Industry News Briefs
November 20, 2008 Headlines
Water Distribution Systems: The Next Priority
Credit Crisis Dims the Lights for Power Industry
Practical Highway Design Concept Gaining Ground in States
Industry News
Water Distribution Systems: The Next Priority
Bridge (10/08) Vol. 38, No. 3, Speight, Vanessa
Safe drinking water is seen as a given in developed countries, but even highly treated water can suffer degradations in quality as it travels from the treatment plant to the consumer. This makes distribution systems a vital part of public health, and a challenging one at that because pipes are buried and not under water utilities' direct control. The U.S. National Academies recently brought together a panel to look at distribution systems' public-health risks, concentrating on three areas: the system's physical integrity, its hydraulic efficiency, and water quality. Public health can be affected by microbial contamination via a number of routes of entry, as well as degradation of the residual amount of disinfectant that the water utilities seek to have the water retain until it reaches the consumer. Storage facilities such as elevated tanks, ground tanks, and sometimes the pipes themselves can also be areas of contamination, as can the end customer's own household plumbing. Some new tools are becoming available to combat these threats, such as new models that bring together hydraulic and water quality data under a single simulation; however, there have been limitations so far on modeling microbial contamination and disinfectant byproducts. Asset-management researchers are also developing ways to model the infrastructure itself to assess its status. Other areas of interest include alternative water-delivery systems, such as dual-distribution systems that separate the carrying of potable and non-potable water, as well as point-of-use treatment devices.
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Credit Crisis Dims the Lights for Power Industry
Associated Press (11/17/08) Brown, Matthew
Fallout from the credit crisis has reached the power industry and is threatening future power supplies for the country. An $800 million coal-fired power plan in Great Falls, Mont., may be one of the first casualties of the credit woes. The developers of the 250-Mw Highwood plant have only enough cash on hand to lay the concrete foundation. If they are unable to raise extra funding, the electric cooperatives backing the plant will have to purchase power from the open market, which costs more. John Prinkki, a member of Southern Montana Electric's cooperative board, believes the group is left with no choice but to go ahead with construction. "It's not without risk and a lot of anxiety," Prinkki says. "But we're between a rock and a hard place. We don't have any choice--people are using more power than they ever have before."
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Practical Highway Design Concept Gaining Ground in States
Midwest Contractor (11/10/2008)
States across the country have been adopting the Practical Design highway design concept pioneered by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) thanks to its ability to save costs while meeting state transportation needs. Practical Design replaces one-size-fits-all standards for highway construction projects with customization to suit specific needs, and MoDOT claims more than $500 million in cost savings over the past three years, money that has been put into new transportation improvements. MoDOT officials have been working with counterparts in Idaho and Kentucky to roll out Practical Design initiatives in those states, and other states are showing interest as well. According to Kevin Keith, chief engineer with MoDOT, "Many DOTs across the nation are finding it more and more difficult to work within their budgets due to rising fuel and construction materials costs, growing economic concerns, and decreasing state and federal funds. Money is dwindling while the competition for these resources is increasing. That is requiring DOTs to find ways to get the biggest bang for every transportation buck." The upshot of Practical Design is that Missouri has been able to build "many 'good' projects rather than just a few 'perfect' projects," he says.
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Bureau of Land Management Finalizes Rules That Could Add Billions of Barrels of Oil to U.S. Supply
U.S. Department of the Interior (11/17/08)
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published final regulations to establish a commercial oil shale program, designed to provide private investors with the "rules of the road" for determining whether to commit financially to oil shale projects. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the United States holds more than 50 percent of the world's oil shale resources, most found on federal lands in the West. BLM estimates that the program could add up to 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil to domestic supplies. "Oil shale is a strategically important domestic energy source that should be developed to reduce the nation’s growing dependence on oil from politically and economically unstable foreign sources," says BLM Director James Caswell. Commercial development of oil shale however will not start until it is technologically feasible, which could take several years.
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Arctic is Rich in Promising Energy Source: Gas Hydrates
Anchorage Daily News (11/13/08)
An assessment released Nov. 12 by the U.S. Geological Survey reports that frozen crystals packed with concentrated natural gas and buried 2,000 feet below the permafrost on Alaska's North Slope could become the next major domestic energy source. The USGS study shows that in the North Slope, those frozen methane-and-water crystals, known as hydrates, contain as much as 85.4 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne says that new research into how to extract those resources has moved the possibility of recovering natural gas hydrates from the realm of "science and speculation" to that of the "actual and useful." He adds that globally, "hydrates have more potential for energy than all other fossil fuels combined." Government research indicates it may be possible to extract hydrates using depressurization, a technique used to get at more conventional fuel sources. Steve Rinehart, a spokesman for BP Alaska, says that simply boring into the ground may be enough to change the pressure to extract it, or the pressure could be changed with some sort of pump. Conoco Phillips and BP, have been involved in some of the government studies, and note there has yet to be a long-term production test.
