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Clean, renewable energy from the sun, wind, and ocean offer
non-polluting, economical, and sustainable alternatives for
generating energy. Simply increasing our energy efficiency
can help us reduce air and global warming pollution from existing
fossil power plants, avoid the need for additional polluting
power plants, and save consumers money on their energy bills.
There is vast potential for wind and solar energy production
in the Southern Plains region.
Southern Plains Issues:
Biofuels
Energy Efficiency
Fuel Cells
Petroleum
Solar
Wind
Energy Legislation
More Resources
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Photo courtesy Warren Gretz, NOE/NREL.
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Biofuels
"Bioenergy" is produced when renewable biomass fuels—plant
and plant-derived material—are converted into heat and electricity.
Almost 100 billion kWh of electricity could potentially be derived
from biofuels in the Southern Plains region—enough to power
10 million homes annually. Learn more on the Department of Energy's
State
Energy Alternatives page.
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Energy Efficiency
The Sierra Club places the highest priority on energy efficiency.
Efficiency is the cheapest and most effective way to decrease the
adverse environmental and national security effects of energy use.
Increasing our energy efficiency can help us reduce air and global
warming pollution from existing fossil power plants, avoid the need
for additional polluting power plants, and save consumers money
on their energy bills.
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Fuel Cells
Fuel cells work by allowing oxygen to react with natural gas, methanol
or hydrogen to produce electricity without combustion. The fuel
is fed into an electrolyte near the electrodes and an electric current
is created. In hydrogen fuel cells, water and heat are the only
byproducts. Fuel cells have the potential to provide clean energy
not only for general electricity needs but also for powering cars.
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Petroleum
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like to see here, let
us know!
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Solar
Solar energy can be directly converted into usable energy through a variety of processes -- solar water heating, passive solar heating and cooling, photovoltaic technology, and solar thermal technology.
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Wind
U.S. wind potential is enormous--many times the amount installed.
California, for example, could conservatively install an estimated
5,000 MW of wind capacity. Other western states have much larger
potential—e.g., Wyoming has more than 10 times California's.
The U.S. is, quite literally, a "Saudi Arabia of wind," with vast
resources throughout the Plains states. Leading states in terms
of installed wind capacity today are California (1,646 MW), Minnesota
(272 MW), Iowa (242 MW), and Texas (188 MW).
- Wind Energy in Kansas: The Kansas Chapter is involved
in a campaign for wind energy. Learn
more at the Kansas Chapter website.
- Wind Energy in Oklahoma: In Oklahoma, a new entity called
the Oklahoma Renewable Energy Commission was recently formed.
The Chapter is participating in its meetings and is following
proposed legislation related to wind energy. In addition, the
Chapter is looking into the issue of whether siting or other restrictions
might be appropriate to prevent harm to the habitat of threatened
prairie species by wind farms, as well as other related wildlife
issues. Forty percent of the state has good winds on land available
for development—enough potential wind power to provide 17
times the state's entire current annual electricity consumption.
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Energy Legislation
Coming soon... if you have comments or suggestions about what you'd
like to see here, let
us know!
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