Alternative Energy in American Indian Country: Catering to Both Sides of the Coin
This article looks at both sides of the renewable energy “coin” in relation to American Indian country. On the one side, it appears that tribal governments are opposed to any energy development on their lands. All told, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth – tribes merely seek a seat at the table when decisions are made regarding developments that will adversely affect their lands and/or areas of cultural significance. Indeed, contrary to being opposed to alternative energy development, tribes are very actively seeking to develop their lands in a manner that is consistent with their cultures and traditions. But, large-scale alternative energy projects are virtually absent from Indian country. This article argues that the oft-overlooked other side of the renewable energy “coin” are the federal regulations that hinder these projects from coming to fruition. The final section of the article will discuss what Congress is – and is not – doing regarding the two sides of this “coin.”
Where the wind blows: Exploring barriers and opportunities to renewable energy development on United States tribal lands
Abstract Despite hosting nearly 8% of the United States’ wind energy potential, only one utility-scale wind farm exists on tribal lands. Several barriers hindering tribes’ capacity to harness their lands’ wind potential have been identified, including federal bureaucratic inefficiencies, difficulties securing financing, an inability to capitalize on the Federal Production Tax Credit, and internal administrative disagreements. Few studies have explored, in depth, how these barriers impact the wind energy development process, such as understanding the wind resource, project permitting, transmission, securing a power buyer, and financing. This study presents a comparative analysis framework exploring how barriers to tribal wind energy development influenced two projects: the unsuccessful Rosebud Sioux North Antelope Highlands project and the ongoing Oceti Sakowin Power Authority (OSPA) project. The study finds the OSPA, a newer coalition of tribes including the Rosebud Sioux, has created a novel ownership structure and development strategy with potential to overcome existing barriers, although reliant on finding an electricity buyer and the continuation of the Production Tax Credit. These findings further the scholarship regarding barriers to wind energy development on tribal lands, going beyond understanding what factors limit development to illustrate procedural strategies tribes can employ to overcome the aforementioned barriers. The strategic changes made by the OSPA can hopefully be utilized by future tribal projects to enable wind energy development making it possible to bring affordable, sustainable energy, and economic opportunity to tribal communities.
Properties of a monopivot centrifugal blood pump manufactured by 3D printing
An impeller the same geometry as the impeller of a commercial monopivot cardiopulmonary bypass pump was manufactured using 3D printing. The 3D-printed impeller was integrated into the pump casing of the commercially available pump to form a 3D-printed pump model. The surface roughness of the impeller, the hydraulic performance, the axial displacement of the rotating impeller, and the hemolytic properties of the 3D-printed model were measured and compared with those of the commercially available model. Although the surface roughness of the 3D-printed model was significantly larger than that of the commercially available model, the hydraulic performance of the two models almost coincided. The hemolysis level of the 3D-printed model roughly coincided with that of the commercially available model under low-pressure head conditions, but increased greatly under high-pressure head conditions, as a result of the narrow gap between the rotating impeller and the pump casing. The gap became narrow under high-pressure head conditions, because the axial thrust applied to the impeller increased with increasing impeller rotational speed. Moreover, the axial displacement of the rotating impeller was twice that of the commercially available model, confirming that the elastic deformation of the 3D-printed impeller was larger than that of the commercially available impeller. These results suggest that trial models manufactured by 3D printing can reproduce the hydraulic performance of the commercial product. However, both the surface roughness and the deformation of the trial models must be considered to precisely evaluate the hemolytic properties of the model.