
Portland's New Pipes Harvest Power from Drinking Water - superfx
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3041300/portlands-new-pipes-harvest-power-from-drinking-water
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steve19
Extracts from the Lucid Energy FAQ [0] ....

How does the system work?

The LucidPipe™ Power System uses the flow of water inside the PWB pipeline to
spin four 42” turbines that produce electricity for PGE [Portland General
Electric]. PGE purchases the electricity from Conduit 3 as part of their
strong commitment to both renewables and local sources of energy.

How much energy will the project generate?

This is a 200 kW nameplate capacity project. The system is expected to
generate an average of 1,100 megawatt hours of energy per year, enough
electricity to power up to 150 homes.

...

DOE Grant – The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Lucid Energy a phase 1 SBIR
grant to field test the LucidPipe technology.

Investors – Lucid Energy has secured private funding from a very active
syndicate of investors including Northwest Pipe Company, the Israeli hybrid
venture capital/crowdsourcing platform OurCrowd, Star Energy and the
Harbourton Fund as well as more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of
Energy. The funding is being used to accelerate commercialization of the
LucidPipe Power System worldwide

\-----

Notably absent is what percentage of the power revenue Portland gets from the
energy generated.

[0] [http://www.lucidenergy.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/01/Lucid-...](http://www.lucidenergy.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/01/Lucid-Energy-PDX-Fact-Sheet_20-Jan-2015.pdf)

~~~
marshray
> 1,100 megawatt hours of energy per year, enough electricity to power up to
> 150 homes.

That doesn't quite add up, that comes to only 837 watts (average use) per
home. For perspective, a microwave oven uses 1500 watts while it's on. A rough
estimate for a central AC system is 3500 watts.
[http://www.senicaair.com/blog/how-many-watts-does-an-air-
con...](http://www.senicaair.com/blog/how-many-watts-does-an-air-conditioner-
use)

Maybe they don't tend to have central AC in Portland, but electric heating can
use even more.

~~~
IanCal
837W all day long is 20kWh, almost exactly so I guess that's the figure used.
That's roughly double my usage in the UK, and I work from home.

It's ~7300kWh/year, which is a bit lower than the US average of almost
11000kWh
([https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3](https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3)).
In the UK it's an overestimate as we average closer to 4000kWh (chart 3:
[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm...](https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449134/ECUK_Chapter_3_-_Domestic_factsheet.pdf))

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lucasjans
For those interested in more details on this project, PBS Newshour had a good
report on it in April
[https://youtu.be/vlbp0VxZG28](https://youtu.be/vlbp0VxZG28)

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Justin_K
I've never understood the concept of something like this. Isn't the energy
generated canceled out with power expended to pump it through? I feel like
friction would never make something like this useful.

Can someone explain how this kind of generation is beneficial?

~~~
csense
The energy is input by the sun which turns sea water (at sea level) into water
vapor, which then moves to higher elevation due to weather patterns (also
caused by sun's energy input) and falls as rain into a reservoir at higher
elevation than the locations it serves.

~~~
jamesrom
All energy on earth is solar energy.

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onion2k
Apart from nuclear power. Even that is technically 'solar' in the sense that
the elements necessary were made in a star, but not our sun.

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jholman
You're right about nuclear (though, if we can get hydrogen fusion to be
profitable, that won't even be stellar in the way that fission is).

Tidal energy isn't solar in any sense. It's harvesting momentum which in turn
is generated by some combination of gravity and the Big Bang.

Geothermal energy isn't solar. It's harvesting heat, which apparently comes
from three sources: heat from the planet's formation, caused by gravity, heat
from friction from deep-interior motion, and heat from radioactive decay. Only
the last of these is even stellar, and none are solar.

~~~
jamesrom
Moon (and Earth) were given their momentum during the formation of the solar
system. I'd say that's solar.

And if you want to make a distinction about which star forged the heavy
elements required for radioactive decay, then I'll agree it's 'stellar' energy
not so much 'solar'.

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tristanj
Salt Lake City is planning a similar project to harness energy from municipal
water pipes. From 6 months ago:

[https://www.ksl.com/?sid=35603966&nid=148](https://www.ksl.com/?sid=35603966&nid=148)

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viraptor
Previous post:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9835650](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9835650)
(different source)

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prawn
I've often wondered why someone couldn't invent a home irrigation system that
was recharged by the flow/pressure of water passing through.

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lmcnish14
I hope that this will help lower the insanely high utility bills that Portland
residents have to pay.

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dugword
More likely it's going to raise your utility bill, Portland has to pay for our
fancy new pipes somehow.

