Guest Blogging: Kansas Interfaith Power and Light
December 19, 2008
Kansas Interfaith Power and Light congregations across the state are working to conserve energy, save money, and be better stewards of creation. In this Guest Blog Series, Kansas Interfaith Power and Light members are invited to share their ideas about energy stewardship.
Today’s guest blogger is Shane Moore, a seminarian at St. Paul’s School of Theology in Kansas City, MO. He is also youth pastor at Indian Hills United Methodist Church in Overland Park. We invited Shane to speak about energy stewardship from his perspective and faith tradition.
My tradition has been UMC for all of my life. Thus my theological, Biblical, and historical grounding when discussing environmental issues comes from a very Wesleyan (Methodist) view point.
As such, when thinking about environmental issues I first go to the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church. There are two statements from this document that I would like to highlight.
“All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings.”
All of creation is God’s. God created and found joy in creation. God found joy in creation and gave us dominion over creation so that we may also find such joy. I must say that most of the time we have not found joy in creation the same way God does. We have found joy in creation because we have been able to abuse creation and use it to better ourselves. We have not cared for creation as God cares for us. We must not abuse creation because we can, but we must care for creation because it is God’s and God has called us to care for creation.
“Therefore, let us recognize the responsibility of the church and its members to place a high priority on changes in economic, political, social, and technological lifestyles to support a more ecologically equitable and sustainable world leading to a higher quality of life for all of God’s creation.”
When we care for creation we increase the quality of our lives and also of the lives of others. We increase the quality of the world we live in. It is our responsibility as those called by God to care for the environment and all of creation. It is our responsibility and we must live up to it. The question is in what ways can we live up to our responsibility to care for the world. I am a big believer in understanding that even the little things count for something.
One morning in Sunday school we were discussing stewardship and our role in being good stewards over creation. I asked the youth for ideas of how they could be good stewards and they talked about driving environmentally friendly cars, as well as other ideas that were larger then what they could implement. I then asked them for concrete ideas for what they could do and how they would implement these ideas.
The first idea the youth had was to have the church recycle bulletins and other paper. The youth bought a box, decorated it, and have for over a year been recycling paper in the church.
What concrete things are you doing to take responsibility for what God has given us?
Now I know that these small ideas will not save the world and that we do need large goals, but it is important to remember that the small things do matter. Even by doing the small things we are taking responsibility for all that God has given us. Because, God saw all that God had made and it was good.
Shane’s congregation, Indian Hills United Methodist Church in Overland Park, recently joined Kansas Interfaith Power and Light and completed an energy audit of their facilities. Through the audit, they learned that they can save $2500 per year through energy efficiency upgrades to their building! Interested in putting your faith into action to address climate change? Click here to learn more about Kansas Interfaith Power and Light!
-IPL Guest Blog Series coordinated by Eileen Horn
Stop! Before you read any further, go to this link and download “KGS Public Information Circular No. 27: Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide in Kansas” from the Kansas Geological Survey.
I hesitate to call it the dummies version, but. It is. Four easy-to-read pages - plus a very interesting map of potential CO2 sequestration sites in Kansas - and the last page includes a very helpful glossary section.
You will probably need that glossary to make it through the following. (I did!)
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Over the river and through the woods and through blowing snow, to the KCC we went. Yesterday morning. Wrecks on I-70 abounded, the weather was clearly less than delightful - and yet the Geological Sequestration Roundtable boasted a packed house, with probably over 100 attendees. Sponsors of the event included KGS, the KCC, and Westar Energy.
Why the interest in geological sequestration? Let’s back up a minute - in this context, “sequestration” is a term used to mean “take the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide out of a waste stream and put it somewhere where it will not re-enter the atmosphere and further contribute to climate change.”
Practically, there are two major ways to sequester CO2 from industrial waste streams - (1) soil sequestration via plants, through agricultural practices (this approach is more indirect, thus it is considered an offset), and (2) carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), via geological sequestration - basically that means sticking the CO2 underground.
For many, geological sequestration is the Holy Grail of fossil fuels. If you figure out a way to do it - affordably, without using exorbitant amounts of water or energy in the process, and on a big enough scale to actually remove significant amounts of CO2 emissions - then conceivably you can keep burning some amount of fossil fuels for electrical generation.
