective. So researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab are trying to fix that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we think of our home as safe,” said Jennifer Logue, research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cooking Tips\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>– Always turn your fan on\u003cbr>\n– Cook on the back burners\u003cbr>\n– Use highest fan setting\u003cbr>\n– Clean grease traps periodically\u003cbr>\n– If you don’t have a hood, open windows\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You spend 70 percent of your time in your home,” she said. “And what you do in your home has a huge impact on what you’re exposed to, which in turn has a huge impact on your health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a study of Southern California homes where people cook at least once a week, more than half had air pollution levels worse than the outdoor health limit for nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant that can cause respiratory irritation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you exceeded the standards outdoors, it would be a really big deal,” Logue said. “But if you exceed them in your house, nobody’s paying attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homes with electric stoves aren’t in the clear either, because cooking the food itself creates air pollution. Fats produce a lung irritant called acrolein. Cooking also puts off fine particle pollution, which is tied to long-term health problems, like respiratory and heart issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It sounds a little scary, but Logue says there’s a solution: a good range hood that vents to the outside. The only problem is that finding a good range hood isn’t simple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tips for Buying a New Hood\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>– Look for one that covers the entire cook top\u003cbr>\n– It should move 200 cubic feet of air per minute, certified by the Home Ventilating Institute\u003cbr>\n– Choose a noise rating of 3 sone or less\u003cbr>\n– Choose a hood shape with a hollow space underneath for collecting fumes\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not all hoods work the same and currently, unfortunately, there’s no way for people to really know how effective their range hood is,” Logue said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Testing Range Hoods\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside Berkeley Lab’s test kitchen, Woody Delp and his team make a recipe they’ve made a hundred times exactly the same way: stir-fried green beans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We measure out the beans the same amount each time,” Delp said. “We want to make sure that everything tries to stay as constant as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lab’s gas stove has a hood that’s rigged with air monitors. As the green beans sizzle away, particle counters around the room start to spike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This hood at this particular flow setting is probably capturing about half of what’s coming off,” Delp said. “Not quite.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6119\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 245px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6119 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/Woody-greenbeans.jpg\" alt=\"Woody Delp measures green beans in the test kitchen. (Photo: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)\" width=\"245\" height=\"320\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Woody Delp measures green beans in the test kitchen. (Photo: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Based on their testing, the hood is in the middle of the pack. Delp found hoods that were only 15 percent effective at capturing cooking emissions. Others did much better, but they weren’t necessarily the most expensive ones. And specific information about how well the hoods capture cooking emissions is not available to consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you go down to your local big box retailer, they’ll have what the air flow rate is and maybe a sound rating on it,” Delp said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air flow – or how powerful the fan is – is only part of the puzzle. The shape of the hood and how far it extends over a stovetop makes a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The length of the ductwork also affects how the hood functions. “Oftentimes it has too many bends and too many elbows and a long run to get it outside,” Delp said, “and for some of the range hoods, that kills the air flow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delp and his team are developing a standardized test to measure hood effectiveness, which is currently being reviewed by an international testing board. Delp says a lot of manufacturers are interested in using it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Regulating Indoor Air\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately there’s not really a state or federal agency that has comprehensive authority over indoor air pollution,” said Peggy Jenkins, who manages the indoor air quality program at the California Air Resources Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has strict ventilation rules for other gas appliances in homes, including furnaces and hot water heaters. Stoves and range hoods have been largely overlooked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a sense it’s low-hanging fruit but it’s not really simple,” Jenkins said. Regulatory efforts would require a number of state agencies to get involved. But Jenkins says there’s growing interest in changing the state’s building codes for range hoods. That could mean adding new requirements for the air flow or the hood’s shape, since those vary quite a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all love to have our microwaves over the range,” Jenkins said, “but the ventilation that’s associated with those is not as strong – not as efficient or effective.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, for home cooks, Jennifer Logue has a few tips as she finishes up her risotto. “I always, always, always use the range hood even though mine sounds like a jet engine, she said. “But I always use it because it think it’s really important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Use the highest fan setting and put pots and pans on the back burners, where hoods capture the most pollutants. They’re simple changes but effective ones, Logue says. The hard part is remembering them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "When you're cooking dinner, the air inside your kitchen can sometimes be just as harmful as smog. Range hoods are designed to capture cooking fumes, but even some expensive models aren’t very effective. Researchers are trying to fix that.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6122\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 259px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/hood-288x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6122\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6122 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/hood-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"(Photo: Shannon Rosa)\" width=\"259\" height=\"146\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photo: Shannon Rosa)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The summer season often brings outdoor air pollution alerts, but it turns out the air inside your kitchen can sometimes be just as harmful. Several of the same pollutants found in smog come from cooking dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Range hoods are designed to capture these cooking fumes, but even some expensive models aren’t very effective. So researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab are trying to fix that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we think of our home as safe,” said Jennifer Logue, research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cooking Tips\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>– Always turn your fan on\u003cbr>\n– Cook on the back burners\u003cbr>\n– Use highest fan setting\u003cbr>\n– Clean grease traps periodically\u003cbr>\n– If you don’t have a hood, open windows\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You spend 70 percent of your time in your home,” she said. “And what you do in your home has a huge impact on what you’re exposed to, which in turn has a huge impact on your health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a study of Southern California homes where people cook at least once a week, more than half had air pollution levels worse than the outdoor health limit for nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant that can cause respiratory irritation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you exceeded the standards outdoors, it would be a really big deal,” Logue said. “But if you exceed them in your house, nobody’s paying attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homes with electric stoves aren’t in the clear either, because cooking the food itself creates air pollution. Fats produce a lung irritant called acrolein. Cooking also puts off fine particle pollution, which is tied to long-term health problems, like respiratory and heart issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It sounds a little scary, but Logue says there’s a solution: a good range hood that vents to the outside. The only problem is that finding a good range hood isn’t simple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tips for Buying a New Hood\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>– Look for one that covers the entire cook top\u003cbr>\n– It should move 200 cubic feet of air per minute, certified by the Home Ventilating Institute\u003cbr>\n– Choose a noise rating of 3 sone or less\u003cbr>\n– Choose a hood shape with a hollow space underneath for collecting fumes\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not all hoods work the same and currently, unfortunately, there’s no way for people to really know how effective their range hood is,” Logue said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Testing Range Hoods\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside Berkeley Lab’s test kitchen, Woody Delp and his team make a recipe they’ve made a hundred times exactly the same way: stir-fried green beans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We measure out the beans the same amount each time,” Delp said. “We want to make sure that everything tries to stay as constant as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lab’s gas stove has a hood that’s rigged with air monitors. As the green beans sizzle away, particle counters around the room start to spike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This hood at this particular flow setting is probably capturing about half of what’s coming off,” Delp said. “Not quite.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6119\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 245px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6119 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/Woody-greenbeans.jpg\" alt=\"Woody Delp measures green beans in the test kitchen. (Photo: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)\" width=\"245\" height=\"320\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Woody Delp measures green beans in the test kitchen. (Photo: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Based on their testing, the hood is in the middle of the pack. Delp found hoods that were only 15 percent effective at capturing cooking emissions. Others did much better, but they weren’t necessarily the most expensive ones. And specific information about how well the hoods capture cooking emissions is not available to consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you go down to your local big box retailer, they’ll have what the air flow rate is and maybe a sound rating on it,” Delp said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air flow – or how powerful the fan is – is only part of the puzzle. The shape of the hood and how far it extends over a stovetop makes a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The length of the ductwork also affects how the hood functions. “Oftentimes it has too many bends and too many elbows and a long run to get it outside,” Delp said, “and for some of the range hoods, that kills the air flow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delp and his team are developing a standardized test to measure hood effectiveness, which is currently being reviewed by an international testing board. Delp says a lot of manufacturers are interested in using it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Regulating Indoor Air\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately there’s not really a state or federal agency that has comprehensive authority over indoor air pollution,” said Peggy Jenkins, who manages the indoor air quality program at the California Air Resources Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has strict ventilation rules for other gas appliances in homes, including furnaces and hot water heaters. Stoves and range hoods have been largely overlooked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a sense it’s low-hanging fruit but it’s not really simple,” Jenkins said. Regulatory efforts would require a number of state agencies to get involved. But Jenkins says there’s growing interest in changing the state’s building codes for range hoods. That could mean adding new requirements for the air flow or the hood’s shape, since those vary quite a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all love to have our microwaves over the range,” Jenkins said, “but the ventilation that’s associated with those is not as strong – not as efficient or effective.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, for home cooks, Jennifer Logue has a few tips as she finishes up her risotto. “I always, always, always use the range hood even though mine sounds like a jet engine, she said. “But I always use it because it think it’s really important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Use the highest fan setting and put pots and pans on the back burners, where hoods capture the most pollutants. They’re simple changes but effective ones, Logue says. The hard part is remembering them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Is Shale A More Realistic Candidate for Nuclear Waste Sites?",
