Video: T. Boone Pickens plan on wind
July 8, 2008
I have received - wait - 9 emails on this topic today alone. So I went out and found it on YouTube. People want to know about it. So watch!
I’ve also collected a fair number of emails of reactions to the plan, everything from “that’s dumb!” to “that’s great!” to … well, a fair bit in between.
Enjoy 
— 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
Midwest flooding. As floodwaters across the Midwest slowly start to recede, two interesting factors have emerged. FIRST: A report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program confirms that global warming will result in extreme weather events happening more frequently (AP, Rocky Mtn News).
No one can prove that recent Midwestern floods are related to climate change. They can only point out that their severity and increasing frequency fits the pattern.
However, they can prove that the impact of severe weather events (whatever their causes) can be made much worse by poor land use patterns (CSMonitor). Building in flood plains, fast run-off from farm fields and urban developments, draining of wetlands, etc.
Energy efficiency in Kansas. Fantastic article, Salina Journal. Just read the whole thing. Quotable: “In a document filed earlier this year with the Kansas Corporation Commission, Westar is frank about the significance of its new direction. “If we were to follow that (traditional) approach, we would be building a baseload coal plant, similar to those at LaCygne or Jeffrey, to become commercially operational in the middle of the next decade,” the company said in the document, “Meeting our Customers’ Energy Needs — A Strategic Plan for Uncertain Times.” “… The departure is a shift from the norms that have characterized our industry for decades. We are now entering an era where environmental considerations will weigh heavily in shaping the understanding of and policy for energy development in our country.”
Wind energy operations and management jobs. ND is trying to get community college wind training programs in gear, like we have here in KS (AP). Interesting numbers: “A general rule of thumb is that a two-person operation and maintenance team is needed for every 10 turbines.”
New directions for coal power. A MO facility is one of the first to experiment with a biomass pellet/ coal blend for electric generation (KCStar). And nationally, a feature on Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers (NYTimes Magazine) who is trying to push the industry toward both cap and trade, and less high-impact ways to burn coal.
Westar will soon break ground on another new wind farm (CNNMoney.com).
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
For wind junkies - check out your wind resource! type in your zip code and see what pops up
June 20, 2008
This from Eileen - check out AWSTrueWind’s new Navigator. (Yes this is the same firm that just developed the new 70 m wind map for KS).
It’s more meant for utility scale wind. The lowest hub height you can check is 60 meters, which is probably also helpful for some community wind. Anything smaller, you need to do your own little wind study with an anemometer. But the tool is really neat to play with - and gives you a nice idea of resources in your area.
Yet another nice activity to while away a summer afternoon… if getting outside and playing is not an option.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
News updates are moving to digest format. Life is busy. That is good.
Update on Wind Working Group meeting in Salina yesterday - Duane Schrag, Salina Journal. Center of discussion - wind manufacturing, transmission development, and net metering.
Does pro-business necessarily mean pro-coal? Letter to editor from LJWorld
Seas are warming faster, rising higher, polar ice caps shrinking faster, too - Rueters. We heard this on the news last night and my husband said “I don’t believe any of these predictions anymore. If they say it’ll be gone in ten years, I think it’s more like two.” Wasn’t much I could say.
Colorado gets a Siemans wind research center, Texas gets a Vestas, Climateer - I feel certain KS too will get something wonderful some day. AHEM. Sooner would be great.
Federal production tax credits for wind more than pay back their worth in tax dollars, GE study finds - CNNMoney
Jetmore to add two refurbished wind turbines that will provide 12% of community’s electricity - Dodge Globe
FYI - some of the top search terms that people use to find CEP on the web: warner-lieberman carbon cap, kansas wind energy manufactures, wind leases, wind jobs, wind map kansas, leasehounds, wind turbines kansas i-70, water and energy
Some of the weirdest - sexy thought of the day, mccain & kcpl
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
K-State Wind Application Center cooperate to install elementary school wind turbine - Kansan.com.
Quotable: “Ruth Douglas Miller, a member of the Wind Applications Center at K-State, said Walton Rural Life Center was an attractive site for a wind turbine because she believes wind power will provide jobs in rural settings in the future. “When there is a wind farm there is a need for people to operate them,” Douglas Miller said. “And that happens in rural areas. In fact, in big cities we really don’t want to build wind farms. Let’s get these kids excited, say ‘This is cool’ and consider careers in wind.” The turbine was lifted into place by Westar Energy Tuesday morning as students and interested adults looked on.”
Kansas Energy Council member gives reactions to presentation on energy efficiency by Summit Blue - Kansas Health Institute.
Quotable: “Gunn said conservation programs can be effectively administered either by utilities or the state. He said successful programs include strong education and marketing campaigns and often provided consumers with financial incentives. State policies also can play a role. Minnesota requires electric utilities to spend between 1.5 percent and 2 percent of their revenues on energy efficiency and demand-reduction programs. But Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, chairman of the Senate Utilities Committee, said he didn’t think Kansas lawmakers were ready to impose a similar requirement. He said some alternative steps might include setting conservation targets for state government and initiating a consumer education campaign. “Education is so important,” he said.”
