Former Catalina resident William A. Burke, Ed.D., chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District said he could remember when prevailing winds would sweep the smoke from burning trash on the Island back across the city of Avalon.
“Some say Catalina is an Island, it has no air pollution, but it does,” Burke said before an assembly of representatives from the Air Quality Management District and Southern California Edison, along with the members of the Avalon City Council and the Catalina Island Conservancy on Wednesday.
Former Catalina resident William A. Burke, Ed.D., chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District said he could remember when prevailing winds would sweep the smoke from burning trash on the Island back across the city of Avalon.
“Some say Catalina is an Island, it has no air pollution, but it does,” Burke said before an assembly of representatives from the Air Quality Management District and Southern California Edison, along with the members of the Avalon City Council and the Catalina Island Conservancy on Wednesday.
Burke spoke at the beginning of a program to dedicate 23 propane-fueled electrical generating units at the Edison power station near Avalon he said would help reduce air pollution and cut diesel fuel use on the Island.
“These microturbines are helping to reduce smog-forming pollutants and diesel particulates from Catalina’s power plant,” said Burke, chairman of the AQMD. “This will help improve air quality not only on Catalina, but also on the mainland as prevailing winds can carry pollutants onshore.”
Mayor Bob Kennedy said he was pleased to see the reduced diesel fuel emissions into the atmosphere.
“I don’t always agree with everything Edison does, but this is a good example of what can be done through partnering with these different agencies,” he said.
Kennedy, whose scuba diving boat was retrofitted by AQMD to reduce air-polluting emissions, said the propane turbines were a positive way to begin approaching how people ultimately treat the world.
Kennedy said it reflects on “how we take care of Mother earth … these are baby steps toward how we get the big picture.”
The microturbines will also create enough electricity to power about one quarter of the homes on the Island, according to Burke.
The addition of the microturbines to Southern California Edison’s electric system on Catalina Island provides approximately 1.5 megawatts in capacity, while reducing the consumption of diesel fuel by 200,000 gallons annually, according to Caroline Choi, Southern California Edison’s vice president for regulatory policy.
“We are pleased to celebrate the dedication of 23 microturbines,” Choi said. “The microturbines allow SCE to operate its diesel engines in an optimal manner for the installed emissions reduction equipment.”
AQMD provided the 60-kilowatt microturbines to Edison and they became operational at SCE’s Pebbly Beach generating station in December 2011. Prior to that time, diesel engines provided 100 percent of electricity generated on Catalina.
According to Ben Harvey, SCE region manager, in 2012, use of the microturbines reduced diesel fuel consumption at the power plant by 200,000 gallons, or about 10 percent. This in turn reduced smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions from the facility by about 8 percent and diesel particulate matter by about 9.5 percent.
In addition to reducing air pollution and diesel fuel usage, the microturbines supplement electrical power and help offset peak power loads on the island. Last year, the microturbines generated 2.5 million kilowatt-hours of energy or about nine percent of the total power produced on the island.
Since 2001, AQMD has deployed 210 similar microturbines throughout the Southland. Microturbines, fueled by natural gas or propane as well as renewable biogas from landfills and wastewater facilities, can provide clean, alternative power to distributed generation projects that are not connected to the power grid.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Southern California Edison has been providing power to Catalina since 1962, when it took over the responsibility from Avalon.
