October 3, 2006
Pondering the New Face of Energy
West Texas and New Mexico poised to play key role.
Written by Cory Chandler
Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams speaks during the College of Engineering’s Energy Sustainability Summit.This is not your grandfather’s energy business.
So says Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams. And he may be right: Clean-burning coal, biofuels, solar energy, hybrid vehicles; mere decades ago, such concepts were fodder for science fiction writers.
Today, they could represent the emerging face of Texas’ energy industry. As growing world demand strains traditional oil and gas supplies, resources such as wind, sunlight, food crops and coal have gained new notoriety as energy alternatives.
“It used to be that people who grew up in Texas thought that the energy industry was limited to going out, putting a hole in the ground and pumping crude,” Williams quips. “The industry is much, much broader.”
So broad, in fact, that Texas Tech's College of Engineering hosted a Summit on Energy Sustainability Sept. 13-14. The forum brought engineering experts and regional energy leaders together with Texas Tech faculty and students to discuss technical opportunities and challenges facing this expanding industry.
The summit brought engineering experts and regional energy leaders together with Texas Tech faculty and students to discuss technical opportunities and challenges facing the South Plains energy industry. A Southwest Energy Corridor
Don’t count fossil fuels out yet. Coal, oil and natural gas still supply around 84 percent of U.S. energy needs and experts believe the long-term outlook for these industries remains strong – towns in Texas’ Permian Basin, for example, are booming as increased oil prices spur enhanced efforts to access the region's reserves.
Still, new technologies – especially when paired with the rising energy prices – have made other energy sources economical and attractive. West Texas and New Mexico are now poised to form a powerful corridor supplying a raft of renewable and clean energies to fuel the nation.
Energy projects already are blossoming across the South Plains: Odessa is a finalist for the Department of Energy's FutureGen competition, a $1 billion coal-gasification power plant that not only produces electricity and hydrogen, but also captures greenhouse gases. Amarillo is considering building a nuclear power plant. Andrews will soon house the Permian Basin High Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor. And construction has begun near Eunice, N.M, on a $1.5 billion National Enrichment Facility, which will be producing enriched uranium in less than three years.
“This is an exciting time for West Texas,” wrote Dr. Pamela Eibeck, dean of engineering, in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “For years, our Permian Basin has been famous as one of the world's greatest sources of oil and gas. And now the entrepreneurial spirit of West Texans and our neighbors in Eastern New Mexico is positioning us to become famous as one of the world's greatest sources of all forms of energy.”
Recap
Summit discussions covered six themes: biofuels; electricity/nuclear/wind power; emerging energy technologies; energy and water; fossil-based fuels; and policy and economic development.
Speakers included state leaders such as Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams and Texas Rep. Buddy West, R-Odessa. Technical experts included: Dr. Dan Arvizu, director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; and National Academy of Engineering members Dr. Rakesh Agrawal and Dr. Hans Mark.
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Dr. Jon Whitmore "I believe this region is poised to become an energy corridor even more so than it has been in the past using new technologies with supply the nation with sources including wind and solar energy; we have plenty of wind out here particularly in March; nuclear power, bio fuels, and of course our long heritage with fossil fuels." Flash (0:38) |
Dr. Pamela Eibeck "Texas, as many of you hopefully know, has just surpassed all of the other states in the union as being the greatest wind power generating state." "So we see this as an exciting opportunity to blend the strong research capacity at Texas Tech and our great interest in the areas of energy from wind, bio fuels and oil and gas that we’ve been involved in for years." Flash (0:43) |
Mr. Michael Williams "This is an enormously exciting opportunity and time to be in the energy business." Flash (0:41) |
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing, 806-742-2136.
Photography by Joey Hernandez
Video courtesy of College of Engineering
Web layout by Lisa Low