In her June 27 letter to the editor, Kristin Kitko expressed approval of Sen. Byron Dorgan's support for energy projects in his energy and water spending bill. I echo that sentiment, and would also like to call attention to Dorgan's support for basic research funding that will benefit North Dakota and the country.

Basic research at North Dakota universities will help develop energy technologies to take advantage of wind, agricultural and other North Dakota natural resources. It also will help stimulate our economy and prepare North Dakota students for the energy technology jobs of the future.

I receive funding from the Department of Energy Office of Science for research on tapping wind resources more effectively. Because the wind isn't always blowing when we need it and because getting our wind resource to the markets of the Twin Cities and Chicago currently relies on an aging electricity grid, my students and I are exploring whether hydrogen could be used to store energy and transport it. Instead of generating electricity for the grid, we might be able to use wind turbines to generate hydrogen from water. We could then store the hydrogen in fuel cells and tap them when and where power is needed.

I also participate in Sustainable Energy Research, Infrastructure and Supporting Education, a research initiative partially funded by DOE, which includes 35 University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University students and research associates and 20 faculty with expertise in chemistry, engineering, physics and computing. Our goal is to develop technologies that make green chemicals and biofuels out of North Dakota agricultural products and to develop more carbon neutral uses of coal.

Our nation faces serious energy challenges: escalating fuel prices, worrisome dependence on foreign oil and climate change. North Dakota can be part of the solution. I applaud Dorgan for his vision and his support of university-based research.

(Mann is chair of the department of chemical engineering of the University of North Dakota. - Editor)

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