"Managing Energy, Water, & Carbon... Communities Responding to Global Climate Change"

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 8am - 4:00pm Hereford Community Center 100 Avenue C two blocks east of 25 Mile Avenue (U.S. Hwy 385) and Park Avenue intersection

Purpose of the Conference:

- To explore the possibilities of carbon sequestration, water re-use and other innovative practices that agriculture-based communities can utilize to respond to global climate change

- To provide information, resources, and innovation on small-scale renewable energy options from innovators, businesses, state and federal agencies, school administrators, and homeowners

- To offer afternoon tours of local applications that demonstrate wind and solar-produced electricity, farm-scale hydrogen, and rainwater harvesting

Sponsored by:

Ogallala Commons
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union - Cooperative Development Center
High Plains RC&D
Xcel Energy

Last March, our Renewable Energy Workshop drew 200 participants! This year, we invite everyone to gather again to learn about innovations and options. But why look at global climate change? Conventional industrial agriculture, something that our rural communities are dependent upon, is the second largest contributor of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere after fossil fuel combustion. If our communities are going to be viable in the future, we must develop agricultural systems that curb global climate change. We invite you to do some reading about global climate change and to review some articles in preparation for this conference--go to www.ogallalacommons.org then click on the Renewable Energy button near the bottom right-hand side of the homepage, then click on the Southern Plains Conference Reading List.


Conference Schedule

8:00am	Registration, Exhibits, & Refreshments at Hereford Community Center
8:30am	Welcome & Overview    Darryl Birkenfeld, Director, Ogallala Commons
8:45am	Case Study of a Looming Crisis: the Catastrophic Loss of Playa Wetlands on the Southern Plains    Dr. David Haukos, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
9:10am	Sequestering Carbon through Agricultural Practices    Donn Teske, President, Kansas Farmers Union
9:35am	Re-using our Growing Municipal & Rural Waste Stream    Dr. Nick Parker, Global Scientific, Lubbock, TX
10:00	Break & Exhibit Viewing
10:45am	Energy, Water, and Carbon Management for Residents, Businesses, and Communities: A Practitioners Panel Community Wind & School Wind James Wittler, Southeast Colorado RC&D, Springfield, CO Dr. Gary Bigham, Springlake-Earth ISD, Springlake, TX Residential Water Harvesting, Wind & Solar Generation: Darryl Birkenfeld, homeowner, Nazareth, TX Lupe de la Garza, Ranger Septic Systems, Idalou, TX Farm-scale Hydrogen: Bill Paetzold, farmer, Hereford, Texas Energy Efficiency & Green Construction: Tony Frank, Renewable Energy Development, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union-Cooperative Development Center, Denver
12noon	Lunch
1:00pm	Field Tours by chartered buses Tour I: Small-scale Wind Turbines & Hydrogen Travel just outside of Hereford to Bill Paetzold's farm to view a Bergey 10KW turbine, as well as his small-scale electrolysis system that produces hydrogen from water. Next, the tour will travel 45 miles to Springlake-Earth Schools to view the installation of two 50-Kwh Entegrity wind turbines. Tour II: Solar-Generated Electricity, Small-scale Wind Turbines, & Rainwater Harvesting This tour will travel 30 miles to Nazareth to view a grid-tied 3kw solar electricity system, and a small wind turbine at Darryl Birkenfeld & Joann Starr's passive solar home, Casa La Entereza. Also, Dr. Ken Rainwater from Texas Tech University will present a large-scale rainwater harvesting conceptual system for Nazareth, a system designed by some of Dr. Rainwater's Civil Engineering students.
4:00pm	Buses return to Hereford Community Center and conference adjourns

Registration:

$40 per person (includes lunch & tour)
$10 per person (high school and college students)
Participants can register online.
Anyone registering online must pay with credit card via PayPal Account

General $40.00

Students $10.00

Make checks payable to:

High Plains RC&D, Inc.
(fiscal agent for the workshop)
Mail to: High Plains RC&D, 1306 W. 9th, Friona, TX, 79035

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I am registering to attend: February 19th Southern Plains Conference
In the afternoon, I prefer to attend (mark with an "X"): Tour I____ Tour II _____


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