"headTitle": "Is Shale A More Realistic Candidate for Nuclear Waste Sites? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Civilian nuclear power plants came on line in the mid-1950s before most of us were born. Yet in all the years since then, there has never been a permanent place to keep their highly radioactive wastes. The resulting technological constipation was supposed to be solved with a repository carved into the volcanic rocks of Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada. As geologists got into the details, the worrisome part of Yucca Mountain turned out to be not rock, but water leakage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We think of rock as strong, permanent material, and we tend to think the best rock should be the strongest. The U.S. and other nations have sought to keep their wastes in deep, crystalline rocks like granite. But we are misled by the presence of rocky mountains and the impregnable facades of bank buildings. The hardest rock, in geological reality, is highly fractured stuff because with strength comes brittleness. Tests at Yucca Mountain showed that some of the cracks in its volcanic rocks could have allowed rainwater to trickle down to the storage levels in a mere 50 years—this in a facility that by law is supposed to keep things safe not just for 10,000 years, but a million. That was all the scientific evidence needed to reinforce the stiff political opposition to Yucca Mountain, and by the time the Obama administration told Congress in 2009 that the project was off the table, it was all over but the shouting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now a government hydrologist, \u003ca href=\"http://profile.usgs.gov/ceneuzil\">Christopher Neuzil\u003c/a>, uses his knowledge of groundwater to make a case instead for shale. The best metric for a waste repository rock is not its strength, he says, but its impermeability—resistance to water. This argument changes the game dramatically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6044\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/shaletop.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6044\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/shaletop.jpg\" alt=\"Shale, Lake Berryessa\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6044\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shale of the Great Valley Sequence, Lake Berryessa\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Shale, for our purposes, is rock that is primarily clay. Because geologists are choosy about what they call shale, Neuzil uses “shale” as shorthand for “argillaceous formations” (\u003ca href=\"http://geology.about.com/od/more_sedrocks/qt/About-Mudrocks.htm\">mudrocks and claystones\u003c/a>). Water has a very difficult time moving through it. A lot of specialists don’t like shale: water-well drillers find it unproductive; geotechnical engineers hate to deal with its poor strength; miners consider it waste rock; road builders must take special care in it. On the other hand, shale is good for municipal landfills and for wetlands precisely because it’s so impermeable. Thick beds of shale are what keeps “fracked” oil and gas separate from drinking-water supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neuzil’s publically readable paper, “\u003ca href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013EO300001/pdf\">Can Shale Safely Host U.S. Nuclear Waste?\u003c/a>” is in this week’s issue of \u003ci>Eos\u003c/i>, the house organ of the American Geophysical Union. In it he points out an interesting peculiarity of shale: in many places it has different groundwater pressure than the surrounding rocks. In some places the shale has excess groundwater pressure; in others it’s actually negative—the rock would suck up more water if it could but it’s too impermeable. Imagine a waste repository in a place like that where water moves inward rather than outward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deeper significance of these anomalies is that they represent really, really long-term natural experiments. For instance, Neuzil describes a shale formation at the Bruce Nuclear Complex in Ontario where the hydraulic head is 400 meters lower than in the rock just 200 meters above it. The explanation is that the Ice Age glaciers there squeezed groundwater out of the shale, but in the roughly 10,000 years since the glaciers melted the groundwater has barely been able to start moving back. An overpressured shale body, on the other hand, could be holding its groundwater from a time millions of years earlier before erosion removed the rocks above it. These examples suggest how well this kind of rock can seal things off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6045\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 519px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/shalewater.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6045\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/shalewater.png\" alt=\"Groundwater pressures\" width=\"519\" height=\"305\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6045\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Depth profiles of groundwater pressure, measured as head relative to sea level (h), at four shale sites (dark gray). The two North American sites are underpressured and the two European sites are overpressured. Modified from \u003ca href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013EO300001/pdf\">Neuzil (Eos, 2013)\u003c/a>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Similarly, Neuzil notes, shale blocks the movement of chemicals. Drill cores show that natural chemicals like chloride ions and hydrogen isotopes move through shale only a few centimeters per thousand years. Pure molecular diffusion, without any movement of water at all, is enough to account for that. These lines of evidence show that shale could very well meet the million-year criterion for waste repositories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is there enough shale to handle our nuclear waste? Neuzil says that “the United States is in an enviable position with respect to the scale and sheer diversity in age, history, composition, and thickness of argillaceous formations within its borders.” It opens up the possibility of smaller, more localized repositories that share the national burden more widely. Politically, it means the states wouldn’t need to gang up on Nevada again. Scientifically, it means that more research into the details of shale would be a very fruitful public investment.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Civilian nuclear power plants came on line in the mid-1950s before most of us were born. Yet in all the years since then, there has never been a permanent place to keep their highly radioactive wastes. The resulting technological constipation was supposed to be solved with a repository carved into the volcanic rocks of Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada. As geologists got into the details, the worrisome part of Yucca Mountain turned out to be not rock, but water leakage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We think of rock as strong, permanent material, and we tend to think the best rock should be the strongest. The U.S. and other nations have sought to keep their wastes in deep, crystalline rocks like granite. But we are misled by the presence of rocky mountains and the impregnable facades of bank buildings. The hardest rock, in geological reality, is highly fractured stuff because with strength comes brittleness. Tests at Yucca Mountain showed that some of the cracks in its volcanic rocks could have allowed rainwater to trickle down to the storage levels in a mere 50 years—this in a facility that by law is supposed to keep things safe not just for 10,000 years, but a million. That was all the scientific evidence needed to reinforce the stiff political opposition to Yucca Mountain, and by the time the Obama administration told Congress in 2009 that the project was off the table, it was all over but the shouting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now a government hydrologist, \u003ca href=\"http://profile.usgs.gov/ceneuzil\">Christopher Neuzil\u003c/a>, uses his knowledge of groundwater to make a case instead for shale. The best metric for a waste repository rock is not its strength, he says, but its impermeability—resistance to water. This argument changes the game dramatically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6044\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/shaletop.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6044\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/shaletop.jpg\" alt=\"Shale, Lake Berryessa\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6044\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shale of the Great Valley Sequence, Lake Berryessa\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Shale, for our purposes, is rock that is primarily clay. Because geologists are choosy about what they call shale, Neuzil uses “shale” as shorthand for “argillaceous formations” (\u003ca href=\"http://geology.about.com/od/more_sedrocks/qt/About-Mudrocks.htm\">mudrocks and claystones\u003c/a>). Water has a very difficult time moving through it. A lot of specialists don’t like shale: water-well drillers find it unproductive; geotechnical engineers hate to deal with its poor strength; miners consider it waste rock; road builders must take special care in it. On the other hand, shale is good for municipal landfills and for wetlands precisely because it’s so impermeable. Thick beds of shale are what keeps “fracked” oil and gas separate from drinking-water supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neuzil’s publically readable paper, “\u003ca href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013EO300001/pdf\">Can Shale Safely Host U.S. Nuclear Waste?\u003c/a>” is in this week’s issue of \u003ci>Eos\u003c/i>, the house organ of the American Geophysical Union. In it he points out an interesting peculiarity of shale: in many places it has different groundwater pressure than the surrounding rocks. In some places the shale has excess groundwater pressure; in others it’s actually negative—the rock would suck up more water if it could but it’s too impermeable. Imagine a waste repository in a place like that where water moves inward rather than outward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deeper significance of these anomalies is that they represent really, really long-term natural experiments. For instance, Neuzil describes a shale formation at the Bruce Nuclear Complex in Ontario where the hydraulic head is 400 meters lower than in the rock just 200 meters above it. The explanation is that the Ice Age glaciers there squeezed groundwater out of the shale, but in the roughly 10,000 years since the glaciers melted the groundwater has barely been able to start moving back. An overpressured shale body, on the other hand, could be holding its groundwater from a time millions of years earlier before erosion removed the rocks above it. These examples suggest how well this kind of rock can seal things off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_6045\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 519px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/shalewater.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6045\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/shalewater.png\" alt=\"Groundwater pressures\" width=\"519\" height=\"305\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6045\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Depth profiles of groundwater pressure, measured as head relative to sea level (h), at four shale sites (dark gray). The two North American sites are underpressured and the two European sites are overpressured. Modified from \u003ca href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013EO300001/pdf\">Neuzil (Eos, 2013)\u003c/a>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Similarly, Neuzil notes, shale blocks the movement of chemicals. Drill cores show that natural chemicals like chloride ions and hydrogen isotopes move through shale only a few centimeters per thousand years. Pure molecular diffusion, without any movement of water at all, is enough to account for that. These lines of evidence show that shale could very well meet the million-year criterion for waste repositories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is there enough shale to handle our nuclear waste? Neuzil says that “the United States is in an enviable position with respect to the scale and sheer diversity in age, history, composition, and thickness of argillaceous formations within its borders.” It opens up the possibility of smaller, more localized repositories that share the national burden more widely. Politically, it means the states wouldn’t need to gang up on Nevada again. Scientifically, it means that more research into the details of shale would be a very fruitful public investment.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "As World's Largest Solar Thermal Plant Opens, California Looks to End Solar Wars",
