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By Christopher Parker, National News Association Foundation News Partners Program
The Great Lakes is now publishing this story in conjunction with the National News Agency’s News Partners program. In March, during the ANN Community Newspaper Leadership Conference, a group of student journalists met with experts and policy leaders on climate change in Washington, DC. The students then wrote such articles for publication in the member media of the State Press Association. Great Lakes is now a member of the Michigan Press Association.
Hydroelectric power is the oldest source of energy in the world, and the state of Indiana is no different from this history.
On the way to Lake Michigan, the St. Joseph River, which flows northwest of Indiana, has long been a source of energy for South Bend. A.D. In the early 1860’s, mills mingled with the river and provided reliable free power.
And 160 years later, Paul Kempff, vice president of consumption and maintenance at Notre Dame University, is finalizing a project to reuse St. Joseph’s strength. In the first ten years, the new downtown hydroelectric power plant will supply 7% of the university’s energy.
Regarding the project, he said: “We did not have two states per person to plant trees or solar panels or wind turbines.” We want to reduce our own carbon to the best of our ability.
South Bend received a federal grant for the hydroelectric dam 40 years ago, but did not build the facility at a cost. A.D. In 2014, they transferred control of St. Joseph to Notre Dame for a 2.5 MW facility, and the university collapsed in 2019. Work is expected to begin by the end of this summer.
Hydroelectric Power is a relatively small fraction of Indiana Renewable Energy. In this case, wind turbines provide more than 75% of the grid’s green energy.
But that may be changing. Wind power is becoming more divisive than hydroelectric, and new technologies under construction may rethink how to keep water running.
Construction of a new hydroelectric power plant on the St. Joseph River in downtown Bend, Indiana. In the picture, construction is under way until winter 2021. (Photo Credit of Notre Dame University)
The lowlands of the region create obstacles
According to the International Energy Agency, Hydroelectric contributes to 17% of the world’s energy production, the world’s largest renewable energy source. Hydropower has existed in this country for some time. But Indiana has never been as widespread in technology as other states.
Part of the reason is the flat geography of the region. The Great Lakes Basin is a series of steep slopes, with huge reservoirs without steep slopes or large rivers. The largest hydroelectric facilities in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin support a capacity of 45 MW, 30 MW, 105 MW, and 48 MW.
Meanwhile, Washington, the largest facility in the United States, has the capacity to generate 4,215 megawatts.
Most of Indiana is much better for wind turbines. But while wind technology has become cheaper and more efficient in recent decades, it has become increasingly popular.
Jennifer Miller is president of the basic political group Hoosiers for Reliable Energy, and in 2013 she successfully defended the construction of wind farms in Marshall County. Miller complained that she owned property nearby and that wind farms were noisy and invisible.
“They don’t make good neighbors,” she said. “People don’t want to live near these things.”
Miller’s team took action last year to block Senate Bill 411, which would require Indiana counties to set themselves up for wind- or solar-compliant standards. Miller herself wrote an op-ed against the criticism. When a more modest version of the bill came into law this year, they chose those standards as alternatives, and Miller still voiced opposition, calling the Indianapolis Star “a letter of love for the wind and solar industries and a contempt for rural Hoosiers.”
Despite its well-documented opposition to wind turbines, Miller said she considered hydroelectric power to be more reliable and less disgusting. “We are not anti-renewable,” she emphasized, adding that the reliability of the flow of water would give her more confidence in her ability to generate energy.
Her point of view is normal. More than 70% of Americans believe that hydropower is cleaner and safer than other renewable energy, according to a study by Princeton poll.
But how can Indiana get more hydroelectric power with geographical challenges?
Disposable mines provide a solution to a hydroelectric infrastructure
One answer may be PSHAUM.
PSHAUM technology is a new step in the hydraulic practice of pump storage. The idea is to connect two water bodies, one above the other, using a pipe with a turbine inside. On a sunny or windy day, when other renewable energy sources can provide energy, some of the energy is used to push water to higher heights. Then, on days when there is no wind or sun, water can flow through the turbine to the lower altitude and give energy.
Pump storage systems store energy like a battery, and this allows you to use any surplus energy generated by renewable energy or provide a clean and inexpensive alternative when the need is high.
By registering unused underground real estate for the PSHAUM project, it will create a flat surface in Indiana, said Kevin Elet, president and co-founder of Blueton-based Carbon Solutions LLC.
“By recycling old underground mines for PSHAUM’s low water reservoirs, we can open up the country’s new pump reservoir – to support traditional pump development in areas such as Indiana that do not have natural landscaping facilities,” Elet said.
The technology is still under construction. But in March, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcombub signed the bill into Senate Bill 147, adding groundwater to the state’s “clean energy resources” and paving the way for more investment. No one opposed the law between the House and the Senate.
In general, US public support for green energy is high.
Many green energy projects, like Miller and his team, see themselves as open to renewable energy, but they do not believe that the infrastructure will jeopardize their quality of life or that they will not be destroyed.
Hydropower has the potential to overcome both fears, and the state is poised to create a waterway as new opportunities for creative water facilities in Indiana emerge.
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Featured Image A new hydroelectric power plant is under construction on the St. Joseph River in downtown, Indiana. In the picture, construction is under way until winter 2021. (Photo Credit of Notre Dame University)
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