Mike Daulton, the legislative director of the National Audubon Society, warns that the extraction could threaten the stability of the permafrost in Arctic Alaska, and also possibly release vast amounts of methane.
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U.S. Broadband Push Seen Gaining Steam
Investor's Business Daily (11/13/08) P. A5; Phipps, Jennie
On his Web site, President-elect Barack Obama says the United States should lead the world in broadband penetration and Internet access and calls for providing "true broadband to every community in America." "Bandwidth makes people more productive," says Princeton University professor Ed Felton. "Providing remote access to data gives people many more options in terms of where they work and whom they work for." In October, Congress ratified the Broadband Data Improvement Act, which requires that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provide an annual report on the availability of broadband, and on Nov. 5th the FCC voted to open vacant broadcast spectrum for unlicensed use. However, the United States still ranks 16th among industrialized nations for broadband development and penetration, according to a Consumer's Union study. Smithville Telephone's Cullen McCarty says the government should treat Internet access like it treated electrical access in the 20th century, when President Franklin Roosevelt pushed through the Rural Electrification Act, which established a lending program to pay for the installation of electrical systems. In rural areas, there is an obvious need to upgrade broadband capabilities, but Internet access is lacking in other areas as well, such as the U.S. automobile industry. The BMW 7 series, for example, recently released in Germany, has full access to the Internet. Burton Group analyst Jack Santos notes that the U.S. has more than 400 million mobile devices, more than one per person, and last year wireless phone conversation minutes exceeded wired conversations.
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IBM Aims to Electrify Rural Broadband Access
InternetNews.com (11/12/08) Mottl, Judi
IBM plans to deploy Broadband over Power Line (BPL) networks in seven states. The $9.6 million initiative will involve six electric cooperatives in rural areas. Once completed, the project will bring high-speed Internet connectivity to millions of residents who lack access to WiFi or wireless networks. Experts say BPL adoption has been slow partly because electric companies failed to pursue feasible business models for the technology. BPL uses electrical lines to provide access to the Internet, and users also need a BPL modem. In-Stat estimates that BPL has approximately 135,000 users as of this year, about 5,000 more than in 2007. IBM, the United Telecom Council (UTC), and International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC) believe that the rural market and electric cooperative market are promising. Under the project, IBM will oversee project management and crew training while IBEC serves as the ISP. IBEC will supply technology and equipment to 62,000 potential subscribers in the first phase. Nationwide, there are 900 electric cooperatives that comprise 45 percent of the overall power grid and serve 12 percent of the U.S. population.
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Making Buildings Safer
Rough Notes (10/08) Vol. 151, No. 10, P. 46; Zinkewicz, Phil
The Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) announced plans to build a state-of-the art applied research facility to study how best to create more durable homes and businesses. IBHS insurer and reinsurer members will fund the construction of the Insurance Center for Building Safety Research, which aims to reduce the cost of natural disasters and other property threats. The center will examine the impact of high winds, earthquakes, hail, interior fires, and plumbing system failures on structures, and the results of the studies will be used in consumer education and advocacy campaigns to improve building codes and land use policies. Over the past few years, IBHS researchers have conducted field work in the wake of tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires to determine how to engineer structures to withstand certain threats. One major priority for the Center will be to examine the performance of roofing, as roof damage is present in around 95 percent of wind and water-damaged properties. Testing could help researchers determine how different installation methods and aging impacts the performance of roofs in disaster conditions. IBHS is currently looking for a location in a mild climate with access to a significant amount of electricity to serve as the site for the Center. The site should be chosen by the end of 2008, with an estimated opening date of 2010.
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I-65 Becomes First United States 'Biofuels Corridor'
Bus & Motorcoach NEWS (11/01/08)
Interstate 65 stretching from Gary, IN, USA, to Mobile, AL, USA, is being touted as the first "biofuels corridor" in the United States. Where just three years ago no biodiesel- or ethanol-blend gasoline refueling stations existed, now 31 such stations exist in the four states through which the interstate spans, and more are planned. Their existence is due to a $1.3 million federally-funded project. To promote further use of biofuel, the U.S. departments of Energy and Agriculture are partnering on the National Biofuels Action Plan, which aims to speed the development of a sustainable biofuels industry in the United States. Since 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy has allocated upwards of $1 billion for cellulosic biofuel R&D, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture has invested nearly $600 million. The financial rescue package passed by the U.S. Congress in October, meanwhile, extends the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax incentive through December 31, 2009, and closes the "splash and dash" loophole that allowed foreign finished fuel sent to the United States for splash blending and then exported to a third country for final use to qualify for the biodiesel tax incentive.