To maintain and improve the electrical grid - let alone integrate more renewable energy - the nation desperately needs new transmission lines. There’s some pushback.
California transmission line drama - LA Times
Minnesota transmission line drama - (really well researched story) - Minnesota Post
Landowners receive legal advice on how to develop their wind resources - Garden City Telegram
Quotable: “The afternoon speaker, (Mike) Irvin (KS Farm Bureau Legal Fdn), spent time talking about what landowners wanted to know most about: money. He told landowners to view energy companies not as enemies, but as business partners. He outlined the lifetime of a wind farm in four parts: The pre-development stage, the lease and construction stage, the operation stage, and the remedial stage where the wind farm is decommissioned. The third stage, the operation stage, could last from 20 to 150 years. Irvin said. “This is a long-term venture. It’s going to affect your kids, great grand-kids and their kids,” Irvin said. He also urged landowners to make sure the energy companies pay for everything associated with the wind turbine, including transmission lines and roads. “If you’re going to take something from me, pay me for it,” Irvin said. Irvin outlined the different ways landowners can be compensated for wind energy, including: an up-front, lump sum payment; annual rental payments per turbine, per megawatt or per acre basis; and royalty payments based on a percentage of the revenue of the project. Irvin said land owners should think twice about receiving a lump-sum payment per turbine, because inflation and the cost of living likely will rise. But Irvin also cautioned that turbines, like vehicles, need maintenance. He said if a turbine needs maintenance and isn’t generating revenue, royalty payments won’t mean much. “I’d like to see a royalty mixed with a lump sum payment,” Irvin said. “Protect yourselves.”
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
News Updates: real quickies
June 16, 2008
Not going to get to an official post today (maybe even tomorrow) so read these super-interesting articles:
Anyone catch the premiere episodes of the Greensburg show on Planet Green last night? If you want to waste some great time at work (no, CEP of course did not do this), check out the show’s website. Beware of the car commercials that will pop up and deafen you on the video clips, tho.
Kansas 2008 tornados already triple the annual state average - Wichita Eagle
“Preliminary statistics from the National Weather Service show that 172 tornadoes have been reported in Kansas this year — the most in the nation. Iowa is next at 134, and Missouri is third at 127. As of Friday, 1,577 tornadoes had been reported in the U.S. this year. Last year saw 1,093. While final statistics are typically lower because some preliminary reports are multiple views of the same tornadoes, officials say the numbers are still eye-opening. Kansas’ total is triple the state’s annual average, for example. But that’s not the number that troubles Dick Elder, the head meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Wichita office. He’s bothered by 118, the number of tornado deaths nationwide — the most in 10 years. “It just seems like the number of killer tornadoes is way up,” Elder said.There have been 33 killer tornadoes this year, including three in Kansas.”
Record moisture levels in Midwest - Cattlenetwork.com
Weather-beaten economy - impact of floods on markets - Christian Science Monitor
Wind energy taking off in China - Business Week
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
News Updates: More wind proposed for Kansas, wind manufacturing map, AWEA conference, food industry faces off with biofuels
June 11, 2008
More wind power proposed for Kansas. Iberdrola Project Manager Krista Gordon spoke to Trego County Commissioners about two possible wind projects in their region (Hays Daily News). The projects are projected to run around 200 megawatts (MW) each. Quotable:
Gordon also requested permission for the company to install a 197-foot tall meteorological tower to collect wind data in the proposed project area. It’s expected another tower could need to be constructed in the next few years, she said.
As with the two met towers installed southwest of Hays, this tower also will gauge solar data in case it also becomes a commercially viable entity, Gordon said…
… While some turbine placement has begun for this area, and plans are moving forward, Gordon estimated it could take three to five years for these projects to become a reality. That is partly because progress on a proposed transmission infrastructure expansion, which would run from Spearville to the Hays area and north to Nebraska, is pending, she said. If approved, the line would add to the capacity of the Southwest Power Pool and expand the energy production export capacity in the area, Gordon said. If this additional line does not go through, the wind energy potential in the area would be diminished.
Gordon, however, said she has high hopes such a transmission system will be implemented, as several proposals for such an expansion have been made. “I think this proposal is critical to getting these two projects up,” she said. “It sounds like a go.
Neat slide from Dan Nagengast - map of new wind turbine manufacturers in the U.S. From one of Dan’s powerpoints (he held yet another wind forum yesterday, this time in Scott City).
This map also looks to me like it’s referring to large utility scale turbines, not community or small scale. Pretty clearly, none of these are yet located in Kansas.
AWEA conference a success. The annual Windpower conference took place in Houston last week (Houston Chronicle). Attendance was 13,000 - a huge increase over previous years. The Energy Office of the Kansas Corporation Commission had a booth for the first time. Apparently they were deluged with requests for information.
