• As defined in California law, renewable resources are:
  • wind
  • solar
  • geothermal (which taps the heat from hot water or steam deep within the earth to generate electricity)
  • biomass (which uses waste products from forestry and agriculture and the methane gas found in landfills and sewage systems as fuel for electric generators)
  • small hydroelectric systems (under 30 megawatts)
• California is the world leader in installed renewable resource technologies:
  • 90 percent of the nation's renewable resource generation is in California
  • About 11 percent of the total electricity consumed in California comes from renewable resources
  • Renewable power plants represent over $6 billion in private sector investment; over 126,000 construction jobs and over 10,000 operations and maintenance jobs
  • California produces about 30% of the world's total wind-generated electricity
  • Total private investment in wind technology in California surpasses $3 billion
  • California has 25 known high-temperature geothermal areas; 46 of the state's 58 counties have geothermal resources sufficient for direct use applications
  • California produces about 40% of the world's total geothermal-generated electricity
  • Geothermal produces nearly 6% of the state's total electricity
  • Geothermal is important to local economies: in Imperial County, for example, geothermal represents the most important non-agricultural industry, comprising 25% of the local tax base and employing nearly 300 county residents

• California's existing renewable power plants also offer tremendous environmental benefits in the form of the following annual air emissions reductions:
  • 3 million tons of carbon dioxide, a primary cause of global climate change
  • 17,000 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides
  • 14,000 tons of acid-rain causing sulfur oxides
  • 2,700 tons of carbon monoxide
  • 750 tons of small particulates
  • 375 tons of reactive organic gases
• When a typical California household chooses to switch to electricity from 100% renewable resources it reduces by a ton the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere every year
• As part of the state's move to restructure the electric utility industry, California is slated to add 55 new renewable resources over the next four years, the first significant investment in new renewable resources in over a decade.
• These projects represent approximately 480 megawatts of new renewable capacity (enough clean electricity to power a city the size of Sacramento)
• Among the new projects are:
  • Wind farms in Kern and Riverside Counties
  • Geothermal power plants in Siskiyou, Modoc and Imperial Counties
  • Landfill gas projects at urban sites in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Sunnyvale and West Covina
  • Biomass projects in Shasta and Yolo Counties

In California:

 

• Los Angeles has the highest number of premature deaths due to air particulate pollution – 5,873 each year. San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento are also at the top of the list (NRDC).
• Over the last century, the average temperature in Fresno has increased from 61.9° F to 63.3° F, and precipitation has decreased by up to 20% in many parts of the state (EPA).
• By 2100, temperatures in California could increase by about 5° F Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
• One study estimates that a 3° F warming could almost double heat-related deaths in Los Angeles, from 70 today to 125 (EPA).
• In the Bay Area and Central Valley, a 7.2° F warming would increase ozone concentration by 20T and almost double the size of the area not meeting national health standards for air quality (EPA).
• Climate change could decrease California cotton yields by 9-17% and wheat yields by 48-66% (EPA).
• In San Francisco, seal level is rising by 3-8 inches per century, and it is likely to rise by another 13-19 inches by 2100. Cumulative costs for sand replenishment to protect California's coastline from a 20-inch sea level rise through 2100 could be $174 million to $3.5 billion (EPA).
• With changes in climate, the extent of forested areas in California could decline by as much as 25-50% due to drier soils (EPA).
• Climate change could impact many of California's species and ecosystems. For example, between 1992 and 1996 the range of the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly shifted 130 miles to the north and to higher altitudes as a result of climate change. Cold water fish species such as mountain whitefish and brook trout could lose most or all of their habitat (EPA).

In the U.S.:

 

• In 1997, 57% of U.S. electricity was generated by coal-fired power plants, which produced 88% of electricity-related CO₂ emissions (Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE).
• In 1994, the United States emitted about one-fifth of total global greenhouse gases (EPA).
• Over one year's time, the energy used by an average American home generates about 11_ tons of carbon dioxide (EPA).

Globally:

 

• Energy burned to run cars and trucks, heat homes and businesses, and power factories is responsible for about 80% of society's carbon dioxide emissions, about 25% of U.S. methane emissions, and about 20% of global nitrous oxide emissions (EPA).
• Global average surface temperatures have increased 0.6-1.2° F since the late19th Century. The 10 warmest years in this century all have occurred in the last 15 years. Of these, 1998 was the warmest year on record. Scientists expect that the average global surface temperature could rise 1.6-6.3° F by the year 2100 (EPA).
• When a gallon of gasoline is burned, the carbon in it combines with oxygen in the air to produce about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide. Adding the energy that went into making and distributing the fuel, about 30 pounds of CO₂ is emitted per gallon of gas burned (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy).

