This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast. See the transcript below:

You're listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU — the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers — on the Web at wichita.edu.

Most of us take electricity for granted, until a thunderstorm or ice storm knocks out power. The real challenge for researchers such as electrical energy engineer Ward Jewell at Wichita State University is helping companies meet deadlines on greenhouse gas regulations in the next five years. Jewell is among a number of researchers in the United States studying climate change regulations that challenge the way companies supply power.

Jewell: "The issues that we're faced with in electric energy, which is my field, are the cost; in renewable energy the availability, when it's available because we use electricity the instant it's generated; public policy and political expediency."

The public interest in providing energy in a more environmentally friendly way is gaining momentum. But moving toward cleaner energy isn't without challenges, according to Jewell. Renewable energy is one of the options being studied, as Jewell explains.

Jewell: "For wind and renewable, the positive sides are it is clean; there are no carbon emissions. It's reasonably cost effective, and it's abundant. On the downside, it's a variable resource. It doesn't always blow when we want it to, and not everyone likes the sight of wind farms."

Wind energy accounts for only about 3 percent of the electricity in Kansas. Meanwhile, coal continues to be the cheapest and easiest source of power.

Jewell: "In Kansas, 70 percent of our electricity was generated with coal last year because coal is cheap and quite available. On the downside of coal, it has very high CO2 emissions."

Jewell says another major source of electricity in Kansas is nuclear power.

Jewell: "Nuclear, which generated 21 percent of the electricity in Kansas last year, is technically ready to go. We could build lots of nuclear plants right away. The question is, will the public accept it, and how are we going to deal with the political or public policy question of waste disposal?"

Natural gas is another energy source, as Jewell explains.

Jewell: "The good thing about natural gas is that it is quick to build a natural gas-fired power plant, and they emit about half the CO2 as a coal-fired plant. Gas generated about 6 percent of our electricity in Kansas last year, but it is becoming a scarce resource, and as it does it's becoming much more expensive."

In the decades to come, Jewell says Kansas will need to remain diverse in its electrical generation.

Jewell: "For the future in Kansas, we'll have to remain diverse in our electric generation. We will continue to burn a lot of coal if we can figure out the CO2 capture and sequestration issue, and do that cost effectively. We'll be using a lot more wind generation, a lot more solar generation as its cost comes down. I think we'll be building new nuclear plants and we will rely on natural gas less."

Jewell says the issue is cost. It's going to cost more to generate electricity that does not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere using either nuclear generation or renewable generation such as wind turbines, solar cells and geothermal.
Regardless of what the state and the utilities do, Jewell says homeowners can take steps to be more energy efficient.

Jewell: "The first thing homeowners should do is make sure their homes are sealed and insulated as well as they should be. They can look at replacing doors and windows next. Look into more efficient heating and air conditioning units and, if they want to continue beyond that, look at solar water heat."

Overall, Jewell said electric power is "extremely reliable and the complexity is incredible. The people and the companies that run the grid have maintained that reliability and it is really incredible from an engineering standpoint." He says "through sound research, the system will continue to meet the environmental, reliability and cost needs of our society."

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.