March 2007 Newsletter
In this Issue:
- Bioenergy School
- Machen's Climate Change Commitment
- UF "LEEDs" the Way in Building Greener Communities
- UF Extension Contributes to a Sustainable Florida
- Student Groups Active in Making UF More Sustainable
- Program for Resource Efficient Communities
Bioenergy School
Turns Undergraduate Concern into Knowledge
During summer 2006, while many students completed
course work, traveled abroad or enjoyed an extensive vacation, some students used
the opportunity to learn about the emerging field of bioenergy.
Interest and research in sustainability and energy issues abound on campus, but substantive programs for undergraduates are surprisingly absent. Student interest in this growing field prompted Dr. Ann C. Wilkie to form the UF/IFAS Bioenergy Summer School, a research internship program aimed at developing undergraduate student curiosity into a deeper understanding of sustainability through hands-on experience in an array of bioenergy projects. Funding for the Wilkie Summer School was provided by the UF/IFAS Dean for Research.
The program was structured to bridge conceptual gaps in our current understanding of energy cycles. Discussions, led by Dr. Wilkie and a number of guest experts, gave a seasoned perspective of the issues in sustainability that we as a society face and outlined some potential solutions. Group projects reinforced our teamwork and communication skills and provided a “down and dirty” intimacy of green projects ranging from assessing the amount of organic waste produced by the university to building a student biodiesel reactor. We also got the opportunity to embrace a subject of particular interest through work on individual research projects.
The program was comprehensive and, under the guidance of Dr. Wilkie, students tackled many issues in sustainability: waste management, energy resources, energy conservation, global warming, ecological issues, agricultural dilemmas, and social awareness.
Field trips enhanced our real world perspective and covered a wide range of companies and programs. The bioenergy interns visited Celunol Corporation, the cellulosic ethanol company associated with the University of Florida, which is currently researching ways to turn biomass into bioethanol. We followed the trail of the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), an aquatic weed harvested from Lake Alice. It led us to Wood Resource Recovery, the largest tree recycling/mulching center in northern Florida. This center turns fallen trees into mulch and topsoil, valuable soil amendments, rather than burning them and releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We can see our habits as a society are gradually improving with our understanding.
Of course, we visited and toured the innovative waste to energy treatment system developed by Dr. Wilkie at the Dairy Research Unit (DRU). The DRU uses anaerobic digestion, a microbial fermentation, to convert organic matter (dairy manure) into a burnable biogas, a sustainable source of natural gas. We also visited the batch anaerobic digestion system of Sigarca, Inc., that converts municipal organic waste at the local waste transfer station. Field trips to explore the inner workings of campus waste management and energy use included a visit to UF's wastewater treatment plant and to the UF motorpool where biodiesel was being tested in university vehicles.
We combined our diverse backgrounds to tackle a number of group projects. Bioenergy is a diverse discipline and group projects spanned the spectrum: a campus organic waste audit, an energy conservation and solar water heating project, and a biodiesel reactor. While the projects were met with various levels of success, we learned and enhanced basic skills of science, math, chemistry, plumbing, microbial ecology, and laboratory protocols, and improved our understanding current issues surrounding each topic.
Individual projects helped to develop each student’s personal interest, consistent with his or her educational background. Projects included bio-prospecting algae for biodiesel production, a test run to turn biodiesel by-products into biogas, a survey of the student body to assess knowledge and awareness of energy issues, the conversion of sewage and sewage sludge into biogas, the design of a small anaerobic digester suitable for developing countries, and an analysis of the policy issues of using South Florida sugarcane for bioethanol production.
We also created a Web site where we posted the results of our projects and details of our Bioenergy School experience (http://biogas.ifas.ufl.edu/Internship). The hands-on and engaging program educated and developed us as students to become more proficient in issues important to our future (this “our” is expansive to the whole human race and even the entire planet Earth).
Every student walked away with new information and experiences to incorporate into everyday decisions. Two of us are forming research interests that we plan on continuing in graduate school. Projects were met with successes, incompletes, and inevitably failures. These, however, are the pioneering first steps that we have made at the Bioenergy School. We are now well-versed, inspired and informed, educated and enlightened in diverse aspects of sustainability and bioenergy, and we challenge you to use your bioenergy to its fullest potential!
--James G. Duncan and Scott J. Edmundson
2006 Bioenergy School Interns
For more information regarding the 2006 experience, please contact James G. Duncan
(jasdunca@ufl.edu) or Scott J. Edmundson (brntodie@ufl.edu), or visit the 2006 Bioenergy
Internship website: http://biogas.ifas.ufl.edu/Internship
For information regarding the 2007 UF/IFAS Bioenergy Research Summer Internship Program, please contact Dr. Wilkie, Soil and Water Science Department: acwilkie@ufl.edu
Machen's Climate Change Commitment
President commits to climate neutrality
Calling global warming a "frightening phenomenon," University of Florida President Bernie Machen announced in October 2006 that UF will be among the first universities in the nation to commit to going "climate neutral" in future years.
Machen signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge to take environmentally conscious steps so that the net impact of university activity will not worsen the problem of climate change. The pact requires universities to publicly disclose progress, but allows each institution to set its own pace in reaching the lofty goal.
