FRANKFORT, Ky. – State lawmakers recently heard plans to create power in Kentucky from wind and make fuel from plants instead of petroleum at a future biodiesel plant in Winchester.
Scott Sykes with Genesis Development, an Elkhorn City-based wind energy company that plans to develop large scale wind energy projects atop reclaimed or abandoned coal mines in Eastern Kentucky, told lawmakers on the Special Subcommittee on Energy that there are now 25 gigawatts of power produced by wind energy in the U.S.
Wind power, he added, is the fastest growing energy source in the world.
"So, wind power is ready. The question is, is Kentucky ready? I believe that it is," Sykes said. Wind power can compliment Kentucky’s existing fossil-fuel industry by supplementing the work of that industry rather than competing with it, he said.
"It’s all about weaning ourselves off foreign oil and being able to diversify coal," he said. "We’re not wanting to compete with coal, by any means—we want to be able to partner with them. Coal is very important to the economy of Eastern Kentucky, and do we appreciate that."
Dr. Bruce Pratt of Eastern Kentucky University explained plans for a pilot plant in Winchester and Clark County will produce around 2 million gallons of biodiesel a year from biomass like switch grass and corn stoker.
The pilot plant, which is a partnership between EKU and California-based General Atomics among others, will cost around $20-25 million to build and will precede the partnership’s planned construction of a 50 million gallon commercial plant.
The EKU/General Atomics biofuel project is in its first phase of planning, with the first round of federal funding received Sept. 3, Pratt said. The pilot plant will be constructed during the second phase of the project after the biofuel produced during the first phase is found to be engine-compatible.
"What you are trying to do here is buy down the technology so we can attract private investors to go into the final phase, which is commercialization," Pratt said. The commercial plant will require one million metric tons of biomass from within 50 miles of the plant to produce biofuel at between $1.65 and $4 per gallon. It will also require additional funding, which Pratt said the partnership hopes to receive.
Besides helping the environment, Pratt said the use of biofuels would bolster homeland security.
"Right now 60 percent of our oil is coming from outside the United States. Some of that oil is coming from parts of the world that are not necessarily friendly to the United States, like Venezuela, or that are not necessarily politically stable," Pratt said.
In 2008 alone, the U.S. spent approximately $327 billion on foreign oil, he said.
"If we could just displace 10 percent of our imported oil, that’s almost $33 billion that stays in the United States--that stays in the Commonwealth of Kentucky," Pratt said. Having a biofuels industry in Kentucky, he said, would have an economic impact that would be "multiplied several times."
Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, said that the biofuel project planned by EKU and General Atomics is a good model to follow.
"This can be replicated with biomass in a lot of different areas (in the United States)," Moberly said, adding that the fuel and be produced and used locally without costly transport.
Subcommittee Co-Chair Rep. Keith Hall, D-Phelps, said supporting agriculture is important as well.
"I think it’s very instrumental that we find ways to utilize our farms and our facilities to get the best bang for our buck and create energy for the future," Hall said.
Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence, said he supports the biofuel efforts of EKU and General Atomics but that other options, like turning fossil fuel into energy sources, shouldn’t be overlooked.
"We can take and make diesel fuel from coal and that doesn’t take 10 years to develop; that can be done today," Gooch said. "We need to be considering everything and not dismiss things that can be done today."
Also testifying before the committee was Roger Ford with CNG Energy, who spoke about his company’s efforts to commercialize alternative transportation fuels including compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas and hydrogen.