Food manufacturers begin fight against biofuels subsidies. This Bloomberg article has all the earmarks of “oh dear” (and I think I ganked this article originally from Climateer). Quotable:
Industry groups representing companies including Kellogg Co., Tyson Foods Inc. and Kroger Co. are coordinating efforts to reduce U.S. biofuels-use requirements with a new “Food Before Fuel” lobbying campaign.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the American Meat Institute, the National Restaurant Association and other groups say rising corn-based ethanol production is pushing food costs higher. Adding industry muscle to fight a federal requirement to about double ethanol production to 15 billion gallons by 2015 may slow the increase, helping company profits and easing consumer prices, said grocery association chief Cal Dooley.
“We are calling on Congress to step back and re-evaluate our biofuels policy, which is distorting the marketplace and harming the environment and consumers,” Dooley, a former Democratic congressman from California, said in an interview before the campaign was officially unveiled today.
Dooley said the coalition will try to persuade members of Congress to relax ethanol-use rules, reduce tax credits for U.S. ethanol blenders and lower a tariff on ethanol imports.
On the surface, it looks like food versus fuel… but wait. Food and fuel are not that separate. It takes petroleum products to farm - everything from fuel for tractors to the base ingredients in many farm chemicals.
If these two economic giants start battling each other, the result could look a lot like an image you see sometimes in Asian art - a dragon eating its own tail.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
How They Voted: The House’s sine die vote on tax credits for wind turbine manufacturer
June 10, 2008
As many of our readers know, at sine die the Kansas House had a chance to extend tax credits that would have helped bring a major wind manufacturer to Kansas. The vote failed, 47-49. 63 votes were needed for passage.
Here’s how they voted.
Yeas - votes for wind and economic development: Ballard, Burgess, Burroughs, Colloton, Crow, Faust-Goudeau, Feuerborn, Flora, Frownfelter, Fund, Garcia, Gatewood, Gordon, Goyle, Grant, Henderson, Henry, Hill, Holland, Keuther, Lane, Loganbill, Long, Lukert, Mah, Mast, McKinney, McLachlan, Moxley, Neighbor, Palmer, Patton, Pauls, Peterson, Phelps, Rardin, Ruiz, Sawyer, Storm, Swenson, Tietze, Treaster, Trimmer, Ward, Wetta, Williams, Winn
Nays - votes against: Beamer, Bethell, Bowers, Brunk, Carlson, Colyer, Dahl, DeGraaf, Donohoe, Faber, Hayzlett, C Holmes, M Holmes, Horst, Huebert, Humerickhouse, Huntingdon, Kelley, Kelsey, King, Knox, Light, Masterson, McLeland, Metsker, Jim Morrison, Judy Morrison, Myers, Neufeld, O’Neal, Olson, Otto, Peck, Pottorff, Powell, Proehl, Quigley, Rhoades, Ruff, Schroeder, Schwartz, Shultz, Siegfried, Spalding, Tafanelli, Vickrey, Watkins, Wilk, Worle
One (Kinzer) was present but did not vote. 28 were absent or did not vote: Aurand, Brown, Carlin, Craft, Crum, Davis, Dillmore, Flaharty, George, Goico, Grange, Hawk, Johnson, Kiegerl, Landwehr, McCray-Miller, Menghini, Merrick, Owens, Roth, Schwab, Sloan, Svaty, Swanson, Whitham, B Wolf, K Wolf, Yoder.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
News Updates: Rain everywhere, how the national wind industry affects KS, and questions about the future of CRP lands
June 9, 2008
This rain. So much of it. Here in NE KS, we have corn standing in water, wheat looking beat down in places, alfalfa getting shaggy and hay still standing in the fields.
Some fields might be lying fallow, some might just be where it was too wet to plant - but the erosion is pretty impressive. If you didn’t get your crops in for whatever reason (and not a lot of people where I am seem to do cover crops), you probably lost a lot of topsoil.
Potential for rapid growth of wind industry in Kansas. In an article in the Hays Daily News, Sarah Kessinger goes over the national picture of wind development, and how Kansas might fit in - as always, Sarah is so thorough that she is hard to summarize - just click on the link and read it. (Something she has mentioned in other articles, KS will be welcoming over $1 billion in transmission line development over the next five years.)
She also interviewed the KS congressional delegation on their thoughts re the federal renewable tax credit, which so far is only getting renewed in measeley one year increments. Quotable:
The U.S. wind energy industry took off this year like no other — installing 1,400 megawatts of new wind farms in the first quarter alone. The American Wind Energy Association estimates the new generation’s value at $3 billion… Nationally, 17 new turbine manufacturing facilities also have popped up in just over a year, again highlighting the wind sector’s rapid expansion.
“America’s wind industry can deliver the goods in terms of clean energy and new clean technology jobs,” the association’s Executive Director Randall Swisher said. “But if Congress does not act quickly, this momentum could be derailed at the worst possible time for the economy, placing 76,000 jobs and over $11.5 billion in investment at risk.”
Swisher noted that when the credit lapsed in previous years (1999, 2001 and 2003), development dropped off significantly, by up to 93 percent some years.
For the most part, the KS delegation seemed generally positive - ie, “renewable energy is a wonderful thing, great concept, love the idea!” - but very vague and noncommittal about the actual tax credit extension.
If you’d like to share your own thoughts with them, of course you can always locate your congressperson through www.congress.org.
