"The Mississippi"-Old Man River Goes Green
Tuesday, November 18, 2008SUSIE GHARIB: For centuries, the Mississippi River has ignited America's imagination. The 2,500-mile-long stretch has been a muse to Mark Twain, a mode of transportation for American business and, during floods, a menace to those nearby. It's the nation's second largest river. It runs through 10 states and affects hundreds of thousands of companies, big and small. Despite competition from rail and trucks, the Mississippi remains a key transportation artery. This year alone, 300 million tons of grain, chemicals and other commodities will move up and down the river. So for the next three nights, we travel the Mississippi with Diane Eastabrook, examining its impact on American business, past, present and future. Diane begins with a look at how some people are turning the mighty river into a green powerhouse.
DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: At its headwaters in northern Minnesota, the mighty Mississippi River isn't very mighty. The river is only about six feet wide and three feet deep as it meanders through tall prairie grass. But as the Mississippi rolls down the nation's spine, it becomes the river the Algonquin Indians called "big water." When he wrote "Life on the Mississippi," Mark Twain said the river was good for steam boating and drinking, but worthless for all other purposes except baptizing. But others would disagree. At a factory near Minneapolis, workers are assembling what is likely to be the first hydrokinetic power system in the river. Wayne Krouse, CEO of Houston-based Hydro Green Energy, developed the system. Inside a steel structure, there is a turbine that generates power as water passes through it.
WAYNE KROUSE, CEO, HYDRO GREEN ENERGY: We're going to put that unit in the water directly behind these two concrete walls.
EASTABROOK: Krouse plans to suspend the unit from a barge next to an existing hydroelectric plant in Hastings, Minnesota. The idea is to use the water flowing out of the plant to produce more power.
KROUSE: We're actually generating power, new power from water energy that is being wasted. We are going to tie into the existing infrastructure here and by doing that, it helps us to significantly lower the project cost and make this product, if you will, much more appealing to the hydropower industry.
EASTABROOK: Minnesota is a pioneer in hydropower. All 12 hydroelectric plants on the Mississippi River are in that state. General Electric built the first one in 1894 in Minneapolis to power downtown street lights. A decade later, Northern States Power-- now Excel Energy -- built the Hennepin Island power plant just downstream. And in 1924, Ford built the twin cities power plant to provide electricity for its nearby factory. But by the middle of the 20th century, hydropower lost steam because of increased use of fossil fuels and environmental concerns. Environmentalists feared hydroelectric plants disturbed fish habitat. But in recent years, researchers have worked aggressively to solve that. Fotis Sotiropoulos studies hydropower on the Mississippi at the University of Minnesota's St. Anthony Falls laboratory. He thinks new technologies are improving hydropower's image.
FOTIS SOTIROPOULOS, DIRECTOR, ST. ANTHONY FALLS LABORATORY: There is a lot of research that has been done by both the hydropower industry and the U.S. government through the Department of Energy to actually improve existing traditional hydro turbine design and make them fish friendlier.
EASTABROOK: Now many power companies are looking at the Mississippi as a possible source for hydropower. Seventy preliminary permits are in the works with the Federal government to build hydropower systems throughout the river. Brookfield Renewable Power has some of them. It recently purchased Ford's twin cities plant and is making that power available to the public. It is also looking at other sites for new plants. But Chief Operating Officer Kim Osmars says a lot has to be done first.
KIM OSMARS, COO, BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE POWER: We look at construction costs of doing it. We look at the opportunities to move that electricity to marketplace. We look at the requirements of the Corps of Engineers in terms of their structures and that and we try to fit all of those variables together to make a solution that is environmentally acceptable, it's economic and it's engineering sound.
EASTABROOK: Selling the Mississippi as a power source to communities can also be a challenge. The city of Hastings owns its hydroelectric power plant-- the one Krouse wants to put his hydrokinetic system unit near. Mayor Paul Hicks admits many residents were skeptical that the system could work. But now he says the community is behind the plan.
PAUL HICKS, MAYOR, HASTINGS, MN: To be able to point to something like this and say we're going to try to be a leader in this, is important.
EASTABROOK: Experts think the Mississippi offer tremendous potential for power. That could make both Hastings and Minneapolis shining examples for other communities hoping to plug into the mighty river. Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Minneapolis.
