CS Sunday: San Bruno Explosion

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The San Bruno natural gas pipeline explosion left at least four people dead, and brought renewed calls for uniformed regulations for the country's antiquated pipeline system. Clean Skies Sunday talks with an expert on how the system works now, what should be done, and what the future may look like to make sure these pipelines are safe. Representative Jim Oberstar - chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee - discusses the changes he believes are needed to make these pipelines safe from the moment they're put in the ground and for years to come.

Then, CSS heads overseas to France. Many around the world criticize nuclear power but that country relies mostly on nuclear for its energy. The French say it's clean burning, efficient and emits no carbon. Tyler Suiters shows us how Areva is making nuclear work across the pond. While in West Virginia, one utility is trying its hand at making coal a cleaner fuel. Dan Goldstein tours the AEP carbon capture and storage facility.

Plus, the scoop on a new puppy poop power park in Massachusetts. And what if you drive a diesel engine vehicle, but can't find a gas station? Or if you have a bio-fuels based car, but nowhere to fill up? Argonne National Lab says no problem. Lee Patrick Sullivan shows us the results of new engine technology that could solve all your fuel needs - the omnivorous engine.

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[McGINNIS]  Hello, and welcome to "Clean Skies Sunday," a weekly half-hour look at energy issues facing Washington and America.  I'm Susan McGinnis. 

This week, a deadly explosion of a natural gas pipeline in California shines a spotlight on the nation's antiquated network of fuel pipelines.  We hear from the chairman of the House Transportation Committee about what's needed to keep our pipelines safe. \

Hundreds of new energy jobs are created as electric vehicle batteries start rolling off an assembly line in Michigan. \

A West Virginia coal plant attempts carbon capture technology.  We take you inside. 

And, can walking the dog power the park?  We bring you the scoop. 

First, in energy news, new concerns are being raised over natural gas pipeline safety following a deadly explosion in California that killed at least four people and leveled nearly 40 homes.  The blast occurred in a neighborhood near San Francisco.  It's triggered calls for new restrictions on pipelines in densely populated areas.  A White House proposal would ratchet up the transportation department's oversight of pipelines and hike fines for the most serious safety violations from $1 million to $2.5 million.  More on that explosion in a moment. 

Well, a huge crowd gathered in upstate New York this past week and tensions were high as the EPA gathered public input for a new study that's going to take two years on a natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing.  That's where water, sand, and chemicals are blasted into deep underground rock formations to release natural gas trapped in the rock.  EPA's hearing this week brought out both proponents, who see natural gas as the key to new jobs and cleaner energy, and opponents, who claim the drilling ruins their water supplies.  The EPA says the evolution of the drilling method makes the study critical. 

[WOMAN]  Hydraulic fracturing is something that has changed over time.  Early in its use, it was used mostly for vertical wells.  Now, it's being used for horizontal drilling and it's being used in new places, and so EPA believes that it needs to be studied in order to determine whether or not there is an impact on drinking water. 

[McGINNIS]  There are also concerns in Pennsylvania, where 13 families have sued Southwestern Energy of Houston.  They claim their well water was contaminated by fracking fluid.  The company's not commenting on the case, but it says its operations are safe. 

Well, here in Washington, Congress is back from recess with energy issues on their minds.  Among them, supporters of wind power are pushing for a renewable energy standard with a new TV ad campaign.  Key lawmakers say a vote before November is unlikely but there is hope for the lame duck session. 

And a bid to curb EPA's greenhouse gas regulations did not get an expected committee vote this past week, but when the EPA/Interior funding bill was put on hold, it also meant no vote on $100 million that would pay for new offshore drilling inspectors. 

A new wave of mass-produced electric vehicle batteries is rolling off the assembly line.  A123 Systems opened a new lithium ion battery plant near Detroit, creating about 300 new jobs, many for laid-off auto workers.  The company got nearly $250 million in stimulus funds and plans to open another plant in Michigan next year.  Energy Secretary Steven Chu was on hand for the opening.  He says it shows the stimulus plan is working. 

[CHU]  The Department of Energy and what the United States has decided to do is say, no, we're going to play to win.  And we're going to manufacture batteries and we're going to create competition and manufacture batteries in a number of companies in the United States, and it's that saying that, yes, there will be a market. 

[McGINNIS]  Chu spoke as the United Steelworkers Union filed a legal petition charging that China heavily subsidizes its clean energy industries in violation of world trade agreements. 