As mentioned above, lots of Midwest farmland is currently being deluged with water. Extreme precipitation cycles often lead to erosion. Is this really a good time to take CRP lands out of the program? Well - as this Wichita Eagle article reports, it’s happening.
CRP stands for Conservation Reserve Program. The government pays farmers to take marginal lands (along waterways, etc.) out of agricultural production. The purpose is to prevent erosion and provide habitat for wildlife. Much to the delight of hunters, game birds do especially well in CRP lands. In part as a result, the KS hunting industry has been increasing.
As the Eagle reports, Kansas currently has CRP contracts on about 3.1 million acres. Contracts on about 70% of them, or 2.2 million acres, are scheduled to expire within five years. Beginning in July, limited grazing and haying can also occur on CRP land.
Skyrocketing food prices, though, have led to a farm boom (NYTimes). Speculators are rushing to snap up any part of the food chain - from farmland to processing plants - that they can possibly buy. With big profits in the offing, many farmers are looking to put these marginal lands back in production, especially to grow King Corn.
Counterforces. I mention this because when reading media coverage about food and farming lately, there seem to be two types of stories (that don’t always match up). (1) Yes, there is a farm boom and farmers are making money for once, but (2) grain prices are crazy volatile and fuel prices and other input prices (like fuel!) are rising as well, and so - are the margins of profit really changing?
Farmers who raise not just food, but energy - ie, oil and gas wells (someday maybe wind, too) - seem to be enjoying (1) and thus padding the brunt of (2). But the point is that these factors could really change a lot in the next five years.
Another important point - the Wichita Eagle article on CRP lands ran on the outdoors page. Hunters and fisherfolk have a lot of interest in CRP. And while the Eagle didn’t mention it, there is now an amendment to the Kansas constitution that gives these folks rights under law.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Climate change is already hurting crops across the globe. Lower yields, more pests, faster-growing weeds. (As a gardener that’s my nightmare; I can only imagine what farmers think.)
USATODAY picked up on the recent USDA report about the damaging impact of climate change on agriculture. Quotable:
Historically, the damage to food supplies by bad weather has been regarded as fleeting: catastrophic in the short term but ultimately remitting. Droughts ease, floodwaters recede, and farmers replant their crops.
But as a new government report indicates, such views are increasingly narrow and outdated, in that they fail to acknowledge the creeping reach of global climate change…
… Some agricultural changes are already observable. In the central Great Plains, in states known for their grassy prairies and sprawling row crops, there are new neighbors: trees and large shrubs, often clustering in islands in the middle of fields…
Human practices () have abetted the turnover, but climate change, scientists say, has been a primary driver, as invasive species reproduce more quickly and expand into areas once deemed too cold for their survival. In turn, high-quality pastureland, once ideal for livestock grazing, has become poor-quality brush, and farmland faces competitors for space.
Wind turbine manufacturer coming to KS? We sure hope so. Governor Sebelius gave the opening address at the giant AWEA conference going on right now in Houston. She went out of her way to emphasize that Kansas was open for wind business. Quotable:
A recent poll by the Land Institute showed that three out of four Kansans want the state to increase its commitment to wind-powered energy. The mood of the heartland is changing and Kansans want a comprehensive energy strategy which includes maximizing our wind resources…
… This is a case where consumers are well ahead of Congress as the demand for cleaner energy alternatives is growing across the country. Moving toward renewable energy provides great opportunities for more good-paying jobs, while helping to address global warming concerns.
That’s why today, Kansans want comprehensive energy reform – and they want it to include a strong commitment to harness the resource that we have in the blowing wind. Kansans are ready to play their part in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.
As Governor, it’s important to me to ensure that my state has a stable and reliable source of electricity that fosters strong economic growth. But it’s equally important to me to protect our environment for future generations.
However, did the KS legislature’s recent and very close decision not to extend the tax break for a wind turbine manufacturer put this economic development in peril? Good question. One legislature who supported the legislation hopes that there is still a good chance (TCJournal). Quotable from Sen. Laura Kelly:
“It (the tax break) expires in 2009. I would hope they (the company) would have confidence in us to work hard to get it in the next session. That would be my fantasy.”
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Wind meeting coming up in Scott City
June 3, 2008
According to the editor of the Scott City Record (via Dan Nagengast of the KRC), there will be a community wind meeting in Scott County, KS, on June 10.
The program will be held at the Wm. Carpenter 4-H Bldg. in Scott City, on north US83 Hwy., at the Scott County Fairgrounds. As you get to the north end of Scott City, turn east at the golf course (Fairground Road) and you can’t miss it.
We are charging $10 per person, which includes a light lunch. This will also include the cost of printed handouts.
RSVP to editor@screcord.com no later than Mon., June 9.
According to Dan, speakers will include Allen Simmons from Westar on negotiating Power Purchase Agreements, John Cyr on financing wind projects, Mike Irvin from Farm Bureau Legal Foundation on leasing, and Dan himself on wind projects and policies more generally.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Legislative Updates: Wind gets dissed at sine die
May 30, 2008
Governor Sebelius was less than pleased that Republican leadership blocked an attempt at sine die to rescue some of the economic development initiatives that they had bundled in with the third coal bill, which she vetoed as she did the first two (TCJournal).
