(Spirit Lake)– The Spirit Lake School District is looking at the possibility of expanding its renewable energy portfolio.
The district was one of the first in the nation to erect a wind turbine to power its facilities. Now, it’s looking into the feasibility of using hydrogen to store excess power generated by the wind turbines and to possibly power the district’s buses and other vehicles.
Jan Bolluyt, a Physics teacher at Spirit Lake High School, told the school board recently putting up a third wind turbine or replacing the smaller turbine with a larger one will be tantamount if the district is to proceed with the hydrogen project. He says the turbines no longer produce enough energy to meet the district’s needs due to recent additions to facilities. And he says the supply will be outstripped even more once the new High School gym and Sami Center are complete. Bolluyt says the excess power generated by the additional turbine would be stored in hydrogen through electrolysis. He says it could then be converted to fuel cells to power the district’s vehicles.
Bolluyt says a study by students in his class resulted in a committee of community members looking into the matter even more.
While the costs of such a venture are being researched, Superintendent Tim Grieves says the concept of using hydrogen as a renewable energy source may make the district eligible for some sizable grants.
The school board has authorized Bolluyt and his committee to continue their research and report back with updates.
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