(It was almost a year ago ~ Hill City, Kan. – Wind Power 101 can be read here if  Flipside Florida needs a refresher course).

Since then, WECC  and Graham County are in the third-quarter of year long meteorological study (met study). The company has specialized software which gauges Graham County’s wind “personality” – speed, direction, seasonal changes and so on. With this information, which in effect is wind-marketing data, Graham County can “sell” itself to electric-power companies/providers.  WECC is intricately involved in the marketing effort.

Nice weather and wind turbines courtesy WECC

The residents of Graham County are all on board with the project, land leases have been signed and everyone is anxious to proceed. At issue, however, is coordinating local red-tape. Poor Kirk Schweitzer, (Director, Graham County Economic Development) was almost in tears the other day. He’s torn out chunks of his hair which is now whiter than it should be.

Of course that isn’t true. But grid developer difficulties and inter-county squabbling is to the point where a “summit” between all parties, including a team from WECC, is taking place on June 24th.

So today we wait for agenda and participant information from Kirk Schweitzer (who promised it would arrive yesterday).

As readers can surmise, this is article is a work in progress to be updated as updates arrive.

Meanwhile in Logan County, Nebraska …

TO BE CONTINUED.

One hundred years later, Graham County would have welcomed any commotion –  the  New York Times reported in 2001 that  “within 50 miles of Morland [Graham County], fading towns settled more than a century ago — like Zurich, Palco, Jennings, Clayton and Dresden — lost 15 percent to 30 percent of their inhabitants.”

A town does not vanish in a single moment. Nor does it vanish for a single reason. In Morland’s case, the decline was brought on by the mechanization of agriculture and nearly two decades of low wheat prices and shrinking oil fields. –NYT

The renewal story of Graham County – as told by Kirk Schweitzer, Director, Graham County Economic Development – began with a question:  What does a county, with less than three people per square mile, do to attract  commerce to the northwest corner of Kansas? The answer came from an unlikely place — Jacksonville, Fla.-based Wind Energy Consulting & Contracting.

Harnessing wind power - From Beginning to Wind

Kansas was already in the process of harnessing the Great Plains winds for energy production – the Kansas Electric Transmission Authority (KETA) was established in 2005.

“[It's] mission is to ensure reliable operation of the electrical transmission system [grid], diversify and expand the Kansas economy and facilitate consumption of Kansas energy through improvements in the state’s electric transmission infrastructure.

In the 46-county region of western  Kansas, no such  structure exists. Independent power companies provide power to the 46-county region, of which Graham County is part.

Enter the Sept. 23 – 24, 2008 Kansas Wind & Renewable Energy Conference in Topeka. In an intensive two-day conference, over 45 speakers presented all aspects of primarily wind-power technology – transmission issues, manufacturing and business development and workforce issues.

At the conference, the  GCED – Schweitzer, four board members – and the mayor “took a crash course in Wind 101.”

Would it even be economically viable for  Graham County?

Next up – Wind Networking!

- k. a. gardner

Florida’s potential as a industry leader in algal biofuel is huge. The Center for Marine Bioenergy Research was just established in March at Florida State University through a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.   Mike Wetz heads up the center, which is under the umbrella of our friend Dave Cartes‘ Institute of  Energy Systems, Economics and Sustainabilty (IESES).

With our coastline, it only stands to REASON that Florida should be be a leader [in algae biofuel production] in the eastern U.S., Cartes said.

Of course FSU isn’t the only state university in Florida involved in bioenergy research (although news from  University of Gators Florida hasn’t been fully explored).  All eleven state universities make up the Florida Energy Systems Consortium - collaborative  energy research among the universities. They met in May with industry leaders for a Florida overview of the “Algal Industry Survey” conducted in association with the Centre for Management Technology.

Algae culivation ~ PetroAlgae

The reports’ findings – less than perfect:

1. Secrecy amongst companies in the field that leads to a lack of information sharing between affiliated scientists
2. Lack of rigorous assessments of the entire algal biofuel value chain (i.e., from production to distribution
3. Lack of trained workforce.

[As a guest blogger for the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy's blog, Clean, Mike Wetz posts this overview of marine algae biofuels].

FSU researchers are developing a state-of-the-art algal cultivation operation at a site on the North Florida coast, which includes an off-grid, zero emissions facility that utilizes recycled CO2 (from the processing of algal biomass) and nutrients (from local wastewater sources) to support algal growth.  Since this unique operation will be run by an academic institution, a major goal will be to work towards overcoming problems noted in the aforementioned state of the industry report.

