According to Asheville’s local daily, a “couple of heavy-hitters from the Obama administration” were in Brevard to doodle around and do a bunch of stuff that didn’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of nuts and bolts. Wallow in the weasel words if you wish. In non-sequitur fashion, the article adds the following:
The USDA will announce two new projects the department is funding to convert waste to energy through USDA’s Rural Energy for America program. Two of those projects will go to North Carolina:
A $5 million loan will be provided through REAP to Dale Freudenberger, of Asheville. This project is for the installation of a combined heat and power system to be co-located with an existing feed mill in Montgomery County. The system will generate steam by using a boiler system powered by wood chips. This system will also generate 2.8 kilowatts of electricity.
[Good work. For $5 million, we’ve taken 28 100-watt lightbulbs off the grid.]
Also in Montgomery County, applicant Scott Hale will receive a $146,000 grant to install equipment at an existing hydroelectric plant so it can be reopened. The project has the potential to generate over 2.5 kW hours of electricity a year.
[Pretending I’m back in physics class, a kilowatt hour is defined as the amount of energy expended or generated, multiplied by the number of hours of operation. There are 8766 hours in a year, so the wattage output is (2500 watt-hr)/(8766 hr) or an amazing 0.285 watts. Assuming lossless connections, we would only need 211 of these projects to operate a 60 watt lightbulb! As for the cost-effectiveness, a commentator pointed out the average cost of electricity in July was 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.]