"headTitle": "As World’s Largest Solar Thermal Plant Opens, California Looks to End Solar Wars | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/07/2013-07-15-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[gallery type=\"slideshow\" link=\"file\" ids=\"5477,5479,5480,5478,5482,5481,5484\" width=\"640\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a few weeks, the largest solar plant of its kind in the world will start producing power in California’s Mojave Desert. The \u003ca href=\"http://ivanpahsolar.com/\">Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System\u003c/a> will supply both Northern and Southern California, inching the state one step closer to its ambitious renewable energy goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But like many of the large solar projects being built in the Mojave, Ivanpah ran into delays and controversy over its environmental impact. Now, in an effort to streamline the process, state officials are trying to broker an agreement between conservation groups and solar companies on a path forward for renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ivanpah doesn’t use the solar technology most of us think of – those dark, silicon panels sitting on rooftops. The project harnesses the sun’s heat, reflecting off a field of 170,000 mirrors. They shimmer across a dry, dusty valley about five miles away from the California-Nevada state line, surrounding three 400-foot concrete towers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can keep the sun’s energy – the rays of the sun – targeted back to the solar tower,” said Dave Beaudoin, construction manager for the $2.2 billion project, originally developed by Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/\">BrightSource Energy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The garage door-sized mirrors focus the heat on giant boilers on top of the towers, where water turns into steam. That steam powers a turbine that generates electricity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is definitely cutting-edge,” Beaudoin said. “It’s nothing I’ve ever done before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/as-worlds-largest-solar-thermal-plant-opens-california-looks-to-end-solar-wars/solar_power_640/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5532\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-5532\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/solar_power_640.jpg\" alt=\"solar_power_640\" width=\"640\" height=\"343\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ivanpah will supply about 140,000 homes in Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison territories when it comes fully online by the end of the year. But getting to that finish line has been a rough road for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It took several years to get permits from almost a dozen state, federal and local agencies. The project became political fodder after getting a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee, like the bankrupt solar company Solyndra. And then there’s the desert tortoise – the controversy that’s made Ivanpah famous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t have gray hairs before this project,” said Doug Davis, senior compliance manager for the project. Davis is looking at large mesh enclosures outside the field of mirrors, what he calls “Tortoise Head Start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Head Start facility is mainly for the small guys,” Davis said. “Their shells are very soft, so very susceptible to ravens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_5585\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/IMG_1505.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5585\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5585\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/IMG_1505.jpg\" alt=\"A desert tortoise in the Mojave Desert. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)\" width=\"350\" height=\"241\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A desert tortoise in the Mojave Desert. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Desert tortoises are a threatened species, so BrightSource relocates the ones found on the construction site. Young tortoises are held until they’re big enough to release. Several dozen adults have been moved offsite and are tracked with radio tags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BrightSource planned on finding just 35 desert tortoises when the project began, but came up with five times that number. That meant shutting down construction and doing another biological survey. “Almost every foot of our 3,500-acres, approximately, has been covered by a biologist at least ten times,” Davis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The relocation program has come at a cost: $55,000 per tortoise. It’s been watched closely by critics like Ileene Anderson of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/index.html\">Center for Biological Diversity\u003c/a>, one of the groups concerned over the loss of desert habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not a big fan of the super-large projects,” she said. Utilities were on the hunt for large renewable energy contracts after California set a \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2011/03/29/ca-moves-forward-with-renewable-goals/\">goal of getting 33 percent\u003c/a> of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. There was a rush to get big solar farms underway to meet the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program deadlines. In addition to Ivanpah, six other major solar projects are expected to open in California over the next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of the projects when they were first proposed and we would see the application, see where the map was, it was like ‘oh no, this is going to be a nightmare project,” said Anderson. “Put it on previously disturbed lands where there’s very few conflicts because the landscape has already been impacted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other environmental groups raised concerns from another perspective: climate change, something that could harm desert wildlife in the long run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you care about desert tortoises, you better care about climate change,” said Carl Zichella of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Without some large scale renewable energy projects we do not hit our climate goals. We do not replace fossil fuels with clean energy in this country. It just does not happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even if we paved the whole California desert with solar plants, it’s not going to save the planet,” Anderson responded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/as-worlds-largest-solar-thermal-plant-opens-california-looks-to-end-solar-wars/ivanpah_map_400/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5531\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-5531\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/ivanpah_map_400.jpg\" alt=\"ivanpah_map_400\" width=\"400\" height=\"358\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These differing views sparked a “green vs. green” debate between those who wanted to file lawsuits to stop projects and those who didn’t want to see solar developers driven away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it has been tough,” Zichella said. “It’s been personally painful. We are very good at stopping things. We aren’t very good at building things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In end, with the threat of lawsuits in the air, environmental groups negotiated with BrightSource and other developers to set aside nature preserves in the desert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an effort to stem the conflict, California is trying to forge a smoother path for future projects through the \u003ca href=\"http://www.drecp.org/\">Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan\u003c/a>. The idea is to divvy up the desert into zones suitable for renewable energy development and conservation areas that are off-limits. Solar developers, counties, conservation groups and federal and state agencies are hashing out the comprehensive plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karen Douglas of the California Energy Commission says it’s unusual to see all sides working together. “There is never any perfect consensus,” she said. “But we’ve got an opportunity with this partnership to put in place what we really think of as the ‘greenprint’ that will help us conserve our desert resources not only in the face of development but in the face of climate change.”\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Anderson. “Are they covering the right species in the plan and is it implementable? All those things are still to be determined.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other Western states have run into similar problems and are watching California’s effort. A full draft of the plan’s environmental review is expected this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Photos: Lauren Sommer, Josh Cassidy, Gabriela Quiros/KQED\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/07/2013-07-15-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a few weeks, the largest solar plant of its kind in the world will start producing power in California’s Mojave Desert. The \u003ca href=\"http://ivanpahsolar.com/\">Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System\u003c/a> will supply both Northern and Southern California, inching the state one step closer to its ambitious renewable energy goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But like many of the large solar projects being built in the Mojave, Ivanpah ran into delays and controversy over its environmental impact. Now, in an effort to streamline the process, state officials are trying to broker an agreement between conservation groups and solar companies on a path forward for renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ivanpah doesn’t use the solar technology most of us think of – those dark, silicon panels sitting on rooftops. The project harnesses the sun’s heat, reflecting off a field of 170,000 mirrors. They shimmer across a dry, dusty valley about five miles away from the California-Nevada state line, surrounding three 400-foot concrete towers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can keep the sun’s energy – the rays of the sun – targeted back to the solar tower,” said Dave Beaudoin, construction manager for the $2.2 billion project, originally developed by Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/\">BrightSource Energy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The garage door-sized mirrors focus the heat on giant boilers on top of the towers, where water turns into steam. That steam powers a turbine that generates electricity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is definitely cutting-edge,” Beaudoin said. “It’s nothing I’ve ever done before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/as-worlds-largest-solar-thermal-plant-opens-california-looks-to-end-solar-wars/solar_power_640/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5532\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-5532\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/solar_power_640.jpg\" alt=\"solar_power_640\" width=\"640\" height=\"343\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ivanpah will supply about 140,000 homes in Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison territories when it comes fully online by the end of the year. But getting to that finish line has been a rough road for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It took several years to get permits from almost a dozen state, federal and local agencies. The project became political fodder after getting a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee, like the bankrupt solar company Solyndra. And then there’s the desert tortoise – the controversy that’s made Ivanpah famous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t have gray hairs before this project,” said Doug Davis, senior compliance manager for the project. Davis is looking at large mesh enclosures outside the field of mirrors, what he calls “Tortoise Head Start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Head Start facility is mainly for the small guys,” Davis said. “Their shells are very soft, so very susceptible to ravens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_5585\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/IMG_1505.