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

[Stephen Nicholson]

>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. Transportation is the source of
53 percent of Tompkins County's emissions, compared with a national
average of 14 percent. 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/>