Recently in Energy Category

There's been a lot of research-related activity under way on campus. Here's a rundown of some of the biggies:

• Fun in the sun. Missouri S&T's entry in this year's Solar Decathlon -- dubbed Team Missouri, since it's a joint venture with students from the University of Missouri-Columbia -- is the fourth solar-powered home built by S&T students. Our campus is one of only two universities in the world to have entered each of the four Solar Decathlons (in 2002, 2005, 2007 and this year). Right now, our team is in ninth place. Keep track of S&T's/MU's progress via the Solar Decathlon's Team Missouri page, or follow along at the Experience This! blog.

• Workin' in a coal mine. This is old news for some of us on campus, but we're glad to see more interest in David Summers' work to turn abandoned underground mines into farms for biodiesel feedstock. Summers, a Curators' Professor of mining engineering, sees a big future in growing algae in underground mines.

• Waving the white flag. While some of us are still bitter about the St. Louis Cardinals' early departure from post-season play, at least the team made it to the post-season. Many teams with no chance of making the playoffs give up their star performers in hopes of a better chance in the future. Those so-called white-flag trades are the subject of some interesting research by Samantha Schussele, a nuclear engineering major who loves baseball. She's working with Michael Davis of the S&T economics department on her statistical analysis of how white-flag trades affect attendance.

• Frontiers of engineering. Congratulations to Sahra Sedigh, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, who has been selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering's Frontiers of Engineering Education symposium. She is one of 49 young engineering researchers and teachers who will come together "to become a major force in identifying, recognizing and promulgating advances and innovations in order to build a strong intellectual infrastructure and commitment to 21st-century engineering education," says NAE President Charles N. Vest. It's great to have a Missouri S&T faculty member involved in this important national discussion.

• Off to Estonia. Congratulations, too, to Eric Showalter, a lecturer in civil, architectural and environmental engineering, who is heading to Estonia on a Fulbright scholarship. Keep up with Eric's adventures by following his blog.

The writers of the automotive blog Car Spy Guide like to scope out the latest in car design and innovation. As they put it on their blog's about section, the writers are "snooping for the latest automotive news that the car companies don't want you to see." But apparently they're also looking elsewhere, because they recently discovered Missouri S&T's EcoCAR Team and have featured our team on their site.

S&T is one of 17 universities in the U.S. and Canada participating in the EcoCAR Challenge, a competition that requires student teams to re-engineer a GM vehicl to minimize energy consumption, emissions and greenhouse gases while maintaining utility, safety, and performance.

The car spies laud our team for "its commitment to hydrogen energy. Being the only school to use hydrogen as its source of energy shows Missouri S&T's commitment to the future of transportation without relying on gasoline."

You'll be hearing more about this team in the near future. And we promise, it won't be cloak-and-dagger stuff.

You can also check the team's blog for updates, as well as S&T's news site.

Defense-related research projects at Missouri S&T stand to gain $15 million through the Defense Appropriations bill, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week. According to a press release from U.S. Rep. Joann Emerson, whose 8th Congressional District includes Rolla, the bill contains $3 million for power generation and storage systems, $3 million for robotic weapons systems, $3 million for heat-resistant materials used in hypersonic flight and $6 million to detect and track explosive materials such as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), a topic we wrote about a few days ago.

Actually, it does. But the alcohol in question is ethanol, and the issue is: Will ethanol production result in less water to drink?

That's the question posed by S&T environmental engineering professor Joel Burken with colleagues from Rice University and Clarkson University. The researchers write in the May 1 issue of Environmental Science & Technology that the "water footprint" of biofuel production in the Midwest could cost 50 gallons of water per mile driven.

The article -- titled The Water Footprint of Biofuels: A Drink or Drive Issue? -- is Environmental Science & Technology's May Day cover story. In it, Burken and his co-authors depart from previous studies, which have examined biofuel production's impact on air quality, land use and net energy value, to take a look at how it might affect water resources. "The overall water footprint associated with biofuels must recognize the impact of increased agricultural activity on water quality as well as water consumption," they write.

In their article, the researchers also suggest that federal regulators take a closer look at how a push for bioenergy will affect water resources. More details in this news release.

We're working the Missouri S&T booth right now as the Missouri Energy Summit continues into the late morning and early afternoon. So that means we're missing out on some good research sessions and panel discussions featuring several Missouri S&T researchers. Nevertheless, we're having a good time visiting with folks who are stopping by the booth.

The summit sessions are broken into four tracks: power generation, transportation and biofuels, energy infrastructure, and materials for energy applications. Check those links for abstracts and papers of the stuff we're missing right now.

Mark Templeton, the new director of Missouri's Department of Natural Resources, presented a sort of "state of the state" address this morning, in which he cited some good news and bad news about Missouri's progress in energy conservation, security and use of alternatives.

