Tuesday, May 17, 2016

We don’t like to waste things. Our forefathers understood this was common sense.”

Franklin is not like a lot of New England communities where the rivers running through the city/town have been dammed and once upon a time used to generate electrical power. 

"As the turbid currents of the Hoosic River tumble over his backyard dam, a century-old barrier of concrete and limestone, Ken Egnaczak sees a cascade of lost opportunity. 
Day after day, the water flows by without generating even a spark. 
“It’s such a waste,” he said. 
As the state seeks new sources of clean energy to replace power lost from the closures of nuclear and oil-fired plants, the retired mechanical engineer sees promise in the unharnessed power on his property, and at the nearly 3,000 other unused dams across the state."

Ken Egnaczak sat on a wall by the small backyard dam that he is trying to get approval to repower.
Ken Egnaczak sat on a wall by the small backyard dam that he is trying to get approval to repower.
(photo credit - MATTHEW CAVANAUGH FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/14/state-and-towns-looking-tapping-into-hydropower/DzhV2W1YHJwHX38GrEJueI/story.html


I ride along the Blackstone River Bikeway several times a year and there are many dams along the Blackstone River that could generate electrical power.

comparison of water flow at the Pratt Dam along the Blackstone River
comparison of water flow at the Pratt Dam along the Blackstone River
Additional photos of the Blackstone River Bikeway can be found here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_sherlock/albums/72157622053236460/with/4485646180/

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