Press Conference Transcript, 15 July 2009

The Construction of the World’s First Utility-Scale Renewably Generated Hydrogen Plant

July 15, 2009

Ornesha DePaoli, Vice President of Publicity:

“Good Morning and welcome ladies and gentlemen of the press, esteemed colleagues, friends and guests.  My name is Ornesha DePaoli and I am Vice President of Publicity for Jetstream Wind, Inc.   Today is indeed a historic day not only for the state of New Mexico, but for our nation and for every nation around this world.

Let me introduce to you Mr. Henry Herman.  He is CEO of Jetstream Wind, Inc. and the man behind this remarkable green and clean technology.”

Henry Herman:

“Good morning and welcome.  Before I go in to today’s announcements, I would like to read a quote that came in from Senator Tom Udall.

‘Today, New Mexico is witnessing another first in our drive towards leadership in the clean energy economy of the future," said U.S. Senator Tom Udall. "This ten-megawatt hydrogen power plant, the first of its kind at that size, will produce and store power for the grid with zero emissions and convert salt water to fresh water in the process.  By adding hydrogen to New Mexico’s energy portfolio, we truly are the ‘do it all’ state when it comes to energy.’

I would like to extend a thank you to Senator Udall for his continuing support and contributions to New Mexico and the new energy environment.

On July Fourth, 1776, a group of individuals took bold steps to initiate a new path for the future…. for the collective livelihood of a new nation.  They decided to go against a system that had been in place for a very long time and adopt an innovative way of living that would guide their new nation into a time of prosperity.

On July Fourth, 2009, two hundred and thirty-three years later, another group of individuals recently took bold steps to again create a new path for the future, not just for our nation, but for the world.

Last weekend, in a private ceremony, Jetstream Wind, Inc. broke ground on the world’s first zero-emissions, renewably-generated hydrogen power plant that will supply firm, dispatchable electricity to over six thousand homes and businesses.

This plant is the first of four that will start pre-development by the end of the year. Over one hundred and fifty jobs will be created during construction, and at least another thirty high wage jobs will be created per plant, during operation. This new power plant is revolutionary, not only for its technological merits or its ease of implementation, but in the aspect that it is the first real step of its kind toward a cleaner, brighter future.

These plants not only have the capability to [augment] existing solar and wind farms to firm up variable power, but with this technological configuration, we can adapt existing natural gas fired plants to burn renewably generated hydrogen and become emissions free as well, creating entirely new possibilities for cooperation between existing energy providers and renewable development…creating another step that we as a nation must take to free ourselves from foreign oil and inspiring others to do the same.

This would not have been possible without the concerted effort and vision of hundreds of individuals involved in planning, design, finance, security and engineering.  Another invaluable contribution came from our elected officials, especially Senators Bingaman and Udall, who have long supported a greener movement in New Mexico, a state long known as a leader in science, technology and innovation.

This could also not be possible without the support of our new administration, which has had the foresight to strongly support clean energy, new electrical transmission concepts and new energy projects on a scale that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

It is this leadership that is supporting today’s energy entrepreneurs.  Together, we are implementing new methods to create and provide energy, while ushering in a new era of prosperity.

Jetstream Wind Inc, along with other energy entrepreneurs, will continue to utilize every method and means possible to create new energy solutions for the United States and for the world.  There is no doubt now… change is coming. We are the generation that will live up to the challenge to create new energy solutions for the planet.

We now believe the endless resources are not those that we can drill and mine, but those that we can harness and create. Now, we can even plan for the energy creation for future generations as well.

We are at the forefront of a new wave of thinking such as the world has never known. We are witnessing the dawn of a new energy independence. We are part of a new generation of pathfinders, innovators, and stewards of a new level of responsibility. We are Jetstream Wind, Inc., and we are committed to our responsibility to bring power to the people.”

Press and Audience Q & A 

Audience Member 1:

 “Thank you very much, Mr. Herman.  So from what I take from your vision and what I have read about Jetstream Wind, Inc., you’re looking at having this power from the slums of Calcutta to the high rises of New York. How long do you think, ten or fifteen years, before a city like Houston, New York or LA would have a significant amount of power generated by this technology?”

Henry Herman:

“Good question.  Without going into too much proprietary material on our roll-out plans for power plants, I can tell you that there are plans in the works for several power plants in the United States beyond what we have planned here in New Mexico.  We’ve met with several representatives already in California to discuss implementation of power plants and possibilities for not only generating renewable power in California, but helping with the financial situation as well by deriving revenue.”

Audience Member 1:

“Well thank you very much because they definitely need a new paradigm.”

Henry Herman:

“Thank you. Yes sir.”

Audience Member 2:

“I’m Michael Hartranft from The Journal.  Can you discuss in more detail the 4 plants proposed in New Mexico?  What financing do you have in place for these?”

Henry Herman:

“It is private financing.  We only deal with private financing.”

Audience Member 2:

“Where are you proposing to build these?”

Henry Herman:

“We have one, of course, that we are announcing in Truth or Consequences.  Two more will be on local Native American pueblos.  And one is actually not in New Mexico.  It’s being planned for the state of Hawaii.”

Audience Member 2:

“Which pueblos?”

Henry Herman:

“I guess at this point you could say we are further along in discussions with San Idlefonso Pueblo and Nambe Pueblo.”

Audience Member 2:

“I see.  Do you have arrangements already with somebody to purchase the power that would be generated by this plant?”

