It's a gas gas gas
I saw the other day that the City Council of Portland is determined to get further into the electricity business. They're about to build a fuel cell to make make their own power out of methane gas coming off the city's wastewater treatment plant up in north Portland. Six million bucks to build the thing. Supposedly -- the way they budget, that could mean $20 million in the end. But the city will get the power, and there will be less evil gas seeping into the atmosphere. Fair enough.
I understand they already do this at one of the sewage treatment plants. I guess this must be an expansion of the existing system.
Speaking of methane and waste, I was also reading the other day that a real estate outfit that builds shopping centers has some land out at NE 82nd Avenue and Siskiyou Street that it wants to develop. I think that's the old Rose City landfill, isn't it? I remember the days when we'd drive my friend's beater truck out there to dump our junk and look for Playboy magazines.
Anyway, according to the Star, the developer isn't saying whose store he wants to build, but it's definitely going to be big box. Hmmm... Does it start with "Wal"?
I can't wait for The City Council Show the day they have to pass on that one. Old Sam "Friendly for Business" wil be strutting around reading from Das Kapital and enjoying the publicity. Fireman Randy will have his union hat on and be ragging on the evil of it all. Opie will look like he's interested, but that folder in front of him will have his resume in it....
Anyway, you could hook up a power plant to the City Council chambers that day, and burn enough methane to light McMinnville for a week.
| Posted at 3:18 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (4)
This 'getting further into the electricity business' is the development funding solution that has been sitting there the whole time, and still is.
Tram and light rail projects could be dreamed and designed BIGGER, to include electricity generation on-site, all it needs and more -- maybe two times the juice needed -- and then sell the excess electricity to pay for the project. (Projects that pay for themselves don't get a [rim shot].)
What happens when the loaded tram [rim shot] is halfway to somewhere and the power goes out. Like it did at my place last night?
Or the light rail is halfway home and - !
Chicago, 1970 -- motto: The City That Works (true) -- did this for their 'Big Pipe' or 'Big Dig' project. Rather, Chi-town used the electric rate differential, between the day price of electricity (expensive) and the night price of electricity (cheap).
Their problem was rain runoff mixed with sewer effluent going to the treatment plant, and in heavy rains the treatment plant maxxed out and dumped the whole enchilada in the Lake, so to speak. Solution: Dig a Big Cave under the city to store the flood and process it out later.
So, pumps and generators at the bottom of the shaft in the Big Cave. Daytime, spill Lake water down, drive generators, sell electricity. Nighttime, pump that same water up and back in the lake, buying back the pump electricity at the cheaper rate.
One way of printing money.
Posted by Tenskwatawa | February 10, 2006 4:39 PM
Jack, (a) you are too kind (b) tell your readers to cut to the chase, lookit at this point why are we still playing the role of idiots:
$6,000,000 - announced cost
$20,000,000 - 'possible' cost
$48,000,000 - 'actual' cost (does not include fees & 'other' architect/designer and "unforseen" costs), you'll see this quote in the O about mid-way in the project
$61,500,000 - 'final' cost as reported in the O around year 2020 as they look back at this project.
BTW, that's alot of PPS teacher salaries, 61 million. Regardless of what budget year you're talking.
Posted by got logic? | February 10, 2006 6:17 PM
I can't imagine it's possible to have a third Wal-Mart on 82nd, but then again, they've shoe-horned into some small towns, so...
Are we assuming the final cost will end up being $20 million or did they state a range? Before making a snap judgement on this, I'd like to know what the ROI timeline is. It could be that it's $6m well spent if it takes some pumps off the grid.
Posted by TK | February 10, 2006 6:50 PM
Didn't anyone notice the cost figure on the old unit? The one installed in 2000? $1.3 million. When technology usually makes things better and cheaper, how is this one going to cost a projected 6 million? And at the annual cost savings estimated for the first unit, the payoff time will be 64 years? sounds reasonable to me.
Posted by bob | February 13, 2006 10:21 AM