Utility-Scale Solar in the Great Lakes: Analyzing Community Reactions to Solar Developments

In the coming years, it is expected that reliance on utility-scale solar projects for energy production will increase exponentially. As a result, communities throughout the Midwest will become potential solar facility hosts. Previous research has sought to identify factors that influence community support and opposition to solar developments throughout the country. This paper builds upon prior research by examining community perceptions about the economic, environmental, local and global impact of solar projects in four Great Lakes states using a content analysis of local newspaper articles. Ultimately, this paper identifies the most common perceptions of solar facilities and offers some preliminary suggestions on strategies to mitigate the most prevalent concerns.

Economics of Invasive Species

While the subset of introduced species that become invasive is small, the damages caused by that subset and the costs of controlling them can be substantial. This chapter takes an in-depth look at the economic damages non-native species cause, methods economists often use to measure those damages, and tools used to assess invasive species policies. Ecological damages are covered in other chapters of this book. To put the problem in perspective, Federal agencies reported spending more than half a billion dollars per year in 1999 and 2000 for activities related to invasive species ($513.9 million in 1999 and $631.5 million in 2000 (U.S. GAO 2000)). Approximately half of these expenses were spent on prevention. Several states also spend considerable resources on managing non-native species; for example, Florida spent $127.6 million on invasive species activities in 2000 (U.S. GAO 2000), and the Great Lakes states spend about $20 million each year to control sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) (Kinnunen 2015). Costs to government may not be the same as actual damages, which generally fall disproportionately on a few economic sectors and households. For example, the impact of the 2002 outbreak of West Nile virus exceeded $4 million in damages to the equine industries in Colorado and Nebraska alone (USDA APHIS 2003) and more than $20 million in public health damages in Louisiana (Zohrabian et al. 2004). Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) cause $300–$500 million annually in damages to power plants, water systems, and industrial water intakes in the Great Lakes region (Great Lakes Commission 2012) and are expected to cause $64 million annually in damages should they or quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) spread to the Columbia River basin (Warziniack et al. 2011).

Survival, Harvest, and Lincoln Estimates of Wood Ducks Banded in Ohio

Wildlife agencies have carefully managed wood duck Aix sponsa populations in part through harvest regulations since the early 1900s. However, unlike many other waterfowl species in North America, waterfowl managers largely do not know breeding population size. Lincoln–Petersen methods based on harvest and band recovery data are an attractive alternative to air or ground count-based surveys for estimating populations of wood ducks by state and federal agencies that are tasked with sustainably managing harvest opportunities for this species. We used banding and recovery data to estimate annual survival rates, harvest rates, and population size in late summer (August–September) using Lincoln–Petersen methods for wood ducks banded within Ohio from 1990 to 2017. Sex, age, and daily bag limits best explained survival rates of wood ducks banded in Ohio, with lower survival rates in years with more liberal bag limits. Lincoln–Petersen estimates of population size ranged from 116,992 to 632,462 annually, and we detected a significant declining trend in population size through time. Mean harvest rates of wood ducks banded in Ohio ranged from 0.069 (adult females) to 0.121 (hatch-year males), and we detected a significant increasing trend in harvest rate through time for adult male, hatch-year male, and hatch-year female wood duck cohorts. Aerial surveys in other Great Lakes states provide comparable population estimates with our Lincoln–Petersen estimates for Ohio and also show a declining trend in population size. We recommend continued investigation into the use of Lincoln–Petersen techniques for estimating wood duck population size throughout the Great Lakes region. If declining population trends are not unique to Ohio, waterfowl managers may need to further assess the potential impact of increased harvest rates on population size to ensure sustainable harvest into the future.

Advanced Woody Biomass Logistics for Co-Firing in Existing Coal Power Plant: Case Study of the Great Lakes States

One of the core decisions on securing the supply of biomass to co-firing power plants is the design of a proper logistics system. Though technologies have been developed to improve the characteristics of feedstock, their effects in the logistics systems have received less attention. This paper compares the conventional woody biomass logistics system with the advanced woody biomass logistics system that includes the torrefaction process to upgrade the feedstock. More specifically, this study uses a mixed integer linear program to integrate conventional and advanced biomass logistics and applies them to a case study of 26 coal power plants in the Great Lakes states to determine the most feasible logistics system for each plant. The results revealed that the amount of cost savings from the advanced woody biomass logistics depends on the capacity and location of the power plant. To categorize the cost savings of individual plants, it was found that plants can be divided into seven groups based on three parameters: 1) annual coal tonnage shipped (total capacity), 2) availability of biomass in the vicinity, and 3) average distance from biomass collecting sites. Overall savings from advanced logistics were small, but plants within each of the groups demonstrated similar cost reductions. The sensitivity analysis showed that trucking costs and feedstock purchasing costs were most sensitive to variation. From torrefaction effects, energy content after torrefaction had more significance than mass reduction.