|
Diablo Canyon Power Plant
The Diablo Canyon Power Plant is a nuclear power plant near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. Following the permanent shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013, Diablo Canyon is now the only operational nuclear plant in California, as well as the state's largest single power station. It was the subject of controversy and protests during its construction, with nearly two thousand civil disobedience arrests in a two-week period in 1981. The plant has two Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Together, the twin 1100 MWe reactors produce about 18,000 GW·h of electricity annually (8.6% of total California generation and 23% of carbon-free generation), supplying the electrical needs of more than 3 million people. The plant produces electricity for about 6 cents per kWh, less than the average cost of 10.1 cents per kWh that PG&E paid for electricity from othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo, California, San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in 1772, and San Luis Obispo grew around it. The small size of the county's communities, scattered along the beaches, coastal hills, and mountains of the Santa Lucia range, provides a wide variety of coastal and inland hill ecologies to support fishing, agriculture, and tourist activities. California Polytechnic State University has almost 20,000 students. Tourism, especially for the wineries, is popular. Grapes and other agriculture products are an important part of the economy. San Luis Obispo County is the third largest producer of wine in California, surpassed only by Sonoma and Napa counties. Strawberries are the largest agricultural crop in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hosgri Fault
The Hosgri Fault (also Hosgri Fault Zone, San Gregorio-Hosgri Fault Zone) is an offshore fault zone located near the Central Coast of California in San Luis Obispo County. The main fault stretches for about , and is located nearest to the coastal communities of Cambria, San Simeon, Morro Bay, Baywood Park-Los Osos and Avila Beach."Hosgri Fault Zone" Southern California Earthquake Data Center. Southern California Earthquake Data Center, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2009. The fault system (including its branches) is some long, and is a right-lateral strand of the system. Characteristics The Hosgri Fault is a component of the |
Kelp
Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order (biology), order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus, genera. Despite its appearance and use of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, kelp is technically not a plant but a stramenopile (a group containing many protists). Kelp grow from stalks close together in kelp forest, very dense areas like forests under shallow temperate and Arctic oceans. They were previously thought to have appeared in the Miocene, 5 to 23 million years ago based on fossils from California. New fossils of kelp holdfasts from early Oligocene rocks in Washington State show that kelps were present in the northeastern Pacific Ocean by at least 32 million years ago. The organisms require nutrient-rich water with temperatures between . They are known for their high growth rate—the genera ''Macrocystis'' and ''Nereocystis'' can grow as fast as half a metre a day (that is, about 20 inches a day), ultimately reaching .Thomas, D. 2002. ''Seaweed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capacity Factor
The net capacity factor is the unitless ratio of actual electrical energy output over a given period of time to the theoretical maximum electrical energy output over that period. The theoretical maximum energy output of a given installation is defined as that due to its continuous operation at full nameplate capacity over the relevant period. The capacity factor can be calculated for any electricity producing installation, such as a fuel consuming power plant or one using renewable energy, such as wind, the sun or hydro-electric installations. The average capacity factor can also be defined for any class of such installations, and can be used to compare different types of electricity production. The actual energy output during that period and the capacity factor vary greatly depending on a range of factors. The capacity factor can never exceed the availability factor, or uptime during the period. Uptime can be reduced due to, for example, reliability issues and maintenance, schedul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is an American nuclear power company formed in 1999 from the nuclear power division of the original Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It offers nuclear products and services to utilities internationally, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation, control and design of nuclear power plants. Westinghouse's world headquarters are located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. The company's main product is the AP1000, a modern pressurized water reactor (PWR) design with many passive safety features and modular construction intended to lower construction time and cost. Twelve AP1000 reactors are currently in operation with a further nineteen in various stages of planning. The company was initially formed as CBS Corporation spun off the remaining pieces of Westinghouse's industrial concerns, as part of Westinghouse's re-creation as a media company. Portions of their nuclear business were initially purc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pressurized Water Reactor
