today
7 a.m. Annual Twice Nice Rummage Sale Oddfellows Hall
read >8 a.m. Tire Amnesty Day Humboldt Coastal Nature Center
read >9 a.m. North Group Sierra Club Hike See Event Description
read >9:30 a.m. Manila Dunes Restoration Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Spiff Up The Zoo Sequoia Park Zoo
read >10 a.m. Humboldt Botanical Gardens Humboldt Botanical Garden
read >10 a.m. Manila Dunes Guided Walk Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Annual Juggling Festival Humboldt State University
read >10 a.m. Exploring the I-Ching Humboldt Wellness Center
read >11 a.m. Soups and Salads for Shoes Fortuna Monday Club
read >noon Landscape Design from the Top Down Living Earth Landscapes
read >1 p.m. March and Rally for Peace Humboldt County Courthouse
read >1 p.m. 35th Annual Daffodil Show Fortuna River Lodge
read >1:30 p.m. Afternoon Tea Humboldt Area Foundation
read >1:30 p.m. Eureka Photoshop Users Group Adorni Recreation Center
read >1:30 p.m. For the Next 7 Generations Morris Graves Museum of Art
read >1:30 p.m. Spring Equinox Celebration Manila Community Center
read >2 p.m. Friends of the Marsh Tour Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary Interpretive Center
read >2 p.m. Betty Peugh Sweaney Collection Presentation Trinidad Museum
read >5 p.m. Humboldt Roller Derby Redwood Acres Fairground
read >5 p.m. Elephants and Tigers: A Bollywood Extravaganza Wharfinger Building
read >5 p.m. Downey for Sheriff Spaghetti Dinner Fortuna Veterans Hall/Memorial Building
read >5:30 p.m. Arcata Rotary Spring Wine Festival Kate Buchanan Room at HSU
read >5:30 p.m. Arcata Rotary Spring Wine Festival Kate Buchanan Room at HSU
read >6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds (cowboy songs) Chapala Cafe
read >6 p.m. Blue Lotus Jazz Libation
read >6 p.m. McKinleyville Land Trust Dinner Azalea Hall
read >7 p.m. Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long-Legged Beasties Mantova's Two Street Music
read >7 p.m. Juggling Festival Show Van Duzer Theatre
read >7:30 p.m. Joe & Me (Greek/Turkish) Cafe Mokka
read >7:30 p.m. A Midsummer Night's Dream Arcata High School
read >7:30 p.m. Tenor Recital Christ Episcopal Church
read >7:30 p.m. We Are All Related Accident Gallery
read >7:30 p.m. For the Love of the Dance Redwood Raks World Dance Studio
read >8 p.m. Karaoke w/ Chris Clay Boiler Room
read >8 p.m. On the Wings of a Dove Carlo Theater (Dell'Arte)
read >8 p.m. Antigone College of the Redwoods
read >8 p.m. So Hum Tales Mateel Community Center
read >8 p.m. The Phoebes Mosgo's
read >9 p.m. Vintage Soul (R&B) Cher-Ae-Heights Casino
read >9 p.m. Cadillac Ranch Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. The Roadmasters (country) Bear River Casino
read >9 p.m. Trevor 101, Children of the Sun (rock/blues) Lil' Red Lion
read >9 p.m. Band Behind Your Hedge (classic rock) Central Station Cocktail Lounge
read >9:30 p.m. For the Love of Dance After Party Arcata Theater Lounge
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge
read >10 p.m. Polyhood Productions Pearl Lounge
read >10:30 p.m. Splinter Cell, Watch it Sparkle (rock) Alibi Lounge and Restaurant
read >previous columns
Feb. 14, 2008
Use Your Local Radar
A National Doppler Radar installation is conveniently located on Bunker ...
read >Feb. 7, 2008
Can You Predict Rain?
Yes, by simply learning how to interpret available data. The ...
read >Jan. 31, 2008
Stick-Slip Slug Slime
Banana slugs evolved from snails, and both are classified as ...
read >Photos
More Power to You
By Don Garlick
PG&E is planning an upgrade of its aging Humboldt Bay power station. It currently produces 135 megawatts from two steam turbine generators working at 35 percent efficiency (backed by two emergency 15-megawatt diesel-fired gas turbines). The new system would employ 10 reciprocating internal combustion engines running on natural gas, capable of producing 163 megawatts with 47 percent efficiency! Having multiple independent engines provides the flexibility to accommodate variable demand and the evolving availability of solar, wind or ocean power. Here is an outline of the new technology.
We are familiar with the four-stroke diesel engine, in which ignition occurs when high-pressure diesel is injected into the cylinder at the moment air is maximally heated by compression. No spark plug is required, as in a gasoline engine of lower compression. PG&E plans to use 10 engines, each with 18-cylinders, which take in natural gas mixed with air. The mixture is ignited at the top of the piston stroke by a tiny injection of diesel fuel. These engines have the advantage of being able to seamlessly switch to diesel fuel alone in case natural gas from Redding is disrupted by some accident to the pipeline.
The engines are cooled by fresh water through closed loops, as in your car. (The existing power station uses once-through sea water to condense steam for re-injection into its boilers.) Internal combustion engines can be noisy, but PG&E will enclose its engines in acoustically engineered buildings and use silencers on the exhaust stacks. Their Application for Certification assures us that they will be as quiet as the existing turbines. Air pollution will be reduced in spite of increased power generation, and will conform to North Coast Air Quality regulations. The planned facility will have a lower profile than the old structure, which should be dismantled when the new is completed.
To exemplify the importance of energy in our lives I share with you some data from a letter in Science by R. Burruss. One human can work at the rate of 100 watts. Dividing the world's total energy use by its population yields 2,000 watts per human. Thus, an average human is supported by the equivalent of 20 energy slaves or "Virtual Persons" (VPs), each rated at 100 watts. Pushing a 20 m.p.g. car 10,000 miles per year requires 20 VPs. But Americans use a disproportionate fraction of the world's energy, equivalent to 115 VPs per American. Please sir, can you spare a VP?


















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