Are "wise guys" going green?  Italian authorities have uncovered the biggest mob haul ever, confiscating assets worth about $2 billion.  Mafia suspect Vito Nicastri, known as "Lord of the Wind," invested heavily in wind energy and other renewable projects.  Authorities say they show racketeering money is being laundered through clean energy projects. 

More now on the San Bruno natural gas pipeline explosion near San Francisco International Airport.  It killed at least four people.  PG&E, the pipeline owner, is now inspecting all its natural gas lines under orders from the state. 

Well, the explosion in San Bruno is reawakening concerns about the infrastructure of oil and natural gas pipelines crisscrossing underneath the U.S.  Here to talk about pipeline age, safety, and oversight is Carl Weimer.  He is executive director of Pipeline Safety Trust, joining us via Skype from Bellingham, Washington.  Carl, thanks for being with us.  Now, the U.S. has 2 1/2 million miles of fuel pipelines underneath us.  How worried should we be, overall, about the nation's pipeline infrastructure? 

[WEIMER]  I think you have to put it all in context.  There is 2 1/2 million miles of pipelines around the country and on average, every other day there's a major incident on a pipeline.  But in reality, the chances of a pipeline failing in any one particular spot is really, really small.  So, while there's a significant need to upgrade pipeline safety, I don't think people need to be losing a lot of sleep. 

[McGINNIS]  Even with the accidents happening that often?  I mean, what is the range of age of the nation's pipelines?  How old are the oldest? 

[WEIMER]  We took a look at pipelines about a week ago and the average age of these big pipelines around the country is around 50 years old.  There are some pipelines that are 70, 80, 90 years old. 

[McGINNIS]  Well, what causes most incidents?  Is it construction equipment hitting them?  Is it just age; is it corrosion? 

[WEIMER]  Well, with these bigger types of pipelines, the major causes are things like corrosion and mis-operation by the operators, but certainly third-party damage, people doing construction work near the pipelines, is one of the major causes, for sure, also. 

[McGINNIS]  Now, your organization advocates and monitors pipeline safety.  Is it true that folks didn't even know that there was a pipeline there? 

[WEIMER]  Yeah, that's one of the things we hear after these incidents every time, is that people are surprised that they had a pipeline like this in their neighborhood.  That shows that the companies aren't doing a very good job, because the federal regulations require these companies to inform and make sure that people are aware of the pipelines around them.  But we hear over and over again that people had no idea. 

[McGINNIS]  Regulations weren't even implemented until 2002.  Why is that?  And have we seen the results of the new inspections? 

[WEIMER]  Yeah, there have been regulations for years, but what kicked in in 2002 was a new system of integrity management inspections where they actually run high-tech devices through the middle of the pipelines that can find all kinds of dents and dings and flaws and corrosion.  Those things have just started to kick in.  Unfortunately, of the 300,000 miles of these big pipelines we have in the country, only 7% of them are required to have those types of inspections. 

[McGINNIS]  Why is that?  And do the regulators have the kind of staff to do the job that needs to be done? 

[WEIMER]  Well, I think, originally, when this kicked in, they concentrated on the high-population areas, which makes a lot of sense, but then the regulations haven't been expanded over time to include all the pipelines.  And part of it is a monetary issue of just how the companies have enough money to do that.  They're always trying to keep the bottom line good for their shareholders.  And how state and federal regulators, how they get enough money to ensure that the companies are really doing what they're supposed to. 

[McGINNIS]  And how well has the record keeping been kept by these companies? 

[WEIMER]  Well, that's hard to tell, because there's lots of issues that it's really hard for the public to verify.  We have access these days to the instant data.  We have access to what enforcement's done, but we still, as a public, don't have much access to inspections -- how well companies are doing the inspections themselves and the records of the inspections that the state and federal regulators are looking at. 

[McGINNIS]  What are the regulations as far as how far a distance between the pipelines and residence or commercial buildings are allowed to be? 

[WEIMER]  Well, that's a fascinating topic, because there are no state or federal regulations that talk about how close you can build to a pipeline, so you can build a home, a school, a hospital right next to one of these pipelines, and that's a developing issue around the country about how do we deal with that.  Most of these pipelines were put into rural areas when they were first put in, and a lot of communities, as we've grown, have sprawled out over the tops of these pipelines. 