One of those initiatives was the extension of tax credits for a wind turbine manufacturer considering coming to Kansas. The project could bring 950 permanent jobs to the state, as well as support ongoing wind development.
The vote was 49-47 against. 63 votes are needed for passage. 96 legislators were present at sine die, an unusually high number. (There seems to be a delay in the posting of the House Journal today, so CEP can’t yet post the official recorded vote.) Quotable:
But following Thursday’s vote, Neufeld said that bringing up new measures in the sine die session is out of line with normal procedure. “The majority of folks came here saying we weren’t going to do business, and they didn’t want to do business,” he said.
Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, criticized that logic, saying legislators “don’t normally take hostage an economic development bill, either.”
“This was a unique situation where lots of games got played during the session,” Kelly said. “And (today) was an opportunity to move forward on an important economic development.”
There also seems to be a glitch in the Governor’s website where her comments are posted, so CEP cannot link to them directly - but luckily WIBW has posted some of them as well. Most notably, Sebelius pointed out that the Kansas Chamber of Commerce (a vocal supporter of the coal bills) did not back these other economic development initiatives. Quotable:
“It is also unfortunate that the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who was part of the coalition to promote the coal legislation, was not insistent that these measures be considered on their own merit before the legislature adjourned. Despite knowing that two previous vetoes had been sustained, the Chamber agreed to a strategy to include key economic development legislation in a package with the coal bill, which they knew was likely to be vetoed. Even though there was an opportunity to pass the stand- alone legislation today, neither the Chamber, Republican leaders or legislators worked for a successful outcome.
“It is unfortunate that Kansas business owners, their employees and the state’s economy will be the victims of this legislative decision made on the final day of the 2008 legislative session.”
As of yet, there is no response posted on the Chamber’s website. WIBW also posted Speaker Neufeld’s response:
“Despite what some have said, Kansas lawmakers worked hard this session and passed dozens of good laws. For anyone to say this session was all about coal and nothing else refuses to look at the entire work of the Kansas Legislature….
“An overwhelming majority of Representatives and Senators serving all 105 Kansas counties voted in support of comprehensive energy legislation this session, but the Governor refused to listen and vetoed our efforts to return regulatory certainty to Kansas and guarantee reliable and affordable electricity for all Kansans… And while we were unable to come to an agreement on immigration reform, we had serious debate about how our state should address this very important issue.”
“I expect both of these issues to be back in front of the Legislature next year.”
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Research and Resources: Updated wind map for Kansas!!!! (at 70 meters, and the findings are preliminary)
May 30, 2008
How cool is this? Kansas might be even windier than we thought. Or at least, now we can see the wind patterns at much, much higher resolution.
Via the Kansas Energy Office, here are the preliminary findings for Kansas for 70 meters. The previous wind map was developed from readings taken at 50 meters. 70 meters is around 230 feet. The sweep of an industrial wind turbine blade is usually between 70-100 m, depending on the size of the turbines (which usually range from 1.5 to 3 megawatts).
According to Jim Ploger of the Kansas Energy Office, last year NREL offered to fund this study for Kansas and Oklahoma. Other states already had this data. Previously, Kansas only had a wind map based on 50 meter readings.
The firm True Wind processed the data from a mixture of site readings and extrapolations. NREL is verifying the results. The final map should be released near the end of the summer, and it will include 50 m, 70 m, and 100 m readings. NREL allowed the early release of the preliminary version so that the Energy Office could take the most up to date data down to the giant AWEA wind conference in Houston next week.
The .jpg conversion below is not fantastic…. sorry… here is a .pdf version for you as well. However, just with color codes, the following isn’t hard to interpret: greens are areas of lower wind resources (12-15 mph), pink is 15.7-16.8 mph, purple is 16.8-17.9, yellow is 17.0-19.0, and orange is 19.0-20.1.
(If you look closely at the pdf version, you can also see the transmission lines).
Pretty, huh? Now - what value does this map actually have? I called up one of my favorite wind developers to ask questions (but forgot to ask him if I could quote his name directly. Since I didn’t get permission I can’t.)
His main answer - this map gives wind development in Kansas a much more accurate starting point. A map like this can definitely increase competition for wind resources in Kansas.
Also, this high resolution of data helps wind on other levels, too - from the everyday folks who want to put up turbines in the backyard, to small towns looking to offset their fuel costs through installing community wind.
What does the “mean average” tell us? It tells us the windiest possible sites. The windiest sites are the best, because the more the wind blows the cheaper your power is to produce.
However, wind is extremely complex. There’s a lot of data that these maps can’t tell us. Wind developers, for example, study the wind at sites for a long time.
Some of the things they also need to know about are wind shear and turbulence. Wind shear is the degree of shift, or increase in wind speeds between certain heights, like 70m to 100m. Turbulence is a pattern of extreme variability. Choppy, high winds can wreak havoc on the equipment.
