Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014 - (Page 17)

RESEARCH Fulbright Scholar studies renewable energy in Kenya by Leah Twilley Erik Nordman has always preferred coffee over tea, until recently. During a Fulbright scholarship through the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Nordman, associate professor of biology, spent last year in Kenya researching potential wind energy opportunities for tea farms in the country. He also taught environmental classes at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, the country's capital. "Tea is Kenya's largest export crop and there are about 500,000 small, independent farmers who participate in cooperatives that process the tea," Nordman said. "Kenya is the third largest producer of tea in the world." Nordman explained that before Kenya became an independent country in 1963, Kenyans were not allowed to grow tea. "There were and still are many tea estates owned by big companies like Unilever and Nestlé, but after the country became independent, the industry boomed for small farmers. Many people began growing their own tea bushes and formed the co-ops," he said. The preparation process for tea includes oxidizing, drying and packaging freshly picked leaves at factories several stories tall shared by independent farmers. Nordman said the cost of electricity is twice as much as it is in the U.S., as there are inefﬁciencies and it can be unreliable. "The tea-making process is simple, but there is a lot of energy required to light a factory and run the machines and motors," he said. "So, I looked at whether operating a factory on wind power would be a cost-effective solution for the farmers, and I discovered that it would save them money." Using a technical economic model, Nordman hypothetically calculated how much it would cost to purchase, transport, install and maintain a 750-kilowatt, medium-sized wind turbine. He then compared that to the region's wind resource and how windy it is in an organization that oversees the country's the region. He analyzed data collected 63 cooperative tea factories. "They were from the Solar and Wind Energy receptive to my research project because Resource Data Set, provided by the energy issues have been a big concern for United Nations Environment Program, them," he said. to determine areas where wind power He plans to present his ﬁndings with is strong. From there, he came up with independent tea industries in other an estimate of how much savings there countries, such as China and India, would be compared to grid electricity. which are, respectively, the ﬁrst- and "I found that in eastern areas near second-largest tea producing countries Mount Kenya the wind resource is in the world. sufﬁcient enough that a wind turbine He is also starting to work with a would save each tea factory about Grand Valley student and Kenyatta faculty $60,000 a year," said Nordman. "The member on solar power potential in climate in those areas is good for the same regions of Kenya and areas in growing tea, especially because it gets Tanzania, another tea-producing country. cool in the evening and the elevation "We're ﬁnding that in many cases, solar is 8,000-9,000 feet, compared to high energy can save up to $200,000 a year humidity in western regions." in energy costs, which is really powerful," He said over the course of 20 years he said. - the average lifespan of a wind Nordman wrote a blog about his turbine - a turbine could return up to experiences in Kenya, $515,000 in some areas. "Reducing www.nordmansustainability.com/blog. production costs will increase the farmers' proﬁts, which will help their well-being and livelihood," he said. Tea is observed at a Nordman presented co-operative tea factory in Kenya. his yearlong research Below, Erik at the International Nordman and Development Research students majoring Conference near Cape in environmental Town, South Africa, in studies visit western Kenya during a 2013. He also shared field trip. it with the Kenya Tea courtesy photos Development Agency, 17 www.gvsu.edu Grand Valley Magazine http://www.nordmansustainability.com/blog http://www.gvsu.edu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014

Table of Contents
Campus News
Fall Arts Celebration
Athletics
Donor Impact
Sustainability
Research
Q&A Karen Gipson
A seat at the table
Students dig program
Deployment to enrollment
Seeing double
Off the path
Arts
Alumni News

Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014