UF "LEEDs" the Way in Building Greener Communities
All new buildings on campus meet gold, silver standards
An environmentally friendly building might seem like
it would require the sacrifice of some modern conveniences, but the most current
sustainable building technology is in fact incredibly high-tech. The new UF Genetics
Institute and the Cancer Research Center includes a system for harvesting rain water
and a rooftop green house, among other energy saving measures.
UF "LEEDs" the Way in Building a Greener Community All new buildings on campus meet silver standards. In fact, UF boasts the largest density of such “green” buildings registered in Florida, some of which, like Rinker Hall, qualify for a more prestigious LEED ranking: the Gold Standard.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria was recently adopted by UF Facilities, Planning & Construction administrators for the design and construction of all new major building and renovation projects.
The LEED certification program set forward and monitored by the United State Green Building Council (USGBC) is based on scientifically researched standards that emphasize the use of state-of-the-art techniques for site development. According to USGBC’s Web site, LEED “is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.” Strategies for achieving these criteria include water savings, energy efficiency, “green” materials selections, and indoor environmental quality as part of the building plan.
LEED criteria not only provide environmental benefits by reducing buildings' impact on natural resources consumption, but also economic, community, health and safety benefits by enhancing occupant comfort and health and minimizing the strain on local infrastructure. Under the LEED guidelines, the construction of UF's Rinker Hall incorporated recycled materials such as aluminum wall panels and railings, wood from sustainably managed forests, and local materials to save transportation costs and help the local economy.
Reclaimed rain water is harvested and used to maintain the landscape and flush toilets. Reflective, Energy-Star-rated roof membranes reduce the amount of heat absorbed by the building, providing an overall energy saving of 47 percent.
The architects were also careful to avoid energy-efficient materials that have been identified as carcinogens, such as PVC for windows, thereby providing a healthier environment for the inhabitants. While buildings like Rinker Hall and the new UF Genetics Institute stand as exemplary green buildings, they are a reflection of a much wider effort by the university to lead the way in building a sustainable and "green" community.
--Guneeta Singh
UF Extension Contributes to a Sustainable Florida
Several new efforts on the cutting edge
University of Florida/IFAS Extension has several exciting new projects that are contributing to a more sustainable Florida:
- Demonstration Unit: Extension is creating a demonstration unit in the northeast part of the state that will implement cutting-edge practices in low-impact development, alternative agriculture, and lawn and garden care to show developers, residents, and policymakers how the future of Florida can include responsible resource management with a diverse economy. More
- Sustainability Task Force: The director of UF/IFAS Extension’s South Central District, Dr. Charlie Vavrina, is assembling a sustainability task force to help Extension better serve the citizens and local governments of Florida. The task force will help create a statewide network of Extension information in issues related to sustainability, allowing UF faculty and others to communicate with each other about research and outreach efforts in areas such as regional planning, urban forestry, and social marketing. The task force brings together experts from several universities, Extension faculty, the Century Commission, local NGOs, and others, and meets for the first time this month.
- Web Site: Extension’s comprehensive Web site, www.SolutionsForYourLife.com, has lots of information about sustainable practice for homeowners, including a current feature article about saving energy. More
Student Groups Active in Making UF More Sustainable
The American Solar Energy Society and Gators for a Sustainable Campus help blaze the way
For a campus that is aiming to bring issues of sustainability to the forefront, student organizations have played an integral part in helping realize this goal.
From an alternative transportation vehicle to a referendum on the student government ballot, the American Solar Energy Society at UF and Gators for a Sustainable Campus are contributing to a more sustainable UF.
The American Solar Energy Society at UF (ASES) is working on “the ultimate commuting vehicle.” This combination human-solar powered vehicle has all the benefits of a bicycle (and more), but can also be run by a solar-powered battery.
The vehicle includes a 12-volt accessory plug-in (handy for your iPods!), storage space, and roll-down flaps for rain protection. Since it is classified as a bicycle, this vehicle can be used in bike lanes, helping riders avoid traffic.
For now, the project is aimed at demonstrating and showing the feasibility of such a vehicle, but ASES hopes that it will ultimately be available to students and the university.
“Although I believe conservation and evaluating our lifestyle decisions are the first things everyone should focus on, solar energy can play a key part in our lives and our energy portfolio,” said Nate Mitten, president.
Gators for a Sustainable Campus (GSC) worked to include a renewable energy referendum question on this semester’s student government ballot. The referendum, which asked whether or not students would support a 50 cent per credit hour fee that would go towards purchasing renewable energy and investing in renewable energy projects on campus, could ultimately raise $645,000 each year for UF. Student voters approved the referendum with 78% of the vote. The fee will have to be approved by UF's president, the board of trustees, the board of governors, and finally the state legislature. A final decision by the legislature would allow any of the eleven state universities to also enact such a fee.
“Not only will this help our university continue towards its goal of becoming more sustainable, it will also allow other universities to follow suit, creating an even larger potential impact on our state,” said Brendan Moore, GSC president.
--Suzanne Lewis
Program for Resource Efficient Communities
Conducting outreach for more sustainable housing developments
Residential construction is a huge business in Florida—over 208,000 new single-family homes were permitted in 2005 alone. As a direct consequence, demand for energy and water is steadily increasing and Florida's natural environment is being rapidly transformed.
UF’s Program for Resource Efficient Communities promotes the adoption of best design, construction, and management practices that measurably reduce energy and water consumption and environmental degradation in new residential community developments.