Interestingly, the high value wind resources are definitely concentrated in the western half of the state, with a nice scattering through the central portion. The Flint Hills do have nice resources, but other areas in the state have even better.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
News Updates: carbon regulation hits the Senate, grow your own, wind energy in KS, carbon dioxide and oil refineries
May 28, 2008
Warner-Lieberman is coming up for debate in the Senate. If you know what W-L is, you read that and probably went either “yay!” “gulp!” “not this year, my pretty” or “hmm.”
And if you don’t know what it is please allow me to explain - Warner-Lieberman is a piece of climate legislation (that link goes to Reuters/ NYTimes) that promotes a cap-and-trade system of carbon regulation (the last link explains how cap and trade basically works).
Actually, at the Kansas Energy Council’s last Greenhouse Gas Policy Committee meeting, I enjoyed this presentation from Kansas Energy Office staff - an overview of what is in Warner-Lieberman.
Grow more of our own. Growing more foods locally is a good way for a region to cut down on its carbon footprint. It might not be a great option for large parts of Arizona, say. But in certain parts of Kansas, we can definitely make this happen.
In fact, we once did. Wamego was once known as the Sweet Potato Capital of the world. My area of the state, Jefferson County, was famous for its apples and hard cider (before Prohibition).
K-State researcher Rhonda Janke says this success could return (KHI News Service). This isn’t just a nostalgic farm story of better days, though. Kansans could also make money. Quotable:
According to her research, people in the 10-county region in 2006 spent more than $260 million on fruit and vegetables but only 8 percent of that was for locally grown produce. A reasonable goal, she said, would be to double that output, expanding the current 2,114 acres in the region dedicated to fruits and vegetables to 3,794. That would still be less than the 4,222 acres of produce farming done in the valley in 1950 and far below the 33,104 acres in 1910, that Janke believes was probably the peak.
Wind Energy Technology program expands. Cloud County Community College (CCCC) (that acronym could be like 4-H, but it’s not) just got $155,000 from the Department of Commerce for its wind technician curriculum.
CCCC has only one of five such programs nationwide. Kansas alone will need 625 new technicians over the next few years as its wind farms currently under construction come online.
More Kansans putting up wind turbines at homes and farms. This story is from Emporia. Hard to pay them off in a timely fashion, though, without net metering.
Any oil refining geeks out there? There have to be… Up north in the Sioux City Journal (you know, the folks that got the Hyperion oil refinery, regardless of what your thoughts are on the timing of that decision), a reporter asks whether the proposed project really is all that green.
The issue is much the same as we just confronted in Kansas over Sunflower’s proposed coal plants - yes, the refinery will have much upgraded technology compared to other older refineries. However, the scale of the refinery is huge and it will still emit 17 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, and there is no way yet to sequester or capture those emissions. (Either way, fascinating article.)
— 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
News Updates: Production tax credits pass the House, energy efficiency an underused resource (but probably not in IA)
May 22, 2008
It’s a little bit like Christmas. (In that department store Santa kind of way - because this bill may not make it past the Senate.)
However. As reported in Grist, the House passed a nice big chunk of production tax credits (PTC) for renewable energies such as wind, solar, biomass, and others. Quotable:
The bill includes a six-year extension of the investment tax credit for solar energy; a three-year extensions of the production tax credit for biomass, geothermal, hydropower, landfill gas, and solid waste; and a one-year extension of the production tax credit for wind energy. There are also incentives for the production of renewable fuels such as biodiesel and cellulosic biofuels, incentives for companies that produce energy-efficient products, and incentives to improve efficiency in commercial and residential buildings…
… “One of the critical problems we’re facing today is energy prices, and the problem is we don’t have enough choices for consumers,” said (Representative) Blumenauer. “We’ve squandered American leadership in renewable energy — the United States was a global leader 30 years ago and we’ve lost that leadership internationally to other countries that are moving forward more aggressively.”
Blumenauer predicted that without these tax extensions, the United States could see “almost 20 billion in lost investment” in renewables, as well as up to 150,000 lost job opportunities in the green energy sector. He said that the potential to address energy concerns and create economic growth might help it win support in the Senate.
Energy efficiency updates. As the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) has just announced, “maintaining a long tradition of strong energy policy, the State of Iowa has recently passed a number of bills to promote energy efficiency.”
The initiatives include energy efficiency for schools, improvements to the state building code, and “requirements for non-regulated utilities regarding developing energy efficiency goals and reporting savings from energy efficiency programs, as well as establishing a program for tracking, recording, and trading efficiency credits.”
On the national front, the ACEEE has announced the results of a new study - energy efficiency is highly effective in reducing demand, yet it remains almost “invisible,” and thus is highly under-utilized as a resource. Major findings from the report:
- “Given the right choices and investments in the many cost-effective but underutilized energy efficiency technologies, the United States can cost-effectively reduce energy consumption by an additional 25-30% or more over the course of the next 20-25 years.”
- “Annual investments in energy efficiency technologies currently support 1.6 million U.S. jobs. The $300 billion invested in energy efficiency in 2004 was three times the amount invested in traditional energy infrastructure.”
