Engineering Inc. - September/October 2009 - 15

I t really will take a portfolio of renewable energy resources to be able to provide an economical, environmentally sustainable and secure energy source over the next decade. The Future of Power Though it is impossible to know what energy sources will dominate in the years to come, several technologies hold promise for the future. Here are a few: • Wind: Wind turbines today are popping up in the most unusual places. offshore wind turbines are imminent, and flying wind turbines tethered 25,000 feet in the sky might well prove more practical than whimsical. • Biomass: Coal and oil are not the only things that burn—nor are they the cleanest. everything from wood chips to livestock waste can be converted into cleaner-burning, almost instantly renewable power, providing on-site energy generation for farms, sawmills, food processors, factories and other industries that produce organic wastes. gUy WineBrenner maCTeC engineering and ConsULTing “Part of our strategy is a very deliberate and focused understanding of our partner’s needs,” says Loftis. “We want to work with them to take their existing technology to the next level.” One Kleinfelder partner, for instance, recently developed a biomass plant that runs on dairy farm manure. A co-op of dairy farms, banded together, can generate more than 10 megawatts or more of power— often enough to run a farm’s day-to-day operations. Engineers have since taken the basic idea behind the dairy farm technology and retrofitted it for use on North Carolina hog farms. Working on its clients’ behalf, Kleinfelder reaches out to power utilities across the state, pairing utility providers with energy-producing hog farmers to create an as yet untapped market for the technology. In the short term, Kleinfelder has no way of knowing whether it will profit from these early relationships. It is, after all, investing a lot of time and resources in a technology that has no established growth model. But, in the event the technology does take off, the firm will find itself at the leading edge of an emerging energy sector. If not, at the very least, Loftis says Kleinfelder will have established new relationships for future potential business. • Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Between the United states and China exists 8,000 miles of hot underground rock—more than hot enough to power steam generators. drill a pair of connected holes 6 kilometers deep, dump water down one side where it heats instantly to 750 degrees fahrenheit, creating steam to power a turbine in the second hole, and you have a steady and virtually inexhaustible supply of energy. • Hydrokinetics: The crashing of the surf might soon be harnessed, converting at least some of that wild energy into electrical power. Unlike the wind farms and solar generators of the sunny southwestern deserts and high plains, wave-powered generators can be built in close proximity to coastal cities, where the vast bulk of the nation’s population lives, thus drastically reducing energy transmission costs. • Nuclear: “as unpopular as it might be, nuclear is the coal of tomorrow,” says Kleinfelder’s Blair Loftis. Current technologies produce less waste, dispose of waste more safely and minimize the risk of accidents. • Coal: don’t count coal out—yet. “The engineering community has definitely risen to the occasion” of developing technologies to build plants that minimize pollution and carbon output while using coal more efficiently, says guy Winebrenner of maCTeC. He adds: “Coal is going to remain an important part of our energy portfolio, at least in the near term.” Getting There From Here For firms that want to prosper in renewable energy, the key is to build a portfolio of experience that touches on one or more emerging sectors. “Looking toward the future, it really will take a portfolio of renewable energy resources to be able to provide an eco- nomical, environmentally sustainable and secure energy source over the next decade,” says MACTEC’s Winebrenner. This applies not just to emerging generator technologies, for example, but to methods of transmitting, storing and making more efficient use of power— whether it’s power generated by burning SEptEmbER / oCtobER 2009 ENGINEERING INC. 15

Engineering Inc. - September/October 2009

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