[McGINNIS]  So, now there's going to be a lot more attention on regulation.  What do you think needs to be done as far as inspections, replacement or maintenance of these pipelines?  What needs to be done now, and at what cost? 

[WEIMER]  Yeah, I think there's three things that really need to step up.  I think we need to expand the regulations to make sure that all of these pipelines are getting these high-tech inspections.  I think we need to make sure that state and federal regulators have the resources they need to verify that the companies are really doing what's required.  And I think there's a greater role for local government here.  There's a report that's going to come out this fall that talks about what local government can do through their zoning and permitting rules to make sure that structures aren't being built too close to pipelines. 

[McGINNIS]  And we're not just talking natural gas, this is oil as well, and do you see the future burden on these pipelines increasing? 

[WEIMER]  Well, I'm not sure the burden will increase too much, because a lot of the expense for doing these new inspections has been incorporated over the last few years, the development of the tools and the technology, and now it's just expanding that onto greater -- It will certainly be some more cost, but when you look at it for the dollar figure for gallons of liquid fuels or for the gas, I don't think it will increase the bottom line all that much. 

[McGINNIS]  And, overall, your sense of the integrity of the nation's pipeline system? 

[WEIMER]  Well, with incidents happening every other day, it's obvious that there's still more to be done.  I think if you look at the record, actually, the number of incidents has seemed to level off overall on most types of pipelines.  So I think some of the regulations are starting to kick in.  We just need to be vigilant and ensure that our government is keeping an eye out on this stuff for us and the companies are really spending the money that's needed. 

[McGINNIS]  Carl Weimer, Pipeline Safety Trust, thank you so much for your insight. 

[WEIMER]  Thank you. 

[McGINNIS]  Jim Oberstar is chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which oversees pipeline safety.  Clean Skies' Dan Goldstein spoke with him about the future for the nation's fuel pipeline network. 

[OBERSTAR]  We need a coordinated national strategy.  There have to be national standards.  Pipelines do not start and end exclusively within one state.  They cross state lines.  We have 2,300,000 miles of pipeline in the United States, almost as much as we have highway mileage, of all federal, state, county, local, township highways.  That's over 3 million, nearly 2/3 as much in pipeline mileage in this country. 

[McGINNIS]  Still to come, how walking the dog can generate energy.  And we take you to one European nation getting the bulk of its energy from one carbon-free source.  Plus, the utility that's giving carbon capture a try in an effort to clean up coal. 

[BREAK]   

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ANNOUNCER: In 1977, an 8-year-old boy picked up the game of golf from his father.  The odds of that same boy winning the U.S. Open twice, 1 in 1.2 billion.  The odds of him having a child diagnosed with autism -- 1 in 110.  Ernie Els encourages you to learn the signs of autism. 

[END BREAK]   

[McGINNIS]  Welcome back.  As Congress returns to work, one bone of contention is how to lower greenhouse gases to curb carbon emissions.  Well, one European nation is far ahead of all others, including the U.S., in using one no-carbon energy -- nuclear.  Clean Skies' Tyler Suiters visited AREVA facilities in France last year. 

[SUITERS]  There are about 60 million people living below these French skies.  Roughly 10 million of those people reside here in the metropolitan area of Paris.  And one of the numbers that many of them seem to know by heart is 80%.  That's the general amount of electricity produced by the French that comes from nuclear energy.  Specifically, the International Energy Association in Paris puts that total at 78% for the year 2006, or about 4 times the percentage of electricity it says the U.S. generated from nuclear plants in the very same year. 

[REMY COULON, STRATEGY AND INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS, AREVA]  I think it's persistence, to a large extent -- the fact that we have met some of the political difficulties.  We've been able to conduct our operations commercially, technically, for, actually, those decades, and we've perfected the process now for, as you said, something like 40 years. 

[SUITERS]  The French nuclear industry covers virtually every aspect of the power-generation process domestically -- in Southern France, enriching uranium -- that is, turning the raw ore into fuel for nuclear reactors...in the Normandy region, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, storing just a fraction of the most dangerous waste and reusing the rest...  And, of course, building new generators.  This 1,650-megawatt reactor right on the North Atlantic coast should come online in 2012.  According to the World Nuclear Association, Flamanville 3, as it's known, will become France's 60th operating reactor. 

