The Emporia Gazette

November 7, 2009

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I’ve worked for decades to save energy for a large state agency. So it’s with great interest that I read in this paper and others about our runaway energy prices. Everyone seems to have an explanation. Before we dive into an election-fueled debate on the issue, perhaps a realistic and critical assessment of our country’s current energy “policy” would be helpful.

The reality is that even after a de facto act of war against us by OPEC in the 1970s and the obvious energy implications of our ongoing struggle in Iraq, we still have no National Energy Policy.

Compare our miserable public transportation to China or much of Europe, for example. Or compare our nuclear energy to Russia, China, or Europe. France, for example, has standardized our nuclear plant design and replicated it across their country. Could we learn something from their near energy independence? Apparently no. Our nuclear energy program has gone nowhere since our last plants were opened almost 30 years ago. Sad.

During the same time, our government stands idly by while responsible countries increase mileage standards for cars. Instead of acting in our interests, the United States EPA actually sues California for attempting to make relatively tiny increases to their mileage standards. Had U.S. car makers been forced to increase mileage could it be that they would have kept pace with Honda and Toyota profits and growth?

We also can’t develop promising energy sources in hundreds of potentially great areas in the United States due to the Not-In-My-Backyard Syndrome. Can we build wind turbines in the Flint Hills? Heaven’s no! That would require the installation of about 150 wind turbines in the Flint Hills, which would be just a terrible eyesore! So what’s our ingenious alternative? Build the wind turbines in western Kansas. But how do we get the electricity from those turbines to eastern markets? Simple, we build thousands of high-voltage transmission towers in the Flint Hills. Again, compare us to the Europeans, who have wind generation on some of the best properties in the world. Not in my backyard.

We also can’t build a coal-fired plant that would be much more efficient than hundreds (if not thousands) already in operation. All the while, China is opening one new, extremely polluting coal plant every two days. But our governor went from being a supporter of the coal plant to vetoing. (See her Dec. 21 2006 comments in the Lawrence Journal. Now, with increased vice-presidential prospects arose, she “went south” on helping us solve our current electricity generation problem. What did we get? More study groups and committees.

The inevitable result of delay, inaction, and will be much, much higher energy bills. What you are hearing about record prices is true. Why? Westar can’t build new, large, and efficient generation plants. They can’t build coal or nuclear easily, so they do the only thing they can — build little gas-fired peaking plants like the one going in here in Emporia. These peaking plants are very inefficient. Inefficient production of electricity equals higher unit costs. If you don’t believe me, watch what happens when this new plant comes on line. In addition, bill for the millions of dollars needed to clean up Westar’s coal plants is being paid for by you and me.

We also can’t drill for new oil and gas in north Alaska. The Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve area of Alaska may hold as much as 12.5 percent of our daily oil consumption needs, if we would just get to developing it. But this has also been stalled for decades. We can’t drill for new oil off California. There are known oil reserves that can’t be accessed. California, with an economy roughly equal to Italy, is infamous for either stopping or attempting to stop every known form of energy production. We can’t drill in areas off the East Coast, especially nowhere near the coast where Senator Kennedy has a home. There are areas of the Gulf where we can’t drill.

We can’t utilize hydrothermal in Wyoming. Could Iceland could show us how to do so safely?

We can’t install a second nuclear plant at Wolf Creek, where it was intended to be built soon after the first was opened. Now it takes decades to simply get a “study” done, let alone to get a new license. How could France figure this out ages ago?

We’ve also failed to downsize our cars over the last 30 years since the aforementioned act of war by OPEC. Somehow people get away with driving Hummers displaying American flags. Which is more patriotic: 50 miles per gallon or 8?

No new oil refineries are being built for the United States. Again: not in my back yard! Plus the environmental regulations for new plants almost make them impossible. How dumb is this?

The State of Kansas is still “studying” how to best save energy in its own buildings. A simple lamping retrofit in public areas and buildings would save thousands of dollars NOW. New LED lamps save thousands and almost never burn out. But debate and inaction on energy is contagious.

The federal government scrapped a program to recycle spent nuclear rods that would recycle the spent rods back into the nuclear plants for reuse. This would have gone a long way to address the spent rod problems.

For anyone banking on solar energy to meet our needs, I have one absolute prediction: darkness. You may be familiar with it, as it seems to come around most nights. Some people go for a feel-good fix, so they ignore the obvious. The same is true for unrealistic expectations of wind energy when winds die during hot summer months.

If you can find an engineer who has a hope for solar and wind to meet our needs, I’ll put in with you. Otherwise, we must do what has to be done now with coal and nuclear.

Ethanol plants must be subsidized by you and me to work, and they are therefore screwing thing up royally. They simply fail to produce more energy than they use. Otherwise, subsidies wouldn’t be necessary. Ethanol plants go belly up in short order because they simply don’t work.

David Pimental, a leading Cornell University agricultural expert, has calculated that powering the average U.S. automobile for one year on ethanol (blended with gasoline) derived from corn would require 11 acres of farmland, the same space needed to grow a year’s supply of food for seven people. Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion into ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are needed to make one gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an energy value of only 77,000 BTUS. Thus, 70 percent more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in it. Every time you make one gallon of ethanol, there is a net energy loss of 54,000 BTUs. Mr. Pimentel concluded that “abusing our precious croplands to grow corn for an energy-inefficient process that yields low-grade automobile fuels amounts to unsustainable subsidized food burning.”

A big ethanol plant owner, Ethanex, just announced that it cannot go forward with production and has filed for bankruptcy. This is a simply because the ethanol plants don’t produce more energy than they use. Plus, they waste millions of bushels of grain that drive commodity prices ever higher. The more food we waste the less we have, so the more the price goes up for the commodity. I can only be happy that the market will take care of this matter.

No presidential candidate is talking about energy to any serious degree. You can find out important stuff like who their favorite ball team is, but forget hearing the truth about conservation and new production. I suppose this is too dim a topic to discuss when part of the solution is self-discipline and sacrifice.

It is silly to think that the U.S. oil companies are controlling the price of energy because the United States is down to producing only about 12 percent of the world’s production.

I have about 20 more of these observations, but this is really making me depressed. I know one thing for sure: There is a way that we could free up millions of gallons of gasoline with present day knowledge and equipment. Just so the comment is not made that I have no solutions, here is just one that will work right now without any “pie in the sky’ solutions that are likely not to work. I would present this solution for right now:

1. Replace as many natural gas electric plants with nuclear.

2. Convert public transportation to compressed natural gas that is now freed up from the gas-fired electric plants that are replaced by nuclear.

3. This would free up millions of gallons of gasoline.

4. As a bonus get going on breeder reactors, which can recycle most of the nuclear waste from the new nuclear plants.

Here is another breaking news item. Want to read about a car that makes its own fuel from water and gets 100 miles per gallon on water. Look here: http://hytechapps.com/company/press

I understand that Congress is doing hearings on this. Kentucky is even looking into making all the State owned vehicles run on this system. Just think if this is going to work. Kansas could even do like Kentucky with its State vehicles and perhaps reduce CO2 so much that we could install a new coal plant. This all remains to be proven, but boy, if this is true, it changes everything!

Now I have given the “chicken littles” something else to tear apart. This brings me to a comment by Mark Twain that sums up our energy leadership up to this time:

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”

Don’t allow hysteria to replace known technology. Americans have been great problem solvers in the past, and we can be again.

Bill Hartman is director of building services at Emporia State University. His opinions stated here are his own and do not reflect any stand by the university.

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