[NOTE:  Not all details of next month's meeting are solified - a team of industry and state university academia is being put together now - UPDATE later]

Although the state of the industry report may seem mediocre,  Florida does have a number of established algal biofuels companies. Melbourne, Fla.-based PetroAlgae, for example, is a publicly-traded biofuels industry leader. The company received the Sustainable Energy Technology award  at the international Green Power Conference held in Brussels, Belgium this past March.

PetroAlgae is an important player in the state,  said Wetz. I have good interactions with them.

BUT OF COURSE – California also has plenty of coastline AND top-notch research universities …

Asked about California’s progress in algal biofuels, CARTES REPLIED:

We have unique capabilities in FLORIDA. We don’t NEED to go to California to find our expertise.

GAME ON!!

- k. a.gardner

“Green Cities™ Florida was held May 20-21, 2009 at the Orange County Convention Center South Concourse Building, and offered a highly interactive, outcome-based portfolio of workshops presented with practical steps and specific plans for participating in the growing $400 billion green economy.

www.greencitiesflorida.org

“State and national experts in green government, business, and technology provided practical tools, case studies, and resources.  Speakers’ shared vital information that is driving today’s new green economy and moving Florida towards a sustainable future.”

John Adams, president and CEO of Enterprise Florida, led a break-out discussion group exploring the challenges and opportunities in building Florida’s clean energy industry - not only in renewables, but  supporting technologies [energy- efficient building services and products; manufacturing and distribution]. The conference was well-attended  and Adams noted a keen interest in all cross-sections of  clean business opportunities.

Renewable energy technologies include  biomass, biofuels, geothermal,  solar,  wind; and emerging ocean research and development.

Click here for more information on at the State of Florida’s Clean Energy Industry Cluster from Enterprise Florida.

-k. a. gardner

UF graduate students Jason Harrington(left) and Ben Swanson joke around with a methanol fuel-cell bus

Fletcher spent much  of his career developing fuel-cell  technology. He’s also on staff at the University of Florida with the Florida Institute for Sustainable Energy. The JEA Clean and Renewable Energy Lab on the UNF campus is a mish-mosh of various projects, one of which is a methanol (not HYDROGEN) fuel-cell for bus transportation systems.

The New York Times announced Friday, May 8,  the government’s  decision to drop hydrogen fuel-cell funding.

“Developing those cells and coming up with a way to transport the hydrogen is a big challenge, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in releasing energy-related details of the administration’s budget for the year beginning Oct. 1. Dr. Chu said the government preferred to focus on PROJECTS THAT WOULD BARE FRUIT MORE QUICKLY.”

Obviously,  the energy secretary has never heard of methanol fuel-cells — or Georgetown University’s Advanced Vehicle Program. Its major funding is through the FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION and the U.S. DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION. Fletcher “works with Georgetown University Advanced Vehicle Development as part of the DOT Fuel Cell Bus Program.”

So again,

Jim Fletcher may, or may not be, having a heart attack at the moment. We won’t know for another month, however, because he’s in Australia. The program may have to be put on the back-burner.

Fletcher may not mind though. The lab has received funding for direct methanol fuel-cells, WHICH POWER LAP-TOP COMPUTERS.

We’ll have to wait until he returns from the “land down under” for an update on that …

-k.a.gardner

The Institute for Energy Systems, Economics and Sustainability‘s  David Cartes is annoyed.

He had sincerely hoped that Sen. Jim King, Chairman of  Florida’s Senate Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee, would  deliver a clean energy strategy and not simply a renewable portfolio standard. Cartes clearly mentioned this in an April 4 Letters to the Editor in the Florida Times-Union.

Prof. David Cartes

But earlier this week,  the Senate and Gov. Charlie  Crist, were suddenly attacked by H.R. 1219, the House’s off-shore drilling bill – too complicated, they said, to consider by Friday, the scheduled end of this year’s legislative session.

In all fairness, however,  Gov. Charlie Crist said on Monday that he was not willing to tie the oil-drilling proposal to his own plan which would require 20 percent of Florida’s power to come from renewable sources by 2020.

“This is pushing me over the edge,” Cartes said on Tuesday.  “We had the opportunity to drill for natural gas.” Cartes had just spoken with Energy and Utilities Policy Committee Chair Rep. Paige Kreegel and apparently was still on edge.

UPDATE: “Drilling is a necessary evil, because of our huge need for cleaner natural gas energy,” Cartes wrote in an  e-mail clarification, “… this is pushing me over the edge [towards accepting drilling].”

Cartes is a smart guy, being a mechanical engineer, which is probably why he’s director of Florida State University’s IESES. For those who might not know, FSU is in Tallahassee, just a  stone’s throw from both the Executive and Legislative branches.

