Jun 28

I have not posted on here in some time. My previous post where I say that I am super busy was quite accurate. A lot has transpired since then.

(1) To my own astonishment, I completed my Masters Thesis. I defended, completed the paper, and have recently submitted both the PDF version and printed version to the HSU Graduate Studies Office. I decided to get 7 (seven) bound copies of the thesis. Since figures in my thesis are not possible to fully understand without color and there are a lot of figures, the entire thesis (all 107 pages) needed to be printed in color. As it turns out, 749 pages printed single-sided on acid-free (100% cotton) paper is not cheap. It came to the tune of $700. Instead of paying someone to do this, I bought a $900 color laser printer that was on sale for $250. The toner that came with the printer covered all seven drafts and now we have a super nice color laser printer to boot!

(2) Sharyn and I got married at the beautiful Mendocino Woodlands. Many who read this were in attendance. The wedding surpassed most of our expectations succeeding in being our dream wedding. There were a few rough patches but overall an incredibly memorable event. I know that we got more time than most newly-weds to say hello and spend time with their guests but it was not enough time. I think a week might have covered it. I am still in the process of uploading the hundreds of photos we got. I am so happy with Sharyn and us together and the wedding and everything to the point where I keep waiting for my “bad luck” to come around. I hope it never does. :)

(3) Eight days after we returned home from the wedding, we picked up the U-Haul and stuffed it full of our belongings. We completed our move-out and began the long trek to Texas. We stopped at some favorite spots along the way — Ruth McGowans Pub for a final burger and beer; Grover Beach to visit some of Clan Ross; Sun City and San Diego to visit some of the Radke’s, Werdeman’s, and more; then on to Phoenix to visit Ruth, Dave, and Makayla. Laurie kept us company on the drive from Humboldt to LA and then Ron helped us tremendously by driving the U-Haul while Sharyn and I switched off on the Jeep out to Abilene. We are all moved in here. I start work in three days.

Texas-isms #1 – In Texas, in order to register your vehicle, it must pass the “State Inspection” similar to the “Smog Check” in California. The difference is that Texas does not look at emissions of the vehicle. Texas wants to make sure your wiper blades work, your headlights work, your blinkers work (by the way if one of the lenses is cracked, it must be replaced).

Texas-isms #2 – Capris – that apparel somewhere in between shorts and pants – are called Crops. No wonder the sales assistant was confused!

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On another note, this site will likely be overhauled sometime soon-ish. Well maybe not so soon. But WordPress is a bit old and Joomla is my new favorite. Soon… ish.

Apr 14

The second scenario in my analysis section looks at power supplied by 140MW of wind (purple), 50MW of solar (yellow), 50MW of ocean–wave (blue), and 64.3MW of biomass (green). This scenario leaves out the fossil fuel (brown) and the transmission (red). A one week run of the model in the summer from Sunday July 1, 2008 through Saturday July 7, 2008 is shown below.

July 1, 2008 through July 7, 2008 power supplied where purple is wind, solar is yellow, ocean-wave is blue, and biomass is green. The black curve at the top is power demand.

July 1, 2008 through July 7, 2008 power supplied where purple is wind, solar is yellow, ocean-wave is blue, and biomass is green. The black curve at the top is power demand.

December 14, 2008 through December 20, 2008 power supplied. The high winds really help in the winter.

December 14, 2008 through December 20, 2008 power supplied. The high winds really help in the winter.

As you can see, without more biomass or another way of compensating for the intermittency of wind, solar, and ocean-wave power, a purely renewable portfolio for Humboldt County would not be adequate.

Please ask me questions if you like. I’d be happy to answer them.

Apr 12

I have split the analysis section of my thesis into three scenarios. The goal of the first scenario is to demonstrate how the current power system meets electricity demand in Humboldt County. 

Power supplied for Jan 1-7, 2008. Green is biomass, red is transmission, and brown is natural gas.
Power supplied for Jan 1-7, 2008. Green is biomass, red is transmission, and brown is natural gas.

I ran the model for 7 days (168 hours). The plot above shows power supplied where green was supplied by biomass plants, red by transmission lines (imported power), and brown by fossil fuel powered plants (Humboldt Bay Power Plant).

The maximum output of the biomass plants combined with maximum imported power over the transmission lines cannot meet peak demand. This depicts the way the Humboldt Bay Power Plant, which is natural gas fired, must ramp up and down to meet the peak demand.

The biomass plants were run at 75% capacity with a maximum output of approximately 38MW. The transmission lines were run at 75% capacity with a maximum import of 52.5MW. So biomass + transmission = 90.5MW. 

 

Percentage of time that each load occurs.

Percentage of time that each load occurs.

If we look up where 90.5MW falls on the above load duration curve, it looks like the Humboldt Bay Power Plant must be running close to 100% of the time which is good since turning the plant on and off is likely not feasible in a short period of time.

I am elated to see that my model accurately depicts the way I believe the current power system works in Humboldt County. I have left out power supplies that are less than 1MW of which there are several.

Rough draft of my write up of my thesis will be done very soon. Yipee!

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