Deepwater Wind
Energybiz (10/08) Vol. 5, No. 5, P. 88; Salamone, Salvatore
Wind farm developers are taking their projects further out to sea. Delmarva Power and Babcock & Brown (B&B) have entered a strategic partnership in which Delmarva will purchase up to 200 Mw of power from B&B's Bluewater Wind Delaware subsidiary. Like other wind farm projects, Delmarva will need to carry out environmental studies and get the right permits. The utility must also deal with other unique challenges. Among them is how to install turbines in deep water and transport the electricity to shore. The upside to pushing offshore wind farms farther out to sea is they are less demanding on the environment than land-based wind farms. Birds and other wildlife do not have deal with the same nuisances associated with onshore turbines such as noise. Offshore systems are also more productive than land-based wind farms thanks to stronger winds, enabling them to generate more electricity. Delmarva says the project will help it comply with new renewable energy goals Delaware set last year requiring electricity providers to increase their renewable sources by 20 percent by 2019.
Coating Helps Solar Panels Soak Up More Sun
Reuters (11/04/08) Steenhuysen, Julie
U.S. researchers say a new type of reflective coating can make solar panels far more efficient, soaking up nearly all available sunlight from nearly any angle. Surfaces treated with a coating developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., can harvest 96.2 percent of sunlight compared with only about two-thirds of available sunlight absorbed by current solar panels. "That is a tremendous savings," says Rensselaer's Shawn-Yu Lin, noting that the technology captures more colors of solar spectrum than current solar cells, and it captures light from all angles. "If you look at a solar panel, it looks a bit bluish," Lin says. That is "telling you not all of the blue color is being absorbed. It should look totally dark." The coating is made up of seven layers of porous material stacked so that each enhances the antireflective properties of the layer below, thus working together to act as a buffer zone, trapping light from all angles. "Your efficiency increases by 30 percent," Lin says, adding that he believes the material could be applied to all types of solar cells.
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It's the Network
Transmission & Distribution (10/08) Vol. 60, No. 10, P. D10; Wolf, Gene
Information from interconnected digital substations are fueling enhanced load-forecasting system control that is resulting in more efficient use of the grid. Whether old or modern, experts agree that every substation requires station checks to monitor the health of each component of the substation. "The recent technological trend is toward increased deployment of intelligence and analysis capabilities at the substation level, thereby empowering more grid-reliability decision making at the substation level," says Dr. Jay Giri, director of power system technology and strategic initiatives for AREVA T&D. Completing this task requires accessing increasingly intelligent network. According to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an integrated approach to substation information technology merges the software and hardware needed for equipment monitoring into one substation-based data acquisition, display, analysis and alarm system. An intelligent network of substations promotes greater efficiency not only operationally, but also in the areas of labor and fuel. Valuable data related to the system can be gleaned from networking a group of intelligent substations. Keying in the data into a state estimator can help develop models for load forecasting, VAR control, dynamic line ratings, available transfer capacity and transient stability.
Distance Learning Tools Link Project Management Students
Engineering News-Record (11/10/08) Vol. 261, No. 14, P. 23; Rubin, Debra K.
Texas A&M University in College Station and Parsons Corp. in Pasadena, Calif., are partnering to create a revolutionary master's level project management course that incorporates general, nonengineering training. In May, the first graduating class will receive their Master's of Science degrees in engineering systems management and project management as the result of an affiliation between A&M and Parsons' schools of industrial/system engineering and civil engineering, both components of A&M's Dwight Look College of Engineering. Students include both local students and affiliates of Parsons from the United States and other nations, such as Oman and Abu Dhabi. Students unable to attend classroom sessions listen to recorded class lectures and communicate with each other via mobile and Internet technologies. This platform is less expensive and more convenient for full-time employees with other outside responsibilities, says Parsons' President and Chief Operating Officer John A. Scott. Unlike other distance-learning programs, he adds, "Most of the Parsons participants have a counterpart in class with whom to share notes." The program incorporates courses normally required for an engineering degree such as statistical analysis and engineering management, but in 2008 began mandating finance, government, and business classes within the larger A&M course list. Eventually Scott would like to also include A&M psychology courses to help project managers build stronger people-management capabilities on the job and with customers.
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