Sam Burnham, Curator @C_SamBurnham I recently had a chance to talk energy with an employee of Plant Hammond. Hammond is a coal fired plant in the Coosa community, west of Rome. I didn’t ask him to formally go on the record so I’ll treat him as anonymous but what he shared with me is accurate and easily verifiable. I've discussed Hammond on the blog previously. It’s quite doomed. In fact, they are sitting on a remnant of coal that can either be used in case of an unforeseen need, such as a failure at another plant, or burned off during the peak times this coming winter. New regulations on the handling and storage of wet processed coal ash go into effect April 15, 2019. After that date, the boilers at Hammond will never burn another ounce of coal. Hammond was built in the 1950s and has provided a more than adequate return on investment for The Southern Company and Georgia Power. But the plant is aging and the upgrades needed to sustain the plant are excessive and not advisable. It is far more cost effective for Georgia Power to replace the plant. So they’ll close and demolish it like they did with Plant Branch bear Eatonton. But there is already talk of using the real estate for more energy options. The company is planning to build solar on the site. With the distribution infrastructure already in place, the site is already primed for use. Adding gas generators would require extensive pipeline construction. The sun is already shining on the sites so solar make sense. We also discussed the fact that a few weeks ago, Georgia Power put a batch of solar from California on the grid. The amount brought in was in excess of the generation capacity of Plant Hammond. Solar isn’t just a rooftop hobby anymore. It is becoming a serious power option. With possible solar options, the expansion of Plant Votgle, and new natural gas generators coming online, not to mention a respectable presence of hydroelectric facilities, Georgia will have a further diversified energy portfolio. We’ll be tapping sources closer to home. And that can mean cheaper, cleaner, more efficient energy in our state and in The South. But coal isn't dead. With a powerhouse like Plant Bowen, in Euharlee, near Cartersville, coal is alive and well. Bowen remains the one of the most powerful generation stations anywhere and it’s not going anywhere soon. The state also has other substantial coal plants. So those trains hauling in huge chunks of West Virginia will still be rolling through for the foreseeable future. With all this in mind, the next episode of our podcast will feature a chat with Tim Echols of the Georgia Public Service Commission. He shares some ideas for the future as well as how the future is already well underway right here in the Peach State. We talk about some of the limitations on our portfolio and also other issues related to energy production. I hope you'll give the episode a listen. .
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For those unfamiliar with the concept of a watermelon bus, some retired Georgia school buses are lucky enough to be chosen for a unique second life. They are gutted out empty and spend their summers transporting melons from the fields of South Georgia to markets and transport hubs where they can be shipped out to the corners of the known world. You can put a lot of melons in an old bus so they are perfect for the task. Once they are too old a tired for melon duty, there are still a few noble purposes they could still serve. Our good friend Birdmane daydreams about one of them: Brandon “Birdmane” Chonko @GApasturedbirds Found a old watermelon bus out on that lost highway. A wiser, ballsier, younger version of myself buys this as a 25 year old and parks it off some desolate road next to some picturesque beach. I’d plant a garden and spend my days fishing and playing catch on the beach with a dog I’d have named Mullet. By night I’d eat my catch along with whatever vegetables I was lucky enough to harvest that day. My tan would be impeccable, the kind of tan you typically see on the well to do. I’d rig up some speakers and hang some beads up as curtains. If I got lonely I’d make friends although I’m certain that mostly I’d just hang with Mullet. Maybe I’d even learn to surf. As a first order of business I’d hoist me a flag at my encampment, claim it as my own. On my flag would be a bottle of cane syrup emblazoned underneath with Free State of Souega. Rising with the sun and sleeping with the moon as the waves crashed outside my bus door and my beads danced in the wind and Mullet did that dog dream thing where he runs in his sleep, I’d sleep that satisfied sleep only known by a mere few. Brandon Chonko is the Head Birdmane in Charge at Grassroots Farms in Waverly. He's also involved with the Southeast Georgia find you something good to eat site Eater Souega. From time-to-time he makes appearances on the various ABG outlets. He also caters parties and such. Find him at thegrassrootsfarm.com
