Promoting Energy Conservation and
Using Alternative Energy Resources
Ken Touryan, in
his presidential address for ASA in 2003 — “ASA
in the 21st Century: Expanding Our Vision for Serving God, the Church, and
Society Through Science & Technology” — described
"Ten Pressing Issues Facing
the Earth Today." He
placed our impending crisis in energy balance, caused by increasing demand
coupled with dwindling supplies of fossil fuels, at the top of the list. He
projected that we will run out
of fossil fuels by 2050, so we should move to alternative energy
sources. { Touryan
has a Ph.D. in Aerospace Sciences from Princeton, and is Chief Technology
Analyst in the Technology Deployment Office at National
Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO. }
Two years later, in 2005 at the
60th Annual Meeting
of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), the focus was on energy. What
you see below is excerpts from an ASA
Newsletter summarizing highlights from the meeting,
held August 5–8 at Messiah College in Grantham, PA.
A Meeting Filled with Energy
As gasoline prices soar and known petroleum
reserves diminish, this year's
Annual Meeting theme, “Alternate Energy
Resources: Conservation and the
Environment,” was especially timely.
Energy efficiency measures lead to
what one presenter termed ‘negawatts’ —
short for ‘negative watts,’ watts that don't have to be generated
because they aren't consumed.
Also energetically presented was the
theme of “Appropriate Technology,” especially
as applied to countries of the developing world. Some of the most
enthusiastic presentations were from
people with hands-on overseas experience,
providing facilities that saved
lives, prevented epidemics, improved
nutrition and provided livelihoods for
disadvantaged individuals and villages. ...
Exploring Alternate Energy Resources
In the Friday evening opening session,
Stanley Bull — associate director of science
and technology
at the National Renewable
Energy 
Laboratory
(NREL) in
Golden, CO — pointed
out that currently
only 6% of the energy
consumed in
the US is from renewable
sources. Highlighting our increased dependence
on foreign oil sources, he stressed that present trends are unsustainable
[as described by Glenn Morton in The
Coming Energy Crisis (2000) and The
World's Oil Supply Revisited (2005)].
Bull
and specialists in
various fields outlined alternatives:
WIND: Stanley Bull reported that
electrical generation by wind power has
increased rapidly. GE has installed a
1.5-Megawatt wind turbine in
Tehachapi, CA, and Bull expects
10-MW units to be operational by
2010. A 3.6-MW prototype is operating
in the Irish Sea, with each blade150 feet long. Superimposing the
image of a Boeing 747 over the turbine,
he compared it to "rotating a
football field."
Jim Green of NREL said
many smaller windmills operate on farmland,
taking only a few square yards out of
agricultural production while supplementing
farmers' income. Such geographically-
diversified sources have
the advantage of making the nation's
power grid less vulnerable to threats
ranging from tornadoes to terrorism,
compared to large central generating
stations.
Technological hurdles are often easier
to overcome than societal inertia or
political opposition. Jerrold L. McNatt of Gordon C.
pointed out that
Massachusetts has
an estimated potential
of 2880 MW of
wind energy, but is
currently using only
1 MW of it. Even
though this may be
the only renewable energy resource in
the area, residents resist the proposal to
install a 420-MW wind park with 130
wind turbines mounted on 246-ft.
lighted towers supporting 341-ft. diameter
blades. Opponents acknowledge
that it may be a good idea in principle,
but NIMBY, ‘not in my back yard.’
SOLAR subdivides into two specialties:
1. Photovoltaics: Photovoltaics (PV)
is
the direct conversion of light to electricity.
Electricity is the most expensive
type of energy to produce, and
PV is the most expensive viable technology
to generate it. But NREL's
Brent Nelson pointed out that the total
global solar resource is more than large
enough to power a sustainable electrical
generation system for the world.
When political, sociological, environmental,
and sustainability issues are
factored with the economics, PV becomes
one of the most favorable technologies.
Under the title “A Chicken in Every Pot, Solar Panels on Every
Roof: Is It Practical?” John A. Bloom (Biola U.) described his
experience of installing, testing, and maintaining
a 2.5-kw photovoltaic system tied
to the power grid to power his home.
2. Solar coatings are
applied to sheets of glass to control the transmission of
solar energy. Annabelle Pratt described
the ‘sputtering’ process, in which coatings
are applied by using high-voltage
apparatus to ignite a plasma in a vacuum
chamber. For a warm climate, a
coating can reduce the amount of solar
energy entering a building; for a cold
climate, it can reduce the solar energy
escaping from a building. Solar-coated
glass products have been in use in commercial
buildings for several decades
and are now also available in the residential
market.
FUEL CELLS convert the chemical energy
of a fuel directly into low-voltage d.c.
When hydrogen is the fuel, the only
emission is water vapor. Hydrogen
and oxygen react electrochemically at
separated electrodes, producing electricity,
heat, and water. John A. Turner explained that an individual
fuel cell generates between 0.6–0.8
volt, "so power specifications are met
by connecting a specific number of
cells in series to obtain the necessary
voltage, and by sizing the active area
of the cells for the current."