That’s why GS matters generally. Now, why does it matter to KS? Well, between natural rock formations (saline aquifers, coal seams, etc.) and oil and gas wells, KS has enormous underground storage capacity.
Capacity suitable for GS?
Could be.
NOTE: I edited this because I realized that I had not defined an important term - CCS, or carbon capture and sequestration. Capture technologies are one thing, sequestration is another.
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I”l say it again - go back up and download that circular. All I will list here are a few major points of fact that I noted during the several presentations:
- There are three phases to CCS - (a) capturing the CO2 at the point source, (b) transporting it, probably through a pipeline, and (c) storing it in a reservoir, and/or using the pure CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). (In the EOR example, the CO2 transforms from waste product into a commodity.) What’s EOR? A technology that pumps pure CO2 underground to force up the oil that can’t be pumped up by any other means. The CO2 acts as a solvent and washes the oil out of the rock, and then stays locked in the pore space.
- The second C in “CCS” stands for capture of carbon - and capture techniques under development include amine process, integrated gasifiation combined cycle (IGCC), oxycombustion (which sounded coolest), chilled ammonia, etc.
- CO2 is usually thought of as a gas, but when stored deep underground the pressure can turn it into a solid, or “psuedo-liquid,” which may eventually crystallize, depending on the compression. The way GS works - the CO2 is injected into wells that go very, very deep.
- CO2 is stored far below the water table - but a major concern is keeping the CO2 “plume” from migrating and escaping into the drinking water, or even escaping into the atmosphere. Reasons: CO2 acidifies water and acidified water can dissolve yucky things into it (yes, that’s a technical term) - metals, etc., things you really don’t want to drink or spray on crops.
News Updates: FEMA/ ice storm, FERC/ KS transmission, US GHGs going up, Reid recommends Nevada reconsider coal plant permits
December 8, 2008
Rural co-ops meet with FEMA to sort out mess from ice storm - now almost one year ago (Hutch News/ AP). The rural co-ops of KS have been trying to work this out with FEMA, bless FEMA’s hearts, for ten months or so now. Big meetings taking place this week. There’s a $300 million difference of opinion - that’s significant.
Rural utilities hope a meeting with the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week boosts the agency’s estimate to repair damage left by a crippling ice storm a year ago. A committee representing 22 rural electric cooperatives and five municipal systems disputes FEMA’s estimate of $39 million. The power companies believe $340 million will be needed to cover costs to fix hundreds of miles of electrical lines in western, central and northeast Kansas.
Officials with FEMA took eight months to assess the damage, and utility managers say they’re running out of time with the process as another winter season approaches. FEMA says the purpose of the meeting Tuesday and Wednesday is to gain consensus on criteria for additional aid to rebuild, before FEMA considers changing its offer.
FERC approves Westar/ AEP/ Prairie Wind incentives for 765 kv line (CNNMoney.com). Reminder - this is the line that ITC and Westar are competing to build and are currently locked up in regulatory filings in front of the KCC. From Climateer, AEP is planning a $5-$10 billion transmission investment for windfarms in the Upper Midwest, to transport that wind to Chicago. This market is also part of the export plans for Kansas wind.
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increase in 2007 (NAWindpower). Quotable:
Total U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 7,282 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO 2e) in 2007 - an increase of 1.4% from the 2006 level, according to “Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2007,” a report released by the Energy Information Administration. Since 1990, U.S. GHG emissions have grown at an average annual rate of 0.9%….
….CO2 emissions from energy consumption and industrial processes, which had risen at an average annual rate of 1.1% per year from 1990 to 2006, increased by 1.3% in 2007.
Unfavorable weather patterns - where both heating and cooling degree-days were higher in 2007 than 2006 - and an increase in the carbon intensity of electricity generation - driven by decreased availability of hydropower - both contributed to higher energy-related CO2 emissions in 2007.
Senator encourages Nevada to reconsider approving three coal-fired power plants (Las Vegas Review Journal). Senator Harry Reid cites the recent Bonanza decision as the major reason. Quotable: “Because of the board’s ruling, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection ‘cannot move forward with any legal certainty’ in approving air permits for three coal power projects in Nevada, Reid said. Approving final air permits, Reid said, would put ‘billions of dollars of Nevadans’ investments (in coal projects) in great jeopardy.’”