- “Investments in energy efficiency technologies are estimated to have generated approximately 1.7 quads of energy savings in 2004 alone – roughly the equivalent of the energy required to operate 40 mid-sized coal-fired or nuclear power plants.”
- “Since 1970, energy efficiency has met about three-fourths of the demand for new energy-related services while conventional energy supply has covered only one-fourth of this demand.”
- “Total investments in more energy efficiency technologies could increase the annual energy efficiency market by nearly $400 billion by 2030, resulting in an annual efficiency market of more than $700 billion – and total additional investments over the period 2008-2030 of nearly $7 trillion.”
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Westar plans to build new transmission lines. Most Kansans know that to develop wind energy - and especially to sell these resources out of state - we need first to build more high-speed transmission lines (364 kV to 765 kV).
Existing grid management technology limits the amount of wind that our state grid can safely handle to about 20%. Kansas can’t hope to absorb all the wind we can potentially produce; other states need to buy it to meet their Renewable Portfolio standards; so we need transmission highways to get this high-value commodity to market.
Many have also heard of the proposed “V” line. This is the name for the SPP-approved transmission plan, where two lines would originate out of Spearville, Kansas (in the southwestern corner of the state, just above the OK and TX panhandles), one heading north toward NE and one east toward Wichita, KS.
This line (plus a few other smaller ones) meant that over $1 billion would be invested in KS transmission over the next five or so years. A lot of current wind development in Kansas is being based around these lines.
Last time CEP mentioned all this, ITC Great Plains was bidding and going through the approval process to build the V plan, but Westar had filed a motion against the plan.
Westar has now announced that it has formed a joint venture with Electric Transmission America (TCJournal). The venture is called Prairie Wind Transmission. It proposes to construct the super-mega-highway of transmission lines - 765 kV lines.
The Westar proposal doesn’t seem to cover the whole of the original V plan. Instead, these lines would extend from Wichita to Dodge City and from Medicine Lodge to the Oklahoma border.
Potential markets for wind energy exports are generally seen as to the east, toward either Chicago or Atlanta. Not only do the electrical systems of the western and eastern grid not connect, but the West has plenty of its own wind resources.
There are still a lot of regulatory hoops to jump through before the lines receive final approval. The news coverage doesn’t mention how the competing proposals of ITC Great Plains and Westar/ ETA might be resolved.
How do these lines get paid for? The SPP board recently approved what is know as a socialized cost, or postage stamp, recovery system for expenses. This means that the costs of these superhighway lines are paid for by the entire SPP region, not just by Kansans in the area of the new lines.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Last week CEP attended a continuing legal education seminar that helped Kansas lawyers to catch up on wind energy law. The morning session was aptly titled the “Whirlwind Tour” - in four days, the presenters hit Garden City, Hays, Wichita, and Salina.
The event was sponsored by the Kansas Bar Association, the Kansas Farm Bureau Legal Foundation for Agriculture, and the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC), among others. More than 200 lawyers total attended.
The presenters were well-chosen - Bob Glass and Thomas Stratton of the KCC, Krista Gordon, native Kansan and also wind developer for Iberdola, Melvin Sauer of Dreiling, Bieker et al, and Prof. Roger McEowen, the Leonard Dolezal Professor in Ag Law from ISU. Mike Irvin of Farm Bureau acted as the master of ceremonies.
A bunch of lawyers all sitting around and looking at powerpoints. Wind energy law. For those of you who are about to stop reading right now, please don’t! This is neat stuff.
Neat legal stuff, though, which means about here I must offer a disclaimer - never mistake ANYTHING you read in a CEP blog entry as legal advice. Not that I’m remotely afraid of that happening. But it still has to be said. For online links on wind law, check the resources section of our main website’s wind page. Scroll clear to the bottom.
Why wind law now? Because Kansas lawyers are desperate for the information. They need it to protect their clients.
Most folks around here know that a wind rush is going on - the wind-rich areas of Kansas are currently swarmed with leasehounds. Leasehound is the colloquial term for wind speculator. These speculators try to tie up all the air rights in a good wind area, and then re-sell them to established wind developers.
Leasehounds try to make money off being the middlemen. They hurry up and try to stand between the owner of the air rights, and a wind developer who has the track record, financing, etc., to actually pull off the project. Melvin Sauer pointed out that allowing this pattern of leaseholding to develop creates an irresponsible, patchwork method of resource development.
Leasehounds also aren’t famous for good legal contracts. The 50-60 page documents often come with stringent, scary (and probably unenforceable, but what normal person is going to know that?) confidentiality agreements. They tie up rights for extremely long terms. They often also risk infringing on mineral rights already assigned to other leaseholders. Etc.
How many of these lawyers have seen documents from leasehounds? When asked, 50% of the Salina crowd raised their hands. Apparently in Garden City, the number was closer to 90%.
It’s not supposed to work this way - but lawyers are turning into the de facto front line of wind policy in Kansas. This is happening because the Kansas legislature has not created clear wind policies (such as assigning clear direction to the KCC on how to deal with wind development). One presenter called it the “laissez-faire” approach to wind development.