First, the good news:

• Missouri is home to the Ford Escape Hybrid, which is manufactured in Ford's ClayCoMo plant in the Kansas City area. That plant rolled out its 100,000th Escape Hybrid just last month.
• A UK company, Smith Electric Vehicles, recently announced it would build a new plant in Kansas City at the old TWA hangers. Smith has enjoyed success in England manufacturing plug-in electric fleet vehicles, and plans to do the same with the Kansas City plant.
• Missouri is home to many great engineering firms and called these companies "a tremendous talent ... to take some of these great (energy) ideas and make them practical."
• Rockport, Mo., population 1,300, is the first community in the state to be completely powered by wind.
• Recently, 140 businesses in Springfield have signed a sustainability pledge. It's a positive signal that "Business leaders right here in Missouri realize it's time to engage on these issues," Templeton said.

Now for the bad news (or as Templeton described it, the "opportunities and challenges" facing Missouri):

• In terms of energy efficiency, Missouri ranks a dismal 45th in the nation. But Templeton is ready to make lemonade from this lemon. "To me, it shows we just have a tremendous opportunity to do more with energy efficiency," he said. "There are many things we can do in this state, even with the low energy costs we have now, that could have immediate payback."
• An even worse ranking: Missouri holds the penultimate spot -- 49th in the nation -- in terms of the use of renewable energy. Here, too, Templeton sees some bright spots. Missouri is 18th or 19th "in terms of wind potential." As for solar energy: "On summer days we actually get as much solar radiation as Florida does." Templeton also sees potential for biofuels.

Saying that state government must "walk the walk" of energy conservation, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon this morning signed an executive order that would require state government offices to reduce energy costs by 2 percent a year over the next 10 years. Nixon was one of the key speakers during this morning's opening session of the Missouri Energy Summit.

"The state of Missouri must not only talk the talk about energy conservation but to walk the walk" of energy conservation, Nixon said prior to signing the executive order.

Nothing yet on the governor's website about Executive Order 9-18, but check here soon for the details. In the meantime, here's what we know, based on Nixon's speech:

• The executive order applies to all state buildings under the state's Office of Administration, which houses several functions, including accounting, IT and facilities management, design and construction. (Missouri S&T has already been working with the facilities management, design and construction folks on green initiatives, including the installation of a wind turbine and solar panel at the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop I headquarters in Rolla.)
• The executive order calls for an energy audit of some sort. "We will look at each building to determine how we can do better," the governor said, "and we will do better."
• Nixon said the executive order will save Missouri taxpayers more than $1 million in the first year.

Also this morning, Nixon talked a lot about Missouri's economic situation, and suggested that the state needs to move into a green economy.

"If we don't come out of this recession with a fundamentally changed economy, we will have missed an opportunity," Nixon said. He said Missouri's universities are key partners in moving toward a green economy -- not only as research hubs for new technologies, but also to train and retrain workers for new jobs.

"This is a transition point for us," he said. "Drawing a connection between energy policy, higher education and jobs is a trifecta that we need to merge."

David A. Summers, one of the many Missouri S&T faculty members attending and presenting at the Missouri Energy Summit, also writes about energy issues regularly on his blog, Bit Tooth Energy. Last night he posted about his visit to a local radio station on Wednesday morning and his impression of keynote speaker T. Boone Pickens' presentation. Here are the details.

Summers promises to share further gleanings from the summit, Day 2 of which begins in just a little more than an hour from now, at 7:30 a.m.

Day 1 of the Missouri Energy Summit is now in the books. Starting with the folksy keynote from billionaire T. Boone Pickens and throughout the day, speaker after speaker after speaker talked about two big issues that need to be addressed in order to meet our nation's energy challenges:

1. Collaboration. Most of the speakers talked about the need to build networks of energy resource companies, government, academia and others to address the issues of energy.
2. Innovation. Technological development will be critical for addressing our energy woes. This should come as no surprise, since Missouri's land-grant research university is hosting the event, and Missouri S&T -- the UM System's technological research university -- is doing so much energy-related research across the board.
   

A third point many of the speakers made was that no single solution will address the enormous scale and immediacy of our energy situation. Perhaps Dan Cole, the senior vice president of AmerenUE, put it best when he said during his presentation, "We're not looking for that silver bullet, we're looking for that silver buckshot." He was talking specifically about finding the right technology to address carbon reduction issues, but the same principle applies to all aspects of energy research.

In total, the Day 1 speakers laid the groundwork for Thursday's research presentations. Day 2 of the Missouri Energy Summit will feature dozens of paper presentations that will show what Missouri S&T and the other University of Missouri campuses are doing to collaborate, innovate and attack the nation's energy issues from all angles.

We'll try to post updates here and on Twitter as much as possible during Day 2. But we'll also be staffing the Missouri S&T booth during much of the event. You can always check the web for Twitter updates (hashtage: #moenergysummit).

Media wrapup:

• Oilman touts alternative energy at Mo. summit (Alan Zagier, Associated Press, in the Houston Chronicle)
• T. Boone Pickens talks oil independence (Janese Heavin, Columbia Daily Tribune)
• Summit on energy (KOMU)
• Experts lend poweer to event (Janese Heavin, Columbia Daily Tribune)

Just released today: Climate Change 101 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy. The document serves as a "cheat sheet" of terms (cap and trade, greenhouse gas, etc.) and issues surrounding the nation's energy discussion.

Karen Harbert, the institute's president and CEO, announced the resource during her talk today at the Missouri Energy Summit.