Water + Energy - Kansas Style

There is little doubt that water and energy are related - especially here in western Kansas where so much energy is used to pump groundwater.  That's one of the main reasons I was so pleased to participate on the nomination committee within the Climate + Energy Project (CEP) to seek out innovative water and energy activities.  I've blogged about this group before - here.

As a result of all this work, the CEP has been planning a website to showcase the selected activities following a nomination and selection process, and field interviews with the principals.  The CEP has just announced that their website, WaterAndEnergyProgress.org, is now up and running.  

You'll have to be patient, though, as the CEP is going to unveil the selected activities one at a time - one each month.  I won't tell you what the selected innovations are, but they are wide-ranging in nature, and involve conservation approaches that should be achievable by most producers.  

According to project manager Rachel Myslivy, "The stories will contain links to research, funding opportunities, and supporting organizations. Digital farm tours, podcasts, and written materials will be used to tell the story of each successful innovation.  You can look forward to guest bloggers, event announcements, spotlights on research and all sorts of great information about innovations in agriculture."

The hope is to tell about and spur discussion and further conversation about the innovative activities in such a way that will encourage and bring about collaborative research, a strengthing of personal networks, and a continuation of innovative thinking across Kansas.

That's a tall order, but an important one, none-the-less.

Climate & Energy Project

I was contacted a few months ago about participating in a new effort being developed by the Climate and Energy Project - a group interested in water and energy conservation in the Midwest.

Their effort involves promoting on-farm water and energy efficiency.  Their plan is to work with all the influential agriculture, water organizations and progressive coops in the state to identify best practices in water and energy conservation on farms and in agriculture businesses.  They then want to highlight the best practices in a highly publicized report (and videos) at a recognition event and share them across the state for others to emulate.  

The steering committee members - myself included - are to scour our areas to find examples of energy and water conservation that meet the criteria of:  1)  replicable, scalable and appropriate for diverse Kansas farms; 2) preserves and enhances water quality; 3) reduces greenhouse gas emissions; 4) represents an affordable approach; 5) saves money; and 6) preserves or enhances soil quality. When these specific cases are identified, we'll all decide which are the best of the best, then the CEP folks will seek to contact and interview the user for all the detail that will help others implement their great ideas.

As we move forward on this, I'm wondering if anyone out in the blog-o-sphere has any superlative ideas or examples that they'd like to share.  Not so much people, but practices.  If it's being done elsewhere, I'm pretty sure someone in Kansas is trying it too.

Water - Refreshing... (and more)

There really are few drinks as refreshing as a cold glass of water, but many don't realize what else is in that cool glass ready to get gulped.  There is energy in there, for one thing.

But you can bet the U.S. Navy knows this.  I read where they are exploring technologies to coax enough energy out of seawater to run their ships.  Think of the advantages they would have by not needing to refuel.  Not to mention the cost and time savings.

What they are looking into is extracting carbon dioxide and hydrogen from the seawater under the ship and turning these elements into J-5 jet fuel.  The trick is to do it at a rate that equals or exceeds their rate of usage in their critical operations modes.

As most know, it takes energy to do the extraction and then the conversion - a fact not lost on the Navy.  They report that the hydrogen production part of the process alone will take 60% of the total energy available in the produced product.  And where will this energy come from?    The two most likely sources are from ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) or nuclear power from onboard reactors. Before you get too excited, the Navy is expecting an 8-10 year time frame before any of this may even get tested.  And that's assuming funding can be found and a cost-effective process can be developed.

First it was NASA turning to water for future mission use, now it appears to be the U.S. Navy.  I suppose next we'll hear from Detroit?!  One thing is for sure, if all our energy needs are eventually going to come from water, I'll bet the water supply shortages are going to get worse.  Of course, if all our water needs are going to come from the ocean, that should help keep the sea-level rise in check.

Finally, for those who claim the Water/Energy Nexus is the next big thing, it sounds like you might be right.