Energy solutions

Monday, April 2, 2012

The National Energy Solutions Institute will provide knowledge and resources to help America achieve energy independence

A new collaborative group of researchers at Oklahoma State University all say the same thing: we need a diverse profile of clean, efficient energy sources to solve the world’s energy problems.  The solution, they say, isn’t in one area, such as wind or solar, but in using the correct combination of all the sources of energy available today, including oil and gas.  

Under the direction of Dr. Stephen McKeever, OSU’s vice president for research and technology transfer, the group has come together to form the National Energy Solutions Institute, an effort that, according to McKeever, will fuse the needs of private industry in energy production, distribution and conservation with practical and impactful academic research.  

“The emphasis of the research will be on providing practical energy solutions for the current and future needs of the nation,” McKeever says. “Researchers will work in collaboration with private, state and federal sectors to enable the nation’s transition to a sustainable energy future.”

To do so, the institute will include several centers that build on the ongoing work of OSU’s key energy research programs.  The institute’s researchers represent three colleges and five departments on the OSU-Stillwater campus.     

Oil and Gas

Led by OSU Geology Associate Professor Dr. Jim Puckette, the Unconventional Hydrocarbon Fuel Research Center focuses on finding elusive conventional petroleum reservoirs and improving recovery of oil and gas from unconventional reservoirs.

“Barring a fantastic breakthrough, renewable energy will provide just 20 to 30 percent of our energy demand over the next two to three decades,” Puckette says.  “I’m completely in favor of renewables, but there’s just more work to be done to make them feasible.”

Puckette says in the meantime improvements in the exploration and recovery of oil and gas provide excellent opportunities to lessen dependence on foreign reserves.  Currently, the most successful unconventional fossil fuel development is in shale gas.  Although shales typically have insufficient permeability for commercial natural gas extraction, new drilling techniques have significantly increased their feasibility as a source of energy.    

“New horizontal drilling and completion techniques, including multistage hydraulic fracturing, have allowed the development of this energy resource to the extent that it, along with coalbed methane, has reversed the decline in U.S. gas production with a more than 3000 percent increase in gas production being recorded over the past decade,” Puckette says. 

The strategic technical goals of the center are to conduct research and education programs on unconventional hydrocarbon resources and to integrate geology, geophysics and engineering to better understand and develop these resources in the future.

Once these sources of fuel have been discovered and extracted, researchers at The Center for Clean Fuel Production will focus on limiting their effects on the environment.  “The energy security of the U.S. is predicated on a reliable supply of domestic energy and the efficient use of all energy resources,” says Dr. Khaled Gasem, OSU professor of engineering.  “This translates to the need for technologies to utilize fuels of reduced carbon content, improve efficiencies in energy use, and capture and sequester carbon.”

Led by Dr. Khaled Gasem, the CCFP will investigate ways to capture carbon using molecular design of chemicals along with ways to use it to enhance oil and coalbed methane recovery.  The center will also help create viable technologies to address global climate change and integrate multiple technology platforms and engineering models to optimize production and utilization of energy resources. 

Biofuels

Biofuels made a name for themselves at OSU and throughout Oklahoma several years ago.  However, Dr. Ray Huhnke, OSU professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering and head of the OSU Biofuels Team, says there’s plenty of research still to be done.  Through the Center for Integrated Bio Energy Systems, Huhnke and an interdisciplinary team at OSU and cooperating institutions will create new advanced biofuel production practices that will enhance and strengthen the state’s multi-billion-dollar energy industry.

“This center provides a multi-disciplinary approach to address bioenergy issues such as cellulosic ethanol, production, distribution networks and economics to train personnel from around the world on the possibilities and benefits of harnessing renewable energy resources,” Huhnke says.  “The approach is a holistic one in which biofuels production is considered alongside food production, land use and water resources.”

The OSU Biofuels Team is a multi-college, multi-institutional effort, encompassing scientists and engineers within the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology; the University of Oklahoma; The Noble Foundation and Brigham Young University. Research being conducted by the team involves the study of several promising biomass-to-advanced biofuel pathways, including feedstock development (such as switchgrass, sorghum, woody materials and crop residues) and both chemical and microbial conversion processes (such as the gasification-fermentation technology).  Huhnke says applications will include primarily road transportation fuels and also jet fuels for the air transportation industry, which are of ever-increasing importance.