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5585\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5585\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/IMG_1505.jpg\" alt=\"A desert tortoise in the Mojave Desert. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)\" width=\"350\" height=\"241\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A desert tortoise in the Mojave Desert. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Desert tortoises are a threatened species, so BrightSource relocates the ones found on the construction site. Young tortoises are held until they’re big enough to release. Several dozen adults have been moved offsite and are tracked with radio tags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BrightSource planned on finding just 35 desert tortoises when the project began, but came up with five times that number. That meant shutting down construction and doing another biological survey. “Almost every foot of our 3,500-acres, approximately, has been covered by a biologist at least ten times,” Davis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The relocation program has come at a cost: $55,000 per tortoise. It’s been watched closely by critics like Ileene Anderson of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/index.html\">Center for Biological Diversity\u003c/a>, one of the groups concerned over the loss of desert habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not a big fan of the super-large projects,” she said. Utilities were on the hunt for large renewable energy contracts after California set a \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2011/03/29/ca-moves-forward-with-renewable-goals/\">goal of getting 33 percent\u003c/a> of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. There was a rush to get big solar farms underway to meet the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program deadlines. In addition to Ivanpah, six other major solar projects are expected to open in California over the next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of the projects when they were first proposed and we would see the application, see where the map was, it was like ‘oh no, this is going to be a nightmare project,” said Anderson. “Put it on previously disturbed lands where there’s very few conflicts because the landscape has already been impacted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other environmental groups raised concerns from another perspective: climate change, something that could harm desert wildlife in the long run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you care about desert tortoises, you better care about climate change,” said Carl Zichella of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Without some large scale renewable energy projects we do not hit our climate goals. We do not replace fossil fuels with clean energy in this country. It just does not happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even if we paved the whole California desert with solar plants, it’s not going to save the planet,” Anderson responded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/audio/as-worlds-largest-solar-thermal-plant-opens-california-looks-to-end-solar-wars/ivanpah_map_400/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5531\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-5531\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/07/ivanpah_map_400.jpg\" alt=\"ivanpah_map_400\" width=\"400\" height=\"358\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These differing views sparked a “green vs. green” debate between those who wanted to file lawsuits to stop projects and those who didn’t want to see solar developers driven away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it has been tough,” Zichella said. “It’s been personally painful. We are very good at stopping things. We aren’t very good at building things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In end, with the threat of lawsuits in the air, environmental groups negotiated with BrightSource and other developers to set aside nature preserves in the desert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an effort to stem the conflict, California is trying to forge a smoother path for future projects through the \u003ca href=\"http://www.drecp.org/\">Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan\u003c/a>. The idea is to divvy up the desert into zones suitable for renewable energy development and conservation areas that are off-limits. Solar developers, counties, conservation groups and federal and state agencies are hashing out the comprehensive plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karen Douglas of the California Energy Commission says it’s unusual to see all sides working together. “There is never any perfect consensus,” she said. “But we’ve got an opportunity with this partnership to put in place what we really think of as the ‘greenprint’ that will help us conserve our desert resources not only in the face of development but in the face of climate change.”\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Anderson. “Are they covering the right species in the plan and is it implementable? All those things are still to be determined.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other Western states have run into similar problems and are watching California’s effort. A full draft of the plan’s environmental review is expected this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Photos: Lauren Sommer, Josh Cassidy, Gabriela Quiros/KQED\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Controversial Solar Farm One Step Closer to Construction",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4905\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 639px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4905\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/RS2768_IMG_0111-scr-e1372462888483.jpg\" alt=\"The Panoche Valley in San Benito County. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"639\" height=\"359\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Panoche Valley in San Benito County. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The controversial Panoche Valley Solar Farm is one step closer to construction. Environmental groups sued to stop the solar project, located near Hollister, but the suit was rejected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.progress-energy.com/index.page?\">Duke Energy\u003c/a> and San Francisco-based firm \u003ca href=\"http://www.pv2energy.com/index-1.html\">PV2\u003c/a> are planning to build the 399 megawatt solar farm in the mostly agricultural valley. But Shani Kleinhaus from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.scvas.org/index.php?\">Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society\u003c/a> said the project threatens migrating birds and three endangered animals: the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the San Joaquin kit fox and giant kangaroo rat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Environmental groups are supportive of clean energy projects and solar projects,” she said. “But we’re not in support of siting such projects without regard to endangered species and environmental damage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A state court of appeals rejected the suit, which claimed PV2 hadn’t pursued alternatives like putting the project somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tammie McGhee of Duke Energy, said their plan includes habitat preservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The project is a 28,000 acre footprint. Only 3,000 of those acres will actually have solar panels on them,” she said. “The other 23,000 acres will be for conservation and habitat preservation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The companies still have to finish environmental studies and find a company to buy the energy. Kleinhaus says her group will stay involved and continue to opppose the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it does clear the hurdles, construction would begin in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23554917/court-hands-solar-project-south-silicon-valley-major\">San Jose Mercury News\u003c/a> has more on the history of the battle in the Panoche Valley. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2013/0627/20130627_044914_0628solarmap.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23554917/court-hands-solar-project-south-silicon-valley-major\">Solar project south of Silicon Valley wins a major victory in appeals court\u003c/a>The environmental groups lost the first round in 2011. Then a San Benito County court rejected their arguments that county supervisors who approved the project had violated the California Environmental Quality Act and the Williamson Act, a state law that preserves ranchland by blocking development in exchange for lowering ranchers’ taxes. The court noted that the developers agreed to buy 23,000 adjacent acres — an area of cattle grazing land seven times the size of the area the solar panels would take up — and place them in permanent conservation easements as a way to offset the effects from the project.\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mercurynews\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED did a \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/06/20/clock-ticking-for-solar-developers/\">two-part\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/06/28/passionate-about-panoche/\">series\u003c/a> about the Panoche Valley a few years ago, when a different company was trying to build the solar farm. (Solargen sold the project to PV2.)\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The Panoche Valley Solar Farm cleared a hurdle this week. Environmental groups sued to stop the solar project, located near Hollister, but the suit was rejected. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4905\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 639px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4905\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/RS2768_IMG_0111-scr-e1372462888483.jpg\" alt=\"The Panoche Valley in San Benito County. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"639\" height=\"359\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Panoche Valley in San Benito County. (Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The controversial Panoche Valley Solar Farm is one step closer to construction. Environmental groups sued to stop the solar project, located near Hollister, but the suit was rejected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.progress-energy.com/index.page?\">Duke Energy\u003c/a> and San Francisco-based firm \u003ca href=\"http://www.pv2energy.com/index-1.html\">PV2\u003c/a> are planning to build the 399 megawatt solar farm in the mostly agricultural valley. But Shani Kleinhaus from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.scvas.org/index.php?\">Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society\u003c/a> said the project threatens migrating birds and three endangered animals: the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the San Joaquin kit fox and giant kangaroo rat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Environmental groups are supportive of clean energy projects and solar projects,” she said. “But we’re not in support of siting such projects without regard to endangered species and environmental damage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A state court of appeals rejected the suit, which claimed PV2 hadn’t pursued alternatives like putting the project somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tammie McGhee of Duke Energy, said their plan includes habitat preservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The project is a 28,000 acre footprint. Only 3,000 of those acres will actually have solar panels on them,” she said. “The other 23,000 acres will be for conservation and habitat preservation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The companies still have to finish environmental studies and find a company to buy the energy. Kleinhaus says her group will stay involved and continue to opppose the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it does clear the hurdles, construction would begin in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23554917/court-hands-solar-project-south-silicon-valley-major\">San Jose Mercury News\u003c/a> has more on the history of the battle in the Panoche Valley. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2013/0627/20130627_044914_0628solarmap.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23554917/court-hands-solar-project-south-silicon-valley-major\">Solar project south of Silicon Valley wins a major victory in appeals court\u003c/a>The environmental groups lost the first round in 2011. Then a San Benito County court rejected their arguments that county supervisors who approved the project had violated the California Environmental Quality Act and the Williamson Act, a state law that preserves ranchland by blocking development in exchange for lowering ranchers’ taxes. The court noted that the developers agreed to buy 23,000 adjacent acres — an area of cattle grazing land seven times the size of the area the solar panels would take up — and place them in permanent conservation easements as a way to offset the effects from the project.\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mercurynews\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED did a \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/06/20/clock-ticking-for-solar-developers/\">two-part\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/06/28/passionate-about-panoche/\">series\u003c/a> about the Panoche Valley a few years ago, when a different company was trying to build the solar farm. (Solargen sold the project to PV2.)\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "An Environmental Catch-22: Fire Safety Chemicals in Insulation Pose Risks",
