QUOTE: Originally posted by kevarc And do not forget, the Bush Administration wants to float public hydro generated power at market rates. Yeah, let us see what other industries we can kill.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Elsinore660 An alternative to transmission towers is underground DC. More expensive than towers, but less loss. Almost certainly less NIMBY. I don't know what the ROW width for underground DC is - likely to be less than towers. And, possibly a consideration for sharing a RR ROW. Best... CAS
QUOTE: Originally posted by BABetts Interesting, Limestone which rarely moves more than 100 miles, seems to move at around $0.03 per ton/mile (30 mills) in multiple private car units. Almost twice as much as coal. But the railroads call it low profit freight. BNSF has more than doubled that rate on recent quotes (ie $0.07 ton/mile) and says this is because of conjestion (everywhere they operate?). Yet railroads in general refer to coal as one of the primary and most profitable commodities moved. This, as they go tipping merrily down the path to re-regulation.
QUOTE: Originally posted by greyhounds QUOTE: Originally posted by BABetts Interesting, Limestone which rarely moves more than 100 miles, seems to move at around $0.03 per ton/mile (30 mills) in multiple private car units. Almost twice as much as coal. But the railroads call it low profit freight. BNSF has more than doubled that rate on recent quotes (ie $0.07 ton/mile) and says this is because of conjestion (everywhere they operate?). Yet railroads in general refer to coal as one of the primary and most profitable commodities moved. This, as they go tipping merrily down the path to re-regulation. This is a bogus comparison, similar to what some folks here were trying to do with the Montana wheat. If you compare the "ton mile" charge on a short haul move, such as limestone, with the "ton mile" charge on a long haul move, such as Powder River Basin Coal, you're making an invalid comparison. Each move has certain common cost components that do not vary with the mileage. These are going to be the same for each move. Since there are fewer miles in the limestone haul to spread these charges over, they are going to produce a higher per mile, or per ton mile, charge on the shorter haul. It's math. The most efficient thing a railroad does is run a freight train down the track. It's everything else they have to do to get the trains togehter and take them apart (along with such things as billing the shipper) that drive up the costs. Many of these costs do not relate to the distance the shipment actually moves. So shorter hauls have higher unit costs than longer hauls. Again, it's math.
QUOTE: Originally posted by nobullchitbids Query: Everyone has been talking, assuming the transmission will be with wires; however, I read somewhere that the way to do it in the future is to convert electricity at site to microwaves, then send it via satellite to where it is needed. Certainly, that would allow locating the combustion plant closer to the coal. I assume it also would eliminate much of the NIMBY problem since only the origin and destination would be affected. Any comment on this?
QUOTE: Originally posted by kevarc I wish I could remember the name of a book I read a couple of years ago aobut the birth of the electric industry. But I can't. Telsa was brilliant, like Einstein, Hawking and a few others, they think on a different plane than most of us. Telsa also had theory that you could charge the planet and take it out where you needed it. Tleso did not write things down, but kept them in his head, he was a tad paranoid, and when he died, his ideas died with him. There was a competition between Westinghouse, who was an AC proponent, and Edison, who backed DC, to move power to the Worlds Fair and to tranmit the power from Niagra Falls. Westinghouse's AC equipment was much more proficient at moving power from Point A to Pont B. DC just has problems moving long distances. That is not to say that DC is not used. One of the major California paths is DC. Also most interconnects between regions are DC. It smooths the power flow between regions and protects them if there is a major failure in one region. Texas is isolated from most of the country by DC interconnects. THis is done because of Texas's interconnection with Mexico. THe BPA pricing is lower than market. Much Federal Hydro power is below market rates.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.