OU beyond coal panel

I went to the panel for OU beyond coal. The panel discussed different ways OU is researching or could possibly use to replace coal as our electricity source. Among the things they discussed were biofuels, electrochemical power, coal electrolysis, wind power, and solar power. Wind power, biofuels, coal electrolysis are all being researched here that the university. Coal electrolysis is a way to make CO2 in a safer, usable form. The carbon that is made is extremely expensive to buy, but we would be able to produce it and use it. The major issue that was brought up is that we would still be using coal. We would not be burning it so the emissions are gone, but there is still the fact that the coal must be mined and we should not allow coal mining to continue to run the way it does today. It needs to be regulated better and that is out of our hands here at the university. Wind power seems like it could be promising but not anytime soon. The research hasn’t been done to see if we have enough wind here enough of the time to harvest energy to power campus. Once this is research is done we will be better able to decide if wind is a good replacement for coal. One of the speakers talked about some conversions other universities have done. Some of these were geothermal power and burning of natural gas. To me, it sounded like solar energy was the most promising of the choices. It was said that OU would not have to pay for all of it themselves; a 3rd party company will most likely help out. We would just need about 10 acres for a solar panel field.

One point was brought up that struck me. An audience member said we’ve got to cut back before we can really move forward. I think this was a great point. So much power is wasted everyday on campus. We should start using things more efficiently and cut back on power where it isn’t needed. I remember being on campus during spring break last year. I was walking around campus at about 11:00 pm. All the lights in all the classrooms were on. Class was not in session, and would not be in session for a week. There was no reason for all the lights in all the buildings to be on. We need to be smarter about the electric we are using so we can find the most efficient way to power the campus in the future.