"headTitle": "An Environmental Catch-22: Fire Safety Chemicals in Insulation Pose Risks | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4743\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/House_fire-450x253-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/House_fire-450x253-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"(Image: Kpahor/Wikipedia)\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4743\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Image: \u003ca href=\"http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_fire_using_gasoline.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kpahor/Wikipedia\u003c/a>)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17508\">directed state agencies\u003c/a> to reduce water use and greenhouse gas emissions through a \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/docs/Green_Building_Action_Plan_B.18.12.pdf\">green building action plan\u003c/a> to “shrink the state’s environmental footprint.” The order also mandated using “environmentally preferable products that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing goods that serve the same purpose.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just seven months later, a \u003ca href=\"http://superfund.berkeley.edu/pdf/395.pdf\">study in Building Research and Information\u003c/a> revealed that plastic foam insulation used to increase energy efficiency in buildings may pose an unnecessary risk to health and the environment. Manufacturers add potentially harmful fire-retardant chemicals to insulation to pass a flammability test required in building codes. But the test isn’t reliable for foam plastic insulation, argued fire scientist Vytenis Babrauskas and his colleagues. And the codes’ requirement for a thermal barrier – a thick wallboard that separates the insulation from a room’s interior – already makes insulation fire-safe without the need for flame retardants. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) first learned about this apparent environmental Catch-22 when she had to replace the insulation in her home. A legislator known for \u003ca href=\"http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/state/vote/skinner_n/bio.html\">her environmental record\u003c/a>, Skinner introduced a \u003ca href=\"http://elcerrito.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/new-skinner-bill-opposes-flame-retardant-in-building-insulation\">bill in January\u003c/a> calling on state officials to revisit building standards to ensure fire safety without relying on harmful chemicals. On Monday, the bill, \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_127&sess=CUR&house=B\">AB 127\u003c/a>, passed the Senate Business Professions and Economic Development Committee, and could reach the Senate floor sometime in August. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Potential for harm\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe main plastic insulation flame retardants — HBCD or HBCDD, for hexabromocyclododecane, and TCPP, for tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate – aren’t chemically bound to the insulation, so they can escape into the environment. Although researchers have shown that flame retardants in furniture foam can seep from foam into the air and settle in dust, it’s not clear how HBCD and TCPP wind up in indoor air and dust. Possible routes of dispersal include points of manufacture, use and disposal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both compounds, classified as high-volume chemicals by the Environmental Protection Agency (with U.S. import/production volumes between 20 million and 100 million pounds), occur in soil, sewage sludge and aquatic sediments and have been found in bivalves, fish, birds and other wildlife. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with its profile as a fat-loving, bioaccumulating toxic chemical, HBCD appears in higher levels in \u003ca href=\"http://saferinsulation.greensciencepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Covaci-HBCD-review.pdf\">predators like porpoises and falcons\u003c/a>. It’s also been found in human fat tissue, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21441408\">blood and breast milk\u003c/a>. Testing the possibility that the chemicals could enter our bodies through food, researchers \u003ca href=\"http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ehp.1204993.pdf\">found HBCD in 42 percent\u003c/a> of foods purchased in Dallas grocery stores. Canned sardines and smoked turkey sausages had the highest levels, in keeping with other studies suggesting that fatty foods could be an important exposure pathway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies in animals indicate that HBCD disrupts hormone function and interferes with the developing nervous system. Less is known about TCPP, though it’s also been detected in \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20383376\">human breast milk\u003c/a> and causes \u003ca href=\"http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/05/23/toxsci.kft100.long\">developmental\u003c/a> and neurological defects in animal studies. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fire-safe buildings without chemicals\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nBuilding standards regulating foam insulation date back to the 1960s, and required that products pass the “Steiner Tunnel” test, which measures flame spread from the bottom of a tunnel to its ceiling, outfitted with insulation. In the 1970s, the thermal barrier requirement was added to protect exposed insulation because, Babrauskas and his coauthors assert in their recent study, insulation proved highly flammable even after passing the Steiner test. Using flame retardants when a thermal barrier is present, the authors concluded, does not add a fire safety benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml;jsessionid=6de6fdd0eab8e21e79fec4f33166?bill_id=201320140AB127\">AB 127 calls\u003c/a> on the State Fire Marshall to review California’s flammability standards for building insulation and work with government officials to ensure fire safety “while giving full consideration to the long-term human and ecological health impacts associated with chemical flame retardants.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Skinner made her case before the state Senate committee on Monday, several witnesses spoke in support of the bill, including Justin Malan of the U.S. Green Building Council California. Malan argued that although the builders, architects, planners and engineers he represents strongly support energy efficiency, they know that sometimes building materials need careful review. “Let’s not make the same costly, and lethal, mistakes we made with asbestos,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arlene Blum, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.greensciencepolicy.org/\">Green Science Policy Institute\u003c/a> and a chemist who has long sounded the alarm about the \u003ca href=\"http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-04-15/national/38550740_1_flame-retardants-pbdes-treated-products/2\">potential hazards of flame retardants\u003c/a>, urged the committee to \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/06/18/98102/governor_orders_change_in_state_policy_on_flame_retardants_in?category=bay+area\">follow the lead of Governor Brown\u003c/a>, who directed regulators to update the \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/the-political-firestorm-inside-your-sofa/\">state’s furniture flammability standards\u003c/a> to increase fire safety without using potentially toxic chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Existing building standards require 15 minutes to flashover, when the fire turns from flame to conflagration as nearby combustibles ignite. By the time a fire hits the treated plastic foam insulation inside the wall, Blum said, “all the flame retardants do is make the fire more toxic, produce dioxins, which harm the health of first responders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lobbying against public health?\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nTwelve public interest and business groups followed Malone and Blum in support of AB 127. Leading the opposition to the bill was Joe Lang, representing the chemical industry’s main trade group, the American Chemistry Council. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang, a veteran Sacramento lobbyist who once \u003ca href=\"http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/v/c/m/vcm94b00/Svcm94b00.pdf\">represented tobacco giant Philip Morris\u003c/a>, now heads the \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/02/see-which-lobbying-firms-made-the-most-money-in-2012.html\">top-grossing lobbying firm\u003c/a> in Sacramento. His firm received more than \u003ca href=\"http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/money-to-burn\">$1 million from chemical industry interests\u003c/a> over five years to help defeat five bills to regulate flame retardants added to consumer products. In the first quarter of this year, Lang and his associates have earned 40,000 from the American Chemistry Council, state records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Claiming most of the opposition’s allotted time, Lang did not argue the merits of reviewing the state’s building code but lectured the committee on the state’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/index.cfm?CFID=26318756&CFTOKEN=89839980\">Green Chemistry Initiative\u003c/a> (enacted in 2008 but plagued by budgetary problems and yet to see full implementation), which aims to identify chemical hazards and safer alternatives. He argued that AB 127 subverted the state’s green chemistry policy by asking for a separate process, not based on science, that evaluates chemical hazards one by one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang also argued that most of the evidence cited to show the risks of flame retardants studied chemicals that aren’t used in foam insulation. Then he referred to a \u003ca href=\"http://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/13630/trd_rar_ireland_tccp_en.pdf\">European Union risk assessment\u003c/a> for TCPP that failed to find evidence of risk to consumers or the environment, based on exposure models, though it did show harm to workers in plants where the chemicals are made. All of the studies that AB 127 supporters point to as support for the toxicity of flame retardants don’t apply in this case, Lang said. “They’re creating a hysteria. They’re creating a sense that fire retardants used in building insulation are in fact dangerous. That’s not the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EU risk assessments of another flame retardant, known as Deca, also found no significant risks to health and the environment using their exposure models. Although the EU banned Deca in 2002, the subsequent favorable risk assessment helped win a reprieve, allowing manufacturers to continue using Deca in electronics and electrical equipment. But the EU banned the chemical for good in 2008 after the European Parliament challenged the assessment, citing health and environmental concerns. (In 2009, \u003ca href=\"http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/deccadbe.html\">the EPA brokered a deal\u003c/a> with the two U.S. Deca manufacturers to phase out the chemical “to protect human health and the environment.”) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang didn’t mention any risk assessment studies for HBCD. But last month, the U.N. Environment Programme’s Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants \u003ca href=\"http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-567_en.htm?locale=en\">voted to add HBCD\u003c/a> to its list of globally banned chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Mounting research questions the safety and effectiveness of flame retardants used in consumer products. The chemicals are also used in the foam plastic insulation that improves energy efficiency in buildings. But a measure that just passed a Senate committee this week could pave the way for fire-safe, energy-efficient buildings without causing harm.",