It’s not like Gov. Charlie Crist or Sen. Jim King of JACKSONVILLE, weren’t able to ask Cartes for his opinion or anything.

Sen James E. "Jim" King (904) 727-3600 9485 Regency Square Blvd.

Cartes also is Associate Director of  the Center for Advanced Power Systems.   CAPS is basically “an academic-industrial consortium focused on the application of recent advances in power semiconductors, materials, advanced controls and superconductivity to advanced power system technologies.”  The Center works in co-operation with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. CAPS also has the co-operation of the Electric Ship Research and Development Consortium. The “ESRDC brings together in a single entity the combined programs and resources of leading electric power research institutions for research on near to mid-term electric ship concepts.”

The Office of Naval Research manages the ESRDC. And as EVERYONE knows, the U.S. Navy is especially well-liked in Jacksonville.

Cartes is absolutely convinced Florida needs a “smart” energy grid. This means a diversified energy portfolio. In his opinion,  SOLAR is a key player of that portfoliolio. He’d like to see SOLAR PANELS on Florida rooftops.

Much like what JACKSONVILLE ELECTRIC AUTHORITY,  the “largest community-owned utility in Florida,”  is attempting to do with it’s Solar Incentive Program.

The environmental performance of the GE units burning natural gas makes JEA's Brandy Branch one of the cleanest electric generation plants in the world. courtesy JEA

Cartes said a combination of NUCLEAR and solar should play a strategic roll in Florida’s DIVERSFIED energy mix to include NATURAL GAS because (of something extremely complicated) – no energy storage capacity and peak operating times.

For those who don’t have a doctorate in mechanical engineering or run an electric system serving more than 360,000 418,000 customers, like the Florida Executive and Legislative branches,  OFF-SHORE DRILLING FOR NATURAL GAS  might be taken up for consideration in the next legislative session.

– k. a. gardner

In remembrance: Florida State Senator Jim King,  1939 – 2009

SO FAR …

Jacksonville, Fla. (July 28, 2008) – City of Jacksonville, Landfill Energy Systems, and Waste Management. JEA will purchase from

courtesy of Landfill Energy Systems

Landfill Energy Systems the power generated from methane, the landfill gas.  …

Bill Owen, vice president of Landfill Energy Systems (LES) said, “We’re very excited about building one of Florida’s largest landfill gas-to-energy plants right here in Jacksonville. This project is unique in that it involves many parties working together to achieve a common goal of creating an environmentally beneficial project for the citizens of Jacksonville. JEA, the City of Jacksonville, Waste Management and LES are working together to make this project a success.”

MEANWHILE …

Cash for Gas

Mar 1, 2009 -Phoenix-based Republic Services has sold the right to purchase landfill gas from its Hickory Ridge Landfill in Conley, Ga., to Global Energy Systems (GES), Summerville, S.C.

“Republic is very excited to add this project to our portfolio of more than 80 landfill-gas-to-energy projects,” said Bill Held, senior director of renewable energy for Republic, in a press release.

TO ADD TO THE CONFUSION …

IStockAnalyst on March 13, 2009, reported that the Florida Times-Union’s Tia Mitchell’s on March 13 reported:

Landfill Trash to Light Up City JEA Would Convert Trail Ridge Methane into a Renewable Energy Source.

... The city [COJ] has received nearly $1 million under the agreement [with LES] and will receive $193,500 for the next 22 years under the contract terms.

OUR NEXT CHAPTER … Trail Ridge Biomass War!

– k. a. gardner

As is almost always the case, his column was particularly uninformed:

Relying solely on another publication’s reporting, he concluded that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was somehow underhanded in  using  a private company’s generosity for his own personal gain –

People’s governor ought to fly coach for a change

“That morning, before first light, I had heard the screech of a barn owl and the hoot, hoot, hoot of a barred owl echo through a pine forest.

The light of a rising crescent moon was replaced by the orange glow of dawn.

As I said, I was in a good mood. Then I made the mistake of reading the online editions of several of the state’s newspapers. …”

The discontent of winter returned.

For some unknown reason, and in the middle of  a farmer’s lush green field in South Georgia, Littlepage was suddenly overcome with vexation:

The Sun Sentinel said that last November Skyway Aviation in Orlando flew Crist to California for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s climate summit.

Obviously, Littlepage and perhaps The Sun Sentinel, were not aware that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attended a similar event in Miami earlier in the year.

2008 Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate Change

2008 Serve to Preserve Climate Summit

June 25-26, 2008

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a KEYNOTE speaker!

Apparently, the two governors are in cahoots to shamelessly promote themselves, as well as environmental concerns.

Do a little research Littlepage.

– k. a. gardner