Anatomy of a Cheaper Energy Program

What is this project?  FEWtures, a research group focused on how the future of Food, Energy and Water are intertwined and can be used to strengthen rural communities.

Who is behind it?University of Kansas

Why? Rural Revitalization

What are the project’s tenets?

• minimize external subsidies and support
• economic viability
• “build an online virtual tool that will take information about rural communities, such as its’ population size, number of available acres, average wind speed and amount of money the community has available to invest in projects.”

What are some practical examples from the project?

• a battery for energy storage made that stores energy in ammonium and is made from “nitrogen from the air and will use energy from wind turbines to combine it with hydrogen from water to make ammonia, a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen”
  • to power water treatment
  • to have water for livestock
  • to have water for drinking

Wichita Eagle | Kansas Researchers to Help Rural Communities Thrive