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"title": "An Environmental Catch-22: Fire Safety Chemicals in Insulation Pose Risks | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4743\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/House_fire-450x253-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/House_fire-450x253-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"(Image: Kpahor/Wikipedia)\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4743\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Image: \u003ca href=\"http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_fire_using_gasoline.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kpahor/Wikipedia\u003c/a>)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17508\">directed state agencies\u003c/a> to reduce water use and greenhouse gas emissions through a \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/docs/Green_Building_Action_Plan_B.18.12.pdf\">green building action plan\u003c/a> to “shrink the state’s environmental footprint.” The order also mandated using “environmentally preferable products that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing goods that serve the same purpose.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just seven months later, a \u003ca href=\"http://superfund.berkeley.edu/pdf/395.pdf\">study in Building Research and Information\u003c/a> revealed that plastic foam insulation used to increase energy efficiency in buildings may pose an unnecessary risk to health and the environment. Manufacturers add potentially harmful fire-retardant chemicals to insulation to pass a flammability test required in building codes. But the test isn’t reliable for foam plastic insulation, argued fire scientist Vytenis Babrauskas and his colleagues. And the codes’ requirement for a thermal barrier – a thick wallboard that separates the insulation from a room’s interior – already makes insulation fire-safe without the need for flame retardants. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) first learned about this apparent environmental Catch-22 when she had to replace the insulation in her home. A legislator known for \u003ca href=\"http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/state/vote/skinner_n/bio.html\">her environmental record\u003c/a>, Skinner introduced a \u003ca href=\"http://elcerrito.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/new-skinner-bill-opposes-flame-retardant-in-building-insulation\">bill in January\u003c/a> calling on state officials to revisit building standards to ensure fire safety without relying on harmful chemicals. On Monday, the bill, \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_127&sess=CUR&house=B\">AB 127\u003c/a>, passed the Senate Business Professions and Economic Development Committee, and could reach the Senate floor sometime in August. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Potential for harm\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe main plastic insulation flame retardants — HBCD or HBCDD, for hexabromocyclododecane, and TCPP, for tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate – aren’t chemically bound to the insulation, so they can escape into the environment. Although researchers have shown that flame retardants in furniture foam can seep from foam into the air and settle in dust, it’s not clear how HBCD and TCPP wind up in indoor air and dust. Possible routes of dispersal include points of manufacture, use and disposal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both compounds, classified as high-volume chemicals by the Environmental Protection Agency (with U.S. import/production volumes between 20 million and 100 million pounds), occur in soil, sewage sludge and aquatic sediments and have been found in bivalves, fish, birds and other wildlife. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with its profile as a fat-loving, bioaccumulating toxic chemical, HBCD appears in higher levels in \u003ca href=\"http://saferinsulation.greensciencepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Covaci-HBCD-review.pdf\">predators like porpoises and falcons\u003c/a>. It’s also been found in human fat tissue, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21441408\">blood and breast milk\u003c/a>. Testing the possibility that the chemicals could enter our bodies through food, researchers \u003ca href=\"http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ehp.1204993.pdf\">found HBCD in 42 percent\u003c/a> of foods purchased in Dallas grocery stores. Canned sardines and smoked turkey sausages had the highest levels, in keeping with other studies suggesting that fatty foods could be an important exposure pathway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies in animals indicate that HBCD disrupts hormone function and interferes with the developing nervous system. Less is known about TCPP, though it’s also been detected in \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20383376\">human breast milk\u003c/a> and causes \u003ca href=\"http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/05/23/toxsci.kft100.long\">developmental\u003c/a> and neurological defects in animal studies. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fire-safe buildings without chemicals\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nBuilding standards regulating foam insulation date back to the 1960s, and required that products pass the “Steiner Tunnel” test, which measures flame spread from the bottom of a tunnel to its ceiling, outfitted with insulation. In the 1970s, the thermal barrier requirement was added to protect exposed insulation because, Babrauskas and his coauthors assert in their recent study, insulation proved highly flammable even after passing the Steiner test. Using flame retardants when a thermal barrier is present, the authors concluded, does not add a fire safety benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml;jsessionid=6de6fdd0eab8e21e79fec4f33166?bill_id=201320140AB127\">AB 127 calls\u003c/a> on the State Fire Marshall to review California’s flammability standards for building insulation and work with government officials to ensure fire safety “while giving full consideration to the long-term human and ecological health impacts associated with chemical flame retardants.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Skinner made her case before the state Senate committee on Monday, several witnesses spoke in support of the bill, including Justin Malan of the U.S. Green Building Council California. Malan argued that although the builders, architects, planners and engineers he represents strongly support energy efficiency, they know that sometimes building materials need careful review. “Let’s not make the same costly, and lethal, mistakes we made with asbestos,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arlene Blum, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.greensciencepolicy.org/\">Green Science Policy Institute\u003c/a> and a chemist who has long sounded the alarm about the \u003ca href=\"http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-04-15/national/38550740_1_flame-retardants-pbdes-treated-products/2\">potential hazards of flame retardants\u003c/a>, urged the committee to \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/06/18/98102/governor_orders_change_in_state_policy_on_flame_retardants_in?category=bay+area\">follow the lead of Governor Brown\u003c/a>, who directed regulators to update the \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/the-political-firestorm-inside-your-sofa/\">state’s furniture flammability standards\u003c/a> to increase fire safety without using potentially toxic chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Existing building standards require 15 minutes to flashover, when the fire turns from flame to conflagration as nearby combustibles ignite. By the time a fire hits the treated plastic foam insulation inside the wall, Blum said, “all the flame retardants do is make the fire more toxic, produce dioxins, which harm the health of first responders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lobbying against public health?\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nTwelve public interest and business groups followed Malone and Blum in support of AB 127. Leading the opposition to the bill was Joe Lang, representing the chemical industry’s main trade group, the American Chemistry Council. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang, a veteran Sacramento lobbyist who once \u003ca href=\"http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/v/c/m/vcm94b00/Svcm94b00.pdf\">represented tobacco giant Philip Morris\u003c/a>, now heads the \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/02/see-which-lobbying-firms-made-the-most-money-in-2012.html\">top-grossing lobbying firm\u003c/a> in Sacramento. His firm received more than \u003ca href=\"http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/money-to-burn\">$1 million from chemical industry interests\u003c/a> over five years to help defeat five bills to regulate flame retardants added to consumer products. In the first quarter of this year, Lang and his associates have earned 40,000 from the American Chemistry Council, state records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Claiming most of the opposition’s allotted time, Lang did not argue the merits of reviewing the state’s building code but lectured the committee on the state’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/index.cfm?CFID=26318756&CFTOKEN=89839980\">Green Chemistry Initiative\u003c/a> (enacted in 2008 but plagued by budgetary problems and yet to see full implementation), which aims to identify chemical hazards and safer alternatives. He argued that AB 127 subverted the state’s green chemistry policy by asking for a separate process, not based on science, that evaluates chemical hazards one by one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang also argued that most of the evidence cited to show the risks of flame retardants studied chemicals that aren’t used in foam insulation. Then he referred to a \u003ca href=\"http://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/13630/trd_rar_ireland_tccp_en.pdf\">European Union risk assessment\u003c/a> for TCPP that failed to find evidence of risk to consumers or the environment, based on exposure models, though it did show harm to workers in plants where the chemicals are made. All of the studies that AB 127 supporters point to as support for the toxicity of flame retardants don’t apply in this case, Lang said. “They’re creating a hysteria. They’re creating a sense that fire retardants used in building insulation are in fact dangerous. That’s not the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EU risk assessments of another flame retardant, known as Deca, also found no significant risks to health and the environment using their exposure models. Although the EU banned Deca in 2002, the subsequent favorable risk assessment helped win a reprieve, allowing manufacturers to continue using Deca in electronics and electrical equipment. But the EU banned the chemical for good in 2008 after the European Parliament challenged the assessment, citing health and environmental concerns. (In 2009, \u003ca href=\"http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/deccadbe.html\">the EPA brokered a deal\u003c/a> with the two U.S. Deca manufacturers to phase out the chemical “to protect human health and the environment.”) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lang didn’t mention any risk assessment studies for HBCD. But last month, the U.N. Environment Programme’s Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants \u003ca href=\"http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-567_en.htm?locale=en\">voted to add HBCD\u003c/a> to its list of globally banned chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Official Welcomes Obama's Climate Program",
"headTitle": "California Official Welcomes Obama’s Climate Program | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4727\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 216px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/smokestack-4x3-216x162.jpg\" alt=\"(Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"216\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4727\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>President Obama introduced his long-awaited \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/149882710/President%E2%80%99s-Climate-Action-Plan\">plan to combat climate change\u003c/a> in a speech today at Georgetown. He’s directing the EPA to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants, supporting more renewable energy development and expanding efficiency standards for appliances. He’s also funding local initiatives to build more resilient infrastructure and calling for an end to public financing for new overseas coal plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California officials are welcoming the plan. Mary Nichols, who heads the California Air Resources Board, the agency that regulates pollution, said it’s a good fit with the state’s efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California benefits enormously from having the federal government step up with a climate program,” she said. “It can only enhance our activities if we have a strong federal partner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/cap-and-trade-101-how-californias-carbon-market-works/\">cap-and-trade program\u003c/a>, which is managed by the Air Board, already limits carbon emissions from power plants in the state. Nichols says she expects Obama’s plan will provide more federal funding for state projects, including one to reduce pollution from \u003ca href=\"http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onroadhd/onroadhd.htm\">diesel trucks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED Science managing editor Paul Rogers writes for the \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_23532865/obama-announces-sweeping-new-global-warming-plan\">Mercury News\u003c/a> on the impacts the plan will have in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceItemEmbedly\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://extras.mercurynews.com/mercurynews-fb.png\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_23532865/obama-announces-sweeping-new-global-warming-plan\">Obama announces sweeping new global warming plan\u003c/a>In the largest environmental initiative of his presidency, President Obama will announce this morning the nation’s first mandatory restrictions on greenhouse gases from new and existing power plants. The rules, which be drafted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are set to be unveiled at a mid-morning speech Obama is scheduled to deliver at Georgetown University.