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada). In a PWR, water is used both as a neutron moderator and as coolant fluid for the reactor core. In the core, water is heated by the energy released by the fission of atoms contained in the fuel. Using very high pressure (around 155 bar: 2250 psi) ensures that the water stays in a liquid state. The heated water then flows to a steam generator, where it transfers its thermal energy to the water of a secondary cycle kept at a lower pressure which allows it to vaporize. The resulting steam then drives steam turbines linked to an electric generator. A boiling water reactor (BWR) by contrast does not maintain such a high pressure in the primary cycle and the water thus vaporizes inside of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) before being sent to the turbine. Most PWR designs ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de Young. The paper is owned by the Hearst Corporation, which bought it from the de Young family in 2000. It is the only major daily paper covering the city and county of San Francisco. The paper benefited from the growth of San Francisco and had the largest newspaper circulation on the West Coast of the United States by 1880. Like other newspapers, it experienced a rapid fall in circulation in the early 21st century and was ranked 18th nationally by circulation in the first quarter of 2021. In 1994, the newspaper launched the ''SFGate'' website, with a soft launch in March and an official launch on November 3, 1994, including both content from the newspaper and other sources. "The Gate", as it was known at launch, was the first large ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanford
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and then-incumbent United States senator representing California) and his wife, Jane, in memory of their only child, Leland Jr. The university admitted its first students in 1891, opening as a coeducational and non-denominational institution. It struggled financially after Leland died in 1893 and again after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Following World War II, university provost Frederick Terman inspired an entrepreneurial culture to build a self-sufficient local industry (later Silicon Valley). In 1951, Stanford Research Park was established in Palo Alto as the world's first university research park. By 2021, the university had 2,288 tenure-line faculty, senior fellows, center fellows, and medical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southwestern North American Megadrought
The southwestern North American megadrought is an ongoing megadrought in the southwestern region of North America that began in 2000. At least years in length, the drought is the driest multi-decade period the region has seen since at least 800 Common Era, CE. The megadrought has prompted the declaration of a water scarcity, water shortage at Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. Climate change models project drier conditions in the region through the end of the 21st century, though climate change mitigation may avoid the most extreme impacts. Furthermore, global La Niña meteorological events are generally associated with drier and hotter conditions and further exacerbation of droughts in California and the Southwestern United States and to some extent Southeastern United States. Meteorological scientists have observed that La Niñas have become more frequent over time. Background The southwestern region of North America (SWNA) is defined as the areas b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Energy In California
Energy is a major area of the economy of California. California is the state with the largest population and the largest economy in the United States. It is second in energy consumption after Texas. , per capita consumption was the fourth-lowest in the United States partially because of the mild climate and Efficient energy use, energy efficiency programs. Energy consumption in California is dominated by transportation, due to the high number of motor vehicles and long commutes. California also is responsible for about 20% of total jet fuel consumption in the United States. The second largest energy sector is industry. Energy consumption of the state's residential sector per capita is lower than that of any other state except Hawaii thanks to a relatively mild climate. California has large energy resources, being among the top producers of oil, hydroelectricity, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy in the United States. Electricity Natural gas-fired power plants typicall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Energy Commission
The California Energy Commission, formally the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, is the primary energy policy and energy planning, planning Government agency, agency for California. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the commission's core responsibilities include advancing state energy policy, achieving energy efficiency, investing in energy innovation, developing renewable energy, transforming transportation, overseeing energy infrastructure, and preparing for energy emergencies. The commission is a division of the California Natural Resources Agency, which is under the direction of Cabinet Secretary Wade Crowfoot. One of its prominent responsibilities is maintenance of the California Energy Code. History Charles Warren (California politician), Charles Warren and Al Alquist, California politicians, co-authored the 1974 Warren–Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act that created the commission. The act required t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Independent System Operator
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is a non-profit Independent System Operator (ISO) serving California. It oversees the operation of California's bulk electric power system, transmission lines, and electricity market generated and transmitted by its member utilities. CAISO is one of the largest ISOs in the world, delivering 300 million megawatt-hours of electricity each year and managing about 80% of California's electric flow. History The California Legislature created CAISO in 1998 as part of the state restructuring of electricity markets. The legislature was responding to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recommendations following the passage of the federal Energy Policy Act of 1992, which removed barriers to competition in the wholesale generation of electricity business. FERC regulates CAISO because interstate transmission lines fall under the jurisdiction of federal commerce laws. Management CAISO's leadership consists of executive managem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
