Assessment of the Potential for the Direct Application of Renewable Resources. Staff Issue Paper

This issue paper is intended to take a general look at the direct application of renewable resources. The focus of the paper is to provide background information on what is currently known about these resources. The Council is interested in comments to supplement the information discussed in this paper. Perhaps more importantly, the Council is looking for recommendations on how to treat these resources in the next power plan. The Council is faced with at least two important questions related to this issue. First, should the Council attempt to develop detailed supply curves for these resources? Second, should programs be developed to encourage the acquisition of these resources? The direct application of renewable resources is generally defined as the use of a renewable resource such as solar, hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass for the direct reduction of electrical energy use by a consumer. While there have been previous staff analysis of these resources they have not been explicitly treated in previous power plans. Given the renewed emphasis on evaluating the environmental consequences of resource development, these relatively benign resources merit further analysis. This paper will provide the basis for treatment of direct application of renewable resources in the 1990 Power Plan. Most of these resources tend to be site specific and typically require large collection areas to capture a significant amount of energy. Because of high fixed installation costs, they also tend to be most cost effective with higher usage. These characteristics generally prevent widespread regional application and limit the size of any particular resource. Early programs designed to encourage these resources focused on individual end use applications. However, given the unique characteristics of these resources, it is likely that future programs will treat these resources as one option among several conservation measures applied to a given end use or sector. Several of the direct application of renewable resources appear cost effective today or are close enough to justify further analysis. Examples include solar domestic water heating, passive solar heating east of the cascades, geothermal heating systems and daylighting in commercial buildings. This paper will examine these uses of direct application of renewable resources as well as others in detail and will provide recommendations for treatment in the 1990 Power Plan