Example: San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Located near the Orange County/San Diego County Border

Instead of building huge billion-dollar cooling towers, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station reactors, located near San Diego, are cooled with ocean water. A giant system of pipes takes in more than two million gallons of ocean water a minute, fish and plankton are sucked in along with the seawater. After being warmed to as much as 108 degrees, the water is sent back out to the sea. The kelp bed and ecosystem have been devastated. The best scientific estimates show that the annual loss of marine organisms include:

• 10,000 tons phytoplankton;
• 1,350 tons of zooplankton;
• 4 billion larvae and fish eggs ("baby fish"); and
• 51 tons of adult fish.

After the reactor is cooled, the heated water is discharged back into the ocean resulting in:

• the destruction of over two hundred acres (59,000 kelp plants) of the San Onofre kelp bed due to an alteration in the movement of the ocean waters in the area;
• at least three feet of dirt covering the rock reefs due to increased sedimentation from the turbidity associated with the discharges --- it's estimated that the kelp fish population in the area has declined by 80%; and
• a 76% decline in sea urchins and a 56% decline in sea stars.

In all, over 600 benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms have been severely affected by SONGS. The ripple effect of this environmental destruction is felt throughout the Southern California bight: from Point Concepcion to the Mexican Border.

• Utilizing only 1% of the earth's deserts to produce clean solar electric energy would provide more electricity than is currently being produced on the entire planet by fossil fuels.
• Over 605 of U.S. solar technology sales are exports.
• "Solar and wind power have tremendous potential to create clean jobs for the United States while reducing emissions as we enter the twenty-first century." – Al Gore, Vice President of the United States.
• In 1995, over 45,000 jobs were directly or indirectly related to energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
• Solar energy is the pollution solution – it requires two-thirds less water with negligible air and water pollution emissions.
• When a solar hot water heating system is included in the financing for a new home, the typical cost of the system ranges from $13 to $20 month and because the system is included in the home's mortgage, the homeowner can take advantage of a federal income tax deduction.
• The potential U.S. market for photovoltaics is nearly 9,000 megawatts, At a low estimate of $3 per watt, this translates into a $27 billion market in the U.S. alone.
• The power saved by all the solar hot water heating and pool heating systems currently installed in the U.S. is equivalent to 9 megawatts per year, or the annual output of a typical nuclear power plant.
• Prices for a complete solar water heating system range from $2,000 to $4,000. The life-cycle cost of a solar water heating system is at least 20% lower than a conventional water heater.
• The cost of extending an electric power line from the electric grid averages from $20,000 to $80,000 per mile, with even higher costs in urban areas.
• Solar thermal power plants create 2_ times as many skilled, high paying jobs as do conventional power plants that use fossil fuels.
• Solar Two, a "power tower" electricity generating plant in California, is a 10-megawatt prototype for large-scale commercial power plants. It store the sun's energy in molten salt at 1050 F, which allows the plant to generate power day and night, rain or shine. Construction was completed in March 1996, and it is now in its three-year operating and testing phase.
• Solar thermal plants have virtually no emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), or carbon monoxide (CO). Over a 20-year life, a 100-megawatt solar plant would avoid emitting more than 3 million tons of CO₂ and 140 tons of NOx when compared with the cleanest combined-cycle power plants available today.

The Mohave Generating Station is a 1580 MW coal-fired power plant located in Laughlin, Nevada, approximately 75 miles southwest of the Grand Canyon.

The Mohave Generating Station is operated by Southern California Edison, the majority owner of the plant. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Nevada Power Company and Salt River Project also own interests in the plant.

It was built between 1967 and 1971.

The plant supplies enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes, much of the power is generated for California's use.

The plant is fueled by coal slurry pumped through a 273-mile pipeline from coal mines located in the northeast corner of Arizona.

It emits hundreds of tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide each day. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide are precursors to acid rain, smog and visibility impairment.

The 40,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) it emits per year is one of the largest sources of SO2 in the West. In fact, once controls are installed at the Centralia Power Plant in Washington State, scheduled in the next few years, the Mohave Generating Station will be the largest source of SO2 in the West.

The EPA believes that no other single source of air emissions has as great an impact on visibility in the Grand Canyon as the Mohave Generating Station. Grand Canyon Visibility is a federal concern. Congress directed the EPA in 1991 to determine the extent to which the Mohave Station contributes to visibility impairment over the Grand Canyon

The Mohave Generating Station is the last coal-fired power plant operating in the southwest without air pollution controls.

Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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