Sam Burnham, Curator @C_SamBurnham With so much chatter going on regarding the future of transit in Georgia right now, I want to give the matter a bit of attention here. I think it is important to discuss this topic because there are some pros and cons that need to be addressed. We're going to find that a fair treatment of transit is going to show us there are parts of the proposed and possible advancements that can be good for all involved, some that will only help a few (fewer than needed to justify the expense) and some that are neither feasible or useful. In discussing this topic, let's use an example from our recent DC visit. Washington has an expansive transit system. With Metro trains and multiple bus routes, there are several options to help commuters and tourists navigate the capital. But I want to look at one event that is leaving me skeptical. We were leaving the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Madison Dr, on the National Mall. We were approximately 3 miles from our base of operations on Franklin St. Google maps advises that to be a 1 hour and 2 minute walk, a 14 minute trip via car (inculding Uber), a 22 minute trek by bike, or 47 minutes by transit. To break that down: 1) a day of walking the Air & Space, American History, and National History museums meant a 3 hour walk through unfamiliar neighborhoods in a town with a reputation for violent crime was out. Not gonna happen. 2) Parking in the area is limited and pricey so driving wasn't really an option. A peak Uber XL for the five of us was running somewhere around $25. 3) A lot of people in DC use bikes to get around. That's a solid option. Buying (or stealing) 5 bikes was not an option. 4) 47 minutes via transit isn't that bad, considering. So we hiked across The Mall to the Smithsonian Castle and then down the block to the Hirshborn Museum to catch the Circulator's Mall route which runs every 5-8 minutes....and waited 30 minutes for one to arrive. In the sweaty DC sunshine. Then we rode, as planned to the route terminus in front of the beautiful Union Station. Then we made the walk a few blocks to the 80 bus stop next to the post office on North Capitol Street. Once there, we waited in the sweaty DC sunshine again for longer than the posted schedule advised and then rode the rest of the way to our stop and then walked the two blocks to the house. Total travel time on those three miles? around 1 hour and 45 minutes. There are many Metro rail stations we could have used but the nearest one to our house was almost a 30 minute walk. And the way we took was a fairly simple one. Only one bus transfer was needed. The level of planning that some people have to go to to get to their destinations has me believing that the Army should hire widowed DC grandmothers as logistics specialists because they can lay out some amazing plans to get across town. One Really Good IdeaI was wandering through Union Station trying to find the location where I could buy a Metro Card so I could pay for our bus fares and transfers. It was amazing to see the number of people arriving by Metro train and then sprinting to an Amtrak gate to catch a train to Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Boston, I heard so many cities that I can't remember them all. It was like the terminals at Hartsfield but they were taking trains. This is an idea that I'd love to see feasible options presented for. If the outlying towns - Rome, Augusta, Carrollton, Macon, Savannah, Albany, Valdosta, etc, were all connected to each other, and yes, obviously Atlanta, by a rail, we could increase ease of movement through the state. Catching the train to attend the Georgia Cracker Quail Hunt would theoretically keep my car out of Atlanta traffic while allowing me to accomplish other tasks while en route. There are a lot of times I find myself in Atlanta traffic when I'm not going to Atlanta but I need to get through there to get to Macon, Savannah, Crawfordville, Valdosta, or on down to Florida. I'm not an isolated case. This happens a lot. Tying in other states could help this happen. One of our Uber drives was telling us that people can come to DC from New York on the weekend with a $10 train ticket. What if we could get to Savannah or Charleston for the weekend? Maybe even Nashville or Birmingham? Needing something a little quieter? Step off at one of the smaller whistle stops along the way. I'm not sure how to make this work on a Southern scale but I'd love to see more ideas by people who understand the numbers. This could be a positive development that improves the chances of revitalizing smaller towns, easing Atlanta traffic, increasing tourism, offering better transportation options, and linking Southern businesses. Serious, someone who knows what they are doing, show me how this could work. |
Sam B.Historian, self-proclaimed gentleman, agrarian-at-heart, & curator extraordinaire Social MediaCategories
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