Wind power in Kansas is not a new concept. For decades, ranchers and farmers used the power of blowing winds to pump water to fill stock tanks and to irrigate crops. With changes in needs and technologies, the wind is now also seen as a viable means to generate electricity. A 1991 study by Pacific Northwest Laboratory ranked Kansas as having the third best wind energy resource after North Dakota and Texas. Yet, thus far, the wind resource for electricity generation has largely gone untapped, as Kansas ranks 13th in actual electricity produced from wind, and will soon drop to 19th as current projects in other states come on-line. What can be done to facilitate the emergence of wind in the Kansas energy picture?
On July 24, over 300 people met at the Kansas Wind Energy 2000 conference in Manhattan, Kansas to discuss this. This inaugural conference was organized by a group of people including State legislators and utility subcommittee members, Tom Sloan, Laura McClure, and Carl Holmes; as well as representatives from Western Resources and Utilicorp electric utilities, the Kansas Energy Program of the Kansas Corporation Commission, the National Wind Coordinating Committee, the University of Kansas Energy Research Center and an independent energy consultant. The day's events included welcome addresses from Gov. Bill Graves, Jon Wefald of Kansas State University President and Tom Grennan of Western Resources, Inc. as well as a keynote address by Bob Dixon, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Power Technologies at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Other speakers addressed issues including Kansas' wind energy potential, accurate siting, social and legal aspects, current and emerging technologies, wind energy as a farm crop, and impact of wind generation on the electric grid. The strong response to the conference included not only the 300 attendees, but 20 vendors and representatives from nearly 10 wind turbine manufacturers and an assortment of wind advocacy and state land interest groups as well.
A recurring theme throughout the day was that for wind energy to gain a foothold in Kansas, it will require legislative initiatives from the Kansas legislature. Tax credits, mandates requiring utilities to provide "green energy" options to their customers, retail wheeling, and net metering were some of the possible legislative actions attendees presented during discussions. Currently, only utility companies are allowed to sell electricity in the state. Entrepreneurs or alternative-energy developers who want to produce electricity in Kansas are currently required to sell the electricity to the local utility, which is neither required to buy it nor pay more than the "avoided cost" rates for the electricity, which normally is in the 1 - 2 1/2 cent range.
The strong response to this inaugural Kansas Wind Energy conference, signals that there is significant interest in wind and alternative energy in the state fromboth citizens and potential developers. The KU Energy Research Center, as one of the co-sponsors and organizers of this event, is in a position to help establish collaborations as well as provide seed funds for future research projects involving this and other Energy related technologies. For more information contact Scott W.White at (785)864-2073
University of Kansas researchers at the Energy Research Center and the Kansas Geological Survey have received a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for a three-year, five-state project related to reducing greenhouse gas concentrations.
The grant will be used to develop a digital database of information about carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas. The database will integrate regional information on CO2 sources with potential sites for geologic sequestration.
Some scientists believe that human-induced increases in carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases, may contribute to the current cycle of warming the earth is undergoing today. Greenhouse gases, mostly water vapor but also carbon dioxide and methane, trap heat in the earth's atmosphere rather than radiating it back to deep space. Without these gases, the earth would be too cold to sustain life as we know it, like Mars. However, if human activities are generating more greenhouse gases than the atmosphere, land, and oceans can absorb, it will ultimately cause more warming than natural.
Geologic sequestration--trapping CO2 in geological reservoirs--may be one way to safely manage CO2 over long periods of time. Potential sites for such sequestration include oil and gas fields, coal beds, and abandoned subsurface mines.
The database, called the Midcontinent Interactive Digital Carbon Atlas and Relational DataBase (MIDCARB), will be developed by a consortium of five state geological surveys. The other states involved are Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.
"The goal is to create a planning tool that will allow users to evaluate different strategies for sequestration in the midcontinent," said Survey geologist and Co-Director of the ERC, Tim Carr, leader of the project. "We want to provide a sound knowledge base that will allow for well-informed policy decisions."
The project will involve the design and construction of relational databases and software systems that can access and integrate data from a variety of different computers.
Among the information contained in MIDCARB will be an inventory of large stationary CO2 sources, such as coal-fired power plants, fertilizer plants, and steel mills. Maps will show locations of potential sequestration sites in relation to power plants and other large CO2 sources.
"Because increases in atmospheric CO2 are thought to be linked to global climate change, it's possible that CO2 emissions may be regulated in the future," said Scott White, researcher at the KU Energy Research Center. "With MIDCARB, our goal is to gather all the information together in one place and put it in a form that will allow planners to make informed decisions about how best to manage CO2 in the region."
In related research, KU researchers are conducting a pilot project near Russell, Kansas, to study the technical and economic feasibility of using CO2 to recover additional oil from depleted reservoirs. One potential source for the CO2 used in this recovery are flue gases discharged at electrical power plants.