Wind

In Oklahoma it may be sweeping down the plains, but how can wind energy be efficiently harnessed and distributed?  The Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative, a collaborative research and outreach project between OSU and the University of Oklahoma, will also be a part of the National Energy Solutions Institute.  OWPI investigates and promotes wind energy resources and provides economic information to policy makers, land owners, wind farm developers, potential investors and interested citizens.  OWPI has accomplished a wide range of tasks since its inception in 2000 that leave it poised now to tackle problems even outside of Oklahoma. 

“This work has included modeling the wind resources of Oklahoma, installing instrumentation to confirm those resources and statistically analyzing data obtained,” says Dr. Steve Stadler, OSU professor of geography.  “Since 2004, Oklahoma has seen the installation of 1.5 gigwatts of installed wind capacity with much more under development.  It is a multi-billion dollar industry in Oklahoma alone.”

OWPI’s efforts have used spatial analyses within geographic information systems to determine optimal turbine placement in the context of multiple environmental and social factors.  There are areas in which OWPI’s unique expertise can be readily extended, Stadler says, including wind resource modeling, educating future wind industry professionals and assisting in the formation of locally owned wind cooperatives.

Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution

To realize the full benefits of new energy sources, the nation needs to upgrade its existing electric power grid into a “smart” system, says Dr. Rama Ramakumar, an OSU Regent’s Professor from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  Led by Ramakumar, the Center for Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution will develop concepts, components, subsystems, software and interfaces needed to achieve this goal.  R&D efforts will include: development of sensors for monitoring electrical parameters and their temporal variations; innovative architectures and models for the smart grid; data collection and handling (from smart meters, smart appliances, etc.); integration of distributed renewable energy sources with existing/modified grids; exploring the potential of microgrids; and cyber and physical security.  Ramakumar and his team will conduct synchronized activities involving model formulation, simulations and laboratory experiments to advance and sustain the necessary technology.

Impacting policy

NESI researchers will also study energy policy.  The Energy Policy Center is devoted to developing and establishing policy recommendations and advising legislators and decision-makers on energy policy, economics and future trends for local and state governments and corporate sectors.  “Progress toward energy sustainability is gradual such that a different mix of energy supply alternatives will evolve with time,” says Gasem, who will play a key role in this center as well.  “The strategy will be to ensure that we meet our energy supply targets in quantity, quality and reliability during the periods of transition between energy sources.  It is imperative that we rise to the challenge of meeting energy demand while preserving the environment.”

EPC researchers will conduct analyses to support their specific forecasts and recommendations relating to the energy supply agenda.  The group will produce an annual report assessing sustainable energy progress, policy responses, environmental impacts, conservation efforts, and economic costs and benefits.  The report will include an annual forecast of needed policy changes, likely technological advances, and environmental and economic impacts.

Promoting conservation

Expert analyses have identified energy conservation – achieved by decreasing energy consumption and then efficiently managing energy usage – as the most immediate practical measure for reducing the nation’s energy footprint.  Practical energy solutions in conservation will have a direct impact on the environment, energy economics and security.  Researchers in the institute’s Energy Conservation and Management Center will help develop effective energy management strategies, products and technologies, and computer simulation capabilities to enhance energy conservation and management through a variety of programs. Their scientific and engineering efforts will complement comparable efforts in the field aiming to move the U.S. toward more energy-efficient buildings, industrial platforms and transportation systems.

Commercializing developments

The Energy Technology Center is the commercialization arm of the National Energy Solutions Institute. Owned and operated by OSU’s University Multispectral Laboratory, the ETC will not own intellectual property but will conduct collaborative research and development and facilitate the rapid commercialization of new energy technologies created in the institute and elsewhere through affiliated corporate entities using proven methodologies to drive integration and optimization initiatives.  The ETC’s current focus is on electromechanical battery systems for energy storage, says Dr. Web Keogh, director of the UML, and on biomass conversion technologies for renewable, sustainable and green energy sources.

Beyond research

Each of institute’s centers will include significant education and training components in order to provide the industry with the future workforce in these new energy sectors, as well as providing continuing education for the existing energy workforce, McKeever says.  Education activities will include classroom and field work, research and laboratory opportunities, and industry internships and collaborations.

“The goal is to produce the required educated workforce armed with the latest knowledge of renewable, sustainable and clean energy systems and their integration with fossil fuels for the energy future of the state, nation and world,” McKeever says.

The researchers will collaborate with workforce training programs at OSU-OKC for wind and at OSU-IT in Okmulgee for compressed natural gas.  McKeever believes the comprehensiveness of the institute will position OSU as a leader in modern, cutting-edge energy research and education.