Monthly Archives: February 2010
Winning the Energy Wars
Most Americans expect their country to be a world leader in the use and manufacture of renewable energy like solar and wind. They just don’t agree on how to make that happen. The view from Beijing and Shanghai is different: They don’t believe we can get there at all. Continue reading
GC Telegram Agrees with GPACE on Need for Public Hearings
Just as in 2006, when the Kansas Department of Health and Environment organized public meetings to gather input on Sunflower’s request for an air-quality permit needed to add three 700-megawatt units (later changed to two), the KDHE will again ask Kansans to provide input on a plant expansion. Continue reading
The Long Road to an Alternative-Energy Future
New energy technologies are coming that will shrink our use of fossil fuels and cut emissions of greenhouse gases. Just don’t expect them anytime soon. Why the delay? After all, the computer revolution has shown how rapidly new innovations can be imagined, developed, brought to market and have an impact. But new energy technologies don’t work that way—they can take years to gain just a toehold in the market, and 20 to 30 years to push aside existing products or techniques. Continue reading
Study Ranks Kansas 2nd in Nation for Wind Power
Kansas is now No. 2 for wind potential, according to data released Friday by the Department of Energy. The new study vaulted Kansas and Texas — the new No. 1 — past former wind-potential leader North Dakota, which fell all the way to No. 6 on the new list. Continue reading
West Texas Wind Farms Capitalizing on Emerging Industry
For generations, oil and gas have fueled the energy supply here in the state of Texas, but in many West Texas counties, wind energy is becoming more popular. The topography makes it an opportune setting for wind energy, transforming what was once primarily agricultural land. At night, the plains and mesas of West Texas seem more like a city skyline with flashing lights on the horizon. Continue reading
Using Coal Ash to Melt Ice?
On Thursday, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will start using coal ash to melt the thick ice on the Platte River in Omaha, Nebraska, to prevent ice jams and severe flooding. Continue reading
America’s Wind Energy Potential Triples in New Estimate
The amount of wind power that theoretically could be generated in the United States tripled in the newest assessment of the nation’s wind resources. Continue reading
KCC Approves Rate Increase for Wheatland Electric
The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) issued an order Thursday, February 11th approving a $4,819,343 increase in rates for customers of Wheatland Electric Cooperative. Continue reading
Natural Gas May Help Cut Emissions
“The more I look into it, the more I’m beginning to think there is a fairly simple way to meet President Obama’s short-term pledge of reducing carbon emissions in the United States by 17 percent over the next decade. The silver bullet: Decommission about two-thirds of the electric-generating capacity fueled by cheap and plentiful coal, and replace it with power generated from cheap and plentiful natural gas, which emits half as much carbon for each megawatt of electricity.” Continue reading