When there’s a powerful need, yet no established policy guidelines, the job inevitably falls to lawyers and the justice system. Lawyers all across Kansas are finding themselves dealing with wind issues, far ahead of the legislature.
When lawyers see these leasehound contracts, what do they do? “Pray your clients haven’t signed it,” one lawyer cracked. True enough - but the problem is, lots of people already have. It won’t be too surprising if those contracts start to end up in court.
What policy model might the legislature follow for developing renewables? Existing oil and gas law. Kansas has very well developed oil and gas laws. The KCC also has a long history of oil and gas regulation. The existing structure could be adapted to wind. In fact, wind and oil and gas leases NEED to be compatible - no point developing one industry at the expense of another.
KCC Chief Litigation Counsel Thomas Stratton listed three major policy needs that the legislature might consider extending to the KCC: (1) standardized lease agreements and compensation to landowners, (2) harmonizing wind leases with oil and gas leases, and (3) decommissioning.
The latter means - how, when, and who pays for a wind farm installation to be broken down and removed. Huge costs, huge potential problems. Definitely a good area for state oversight.
I attended a wind forum sponsored by the KRC out in Phillipsburg a while back. My favorite quote of that day came from an older gentleman, a farmer, who was sitting to the back of me.
If you’ve been to any of these wind events, certain patterns emerge - for instance, someone will always tell the audience (an audience of full of potential wind farmers, mind you) that wind is an expensive source of power and coal is cheap and so why are we developing wind.
This man to the back of me snorted.
“Ha!” he said. “Damn right wind ain’t cheap! Better for me that way! I need a cash crop. I thought corn was going to be it, finally I get a good price for a bushel, first time in my life - and now they tell me I’m starving people, selling it for ethanol. Damnit. Wind ain’t cheap? That’s good.”
The reason I’m telling this story now, in terms of the wind seminar: That older gentleman was thinking of wind as a PRODUCER. Not as a CONSUMER. If you’re a producer, a fair price for your product is a good thing - and so are supportive resource development policies.
In the meantime, find a good lawyer!
I’ve skipped all the many details of negotiating wind contracts (sorry). I’ll continue to do so, because I am not a lawyer. However, Mike Irvin did mention that Farmers Bureau was planning on possibly developing wind law resources and checklists on their website.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
News Updates: Saline county zoned for small wind, McCain on climate policy, rising electric rates
May 14, 2008
Saline County zoning to allow home wind energy systems. The county commission unanimously approved the proposal (Salina Journal). Quotable from a supporter of the measure:
“I’m getting older, and someday I might not be able to cut firewood,” Nelson told commissioners Craig Stephenson, Sherri Barragree and Randy Duncan. “Even though I won’t pay for this in my lifetime, (wind energy) is still something I can utilize to reduce my utility bills, and then pass it on to somebody else.”
McCain makes big climate speech. As widely reported, presidential candidate John McCain recently unveiled his climate policies (Reuters, also see Grist). Quotable:
“”Whether we call it ‘climate change’ or ‘global warming,’ in the end we’re all left with the same set of facts. The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington. Good stewardship, prudence, and simple common sense demand that we act to meet the challenge, and act quickly. I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears. I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges.”
His policies would include working with China and India to cut worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a cap and trade system.
“Those who want clean coal technology, more wind and solar, nuclear power, biomass and bio-fuels will have their opportunity through a new market that rewards those and other innovations in clean energy,” he said.
Environmental groups had a range of responses to McCain’s proposals (were they all listening to the same speech…? One wonders) but the one I found most interesting came from Republicans for Environmental Protection.
“It’s really refreshing to have a Republican nominee that truly understands climate change and the need to act, and is really pressing for that,” said David Jenkins, government affairs director for the group. “We’ve been dealing with eight years of a president who has not felt the need to press on this issue.”
Jenkins said he was impressed by McCain’s emphasis on “building the infrastructure for a non-carbon energy future” — expanding development of wind, solar, plug-in hybrids, and biofuels. He also praised the speech as a sign that the Republican Party is coming up to speed on science and public opinion, while returning to traditional conservative values that place an importance on environmental preservation.
“I don’t think we’ve had a nominee since Teddy Roosevelt who truly understands that stewardship is supposed to be inherent to conservatism,” said Jenkins. “Hopefully it will help the rest of our party leaders get more in sync with where rank-and-file Republican voters are on this issue, and where Americans are in general.”
KCPLs rates to be forced up by increasing construction costs of new coal-fired plant. As we learned at great length in the recent Kansas coal controversy, construction costs of all energy sources are rising recently due to the current commodity bubble (especially for copper, steel, and cement). Coal plant costs across the nation have risen nearly 30% from their original estimates. (Wind turbine costs have risen as well, actually.)
The KCStar covers how this recent trend has affected KCPL. To add to the Star’s coverage, electricity rates across the nation are actually expected to double over the next few decades. (This projection was made by a Morgan Stanley presenter at a joint House and Senate Energy and Utilities committee meeting this spring.) Not only are regular construction and operations and maintenance costs increasing, but carbon regulation will affect rates as well.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