The point seems to be that the already fine lines between risks and investments are blurring even further.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Happy Friday gift - the 12 year old perspective on global warming
November 21, 2008
And he built the website all by himself, too! Check it out.
The 12 year old in question is Ian Douglas Miller (yep! son of Ruth Douglas Miller who runs the Wind Application Center at K-State).
I’m really jealous of Ian. He gets to say all the blunt things that I’m not allowed to, because I’m old. Sample - his description of sea level rise, and the myth that warming is actually GOOD for the planet.
Global Warming won’t hurt anything, in fact, it would make your coastal summer vacation resort warmer. Well, that’s true, except your vacation resort is going to be UNDERWATER… At first glance, the map looks normal. Then you start looking closer… “Hey!! Where’s Florida!?!”
His “Solutions” page is awesome. Ie, why you should get a heat pump: “Geothermal heat pump. Your air conditioner is an electricity hog. This isn’t.” And the last item on his list of things to do: ” Use your creativity!! Think of more!”
CEP can’t ever top this… so we just humbly offer our Kansas climate study. Judging from the downloads, everyone who reads this blog has read the climate study at least twice 
but here it is again. Just in case you want to read it again.
Yay, Ian!!!
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Video Break! And Happy Halloween!
October 31, 2008
The world is so, so serious these days… let’s forget that stuff for a minute. I’m sitting here wishing I had millions to invest in industrial size wind turbines, to pick up the stock that other developers might have to drop due to financing complications. But. I don’t.
Want to hear a lovely children’s song on reduce, reuse, and recycle, that actually manages to find a workable rhyme for “extinction”?? Sure you do!
There was also a hysterical “recycling rap” that had me cackling so hard that my coworkers got a little worried. However, the two kids who made the video said two bad words and we don’t use bad words here at CEP, so, couldn’t post it.
I highly, highly recommend this next video, if you have eight extra minutes and really, really want to know how about how small wind power (could) work(s). Believe it or not, you can learn a LOT about it from what this engineering student did with his homemade wind turbine.
Although you probably (definitely!) shouldn’t try it at home. I’m fairly certain that this video will make a few of our utility readers scream in horror - but hey, it’s Halloween.
Now. Back to your desks!
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Testing, testing… an unofficial CEP poll
October 16, 2008
As some of you may know, blogs are usually hosted by blog providers, which all have their own back end systems - and I might be blind and just haven’t noticed this feature before, but a poll-builder feature all of a sudden popped up in wordpress. You can of course build polls through other websites and then just clip in the html, but life is often way too busy for that.
But. Since we now appear to have the power right here in our hands… let’s run a test poll. To find out: (1) Does this work? and (2) Do CEP blog readers care about a poll feature at all? Because if not, why mess with it.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Kind of a neat sustainability/ renewable energy project going on up at KU - they are brewing biodiesel from waste oil used by the campus food services! The fuel will be used to power some school vehicles.
Video courtesy of CEP intern Ben Morgan.
Jay Leno’s garage (he’s a car and motorcycle nut) has 30 kW of solar power on the roof. Yes, Jay Leno has net metering. It cut his monthly electric bill from $3,000 per month to around $180. What is that, around 6% of his original bill? Nice.
Oh yes! and there are fancy cars in the video, too.
Speaking of cars I had a girl moment here, with the next video. Or maybe just a moment. The truth is, a lot of folks aren’t interested in going green unless they can keep to certain, um, performance stands. I guess you would say.
Many of these performance standards appear to revolve around their cars. Evidently if you can drive it faster and get to the finish line before anyone else, that’s good.
However, since many of the guys I asked to watch these clips said some version of “WOW!” I am posting them. Thus here is an electric car beating a Dodge Viper off the line in a short sprint. I’m not sure how affordable it is to power a car with thousands of laptop batteries but it did win the race.
To turn this into a slightly more educational episode, I will simply note that vehicle emissions (created by combustion of the fossil fuel, gasoline) are responsible for almost a quarter of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Finding a way to power the transportation network without fossil fuels is thus pretty important.
Videos courtesy of CEP intern Ben Morgan.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Part II of a video from the Everett Tzedek Social Action Project, which completed a four part project on environmental sustainability at the University of Kansas during spring semester 2007.
KU students and the Lawrence community, and some of their thoughts about climate change and a more sustainable lifestyle.
Thanks to Ben Morgan, super-intern, for the video!