Does the air here in France seem any clearer to you?  Probably hard to tell from that vantage point, but theoretically, it should be clearer, because this country gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear generation, and, as the nuclear industry is quick to point out, that is CO2-emission-free generation.  And that fact has certainly helped France comply under the E.U.'s cap-and-trade program implemented a few years ago to cut carbon emissions.  And the French nuclear industry is certainly going to be pleased if the U.S. enacts a similar system -- one that puts a premium on low-emission generation of electricity. 

[SENATOR JIM INHOFE (R-OK) ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE]  I would say that, even in the absence of that problem, of greenhouse gases or carbon reductions, I would say we still have to pursue nuclear. 

[SUITERS]  And the French nuclear industry believes that means the door is wide open for new U.S. contracts.  In Paris, I spoke with officials at AREVA, the French company that is now aiming for a 33% share of the market for new U.S. reactors. 

[ARNAUD DE BOURAYNE, SENIOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, AREVA]  Definitely in the U.S., we are prepared to take leadership of the program.  That's why we started with Unistar a few years ago to join several companies and prepare for the development of our EPR reactor, which is now in progress. 

[SUITERS]  And just last week, that joint French-American Unistar project cleared another hurdle.  The Maryland Public Service Commission approved a crucial Unistar application to build a new reactor at this Calvert Cliffs site.  The addition would generate as much electricity as both of these two existing reactors do right now.  And, should the U.S. enact a cap on carbon emissions, that new electricity would be even more valuable because it's virtually CO2-emission-free. 

[SENATOR JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ)]  If reducing CO2 is the ultimate goal, how do you take hydro and nuclear out of the equation? 

[SUITERS]  But despite the efforts of McCain and fellow Republicans, the nuclear industry here is on the outside looking in at climate legislation.  As the House and Senate climate bills stand right now, their language involves mandates to produce more renewable electricity but not more low-carbon electricity, and that means no new incentives specifically for the construction of new nuclear reactors.  We already have 104 of them here in our country, none begun in the last three decades.  About two dozen reactors are now in the planning stages, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says none of those will be online anytime before 2016.  And cost estimates to build those range anywhere from $4 billion to $10 billion. 

[SENATOR JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL) ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE]  We know that nuclear power meets our emissions standards very well, create a lot of jobs -- thousands of jobs to construct a plant, permanent jobs -- maybe 1,000 high-paid, permanent jobs and clean jobs in a community -- so, that needs to get moving more. 

[SUITERS]  The French recipe for that movement, according to AREVA -- first of all, the push for carbon-emission constraints, like the E.U.'s cap-and-trade.  Also, predictability of pricing for the U.S. electricity supply, a benefit of the state-run system in France.  And, finally, a tenet that gets traction on both sides of the Atlantic. 

[DE BOURAYNE]  Energy independence is one of the major, if not the first, criteria to be, let's say, a need and more than a need -- requirement -- for the future.  So this is why we believe it's definitely, this is, we have a different view on that. 

[SUITERS]  Tyler Suiters, Clean Skies News. 

[McGINNIS]  One big issue for the U.S. nuclear industry is waste storage.  France says it has that one figured out.  We'll have that story for you next Sunday on "Clean Skies Sunday." 

With half of U.S. electricity coming from coal, capping emissions from generating plants is vital to fighting global warming.  Well, American Electric Power is operating a full-scale carbon capture and storage trial plant at its West Virginia facility.  Clean Skies' Dan Goldstein shows us an inside look at this plant, which he visited last fall. 

[GOLDSTEIN]  If carbon capture and storage, or CCS, ever becomes commercially viable, this giant power plant in West Virginia might be the reason why. 

[BRIAN SHERRICK, MOUNTAINEER CCS PROJECT MANAGER]  Our process starts at the outlet of the flue gas desulfurization system, which is the large stainless-steel vessel.  Coming out of the hood, you see two white ductworks, leading to and from our capture facility. 

[GOLDSTEIN]  Brian Sherrick runs American Electric Power's CCS test plant here along the Ohio River, where AEP is gearing up the first ever large-scale carbon removal and storage.  This test rig, developed jointly with Alstom of France, is attached to a 1,300-megawatt coal-fired power plant, built back in 1981.  This plant uses more than 7,000 tons of coal a day and emits 8.2 million tons of CO2 each year.  But if CCS works, plants like this one could see CO2 emissions drop by up to 90%. 

[SHERRICK]  We're sort of pushing the envelope and doing a 10-times scale-up, so we're trying to push the commercialization of the technology as fast as we can, with a goal of decreasing energy demand as much as possible so that we don't have to replace that energy loss with other industry or other ways of producing the power, whether it be newer, more efficient coal plants or nuclear or gas. 

