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It’s not Easy being Green….
Kermit the frog
By Mike Hyland
Executive Director, NEPPA
I always loved that song, originally written by Joe Raposo for Jim Hensen and the Muppets. Today, the song rings true as utilities discover that being ‘Green’ is the goal, but like most things in life, there’s unexpected consequences, and nothing is perfect. Kermit was right, being green is not easy.
Let’s take a stroll down the memory lane of what appears to be the reoccurring silver bullet to providing electricity to the masses: I’m Green, I’m Cheap, and I’m Reliable – but please don’t look behind the curtain.
In 1858 a man named Edwin Drake founded the first oil well in the United States in Titusville, Pennsylvania. (I was surprised when I found out that Pennsylvania was the birthplace of Oil rigs! Take that Texas!) The oil spewed from the short 70 foot well in this little town, and quickly it was termed ‘Black Gold’. Until then, whale oil was the primary source, and within a few short years, black oil was the main ingredient for lighting, and used in perfume, candles, and the list grew yearly. Black gold it was, and it made ‘Men of Industry’ and ‘Oil Barrons’ out of William and John Rockefeller, Nelson Hunt, and J. Paul Getty. When electricity was formalized and brought to the people, oil certainly fueled the growth of light, but the environmental costs have been known all along. Air quality concerns and multiple oil spills turned the focus on the word ‘black’ rather than ‘gold’. But good golly – it’s reliable.
So, over the years we have worked hard to find the silver bullet replacement and at each and every turn, we want to focus on the good, and pay no attention to the bad. The engineer in me just can’t do that. Let’s at least acknowledge that nothing is perfect.
Coal is King! Say it with me: COAL IS KING! Amen! (I worked in both a #6 fuel oil plant and a Coal Plant – you can refer to me as the fossil fuel preacher of the 1980’s.) Dang, I loved those early career jobs. I left those plants a bit dirty on more than one occasion, but good golly it was cheap. Dirt Cheap! And plentiful. And pay no attention to the Black Lung Disease of the coal minors or the damage to the air. Remember – that’s behind the curtain. 😊
Hydro is the answer. Heck, it’s plentiful, it’s renewable, it’s cheap, it’s reliable, it’s like a cold Coors Light Beer - the Silver Bullet! Wait, did anyone tell the fish? A 2022 article in Conservation Biology estimates that 22% of all fish don’t make out too well when forced through fish ladders or hydro turbines. And let’s not even go near the displacement of people and animals. As recent as 1984 over 10,000 caribou were drowned after a water release from a hydro in Canada. But like Sargent Schultz said in Hogans Hero’s “I see nothing, I see nothing”.
So let’s look to the government scientists – they’ll know the answer. And we did. We leveraged the war time science of Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer to move nuclear energy to the forefront of electric generation. In 1954 the Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Lewis Strauss made the remark that nuclear power would be ‘too cheap to meter’. Too Cheap to Meter - did you read that. Let me say that again, Too Cheap to Meter. Any questions? And no, I will not answer any questions about Three Mile Island, Fukushima, Chernobyl, or Yucca Mountain. Why would I? That’s all behind me.
I think we should move on to wind Turbines. Heck, I love the wind! It’s just air doing its thing, producing electricity to turn your blender mix into a margarita at happy hour. How can you not like wind! What – you forgot to tell the birds!?? I gave you one job – “tell the birds!” Oh really, you then stand here and say that it shouldn’t be a problem? Well, let’s go to the tally board folks. Erickson’s 2020 study estimates that 1.17 million birds die EVERY year in the United States alone. Besides that, it’s estimated that 720,000 tons of blade material will end up in landfills by 2040. Next time – I suggest we talk to the birds. But that’s all rear view mirror stuff, right?
What else? Solar – I love Solar! My last career stop had me overseeing upwards of 100 Residential rooftop solar installations per month. It was a fun job, one where I could sound hip with the young kids, tell them I was doing my part to save the planet, and act like an environmentally conscious engineer. (Which I am.) Heck, I even drove a Chevy EV Bolt. Although in southern Maryland, I could have fit right in over in Southern California. So, when a customer asked me about the mining of the minerals in the panel or the chemicals that could be deemed cancerous in the panels, I stalled. I typically focused on the good side of the renewable electricity generated, and not the bad side of chemicals that I couldn’t even pronounce. I mean, who really cares about cadmium telluride, copper indium selenide, cadmium gallium (di)selenide, copper indium gallium (di)selenide, hexafluoroethane, lead, and polyvinyl fluoride? I’m an engineer not a chemist. And – they will recycle them – am I right? Well, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)’s projects that 78 million tons of annual waste is anticipated by the year 2050. Maybe because recycling a panel costs approximately $25-30 per panel while a landfill will take them for about a dollar. Hey – it’s like the Dollar Menu - it’s a bargain! And in reality, who actually watches what I throw into my town dump each week? Scary indeed.
So, should I go on… or do you get the gist of my long rant? In 1996 I met the first female APPA Chairperson – Vera Clausen, board member of the Grant County PUD located in Ephrata, Washington State. She was awesome to talk to, and one of our discussions led to the transmission lines that ran along the mountain tops. As we contemplated the ‘ugly nature of transmission lines ruining the views of the environmentalists that were complaining’, Vera pointed out that to her – the structures were beautiful! These ‘Eyesores’ to the younger generation meant to Vera that electricity was finally coming to her town. She had chills when explaining that to me.
As we move forward with beneficial electrification, we need to remain grounded in the facts -and not act like there is a silver bullet. These discussions must remain based on data and science, and not based on emotions.
Sing verse two with me and Kermit:
“When green is all there is to be; It could make you wonder why; But, why wonder? Why wonder?; I'm green and it'll do fine; It's beautiful, and I think it's what I want to be”
-Mike
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