PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR GREEN ENERGY

I know what your thinking but no, I haven't been drinking Al Gores' cool-aid.  A poll by Reuters ( http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/12/14/us-energy-idUSN1431302220071214) found that Americans are willing to pay 20% more for green energy. In fact, their  poll showed that 70% of over 2000 people surveyed around the world were willing to pay more for green energy.   


What does this mean to the world of Hydropower?  Plain and simple, it means money.  We are now able to develop projects that were not feasible at the rates paid for fossil fuel energy.  It means that the irrigation districts that build these projects will become self sufficient and be able to spend more money on their other projects.  As they improve their infrastructure, they will become more efficient which will allow more water to be used for the production of power and less for irrigation.


However, a recent ezine article (http://ezinearticles.com/?Will-Consumers-Pay-More-For-Green-Products-and-Technology?-Not-Yet&id=5320946) discussed the findings a little differently.  This author showed that even though people said they supported government subsidies, they were not willing to pay more than 5% more.


This issue is far from indisputable, but I believe that it is something that needs to be looked at.  A poll could be taken in the local area to determine if the customers who would use this new energy source are willing to pay more for green power.  A 5% increase means a $10,000 increase in annual profit for the Greybull Valley project, that is not something to be taken lightly.

The Site

Here is an image of the Upper and Lower Sunshine reservoirs taken from Google Maps.  This project will focus on placing a hydropower turbine at the Lower Sunshine outlet works.  These reservoirs are south west of Meeteetse Wy.  The reservoir on the right is Lower Sunshine Reservoir and will be the site of the turbines.  The reservoir on the left is Upper Sunshine Reservoir and is used to store reserve irrigation water.

Comparing my blog to two field related blogs.

I have reviewed 2 blogs that relate to Civil Engineering in order to get ideas for organizing my blog page.

Dave’s landslide blog contains many interesting images that really help to get the point across.  I will add some images to my blog to help people visualize what is happening.  I think Dave’s blog is very professional; it is obvious that he put a lot of effort into composing this site.  There are a lot of links on Dave’s blog that help lead you to some very useful information.

Engineering &… is a blog about how engineering affects the world.  There are articles, videos and pictures.  This blog presents materials in an easy to read format.  I do think that the look of the blog could use a little work.  I think that having some kind of background would help this site look a little more appealing.

The Project

I am a college senior in civil engineering and am currently taking a senior design course in water resources.  The project we are researching is the construction of hydropower facilities on existing reservoirs along the Greybull River in the Greybull Valley Irrigation District.  This Project has been studied previously by various consultants and our goal will be to determine if this project is economically feasible.  At the conclusion of this study, a report will be written detailing our findings.  I am currently reading the previous studies and will submit the data as soon as I have it compiled.