[GOLDSTEIN]  But all that takes power, and lots of it.  Just to remove 100,000 tons of CO2, it takes 1.5 megawatts, enough power to light thousands of homes.  AEP plans next to build a CCS plant capable of removing 1.5 million tons of CO2.  That plant will need more than 280 megawatts of power, or enough to power a small city. 

[SHERRICK]  Any of the CO2 capture processes require electricity and steam to work in the process, so one of the goals of this process and one of the reasons we chose Alstom's chilled ammonia process is that it offers the opportunity to get the lowest energy demand to run the process.  Commercially available CO2 capture processes are somewhere around 30% of the energy demand of what they're treating.  The goal of the chilled ammonia process is to get down to 10% to 15%. 

[GOLDSTEIN]  And once the CO2 is captured, it has to be stored.  AEP is securing the CO2 in these wells here, drilled a mile and a half deep into saline aquifers, deep enough not to be a threat to the water table and the surrounding community, the company says. 

[SHERRICK]  This area is 85 feet or above.  The coal seams in this area are 200 to 400 feet, so we're injecting a mile and a half underground, so there's several thousand feet of good cap rock between our injection reservoirs and the fresh-water drinking zones or the coal seams. 

[GOLDSTEIN]  AEP says this plant will be fully operational by 2015, and if that works out, it might be a good example of some of the so-called "green jobs" politicians have been promising.  Not only will CCS provide construction jobs building the new infrastructure, but utilities will have to build essentially a new power plant within a plant, and that means people working around the clock to run them. 

[J.L. PERRY, AEP OPERATIONS SUPERINTENDENT]  If CCS were to go on a commercial scale, we would have to build a control room like this, very similar.  We would probably have to add probably three to six more people to run that control room and that process. 

[GOLDSTEIN]  But AEP says it can't do it all without the help of Uncle Sam.  That's why late last year, DoE gave the company $334 million to help it develop the larger-scale version of this plant. 

[GARY SPITZNOGLE, AEP CCS ENGINEER]  We've got to figure out how to pay for this type of project.  But really, I don't see how it can be done without help from the federal government.  It's just very, very expensive.  There's not a mandate to do it.  Other power plants are not doing it, so it would put us at a severe disadvantage if we attempted to do it all on our own. 

[GOLDSTEIN]  But in September, DoE changed its future CCS commitments to get more money out the door before stimulus funding expired.  That's meant pulling the plug on the billion-dollar FutureGen plant in Mattoon, Illinois, the controversial plant which had been on life support since 2008.  DoE says, though, it will continue to test other CCS technologies.  While the agency says its commitment to developing carbon capture and sequestration remains firm, privately, utilities worry the future of clean coal could still be up in the air.  Dan Goldstein, Clean Skies News. 

[McGINNIS]  However promising the technology, there is still a dispute over how to pay for it.  AEP is now planning to build a commercial-scale plant, and it wanted Virginia customers to pay $54 million of the cost.  In July, Virginia regulators rejected that request.  They said AEP customers in other states would share the benefits and should share the cost.  AEP is appealing that decision. 

Still ahead, don't let waste go to waste.  We'll give you the scoop on energy from poop. 

Also, should there be more ethanol in gasoline?  The debate is revving up while a lab in Illinois says it may have the answer. 

[BREAK] 

[EVAN WOLF, GULF COAST CLEAN UP, LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD]  When I signed on with the National Guard, I did it to help protect America from our enemies, like in the Persian Gulf -- not to clean up an oil company's mess here in the Gulf of Mexico. 

We'll do whatever mission we're given, and do it well, but America needs a new mission, because whether it's deep-drilling oil out here or spending a billion dollars a day on oil from our enemies overseas, our dependence on oil is threatening our national security. 

The thing is, a clean American energy plan would cut our dependence on oil in half.  It's more power for America, made here in America, putting our people to work using all the resources we have. 

Some folks in Washington say now's not the time for clean American power.  I got to ask, if not now...  when? 

[END BREAK]   

[McGINNIS]  Welcome back.  Right now, ethanol producers and automakers are awaiting a decision from EPA on whether to increase the amount of ethanol that's blended into gasoline.  Ethanol producers say their product is better on the environment and gives us a step away from foreign oil dependency.  Carmakers say the move would be costly to them because they'd have to recalibrate their engines to handle more ethanol.  But now researchers at Argonne National Lab in Chicago say they may have the answer.  Clean Skies' Lee Patrick Sullivan shows us the omnivorous engine. 