Henry Herman:

“There are two situations that you can utilize for the purchase of power.   One is called the Power Purchase Agreement. It is a set-ahead contract, over twenty-five years for the purchase of generated electric from renewable sources in this state.   A secondary method is called the Day Ahead Bid process.  It is set so that you can provide electric under emergency situations. We are determining at this point which would be best for jobs in this state and the local community, and for the operation of the plan which direction we are going, whether it’s the Power Purchase Agreement or the Day Ahead Bid.”

Audience Member 2:

“How proven is this technology?”

Henry Herman:

“It is absolutely proven.  If you go to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s website, they have a small, very small, fifty-thousand-watt scale model of this running since 2006.  We worked in conjunction with them to derive information on the operational process for it, and hired a great deal of people to work in conjunction to scale it up to a ten-megawatt size.  

Other questions?”

Audience Member 3:

“When do you think you will be generating power out of the Truth or Consequences one?  And then a follow up on the others that you are planning for New Mexico.  What are your thoughts on that?  As you know, I am representing San Idlefonso Development Corporation.”

Henry Herman:

“Of course, yes sir.  Basically we have whittled the process down for construction, operation and implementation to about fourteen months.  It is the fastest power plant to build in the world at a ten-megawatt scale.  Once permitting is accomplished, it takes approximately fourteen months to implement.  Typically the most difficult situation, of course, is going through Environmental and Permitting.  So, it’s fourteen months after the permitting process is complete.  For the San Idlefonso one, I’m sure you are very interested in where we’re at.   We had a meeting a few weeks ago, but we want to go more into that in private.  The funding has actually been moved toward a stage where we can implement that soon.  I actually emailed your Lt. Governor the other day about it…  Other questions?”

Audience Member 4:

“How many employees will run the plant in Truth or Consequences?”

Henry Herman:

“There will be approximately one hundred and fifty employees during the construction of the plant.  Since we designed the plant very efficiently, it would [ultimately] be a little over thirty employees.  Thirty to thirty-five employees during operation.

* * * * *

Henry Herman:

“Hydrogen is produced through an electrolytic process.  Basically it is eighth grade science, scaled up very, very large.  It’s an electrolytic process where a DC current is run through water to split off the hydrogen and oxygen.  The hydrogen is burned just like in a natural gas-fired plant.  We’re just burning a different gas and our gas is created renewably and free.  It’s a very simplistic system, which is why we can take existing natural gas-fired plants and convert them over though renewable generation, so they can run one hundred percent emissions-free, as well.”

Audience Member 5:

“Have you talked to the EPA or the State?”

Henry Herman:

“We have spoken to several governmental organizations and it really boils down to how much industries want to cooperate with us.  How much they feel that they need to go green, to free us from foreign oil.  Not only… I would like to add, it’s not only CO2 that our plants don’t put out, but also hydrogen cyanides, sulfur dioxides, everything that a natural gas or coal-fired plant would put out doesn’t come out of our plant.  

Nothing comes out of our plant.  Period.”

Audience Member 5:

“Water vapor?”

Henry Herman:

“There is a process that we are utilizing where we can actually take green water, grey water, brackish water, salt water, oil fraking water.   We even had offers of dairy water so that we are not utilizing potable water in a state that’s in a drought situation.  We can utilize that water in a process at the beginning end of the plant and at the back end of the plant.  You get one hundred percent pure, distilled water off the back end.  Seventy-six percent of that water and above, of the total water going in, comes out the back end in a pure state.  We have several situations in the Middle East where we are looking at creating energy and desalinating water at the same time.  You had another question, Sir.”

Audience Member 5:

“Can you explain the estimated cost?”

Henry Herman:

“The cost is variable, because it depends on the [energy] resources in the area… because we are utilizing renewable energy as the input source for the DC electric.   In one area, that input source may be wind turbines, in another area it may be solar panels, and in another area it may be geothermal.  So the DC input electric created varies the price of the plan drastically.  But we go where the need is.  

If there is a country that needs a power plant developed in the middle of nowhere that is not attached to a grid, we can do that.  But we have to determine what resource is in the area.  Obviously if it is in the desert, then it’s probably going to be sun.  Or we can do combinatory measures.  We can do wind turbines and [solar], so that you can manufacture as much hydrogen as possible.  

There are secondary operations we have utilized to make this power plant as monetarily feasible as possible.  We have secondary markets for oxygen, hydrogen, liquid oxygen, and liquid hydrogen.   Obviously there are things we can implement to distribute liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen… to the Spaceport, for use in fueling the rockets.   We can enter existing hydrogen markets in California and New York to supply them with hydrogen.  Hawaii was one of the places picked, because they have new legislation [for The Hydrogen Highway].  

We can supply liquid hydrogen for the buses and taxis.  If you look at it realistically, hydrogen is no different than propane or natural gas that you already utilize.  I know that there may be some possible concerns, that everyone thinks hydrogen is more dangerous.  It’s actually safer.  If you have a propane tank on your patio or barbeque, then you now have a flammable liquid all over the place—a hazardous material situation.  Same thing in your house, if your gas line bursts you have a situation.  Hydrogen, when exposed without a spark, recombines with the oxygen in the air and turns to water vapor.  It is actually a much safer material.   One more question, please.”

Audience Member 6:

“What is the cost of the plant in Truth or Consequences?”

Henry Herman:

“Because of the renewable input there, it will cost approximately $219 million.”

Audience Member 7:

“You say there was a ground breaking in Truth or Consequences, does that mean that the dirt has been turned?”

Henry Herman:

“Dirt has been turned, and we have started the permitting process, electrical interconnection processes, soil sampling and surveying.

Thank you for coming here today.”

End of Jetstream Wind, Inc. Press Conference