My Word | Self-sufficient Humboldt County Could Solve Climate-Energy Dilemma – Times-Standard

If we all don’t quickly cut greenhouse gas emissions, more serious climate damage awaits us, and Humboldt’s story can show us how. But keeping the lights on will be a challenge. Fortunately, local stakeholders can help us shift energy use from fossil fuels to clean electricity.

Climate consciousness led the RCEA board several years ago to mandate that all clean and renewable electricity be used by 2025. There is currently no chance of that mandate being met. Despite their excellent work, the RCEA staff simply did not carry out the board’s mandate.

The county and its so-called climate action plan are also woefully inadequate.

Each of us has as much responsibility to support solutions as to object. One responsibility is to accept the economic and engineering realities that limit solutions, or to allow for new ones. That is why Humboldt must be open to options that it has ignored so far.

One reality is that we will not stop using energy for comfort and movement, and these needs are currently met by climate-changing fossil fuels. Going back to horses and carriages wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s unlikely. An economy based on clean electricity would be better.

Clean and renewable electricity faces NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) opposition. For example, the Board of Supervisors rejected Terra-Gen’s proposed wind farm on the Ferndale Ridge, ensuring that RCEA would not meet its stated goal. Wind power is the only possible way to get enough clean, renewable electricity here.

It takes years and investor confidence to build any new power plant, including electricity transmission. Humboldt’s rejection of previous wind proposals will make potential investors wary.

This is especially true for floating offshore wind, which is at best anecdotal around the world. Even its proponents agree that 2035 is the earliest possible date for floating offshore wind to be operational. It is also more expensive than any other source of clean electricity, which increases electricity bills.

Anyone who has stood near a modern wind turbine has felt the noise and vibrations, at best irritating and at worst hazardous to health. That is why turbines should be where no one lives, such as on a ridge, on a beach or right on the shore. Furthermore, floating wind turbines would saturate the water around them with noise that would scare away fish and mammals.

Terra-Gen’s proposed site above Ferndale was Humboldt’s best location for a wind farm and was the right scale for Humboldt’s needs. But the opposition, including my eco-NIMBY friends, complained that turbines were ugly bird killers.

Complaining about the precious views, these eco-NIMBY friends are rejecting future wind turbines visible from the beach. And they are not alone. California tribes also oppose wind energy in general. If they are willing to reconsider, supervisors and tribes could help solve our climate energy dilemma by promoting turbines on the beach or just offshore. All our grandchildren would thank them.

For their sake, I hope California achieves its goal of reducing fossil fuel use. Clean electricity will then replace fossil fuels once heat pumps are installed and electric transportation is adopted. However, Humboldt’s existing transmission grid to the California main grid limits electricity imports.

So as electricity loads grow over the next decade, we will need to generate clean and renewable energy locally, just as the RCEA Board wanted.

Solar energy offers some hope as climate change makes Humboldt sunnier. But solar power comes at noon in the summer when we don’t need it. Therefore, electricity must be stored, probably in batteries, to ensure that we have access to it on winter nights when we need it. This inconsistency is why PG&E asked the Public Utilities Commission to enact the NEM3 decision, which makes new solar panels uneconomical.

History reminds us that Southern Humboldt once showed how to be energy independent. Forty years ago, hundreds of solar-powered homes operated off-grid. Lead-acid batteries used to be the most troublesome item, but the technology is better now.

In this way, Humboldt County could once again demonstrate true energy independence, rather than relying on formulaic offshore claims by large foreign corporations. But to achieve this, energy independence requires collaboration, using the best of old and new technologies.

To keep the light on, collaborators would have to include the tribes, the Oversight Board, RCEA, Schatz Lab, and my eco-NIMBY friends.

Can this diverse group agree on an appropriate path forward? It’s a long shot, but possible if everyone first acknowledges each other’s position. So couldn’t we all compromise to save our grandchildren’s future?

John Schaefer is an Arcata resident and engineer with more than 40 years of experience in renewable energy and electric power.