By Marlo Lundak, WOWT
OMAHA, Neb. – Sunday afternoon, community members were invited to share their questions, concerns and ideas with an Omaha Public Power District Board member, following last month’s announcement that the company may vote to extend coal-burning operations at its North Omaha plant for three more years.
Eric Williams, the vice chair of the OPPD Board of Directors, hosted the meeting at Miller Park. “I hosted this meeting today to hear comments, questions and concerns about this proposal so I can be as informed as possible when we consider this for board action,” he says. Continue reading or watch the video here.
FEATURED OP-ED ARTICLE
Let the sun shine in — Dr. David Corbin, Norfolk Daily News
OMAHA — I debated whether to respond to the letter writer’s (July 7) excoriation of solar energy, but I decided that I couldn’t let his skewed view of solar energy go unanswered. It is obvious that the writer does not understand the value of solar energy. As we endure this super hot summer, the value of solar becomes evident. When air conditioners are working overtime, solar energy reduces demand on the grid, which can help decrease events like brownouts and rolling blackouts when temperatures rise.
David Corbin is Nebraska Sierra Club’s Energy Committee chair. He also is a former Nebraskans for Solar board member and longtime writer/editor of our Facebook Page, which he continues to administer as a much-appreciated volunteer.
PROPOSED CO2-CONVERTED PIPELINE
Plan to convert natural gas pipeline to CO2 in Lincoln County raising concerns, by Chris Dunker, Lincoln Journal Star
The National Petroleum Council said converting natural gas pipelines to carriers of CO2 was “not a practical option,” particularly over long distances, in a December 2019 report, adding it didn’t believe converted pipelines “would significantly help develop an expanded CO2 pipeline network” in the U.S. Natural gas pipelines have a maximum pressure rating of 1,480-pounds-per-square-inch gauge, which is defined as a Class 600 pipeline by the American National Standards Institute, a nonprofit organization that helps develop consensus standards for products, services and systems. The institute classifies carbon dioxide pipelines as Class 900 designed for 2,200 psi gauge — roughly 700 psi gauge more than those for natural gas.