Multimedia: KU students try to take on global warming
August 4, 2008
Thanks to CEP super-intern Ben Morgan, we have a host of climate and energy related videos to share. Try this one - Evening of Green - Part I of a two part series.
It was completed by the Everett Tzedek Social Action Project as part of a environmental sustainability project at the University of Kansas during spring semester 2007.
Part II coming your way tomorrow.
If you have ten minutes… climate scientist Dr. James Hansen on why you still get cold years during global warming
August 1, 2008
Check it out. Dice!
Generally a good explanation of the complications in sorting out weather and climate. Also discussion of fossil fuels and the urgency to act on climate change. Plus some transmission in there. Phasing out non-carbon capture coal by 2030. The China question. Etc.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
that headline means no disrespect to Texans! a huge chunk of my family lives there.
From the AP - TX cornered oil and gas. Now they want wind (hint: it takes transmission lines to do that)
Texas officials gave preliminary approval Thursday to the nation’s largest wind-power project, a plan to build billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines to bring wind energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas. Texas is already the national leader in wind power, and supporters say Thursday’s move by the Public Utility Commission will make the Lone Star State a leader in moving energy to the urban areas consume it.
“We will add more wind than the 14 states following Texas combined,” said PUC Commissioner Paul Hudson. “I think that’s a very extraordinary achievement. Some think we haven’t gone far enough, some think we’ve pushed too far.”
Environmentalist and consumer groups called the move a critical expansion of the “renewable energy superhighway,” predicting it will spur wind energy projects, create jobs, reduce energy costs and reduce pollution.
Texas electric customers will bear the cost of the $4.9 billion plan over the next several years, paying about $4 more per month on their electric bills, according to Tom Smith, director of the Texas office of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. State officials, however, say those increases could be several years away, and the payments would be no different than the current system of paying for new transmission lines from power plants.
The 2-1 vote by the PUC, however, didn’t commit to as large a project as some environmental groups and state lawmakers had wanted. The plan would transmit a little more than half the energy some advocated. Texas already generates about 5,000 megawatts of wind power, more than any other state. The new plan would add transmission lines to boost capacity to about 18,000 megawatts.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas says one megawatt of power provides enough electricity for 500 to 700 average homes under normal conditions in Texas, or about 200 homes during hot weather.
“The capacity for wind generation in west and north Texas is so great that we could position ourselves in Texas to be the world leader in wind and renewable energy in the next 100 years, just as we were the world leader in oil and gas for the past 100 years,” Democratic state Rep. Mark Strama said earlier this week.
Also - the video below tells the story of how Environmental Defense Fund and FedEx worked together to start greening the FedEx fleet of delivery vehicles. A nice happy little strange bedfellows story.
Busy week. Didn’t have time for many news updates. Better posts next week. I hope!
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Video: Home-grown geothermal power
July 11, 2008
If you want to do geothermal power on your own - well, yes, it probably does help if you live next to a hot springs, like the gentleman featured in this video from Environmental Defense.
However, anyone with a DIY attitude (toward anything) will probably enjoy this clip. Quotable: “I never let lack money or lack of education slow me down. In fact, I think those are my two strongest assets.”
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Via Climateer, a new video out from Earthjustice (the legal arm of the Sierra Club). It features Governor Sebelius’s recent speech at the Earthjustice event out in CO, where she discusses the recent Kansas coal controversy.
The original post is from New Energy News, which also has some comments from Iberdola wind project manager Krista Gordon. Krista is currently working on two new projects in KS right now, in Ellis and Trego counties (just west of the Lincoln County wind farm on I-70). Iberdola already runs Pete Ferrell’s Elk River wind farm (150 MW) down in Butler County.
At this point, the Ellis County project (200 megawatts) appears to be moving forward. The County Commission just voted 5-2 to approve it (Hays Daily News.)
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
CEP video - Where Does Kansas Stand?
June 23, 2008
Climate and energy policies are key in helping states to make the transition to a new energy economy that is far less dependent on fossil fuels.
Where does Kansas stand on these policies?
CEP decided to find out. Enjoy the video!
For more information on the research behind the video, please go to our main website. Scroll down that link to find additional links, and/or download the powerpoint that was the basis of the video.