\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float:right\">\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" title=\"Powered by Embedly\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">\u003cspan>via \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com\" class=\"media-attribution-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mercurynews\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>And \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/25/195466923/obama-to-lay-out-broad-plan-to-address-climate-change\">NPR has a national perspective\u003c/a> on the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/06/25/climate_custom-8d5e9d46bcd08378e49a7871931d62c58cea5d98.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/25/195466923/obama-to-lay-out-broad-plan-to-address-climate-change\">Obama To Lay Out Broad Plan To Address Climate Change\u003c/a>President Obama is expected to announce a sweeping plan to address climate change this afternoon. Read the plan and a White House fact sheet. The president has framed this issue as a moral responsibility, to leave the Earth in good shape for generations to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Npr\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4727\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 216px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/smokestack-4x3-216x162.jpg\" alt=\"(Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"216\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4727\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>President Obama introduced his long-awaited \u003ca href=\"http://www.scribd.com/doc/149882710/President%E2%80%99s-Climate-Action-Plan\">plan to combat climate change\u003c/a> in a speech today at Georgetown. He’s directing the EPA to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants, supporting more renewable energy development and expanding efficiency standards for appliances. He’s also funding local initiatives to build more resilient infrastructure and calling for an end to public financing for new overseas coal plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California officials are welcoming the plan. Mary Nichols, who heads the California Air Resources Board, the agency that regulates pollution, said it’s a good fit with the state’s efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California benefits enormously from having the federal government step up with a climate program,” she said. “It can only enhance our activities if we have a strong federal partner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/cap-and-trade-101-how-californias-carbon-market-works/\">cap-and-trade program\u003c/a>, which is managed by the Air Board, already limits carbon emissions from power plants in the state. Nichols says she expects Obama’s plan will provide more federal funding for state projects, including one to reduce pollution from \u003ca href=\"http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onroadhd/onroadhd.htm\">diesel trucks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED Science managing editor Paul Rogers writes for the \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_23532865/obama-announces-sweeping-new-global-warming-plan\">Mercury News\u003c/a> on the impacts the plan will have in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceItemEmbedly\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://extras.mercurynews.com/mercurynews-fb.png\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_23532865/obama-announces-sweeping-new-global-warming-plan\">Obama announces sweeping new global warming plan\u003c/a>In the largest environmental initiative of his presidency, President Obama will announce this morning the nation’s first mandatory restrictions on greenhouse gases from new and existing power plants. The rules, which be drafted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are set to be unveiled at a mid-morning speech Obama is scheduled to deliver at Georgetown University.\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float:right\">\u003ca target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" title=\"Powered by Embedly\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">\u003cspan>via \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com\" class=\"media-attribution-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mercurynews\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>And \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/25/195466923/obama-to-lay-out-broad-plan-to-address-climate-change\">NPR has a national perspective\u003c/a> on the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/06/25/climate_custom-8d5e9d46bcd08378e49a7871931d62c58cea5d98.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/25/195466923/obama-to-lay-out-broad-plan-to-address-climate-change\">Obama To Lay Out Broad Plan To Address Climate Change\u003c/a>President Obama is expected to announce a sweeping plan to address climate change this afternoon. Read the plan and a White House fact sheet. The president has framed this issue as a moral responsibility, to leave the Earth in good shape for generations to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Npr\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Southern California Nuclear Plant to Shut Down for Good",
"headTitle": "Southern California Nuclear Plant to Shut Down for Good | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4099\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4099\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/sanonofrebanner.jpg\" alt=\"sanonofrebanner\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(David McNew/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Southern California Edison is retiring the \u003ca href=\"http://www.songscommunity.com/\">San Onofre\u003c/a> nuclear power plant. The plant has not operated since January 2012, when a radioactive leak was discovered in one of its generators. The permanent closure could put pressure on California’s electrical grid in the long-term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Independent System Operator, which manages the grid, \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23412261/closure-southern-california-nuke-plant-shouldnt-lead-blackouts\">does not expect statewide problems with power supply\u003c/a>, though there \u003ca href=\"http://www.caiso.com/Documents/SummerOutlook_PowerGridIdentifiesLocalReliabilityConcerns_SouthernCaliforniaDuringHeatWaves.pdf\">could be impacts in Southern California\u003c/a> as people crank up their air conditioners this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From an overall state, perspective I’m not concerned about energy, other than the local pocket in San Diego and south of Los Angeles,” said Steve Berberich of the California Independent System Operator, the entity that balances the state’s electric grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State energy regulators were already planning for the summer without the nuclear plant’s 2,000 megawatts of power. Several transmission corridors were improved so more electricity could be imported into the area and a handful of new power plants are expected to come online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will get through this summer, assuming we don’t have any major catastrophes or fire,” says Berberich. “I think we can squeak by.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Southern California’s power supplies \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/as-renewables-boom-california-struggles-to-quit-coal/\">were already constrained\u003c/a>, as several large natural gas plants on the coast are being retrofitted or replaced. The plants use hundreds of millions of gallons of seawater for cooling, a technology that’s being phased out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With those changes in mind, the California Public Utilities Commission \u003ca href=\"http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/california-requires-50mw-of-energy-storage-for-local-capacity-requirements-191087921.html\">approved a long-term energy plan\u003c/a> for Southern California Edison earlier this year. The utility will add 1,400-to-1,800 megawatts of power by 2021, with the majority coming from new natural gas plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The time-frame for me to be able to sleep better is really probably 2015,” said Berberich. “Let me just say, next summer I don’t expect to be quite as challenging as this summer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Decommissioning Costs\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Public Utilities Commission is reviewing how Southern California Edison customers could be hit with the costs associated with the San Onofre plant, including maintenance and cost of replacing its power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decommissioning the nuclear plant could also cost billions, a price tag that’s generally covered by a trust fund. “Each of the nuclear plants has a decommissioning trust fund so over time they’re paying into that fund,” says Edward Randolph, energy division director at the California Public Utilities Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the questions that will come up is: the decommissioning fund for San Onofre is not fully funded yet since it wasn’t expected to go offline yet,” he said. “So an additional question would be: how do you fund the decommissioning when the trust fund is not fully funded yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Onofre is one of two nuclear power plants in the state. The other is \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/whats-next-for-nuclear/\">PG&E’s Diablo Canyon\u003c/a> power plant near San Luis Obispo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://www.trbimg.com/img-51b205b0/turbine/la-me-ln-san-onofre-shutdown-20130607/400/16x9\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-onofre-shutdown-20130607,0,865861.story\">Activists praise San Onofre closure, but 1,100 layoffs expected\u003c/a>Anti-nuclear activists and Sen. Barbara Boxer celebrated Southern California Edison’s announcement Friday that the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant will be permanently retired. The coastal plant near San Clemente once supplied power to about 1.4 million homes in Southern California but has been shuttered since January 2012 when a tube in its newly replaced steam generators leaked a small amount of radioactive steam, leading to the discovery that the tubes were wearing down at an unusual rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.latimes.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Latimes\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The San Onofre nuclear plant has not operated since January 2012, when a radioactive leak was discovered in one of its generators. The permanent closure could put pressure on California's electrical grid in the long-term. The California Independent System Operator, which manages the grid, does not expect statewide problems with power supply this summer. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_4099\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4099\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/06/sanonofrebanner.jpg\" alt=\"sanonofrebanner\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(David McNew/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Southern California Edison is retiring the \u003ca href=\"http://www.songscommunity.com/\">San Onofre\u003c/a> nuclear power plant. The plant has not operated since January 2012, when a radioactive leak was discovered in one of its generators. The permanent closure could put pressure on California’s electrical grid in the long-term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Independent System Operator, which manages the grid, \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23412261/closure-southern-california-nuke-plant-shouldnt-lead-blackouts\">does not expect statewide problems with power supply\u003c/a>, though there \u003ca href=\"http://www.caiso.com/Documents/SummerOutlook_PowerGridIdentifiesLocalReliabilityConcerns_SouthernCaliforniaDuringHeatWaves.pdf\">could be impacts in Southern California\u003c/a> as people crank up their air conditioners this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From an overall state, perspective I’m not concerned about energy, other than the local pocket in San Diego and south of Los Angeles,” said Steve Berberich of the California Independent System Operator, the entity that balances the state’s electric grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State energy regulators were already planning for the summer without the nuclear plant’s 2,000 megawatts of power. Several transmission corridors were improved so more electricity could be imported into the area and a handful of new power plants are expected to come online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will get through this summer, assuming we don’t have any major catastrophes or fire,” says Berberich. “I think we can squeak by.