[SustainableTompkins] Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) Top 10 Technologies

[Joel and Sarah Gagnon]

Wendy,

Tompkins County no longer has passenger trains, as did Philadelphia when I 
was in the area as a student 1965-1969 and as do several other major cites 
in the US. In  New York they are called subways (even when in some 
locations they run on aboveground trestles). In Chicago such rail 
constructions are called "the El."

The information I'm giving you here is hearsay, though Joel and I are 
somewhat in touch with transport thinking. Thanks to you, Wendy, for having 
found employment therein and sharing the info around.

Sally Gagnon

At 06:35 AM 11/1/06 -0500, you wrote:
>Please take the paragraph that mentions TCAT with a large grain of salt. It
>contains many inaccuracies and questionable factual statements that we're
>trying to track down. While TCAT has 6 (not 3) hybrid electric buses on
>order to arrive in 2007, we have not formally committed to having an
>all-hybrid fleet by 2015. Our funding streams do not allow us to make such
>long-term commitments, and changing technology may offer an even better
>choice. Fuel savings are anticipated at 25 percent. We are not sure where
>the ridership projection came from. And can this be true: "Transportation is
>the source of 53 percent of Tompkins County's emissions, compared with a
>national average of 14 percent."??
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Stephen Nicholson" <scnfish at clarityconnect.com>
>To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv"
><sustainabletompkins at lists.mutualaid.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 10:30 PM
>Subject: [SustainableTompkins] Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell chapter of
>Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) Top 10 Technologies
>
>
> >
> >>From Today's
> >
> >
> > http://www.cornellsun.com/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Engineers Present Top 10 Technologies for Sustainability
> >
> > By Rachel <http://www.cornellsun.com/user/1345>  Ensign
> > Oct 31 2006
> > Imagine painting your house red, purple or the color of your choice and
> > in the process generating enough energy to keep your lights on, run your
> > washing machine and do just about anything else that requires
> > electricity.
> > Sound farfetched? Devin Cowan '10 doesn't think so. He and six other
> > members of the Cornell chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World
> > (ESW) presented "Ten exciting technologies enabling a sustainable 21st
> > century" yesterday in Phillips Hall.
> > The presentation followed Sunday's daylong symposium "Challenges of
> > Energy in the 21st Century," consisting of lectures by professors from
> > Cornell, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their
> > prognosis for the future of the environment was bleak.
> > "I'm insistent that it's not only a gloom and doom story. The message is
> > that the United States is not funding sustainable technologies and that
> > China's not either and they're going to start consuming enormous amounts
> > of energy [in the future]," said Evan Variano grad, vice president of
> > advertising for ESW. He then introduced the ten new sustainable
> > technologies.
> > The presentation mainly focused on alternative energy sources, such as
> > mechanisms that harness the energy found in breaking waves and tidal
> > currents and prairie plants that can be burned in power plants that
> > typically burn coal. Cowan's house-paint example was based on new
> > organic solar panels that, when painted with a special liquid and
> > attached to generators, would be a source of solar energy. These new
> > panels also have the potential to be more efficient than the current
> > silicon-based solar technology.
> > Small-scale energy changes going on at Cornell include the new
> > biotechnology building being Leadership in Energy and Environmental
> > Design (LEED) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, meaning that
> > it is an "energy-sustainable construction." The Alice Cook House is also
> > LEED certified and the new roof of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall will also
> > be LEED certified.
> > Another noted push for environmental sustainability in the area is
> > Tompkins County Area Transport's (TCAT) decision to convert their bus
> > fleet to all hybrids by the year 2015.  With an expected ridership
> > increase of 36 percent
> > over the next 20 years, TCAT decided to buy buses that use nickel metal
> > hydride batteries to capture breaking energy. Although these buses are
> > more expensive, they reduce diesel use by 30 percent. Three of these
> > buses have already been ordered.
> > However, in terms of funding for energy research, a front-page article
> > in yesterday's New York Times reported that federal spending on energy
> > technology is half of what it was in 1979. Although "President Bush has
> > sought an increase to $4.2 billion for 2007, but that would still be a
> > small fraction of what most climate and energy experts say would be
> > needed."
> > According to the members of the group, despite the government's lack of
> > monetary emphasis on sustainable energy, research and design (R & D) is
> > making progress. "You wouldn't see the hybrid car if R & D wasn't having
> > an impact. It definitely matters," Variano said.
> > John Erickson '07, vice president of finance, thought that the emphasis
> > on sustainable technologies was "strong" at Cornell. He said that while
> > looking for jobs in sustainable engineering, there were mostly "a lot of
> > jobs in academia."
> > "The entire budget to put on this event was $17," Variano said, "We're
> > going to do it five more times," including later this month for 100
> > students at Dryden High School, a huge crowd compared to the 13 that
> > were in attendance at yesterday's presentation, "It's about education.
> > It'll be easy once America is committed to it. We've got the
> > technology."
> > Erickson wasn't so sure. "I wonder if the future comes from someone
> > making some big new discovery and saving the world or from existing
> > technologies," he said, "it'll probably be a combination of both."
> > Engineers for a Sustainable World was first founded at Cornell in 2001
> > and currently has over 60 chapters on college campuses nationwide.
> > Recently, the Cornell chapter won the Best Project award with their
> > "AguaClara" initiative, where they brought fresh drinking water to
> > impoverished Hondurans.
> >
> >
> > Stephen C. Nicholson
> > Governance Chair, Sustainable Tompkins
> > Ithaca, NY
> > 607-539-6923
> > scnfish at clarityconnect.com
> > www.sustainabletompkins.org <http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/>
> >
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