[Engine revving] 

[SULLIVAN]  This engine is only two years old, but it's not a picky eater -- gasoline, ethanol, butanol, or any combination of the three, it will slurp it up and perform.  It's called the omnivorous engine, and the folks at Argonne National Lab outside Chicago say it could revolutionize the internal combustion engine. 

[THOMAS WALLNER, ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB]  Our concept optimizes itself to run as efficiently as possible on a variety of fuels, including gasoline, ethanol, other alcohols like butanol, and the mix of all these fuels. 

[SULLIVAN]  Now, in theory, any alcohol-based fuel that can be ignited by a spark plug will work in a gasoline engine.  Just ask the folks that fill up with used French fry grease.  What they don't tell you is how poorly the cars perform.  Even E85 flex fuel vehicles lose efficiency when the ethanol mix gets higher. 

[WALLNER]  Right now, as you fill up with E85 versus gasoline, your vehicle will lose about 30% of its range because of the lower energy content of ethanol versus gasoline.  If we're successful with this concept, we might be able to run the engine more efficiently on ethanol than it runs on gasoline, because it optimizes itself. 

[SULLIVAN]  It does this by using a series of sensors in the fuel line.  These sensors can detect the ions in each kind of fuel and calibrate the engine accordingly.  This is something that would take a mechanic several hours to calibrate, based on what type of alcohol-based fuel was being used.  These sensors do it on the fly.  And the omnivorous engine is being put through the wringer in a virtual world at Argonne National Lab. 

[NEERHA SHIDORE, ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB]  So behind the screen is an entire model of a vehicle, with a battery, with tires, with electrical motor and everything. 

[SULLIVAN]  The software was developed at Argonne, and it tricks the engine into thinking it's in a real car, cutting down on research and development time.  Tests that used to take years for automakers now are completed in days. 

[SHIDORE]  So we have our own modeling software, called Autonomy, which is used to model vehicles.  And we use that software and we connect it to a real engine and make the engine believe that it's in the vehicle. 

[SULLIVAN]  If successful, the omnivorous engine could have a huge impact on energy policy.  Each state could come up with its own blend of fuel without having the automakers tweak their engines.  Driving through Iowa -- use 100% ethanol.  Entering Chicago -- use a butanol blend. 

[SHIDORE]  You can use the same fuel, you can use different fuels.  You can drive across cities which have different blends of ethanol or butanol or something and you can still use the same fuel and be assured that your car or engine is giving you the maximum performance possible. 

[SULLIVAN]  And the folks at Argonne are also working on a diesel version of the omnivorous engine. 

[WALLNER]  We have a different project where we're looking to ion sensing feedback for diesel engines, and that could be used on diesel or biodiesel or other replacement fuels for regular, conventional diesel. 

[SULLIVAN]  To have an engine that runs on different types of fuels isn't a new idea.  The early Model Ts actually ran on ethanol and gasoline.  But if you changed your fuel, you had to recalibrate.  At Argonne National Laboratory, Lee Patrick Sullivan, Clean Skies News. 

[McGINNIS]  Well, perhaps not the stuff of Sunday mornings, but in Cambridge, Massachusetts, dogs are helping to power a park.  Under a project called "Park Spark," a methane digester was installed in this Cambridge park.  Dog owners scoop their dogs' poop into a special biodegradable bag, toss it into an anaerobic digester on site, which converts it into methane.  Right now it's powering a lamppost at the park.  The man behind the poop power, Matthew Mazzotta, is hoping to install permanent underground digesters in parks throughout the country. 

And a programming note, there is a big change in store.  Next week will be the last edition of "Clean Skies Sunday."  On October 3rd at 11:00 A.M., we will bring you a brand-new weekly show right here on WJLA-TV.  Something really different, something we're pretty excited about.  It's called "Energy Now," an in-depth look at the critical issues and choices we face about our energy future and the environment.  We'll help put it all in perspective for you.  That's "Energy Now" premiering October 3rd, on Sundays at 11:00 A.M.  You don't want to miss it. 

And that does it for us for this edition of "Clean Skies Sunday."  I'm Susan McGinnis.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  We'll see you right here next Sunday morning, and until then, we'll see you at CleanSkies.com.  Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  Have a great day. 

[END SHOW]

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