The methodology that has been developed to analyze the impact of possible government actions on the development of small-scale hydroelectric power in the United States is described. The application of the methodology to a specific region of the United States is also described. Within the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) region, the methodology has been used to evaluate the significance of some of the existing institutional and economic constraints on hydroelectric development at existing dams. The basic process for the analysis and evaluation is estimation of the hydroelectric energy that can be developed for a given price of electricity. Considering the present constraints and a geographical region of interest, one should be able to quantify the potential hydroelectric energy supply versus price. Estimates of how the supply varies with possible changes in governmental policies, regulations, and actions should assist the government in making decisions concerning these governmental functions relative to hydroelectric development. The methodology for estimating the hydroelectric supply at existing dams is included.

An assessment is provided of selected environmental effects of operating the cooling towers and stacks of Units No. 3 and No. 4 of the Potomac Electric Power Company's generating station at Chalk Point, Maryland. The emphasis is on the magnitude of salt deposition to the area surrounding the cooling tower due to saline water drift. A secondary but important consideration is the magnitude of salt loading due to saline drift from the stack which uses saline river water in scrubbing flue gases. This salt loading together with that of the ambient salt background is assessed for its effects on soils, crops, native vegetation and man-made structures. Other atmospheric effects examined are: enhancement of ground level fogging and icing, enhancement of precipitation, and the flight hazards to aircraft. A numerical model of drift deposition has been developed and validated against the data collected in the Dyed Drift Experiment at Chalk Point. Use of the available data model predictions indicate that with fulltime, full load operation of both 600 MW(e) units significant levels of salt deposition occur only on the plant site within 0.4 km of the source. The predicted maximum salt deposition rates are given. The effects on soils, crops and …

Work on developing energy resources, utilization concepts, and storage methods is summarized and divided into three sections. The first, Geothermal Energy Development Planning, contains reports on the progress of those geothermal-related tasks where effort was concentrated during the quarter. The tasks include an ongoing Atlantic Coastal Plain Geothermal Energy Market Survey, the Delmarva Geothermal Development Prospectus, Evaluation of Federal Strategies for Hydrothermal Developments, and comments on limited tasks performed in support of the major tasks. The second section, Operational Research, Hydroelectric Power Development, includes reports on a method for quantifying institutional constraints and on institutional and regulatory restraints in New Jersey. The third section, Energy Conservation and Storage Techniques, contains a report on flywheel development.

The objectives, methodologies, data, and analytical results of the Chalk Point Cooling Tower Program are reviewed. The overview intergrates the concepts and activities of the various program elements to provide a coherent view of the program in its entirety. Samples of the various data acquired are included together with very brief summaries of the conclusions. The report is extensively referenced to provide specific directions to the more extensive treatments of the program, data tabulations, and tape libraries available in the complete library of Chalk Point reports. The Chalk Point data is a resource for the study of cooling tower salt deposition processes and impacts in general. The methods used, while developed to facilitate the assessment of salt drift impact at Chalk Point, also have applicability to cooling tower impact analysis at other sites.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, under contracts with the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, U.S. Maritime Administration, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is engaged in developing energy resources, utilization concepts, and storage methods. This report is divided into four sections. The first, Geothermal Energy Programs, contains reports on various geothermal investigations in the Atlantic Coastal Plain; a Geothermal Energy Market Survey and a development scenario for the Delmarva area of Maryland. The second, Small-Scale Hydroelectric Energy, contains the results of several major studies on dams and on the economic and institutional issues related to their redevelopment. The third section contains progress reports on two major tasks performed for the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Program, Ocean Engineering and Heat Exchangers for OTEC systems. The fourth section, Conservation and Mechanical Storage of Energy, contains reports on flywheels and a JHU-funded heat pump application to the physical plant at APL.

A method for the comparative evaluation of geothermal prospects in the Eastern United States is proposed and illustrated. Comparisons are based on quantified data from geologic, engineering, and socio-economic sources including temperature gradient, depth to basement, drilling costs, population, and distribution by town size, as well as energy use in residential, commercial, and industrial applications.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, under contracts with several agencies of the federal government and an agency of the State of Maryland, is engaged in developing energy resources, utilization concepts, and storage methods. This Quarterly Report summarizes the work on the various tasks as of 31 December 1979. The Energy Quarterly Report is divided into five sections. The first, Geothermal Energy Development Planning and Technical Assistance, supported by the Department of Energy/Resource Applications (DOE/RA), contains reports on the progress of those geothermal-related tasks where effort was concentrated during the quarter. The second section, Operational Research, Hydroelectric Power Development, also supported by DOE/RA, contains reports on small-scale hydroelectric investigations in the southeastern states. The third section, Seismotectonic Studies, supported by the Reactor Safety Research Division of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, reports on neotectonic investigations in Connecticut. The fourth section, Energy Conversion and Storage Techniques, contains two articles, the first on OTEC core unit testing supported by the Department of Energy, Division of Central Solar Technology (DOE/CST), and the second on recovery of landfill methane, supported by the Argonne National Laboratory. The fifth section, New Energy Technologies, reports on Laboratory studies of an unconventional gas source--Eastern Devonian shales.