Energy Flashes

November/December 1976

"PAPER POWER" LIGHTS HOMES IN ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA. When the Hammermill Paper Company of Erie, Pennsylvania found itself with an excess of steam (generated by the burning of pulp wastes) on its hands, company management decided to convert that steam to electricity . . . and sell the juice to the Pennsylvania Electric Company! Penelec agreed to the plan, and now-as a result-2,500 Erie households receive some 1,500,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month from the paper company (through utility grid). The Hammermill-Penelec pact may be the first of its kind in the country.

THE EASTERN FEDERATION OF NUCLEAR OPPONENTS AND SAFE ENERGY PROPONENTS is a new coalition of East Coast organizations seeking to bring about a phase-out of nuclear power. To this end, the Federation will [1] gather and disperse information, [2] maintain liaison between widely separated groups, and [3] attempt-by political means-to promote the widespread use of environmentally sound energy sources. Interested church, labor, civic, and other groups are urged to contact the Federation at 433 Orlando Ave., State College, Pa. 16801.

DIRTY CRANKCASE OIL HAS THE SAME HEATING VALUE PER GALLON AS FUEL OIL, so why not burn it for heating purposes? Well, now you can . . . with a Kutrieb Waste Oil Heater. The Kutrieb units-which will burn fuel oil, crankcase oil, or hydraulic fluid (and put out 70,000 Btu's/hr. in the process)-come with or without such options as heat guards, thermostats, and blowers, and can be connected to any chimney or upright stovepipe. Prices range from $309.95 to $495.00. Write to New Life Organics, Prairie Farms, Wis. 54762 . . . and enclose at least 50 cents to cover the cost of a reply.

PRIVATE UTILITIES CHARGE USERS 60% MORE FOR ELECTRICITY THAN PUBLIC POWER COMPANIES, according to the Environmental Action Foundation's latest book, Taking Charge: A New Look at Public Power. In addition to explaining how citizens can take over their private utilities, this attractive 110-page volume cites the accomplishments of the nation's 3,000 publicly owned power companies in such areas as energy conservation, solar energy development, and rate structure reform. An exceedingly well executed book from every standpoint. For your copy, send $2.50 to: Environmental Action Foundation, Dupont Circle Building, Suite 724, Washington, D.C. 20036.

WHAT MAY BE THIS COUNTRY'S ONLY WIND-POWERED COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION is now operating in the town of Oak Creek, Colorado. Elliott Bayly-founder and electrical engineer in charge of KFMU (103.9 on the FM dial)-chose to power the station's 55-watt transmitter with a recycled Jacobs wind generator that cost less than $2,000 to install . . . rather than spend $15,000 to run electric powerlines to the mountaintop transmitter site. The result: KFMU is now "the sound of the wind".

FARMS MAY GET METHANE DIGESTERS AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE. Under a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.), the Department of Agriculture would administer $5,000 grants to "at least" 100 farms (each of which, to qualify, must be no larger than 640 acres) for the construction of small bio-gas plants that would convert manure into methane. Says Nelson: "This technology might help insulate the small farmer from rising energy prices and turn what now often is a liability-organic waste-into assets [in the form of] gas and fertilizer."

AN ALL-NEW SOLAR ENERGY BIBLIOGRAPHY/BOOK CATALOG has just been released by International Compendium (an independent trade division of Solar Science Industries, Inc.). Three-fourths of the 200 titles listed in the handsome 44-page booklet are annotated, and all are stocked by IC .... making that group perhaps the most complete mail-order source of solar energy publications. To get your copy of this informative bibliography, send $2.00 to International Compendium, 10762 Tucker St., Beltsville, Md. 20705.

WHETHER YOU LIVE IN THE MIDWEST OR NOT, you'll want to subscribe to Acorn, the newsletter of the Midwest Energy Alternatives Network (a non-profit group functioning as an information exchange for Midwesterners working in energy). Although the tabloid is-at present-only eight pages long, each of those 11-1/2" X 17" pages is cram-packed with features, bibliographies, and hard-to-get access info. A one-year subscription ($4.00) brings you five meaty Acorns plus a BIG Midwest Access Catalog (BIG MAC). Send your check to Midwest Energy Alternatives Network, Governors State University, Park Forest South, III. 60466.

A NUKE IN EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD? According to latest government statistics, 238 nuclear power plants are either operable, under construction, or planned in the U.S. today. (Of that number, 60 plants fall in the "operable" category.) The only states that do not now have-and aren't slated to get-nuclear generating stations are Rhode Island, West Virginia, Kentucky, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. We thought you'd like to know.

IF YOU'RE THINKING OF BUYING A WOOD-BURNING STOVE THIS WINTER -or even if you aren't-you'd do well to send away for RAIN paper No. 1: Wood Stoves, a compilation of letters, articles, and charts (taken from RAIN magazine) on the selection, operation, and repair of wood-burners (including cookstoves). The section on "Twenty Causes of Chimney Troubles and Their Cures" alone is easily worth the $1.00 ppd. that the folks at RAIN are asking for the info packet. Their address: 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, Ore. 97210: