| Issue No. 13: April 2008 |
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Florida Should Invest in Energy-Efficient Homes, Not Nuclear Power Plants
Florida is planning to build more large-scale nuclear power plants to help reduce the state's carbon footprint. This means Florida will not be building any new coal power plants, which is good news. On the other hand, ten years will pass before these nuclear power plants even turn on, and we'll be using more energy from natural gas plants in the meantime. While natural gas power plants leave a much smaller carbon footprint than coal power plants, the rising price of natural gas would cause our electricity costs to skyrocket. Today, we pay about 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. How much will we be paying five years from now? Can we afford to wait ten years for a nuclear power plant to provide our electricity, even if it produces little to no carbon emissions? FEATURE STORIES FSEC Awarded Alternative Energy Training Center Contract
Over the next 10 years, Florida utilities will have to produce 75 billion more kilowatt-hours than the current level of energy output to accommodate the future electric energy needs of the state. At the same time, Governor Charlie Crist has issued three executive orders on energy usage and climate change.
New Fuel Solutions on the Horizon at FSEC Researchers at the Florida Solar Energy Center will begin work shortly on the development and testing of a new process to produce clean-burning liquid fuels from biomass resources in Florida. The fuel-production process itself is not a new technology, but the adaptations FSEC has made to it are groundbreaking.
FSEC-Partnered Project Wows at International Builders Show
In February, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) held their annual International Builders Show at the Orange County Convention Center for the fourth year in a row. This year 92,000 builders, construction professionals and buyers attended, and the high-performance homes stole the show.
Six-Year NASA Hydrogen Research Grant Comes to a Close For the past six years, seven of Florida’s state universities have been working together to conduct research and develop a variety of hydrogen technologies through a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. These research activities have been conducted under the Hydrogen Research at Florida Universities program that was managed and led by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC).
Alternative Fueled Vehicles Rally Awareness at SunDay Challenge In October, the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) hosted a road rally and exhibition of alternatively fueled vehicles called the SunDay Challenge. Since 1991, the Challenge has helped educate the public about alternative-fueled vehicles by promoting alternative energy technologies that will power the vehicles of the future and help solve our transportation, energy and air quality problems.
Latitude and Longitude Lead Visitors to FSEC If you see some of the Florida Solar Energy Center’s visitors rummaging through the landscaping rather than checking out the solar panel displays, don’t be alarmed – they’re just searching for treasure.
University of Florida Professor Wins Florida Energy Achievement Award
Dr. Ann C. Wilkie, associate professor at the University of Florida‘s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), has been named winner of the third annual Florida Energy Achievement Award. The FSEC award committee chose Wilkie for her extensive work in alternative energy – creating bio-energy from animal waste – and her leadership in promoting awareness and understanding of renewable energy and sustainable practices.
Fenton Receives UCF Distinguished Researcher Award James M. Fenton, director of the Florida Solar Energy Center and recognized expert in electrochemical engineering, received this year's University of Central Florida Award for Excellence in Distinguished Research. This honor is awarded to researchers whose work has created an impact within their discipline and in society. Their work is recognized by research peers, has been published and presented on numerous occasions, and provides external grant and contract support for the research.
FSEC and Neil Moyer Receive EEBA Legacy Award The Florida Solar Energy Center and Neil Moyer, principal research engineer at FSEC, were awarded Energy and Environmental Building Association’s (EEBA) Legacy Award in October. The Legacy Award recognizes the most significant contributions made toward the promotion and development of building performance as it relates to the science of new home construction over the past 25 years.
Fenton Elected to Fellow of The Electrochemical Society
James M. Fenton, FSEC director and member of The Electrochemical Society, was among seven members elected to the position of “Fellow” of the society last year. Fenton received the honor at the society’s October meeting in Washington, D.C. Established in 1989, the award recognizes individual contributions made by active members and their leadership in the achievement of science and technology, specifically in electrochemistry and solid-state sciences. Only three percent of the society’s members are awarded this honor. Membership of The Electrochemical Society includes more than 8,000 individual scientists and engineers in more than 70 countries worldwide, as well as roughly 100 corporations and laboratories that hold corporate membership.
Rodney Champagne Receives FSEC’s James D. Roland Award
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This newsletter has been produced by Sherri Shields, Sara Tournade and Dianne Wood. |
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