In addition to the DOE funds, the five states will contribute $916,000 to the project. KU's share of the federal funding will be about $672,000 plus administration costs over the three years of the project.
The MIDCARB is one of 13 projects being funded by the DOE's carbon sequestration reseach program. This is a relatively new area of science that envisions ways to capture greenhouse gases and either store them for centuries or recycle them into useful products.
MIDCARB extends KU's research and ERC's involvement in inter-department collaboration on carbon dioxide management and potential utilization. The Department of Energy currently funds a five-year field demonstration project, "Evaluation of Potential for CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery in Kansas". For more info.. contact Tim Carr, or Scott White, KGS.
The Kansas Geological Survey was awarded a $754,000 3-year contract in July from the Department of Energy for a proposal submitted through the ERC. The project will develop a website for quantitative geologic and engineering modeling to help clients define appropriate technologies to use in improving recovery in petroleum reservoirs. The project, Geo-Engineering Modeling Through Internet Informatics (GEMINI), will assemble information on the Website including the Survey’s Digital Petroleum Atlas and data uploaded by the client. The information will be analyzed with an extensive suite of web-accessed software using intelligent interfaces and tutorial component to assist the client in understanding the theory and application of the software and maximizing use of GEMINI.
Murfin Drilling Company and Mull Drilling Company (Wichita), Phillips Petroleum Company (Bartlesville, OK), Pioneer Natural Resources Company (Irving, TX), and Vastar Resource, Inc. (Houston, TX), will participate by providing data and expertise to test the software and provide feedback, including participation in an annual review meeting. Increased skills to develop and use reservoir models will enable operators to optimize recovery processes, which can significantly lower operating costs and increase production. The website will encourage collaboration among companies, consultants, and research entities, building on the increasing capabilities of the Internet.
Web-accessed software will assist in parameter definition and petrophysical and geo-engineering modeling. Geomodel development will include reservoir zonation, automated correlation of flow units, gridding, and mapping. Geo-engineering modeling will encompass volumetrics, material balance, and parameterization for reservoir simulation. Utilities will permit import and export of results. Component software will include a hydrocarbon pay assistant called KHAN (Kansas Hydrocarbon Association Navigator) that will automatically assemble data and model results as defined by the user. A predecessor of KHAN called KIPLING has proven useful in assisting geologists in classifying rocks based on petrophysical information (Figure 1).
The Kansas Geological Survey will provide $362,000 in cost sharing for the 36-month project. The project contact is W. Lynn Watney, Executive Director, ERC. Other Co-PI’s include Tim Carr, Saibal Bhattacharya, Geoff Bohling, John Doveton, and Kurt Look. Alan Byrnes, Dave Collins, Glen Gagnon, Bill Guy, and Mike Magnuson are also co-investigators in the project. New staff will include a Lead Developer (programmer) and Data Manager. Job descriptions will soon be posted on the Survey’s website.
This project was initiated in March, 2000. The Department of Energy awarded a $1.9 million grant to KU’s Center for Research, Inc. (KU’s research administration corporation) and the KU Energy Research Center for a field demonstration project using carbon dioxide to recover additional petroleum from a reservoir in the Hall-Gurney Field in central Kansas. Partners in the six-year project are the Kansas Geological Survey, the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project (both at KU), Kinder-Morgan CO2 Company, L.P., MV Energy, LLC, of Wichita, and the Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing. In addition to the $1.9 million from DOE, the project’s partners are contributing another $3.5 million in services and financing, for a total project cost of $5.4 million.
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Over the last five months principal activities have included geologic, petrophysical, and engineering characterization of the selected pilot site in the Colliver-Carter leases (sections 28 and 33, T14S, R13W) in Russell County (figure), southeast of Russell, KS and reservoir numerical simulation to determine the best location for the new CO2 injection well.
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Characterization, conducted by the KGS, has defined the important reservoir properties including porosity, permeability, and fluid saturations. Whole core permeability and porosity values for the Colliver lease demonstration site are good (red squares) compared to other Lansing-Kansas City wells.
The target Lansing "C" zone averages 14.2 feet thick and can be divided into six intervals exhibiting different reservoir properties. The Colliver 18 well illustrates the gamma ray and neutron porosity properties typical of layers C1 through C6. For the lease, the best interval (layer C2) exhibits an average porosity of 28% and permeability of 216 millidarcies. The poorest interval (layer C6) exhibits an average porosity of 14% and permeability of 0.7 millidarcies).
Numerical reservoir simulation, conducted at the TORP, has refined reservoir properties based on the production history and provided a model for predicting the optimum location of the new CO2 injection wells. The first well, to be drilled in mid-late September, will be located in the Colliver lease.
For more information contact Alan Brynes, KGS or P. Willhite, TORP.
Sponsored by the Division of Environmental Geosciences, American Association of Petroleum Geologists; Geological Society of America; American Geological Institute; the United States Geological Survey; the United States Department of Energy; and the University of Kansas Energy Research Center.
