Giving Fossil Fuels the Shaft

Michigan Tech’s keynote speaker for World Water Day on the 23rd of March is oceanographer and dynamic educator Joellen Russel from the University of Arizona.  Her studies have led to breakthroughs in understanding the southern oceans, their role in absorbing carbon dioxide, and in the carbon cycle. All are welcome to attend.

Michigan Technological University and Northern Michigan University are gems in education bringing lessons from the past, the laws of science, and the desire to peer into the future envisioning our needs in an ever-changing universe.

Recently, I was privileged to attend climate videographer Peter Sinclair’s* presentation on climate challenges and solutions at the MTU Rozsa Center. His world-wide travels to record the work of climate scientists makes for an amazing educational evening.

Following are a few facts and solutions Mr. Sinclair revealed.

Laurence D. Fink, the founder and chief executive of BlackRock, announced his firm would make investment decisions with environmental sustainability as a core goal. In financial markets this is as big an announcement as there is. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager with nearly 7 Trillion in assets.

The Lazard energy report confirms utility scale wind and solar electric are the least expensive ways to produce electric energy.

Between 2018 and 2019 Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries decreased in price 35% making them the least expensive form of stored energy for short duration needs.

Elon Musk proved the value of Lithium Ion batteries in dramatic fashion just recently. South Australia has had challenges with its utility electric flow. On a 50 million dollar bet with another billionaire he guaranteed Tesla could install a 100MW battery backup system in less than 100 days, or he would do it for free. Tesla did it in 63 days. The beauty of the system is if the power-grid hiccups, it can intervene mid-hic and power-up immediately.

Here is one that caught me flat-footed. If you define a battery as an energy storage system what state has the third largest battery in the world? Heck ya, it is Michigan! The Ludington Pumped Storage Plant was completed in 1973. It is a large reservoir sitting high above Lake Michigan. In 1973 it was used to save waste off-peak power. Coal and nuclear power plants must run at a minimum power 24/7. The excess power is usually wasted. To save this waste, engineers built the Ludington reservoir which is filled by electric motor-powered pump turbines taking water out of Lake Michigan. The water in the reservoir becomes stored potential electric energy just like a battery.

When the stored power is needed, the water flow is reversed, and the electric motors become electric generators. The stored water from “waste energy” becomes captured kinetic energy by the turbine generators. In 1973, this geo-engineering project won the American Society of Civil Engineers, “Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award”.

Here is the modern twist. The interface of Michigan Land and Lake Michigan is perfect for wind power. At the interface between any large body of water and land there is an inherent temperature difference. The difference creates on-shore and off-shore winds easily captured by the world’s cheapest energy harvesting machines, wind turbines. Combined with utility scaled solar farms these forms of electric energy production often create excess power. The Ludington Pumped Storage Plant, again, captures this excess and stores it in the reservoir for occasions when the wind and solar are not quite enough.

Is this what I meant by giving fossil fuels the shaft? No, the example is much closer to home. Our old mining shafts are huge water reservoirs and sinks. If you pump the water up to the surface, or even part way up a deep mine you, again, are creating potential energy. To turn this into electricity you would simply send it down a shaft (penstock) through a turbine harnessing the kinetic energy much like the Ludington project.

Adding a mine shaft pump storage project to wind, solar, or biomass powered electric generation just might be a winning combination and MTU is on it!

Why mines?  Easy answer: because a mine is a terrible thing to waste.

There are lots of great minds becoming engineers just when we need them and this is why the world needs Michigan Technology University where minds are filled with curiosity and purpose.

*Yale Climate Connections by Peter Sinclair: https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/author/psinclair/

 Watch GE Pumped Storage in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDlvjkfpX_o

MTU Negaunee Project: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/michigans-full-closed-mines-technology-may-give-them-new-life

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