Show National 18A Sunday November 26 2000 Standard-Examine- r ‘Electricity in a box’ could mean life off the grid The Associated Press RICHLAND Wash - A machine the size of an office copier could one day bring heat and light to thousands of homes in the West at locations so remote they're out of reach of electrical transmission lines Fuel cells essentially battenes that don’t go dead run on oxygen and hydrogen and have the potential to replace wood stoves noisy generators and kerosene lamps for those living off the grid A ago the electrification of Washington was so limited that some 80 percent of the state geographically relied on alternative sources of energy something known as distributed generation said Greg Smith vice president of generation for Energy Northwest which operates the region’s only nuclear power plant 10 miles north of here - “What goes around comes around” he says “The future of electricity at least for residential customers may be where we’re going back to” ' Energy Northwest a public power consortium of 13 utihties is participating in a Bonneville half-centu- ry Power Administration test of Bend cells Ore-base- Prelude lo Glory volume The Hand L: of Providence After the Americans triumph in the battle of Saratoga the tide of the Revolution is turned and the history of the world is changed forever Hardback $2295 Book on tape $1995 Stan Davison a resource development specialist with Energy Northwest stands in front of a in Richland Wash The company is testing the cell as a possible source of clean reliable fuel cell prototype FUEL CELL STUDY: renewable electncty IdaTech’s fuel d ly to the $5000 to $7000 range The Energy Northwest fuel BPA a federal power marketcell has a steady-stat- e capacity of ing agency in Portland Ore calls three kilowatts and can handle these experimental fuel cells peak loads of about five kilowatts “electricity in a box” a clean - the power demand of an aver- green form of energy with potenhome age Fueled with methanol it is supposed to last indefinitely although that’s still to be determined fuel cell The has had some reliability problems with automatic shutdowns but “it’s very close to being a very practical device” says Stan Davifirst-generati- son a resource development specialist for Energy Northwest The second generation of fuel cells from IdaTech a subsidiary of Boise-base- d Idacorp are expected to be ready for testing early next year and BPA has said it will work with utilities to place some in homes At $25000 each these machines are not yet priced for most homeowners But the cost per umt is expected to drop eventual tial for residential and small commercial use “BPA sees the future of generation will probably have a lot of distributed generation” says Tom Osborn a mechanical engineer for the agency Survivalists and people with mountain homes aren’t the only likely customers Fuel cells could provide backup power for farms small businesses and enterpnses such as hospitals which could be thrown into chaos without electricity In the power generation realm Osborn compares the fuel cell’s place to that of cellular phones in telecommunications While just about everyone has a land line telephone a lot of people use cell phones as well In China notably he says people who had lived for years without phone lines to their homes went straight to cell service Smith says the green aspect of fuel cells may attract some customers even at costs 25 percent to 30 percent above rates The first fuel cell was built in 1839 but serious interest in it as an electricity generator began in the 1960s with NASA’s Apollo space program Fuel cells will probably never be able to make electricity cheaper than large-scal- e projects such as hydropower dams and even nuclear power plants “Distributed generation will probably never be less expensive” Smith says “It’s cheaper to make it in large quantities” In terms of capital investments the fuel cell has an installed cost of $8333 per kilowatt compared with $3500 per kilowatt at the Columbia Generating Station nuclear power plant and $600 per kilowatt at the most combusefficient combined-cycl- e tion turbine plants Gravity hydroelectric projects are even cheaper because falling water is free Fuel cells could one day help utihties minimize the installation of unsightly power lines should dollars the typical customer’s current gas bill annual natural gas bill for income per household increase that figure is gion 223 percent in every Hardback percent In tact from March category —except $1595 Ore-base- Council says the region has an adequate transmission system for current electricity loads “Our transmission system is OK for the near future but as with any other question regarding power these days there are circumstances that will cause it to be overloaded and perhaps rather quickly” he says The most transmission stress right now occurs east to west trying to get electricity from utilities east of the Cascades to the big population centers Available at your local bookstore DESERET BOOK JORGENSENS HARVEST SEAGULL BOOK AND TAVE WISEBIRD BOOKERY BOSS OFFICE LATTER-DA- Deseret Book Company Products that Strengthen Individuals Families and Society d Natural gas emits almost no harmful pollutants when burned making it the cleanest fossil fuel available That means less acid rain smog greenhouse gis emissions solid waste and water pollution When you use natural gas you help improve the air and water quality tor eery hung thing on earth even with the recent oooooooooooooooooocxxoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 1988 cost-of-h- HELPING THE ELDERLY AND HOW DO WE DEFEND YOU utilities Little wonder that when measured against other v '““HIGH COSTS? 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