The issues:
The Earth is a finite dynamic system, with practical limits on both the quality and quantity of its natural resources. Earth processes and earth
resources are the ultimate arbitrators of the human condition.
Civilization has thrived because of easy access to natural resources from the earth. Strangely, however, geology and the earth sciences have not played a significant role in public policy discussions about resource sustainability, with the result that misconceptions abound and misunderstandings characterize the discussions. The inextricable linkage of geologic (abiotic) resources with biologic (biotic) resources requires that earth scientists engage their colleagues in the life sciences as colleagues in discussions of "sustainability."
Earth resources, especially water and energy, are essential to preserving the fabric of society. Human life on earth depends on both. If human population continues to geometrically increase and the quantity of either potable water or economical energy is truly finite, improving the quality of life for most individuals and the global human condition generally is unlikely.
The earth science community is ethically required to provide policy leadership concerning earth resources (metals, industrial minerals, potable and process water, energy, and soils) and geologic hazards (earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, stream channel changes, shoreline erosion, and climate change).
Serious questions have been raised about our ability to supply sufficient economical energy and water of appropriate quality to sustain the rapidly growing human population though the new century. Throughout the world, rising expectations of improvement in the material standard of living for all people exacerbates potential shortages of natural resources.
One scientific question is, "Are potable water and economical energy truly finite, or do the apparent limits on their quantity merely represent technological opportunities?" The answers to the concomitant social and political questions, "Are there truly ethical dilemmas as well as economic dilemmas to resource supply and consumption?" depend on the answers to the original scientific question.
One conference can effectively address only a small segment of earth resource and earth process sustainability. We have chosen energy and water as the two most fundamental resource issues that must be globally addressed.
The Conference:
Because the workshop is designed to be multidisciplinary and of limited duration, the focus will be on water and energy resources. Water and energy are the building blocks of human society and the global economy, and are most likely to create opportunities for communication among life scientists and earth scientists. These issues will be addressed in a workshop of 30 experts.
Goal:
The goal of the conference is to identify and enumerate as many of the geological constraints on sustaining energy and water resources as possible. We will identify the policy principles that influence the sustainability of these resources and bring the issues to public attention; particularly to the attention of our colleagues in other sciences.
Work plan:
This conference/workshop will summarize our understanding of the future supply (resource base) of water and energy expressed as needs, demands, technology advances and substitutions, balanced by technological development, biological resource management, and population growth, and identify the ranges of uncertainty in our understanding.
The participants will then address the policy and ethical constraints required to assure society of sufficient water and energy in the foreseeable future. We expect to define the resource constraints on any national and global natural resources sustainability policy. We will examine some of the ethical issues that are created by unequal distribution of natural resources.
Organization and Structure:
The conference will be an invitation only workshop, with nationally prominent, speaker teams addressing energy and water sustainability topics, each speaker to be followed by a discussion among the participants. Proceedings of the conference will be derived from compilation of the papers, summaries, and records of the workshop.
Participants will represent a broad cross-section of the earth and life sciences. It is possible that the participants will reach a consensus that will permit the publication of a summary document for public distribution. There will be written documentation of the conference. Other products may be derived from the discussions.
For invitations or further information, contact:
Lee C. Gerhard, Kansas Geological Survey, 1930 Constant Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66047, 785-864-3965, E-Mail: lgerhard@kgs.ukans.edu
Conference Coordinator: Melanie Cromwell, University of Kansas Energy Research Center, 1930 Constant Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66047, 785-864-4445
Convening Committee:
Lee Allison, Director of KGS and ERC Campus Advisory Board Member will present a talk entitled "Helping Producers Make Kansas Richer".
Tim Carr, KGS Section Chief and ERC co-director and Saibal Bhattacharya of KGS and Richard Pancake with TORP will present "Horizontal Drilling in Kansas-A Case Study".
AAPG Hedberg Conference-Information is now online for this conference. Applied Reservoir Characterization Using Geostatistics: The Value of Spatial Modeling, to be held December 3-6, 2000, in Houston (The Woodlands), Texas.
For more information contact Tim Carr at KGS.
Information and applications are now available in the ERC office. There are three categories.
Planning Awards, due January 1, 2001.
are to support activities that will lead to the development of: Multi-investigator and/or multi-disciplinary research or a grant proposal in response to or in anticipation of a NSF RFP.
First Awards, due October 16, 2000.
First Awards are to help tenure track faculty attain competitive extramural funding early in their careers. A faculty member may: Submit a proposal to NSF and concurrently submit to Kansas NSF EPSCoR; submit a proposals to Kansas EPSCoR that was declined by NSF or Submit a proposal to NSF EPSCoR that will be submitted to the NSF by December 31 in the first year of the faculty members appointment.
Special Initiative Awards, due Sept. 5, 2000.
Special Initiative Awards are to provide ‘venture capital’ to initiate or enhance on-going research projects that have a high potential to acquire sustained non-EPSCoR support.