Lots of thanks to our intern Ben Morgan, who got the video component rolling.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
This weekend MH headed out to Jetmore for a family reunion. Kansas wind folk might have just thought - hmmm, isn’t that close to the Spearville wind farm?
Yes, it is. This is the view from my uncle’s front yard/ pasture. He lives south of Jetmore. The zoom on my camera did beef it up a little. No one at the reunion but me (and my Dad) seemed to notice them on the horizon.
For comparison, this is what’s left of the little windmill that stands just back of the farmhouse, which powered the original pump for the farm (which had dairy cattle at one point). It also occasionally powered car batteries that then ran various farm and household devices. Another uncle had a hilarious story about climbing out of his window one night and shinnying up the windmill. He got caught. He ended up sleeping in the field the rest of the night (with the rattlesnakes. So he said).
And as we were driving in from Dodge, my dad stopped and insisted I also take pictures of the transmission lines serving the Spearville wind farm (as well he should). That’s my car in one of those pictures, just for scale. It’s a CRV.
He asked - “Are these the size they are talking about putting in between Spearville and Wichita?” I said that I was by no means an expert, but that I bet these were considerably smaller. Smaller tower, wire, right of way, I don’t know which. But I do bet they are smaller than 765 kV.
Overall impression of southwest Kansas right now - they have it as dry there as we have it wet here. Pretty crazy.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Your Friday video extravaganza. First from EDF -
And now, lovely actresses telling you to use CFL lightbulbs! (If you want to know how to recycle the lightbulbs click here for a pdf handout)
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Friday Book Break
June 6, 2008
It is Friday, right? Then let’s mess around a little. First a quote I found quoted in Earth: The Sequel -
All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident. (Schopenhauer)
Another book to look for if you are out and about this weekend - The End of Food, written by the same guy who wrote The End of Oil a few years ago (and got ridiculed by many, if I remember correctly. Not so many people laughing right now).
Basically, EOF is about the transitions that the global industrial food system faces in upcoming years. Not necessarily comfortable reading for ag sorts, but very interesting nonetheless. If you really don’t like it, then run your truck over it and give it away to your favorite hippie or something keeping in mind that if you think that person might be me, I already have a copy.
EOO wasn’t very comfortable reading for energy sorts when it first came out, either. But some of those who did at least gained inklings of ways they could adjust, before the big wave hit.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
News Updates: Wind wind-up for your weekend
May 23, 2008
Sorry about the pun in the headline. Been a long week!
Via Dan Nagengast of the KRC - a photo album of the turbine installation at Fairfield, KS, a Wind for Schools turbine sponsored by NREL. According to the website, the turbine is a Skystream 3.7 1.9kW turbine. The turbine diameter with blades is 3.7m. The photos document the process step by step. Pretty cool!
Also from Dan - an inspirational video about a young African man who started building his own windmills from bicycle parts, truck batteries, tractor fans, etc., in oder to generate electricity for his family compound.
Thank you, Dan. But I did find some other stuff in the video below - I love people who I think of as “tweakers.” They just mess with stuff and build it and get it done one way or another, usually when everyone else is telling them it’s impossible. (In part this is how I ended up married to a guy obsessed with brewing his own biodiesel.)
The kid in the following video is one of those tweakers. Depending on the scale of what they are tweaking, these are also people who should probably go through life permanently outfitted with helmets and eye protection. When it comes to his poor exploded wind turbine (watch the video) his neighbors maybe could have used some protection, too. There are reasons that wind turbines are supposed to be shut off in high winds
Have a great weekend -
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Walk the Talk: How much is enough?
May 16, 2008
Since we posted on the Roan Plateau yesterday, I got curious and hopped on YouTube. Reminder: Roan Plateau is the fight against expanded oil and gas drilling in public lands in Colorado, a conflict where hunters and sportsmen and environmentalists have taken the same side.
I thought this video was neat for a couple of reasons - trust me, you hear a LOT of folks say that when prices rise, people won’t care about saving anything in the environment, or creation, or whatever you want to call it - instead, they’ll drill or mine anywhere, just to get the resources out, to keep their lights on or their cars running, etc.
So when people (like the ones in this video) are facing scarcity, and instead of grabbing it all they start to ask themselves tough questions about what really matters to their quality of life (versus their standard of living) - how cool is that?
Enjoy the video. Happy Friday!! If you have to go to lots of graduations this weekend, hang in there.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
