Let me tell you about Helge Kass.
He is an engineer working at a test 30 megawatt coal burning Vattenfall power plant east of Berlin, near the Poland border. In fact, he is probably running one of the most intriguing experiments on the face of this green earth.
As the equipment hums behind him, pure oxygen is being injected into the boiler - which - incongrously - has no smoke stack on top. Rather, gases are vented to the side, super chilled. At the end of the spigot, liquid carbon dioxide drips out, ready to be transported by tanker to sites where it can be injected underground for storage.
Helge is a hero, in my book. If his little experiment works his employers have every intention of ramping up the technology to a major facility in 2015 - a scant six years from now. And then carbon capture and sequestration will be more likely to become a reality, meaning the energy hungry world will still be able to use abundant coal reserves without contributing to global warming.
I thought of Helge when I received an email from my friend Barry LeCerf about an effort to get more engineers trained in the United States. Barry wrote -
The IEEE PES Power and Energy Engineering Workforce Collaborative is pleased to release its landmark report titled - Preparing the U.S. Foundation for Future Electric Energy Systems: A Strong Power and Energy Engineering Workforce. The plan is designed to attract students to electric power engineering, support the U.S. education system, and ensure appropriate placement for graduates into the power and energy sector. These graduates are necessary to achieve a greener and smarter energy system to meet our country’s energy, environment and economic plans. The action plan and press release are attached and the report is available on-line at http://www.ieee.org/go/pes-collaborative.
Some how our media, our political leaders, our educators, have to take the Helge Kasses of this world and make them the social equivalent of the greatest soccer, movie, cultural stars. We will do our part with our coverage of some intriguing German initiatives in an upcoming issue of EnergyBiz. Do your part by making engineering exciting to talented young minds that just might not be interested in a career in banking or Wall Street.
Visit a local middle school and high school - and tell them about Helge.
CLICK ON "DOWNLOAD" BELOW FOR A PICTURE OF HELGE'S PROJECT.
Vattenfall, you say. That's interesting. I had pictured them as strictly a bunch of crooks who were working overtime to make fools of the TV audience. Well, if they produce something that will reduce my electricity bill, then I am definitely in their corner, but the last I heard about CSS was that it was a thermodynamic travesty.