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Southern California’s power supplies \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/as-renewables-boom-california-struggles-to-quit-coal/\">were already constrained\u003c/a>, as several large natural gas plants on the coast are being retrofitted or replaced. The plants use hundreds of millions of gallons of seawater for cooling, a technology that’s being phased out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With those changes in mind, the California Public Utilities Commission \u003ca href=\"http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/california-requires-50mw-of-energy-storage-for-local-capacity-requirements-191087921.html\">approved a long-term energy plan\u003c/a> for Southern California Edison earlier this year. The utility will add 1,400-to-1,800 megawatts of power by 2021, with the majority coming from new natural gas plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The time-frame for me to be able to sleep better is really probably 2015,” said Berberich. “Let me just say, next summer I don’t expect to be quite as challenging as this summer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Decommissioning Costs\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Public Utilities Commission is reviewing how Southern California Edison customers could be hit with the costs associated with the San Onofre plant, including maintenance and cost of replacing its power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decommissioning the nuclear plant could also cost billions, a price tag that’s generally covered by a trust fund. “Each of the nuclear plants has a decommissioning trust fund so over time they’re paying into that fund,” says Edward Randolph, energy division director at the California Public Utilities Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the questions that will come up is: the decommissioning fund for San Onofre is not fully funded yet since it wasn’t expected to go offline yet,” he said. “So an additional question would be: how do you fund the decommissioning when the trust fund is not fully funded yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Onofre is one of two nuclear power plants in the state. The other is \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/whats-next-for-nuclear/\">PG&E’s Diablo Canyon\u003c/a> power plant near San Luis Obispo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://www.trbimg.com/img-51b205b0/turbine/la-me-ln-san-onofre-shutdown-20130607/400/16x9\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-onofre-shutdown-20130607,0,865861.story\">Activists praise San Onofre closure, but 1,100 layoffs expected\u003c/a>Anti-nuclear activists and Sen. Barbara Boxer celebrated Southern California Edison’s announcement Friday that the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant will be permanently retired. The coastal plant near San Clemente once supplied power to about 1.4 million homes in Southern California but has been shuttered since January 2012 when a tube in its newly replaced steam generators leaked a small amount of radioactive steam, leading to the discovery that the tubes were wearing down at an unusual rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly?src=anywhere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.latimes.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Latimes\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Biggest Battery You Haven't Seen",
"headTitle": "The Biggest Battery You Haven’t Seen | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3345\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/05/PGEBatteryProject-288x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3345\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3345\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/05/PGEBatteryProject-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"PG&E's Dave Fribush shows the interior of their 4MW battery storage project in San Jose. (Photo: PG&E)\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E’s Dave Fribush shows the interior of their 4 MW battery storage project in San Jose. (Photo: PG&E) \u003ccite>(Courtesy of PG&E)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You probably wouldn’t notice it if you drove right past it — but this week PG&E unveiled California’s largest battery, now storing electrons in San Jose. The project is a pilot for energy storage technology, as electric utilities look for ways to balance increasing amounts of solar and wind energy on the grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 4-megawatt sodium-sulfur array can power about 2,400 homes for up to seven hours. That takes a mighty big battery. “If you pulled a semi-truck up next to it, it would be about the same length and a little bit taller,” says Jon Eric Thalman of PG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Storing electricity is not something utilities have traditionally done. “On the grid, we generate the amount of power that is needed, minute-by-minute,” Thalman says. “We don’t store it and have it at the ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the electric grid is rapidly changing in California. When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, solar and wind farms produce electricity much like traditional power plants do. But if clouds pass over a solar project, “the change in power can be 80 percent of its output, easily,” says Thalman. “Something has to make up that drop and it happens in seconds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3383\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 216px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/05/photo-216x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3383\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/05/photo-216x162.jpg\" alt=\"The battery holds seven hours of electricity for 2,400 homes. (Photo: PG&E)\" width=\"216\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3383\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The battery holds seven hours of electricity for 2,400 homes. (Photo: PG&E)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s where PG&E’s battery project comes in. While this project is small, PG&E says it’s a pilot for energy storage projects down the road. “It is one of the main ways to think about storing energy because it’s so flexible, but there are challenges as have to solve,” says Venkat Srinivasan, of the \u003ca title=\"JCESR - main\" href=\"http://www.jcesr.org/\">Joint Center for Energy Storage Research\u003c/a> at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are more expensive than we want them to be, but I think it’s a start,” he says. “It’s showing the proof of principal. I think we need more of these before we figure out if these are viable technologies that we can use on a big scale.” PG&E’s $18 million project was funded in part by a $3 million grant from the California Energy Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fluctuations in renewable energy are currently balanced by natural gas power plants. PG&E also has a \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helms_Pumped_Storage_Plant\">“pumped hydro” project\u003c/a> where water is pumped uphill when there’s excess electricity and then generates power through a dam when demand peaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot things that batteries can do that traditional resources can’t,” says Thalman. “The question for utilities and the operators is: do we want to value that? Batteries and energy storage can respond a lot faster than traditional sources. That’s not something we value right now with a market.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Public Utilities Commission is looking at setting energy storage goals for the state’s utilities, based on a law passed in 2010. Southern California Edison is required to \u003ca href=\"http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/edison-seeking-energy-storage-to-meet-california-requirement.html\">add at least 50 MW of energy storage\u003c/a> to the grid as part of a larger plan for new power plants.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "This week, PG&E unveiled California’s largest battery project, now storing electrons in San Jose. The project is a pilot for energy storage technology, as electric utilities look for ways to balance increasing amounts of solar and wind energy on the grid.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3345\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/05/PGEBatteryProject-288x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3345\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3345\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/05/PGEBatteryProject-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"PG&E's Dave Fribush shows the interior of their 4MW battery storage project in San Jose. (Photo: PG&E)\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E’s Dave Fribush shows the interior of their 4 MW battery storage project in San Jose. (Photo: PG&E) \u003ccite>(Courtesy of PG&E)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You probably wouldn’t notice it if you drove right past it — but this week PG&E unveiled California’s largest battery, now storing electrons in San Jose. The project is a pilot for energy storage technology, as electric utilities look for ways to balance increasing amounts of solar and wind energy on the grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 4-megawatt sodium-sulfur array can power about 2,400 homes for up to seven hours. That takes a mighty big battery. “If you pulled a semi-truck up next to it, it would be about the same length and a little bit taller,” says Jon Eric Thalman of PG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Storing electricity is not something utilities have traditionally done. “On the grid, we generate the amount of power that is needed, minute-by-minute,” Thalman says. “We don’t store it and have it at the ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the electric grid is rapidly changing in California. When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, solar and wind farms produce electricity much like traditional power plants do. But if clouds pass over a solar project, “the change in power can be 80 percent of its output, easily,” says Thalman. “Something has to make up that drop and it happens in seconds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_3383\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 216px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/05/photo-216x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3383\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/05/photo-216x162.jpg\" alt=\"The battery holds seven hours of electricity for 2,400 homes. (Photo: PG&E)\" width=\"216\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3383\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The battery holds seven hours of electricity for 2,400 homes. (Photo: PG&E)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s where PG&E’s battery project comes in. While this project is small, PG&E says it’s a pilot for energy storage projects down the road. “It is one of the main ways to think about storing energy because it’s so flexible, but there are challenges as have to solve,” says Venkat Srinivasan, of the \u003ca title=\"JCESR - main\" href=\"http://www.jcesr.org/\">Joint Center for Energy Storage Research\u003c/a> at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are more expensive than we want them to be, but I think it’s a start,” he says. “It’s showing the proof of principal. I think we need more of these before we figure out if these are viable technologies that we can use on a big scale.” PG&E’s $18 million project was funded in part by a $3 million grant from the California Energy Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fluctuations in renewable energy are currently balanced by natural gas power plants. PG&E also has a \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helms_Pumped_Storage_Plant\">“pumped hydro” project\u003c/a> where water is pumped uphill when there’s excess electricity and then generates power through a dam when demand peaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot things that batteries can do that traditional resources can’t,” says Thalman. “The question for utilities and the operators is: do we want to value that? Batteries and energy storage can respond a lot faster than traditional sources. That’s not something we value right now with a market.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Public Utilities Commission is looking at setting energy storage goals for the state’s utilities, based on a law passed in 2010. Southern California Edison is required to \u003ca href=\"http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/edison-seeking-energy-storage-to-meet-california-requirement.html\">add at least 50 MW of energy storage\u003c/a> to the grid as part of a larger plan for new power plants.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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},
"soldout": {
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