HYDROGEN: NREL's George Sverdrup
devoted a
session to what
he described as a
clean, abundant
fuel. He reported
various stages of
development to
produce hydrogen
from water,
fossil fuels, and
biomass. Hydrogen
energy can be converted to electricity
for powering vehicles or buildings,
using either combustion or
electrochemical fuel cells.
Kenneth
Piers (Calvin College) was less sanguine, saying, "… in
a profound thermodynamic sense, hydrogen can never be an energy source; rather,
because it needs to be produced from
other materials,
hydrogen will
always be a net
energy consumer."
He added, "It
behooves us to ask
whether or not the
energy used to
produce, store, distribute,
and deliver hydrogen might not
be used in better ways." He also
expressed concern that leakage might
pose serious environmental risks.
AMMONIA can be used in fuel cells or in internal combustion engines. Ammonia can be readily and economically produced from our abundant supply of coal, and it is much easier to store and transport than hydrogen. John H. Holbrook pointed out that, instead of producing a greenhouse gas, the ‘exhaust’ waste products are nitrogen and clean, potable water. A liter of liquid ammonia theoretically produces approximately 4 kWh of energy and nearly 1.6 liters of pure water. "This feature could be a real blessing in remote or underdeveloped areas, or in disaster situations, where both energy and drinking water are important."
NUCLEAR FUSION: Ian Hutchinson
(MIT) began a Saturday afternoon parallel
session by surveying the present
state of fusion research. He said, "The
astonishing technical difficulty of ‘recreating’ on the human scale
what God has gifted us with, so elegantly
and stably, on the solar scale,
has proven far greater than was
initially imagined. Nevertheless,
research now stands at the threshold
of a scientific demonstration of a
burning plasma."
He presented fusion
research as an appropriate calling for a Christian.
Robert
Kaita,
from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, pointed
out that the US and the former USSR
pioneered fusion research in the
mid-twentieth century. He lamented the fact that the US has not pursued
this form of energy as aggressively as
several developing countries. He noted
that the July 1 issue of Science asked: "Will fusion always be the energy
source of the future?" The text continued:
"It's been 35 years away for about
50 years, and unless the international
community gets its act together, it'll be
35 years for many decades to come."
The US decision of a decade ago that
it was too expensive contrasts with aggressive
development in India, the People's
Republic of
China, and South
Korea. Kaita observed
that South
Korea prioritizes
its fusion research
so highly that they
have not scaled it
back significantly
even during severe
financial difficulties.
"This was a time when there were
news photographs of women donating
their jewelry to help stave off the country's
economic crisis."
Why has the US seen nuclear
fusion as less of a priority? He attributes
much of it to the differences between
Asian and American philosophical outlooks,
stating: "Asians have been called ‘situation
centered,’ while Westerners are
more ‘individual centered.’ … Furthermore,
the Asian tends to focus
on relational responsibility and
motivation based on duty to others,
while the Westerner typically thinks
more in terms of personal rights."
Citing 1 Cor 10:24 and Phil 2:3–4,
Kaita
concludes: "Our focus as Christians should be
on making the best decisions we
can. They should be based not
purely from self-interest, but with
the kind of servant mindset and
humility that only obedience to
Christ can provide."
‘NEGAWATTS’: Using more efficient devices can provide significant reductions in energy usage. At the 1998 Annual Meeting in Cambridge, England, it was pointed out that if incandescent lamps in all traffic signals in the UK were replaced with light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the saving would be equivalent to closing two power plants.
Applying Technology to Meet Human Need
Carl A. Erickson, Jr. of Messiah C. provided the definition of Appropriate Technologies: "Local, self-help, self-reliant technologies that local people themselves choose, which they can understand, maintain, and repair. They are generally simple, capitalsaving, labor-enhancing, and culturally acceptable. Ecologically, appropriate technologies are environmentally sustainable, as much as possible using renewable energy, and limiting atmospheric, chemical, and solid waste pollution."
A solar cooker is very appropriate for underdeveloped countries. Paul Arveson pointed out that many countries have relied so much on burning wood, that they have depleted trees, habitat, soil and watershed. Cooking smoke kills over 1.6 million people each year, causing acute lower respiratory infection, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, etc. Many poor families spend 25% of their income on fuel. The Cookit, a solar cooker that uses aluminum foil or metallized plastic film to collect and concentrate the sun's rays, consumes no fuel, eliminates the daily search for firewood, provides business opportunities, and can sterilize water and pasteurize milk.
For developed countries, hybrid cars make a lot of sense. Ken
Van Dellen is driving his second
Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid car
with EPA estimates of 60 mpg highway,
55 combined. The vehicle contains
a small gas engine, and the
electric motor also acts as a generator.
It has a continuously-variable automatic
transmission, "which means it
doesn't shift. It just smoothly goes
from one speed to another." The gas
engine turns off in town driving, and
the car becomes all-electric. The
engine turns off at stop signs and red
lights and starts again when you step
on the accelerator. The electric air conditioner
can run without the engine
running. With a drag coefficient of .26,
the Prius is more streamlined than a
Corvette by .02 and is less than half
that of a Hummer.
The gasoline engine charges the batteries
at times. Kinetic energy charges
them when you coast, and there is
regenerative braking when you stop.
Ken claims his car produces 90% less
smog-forming pollution than a conventional
engine, a super-ultra rating.
Driving it from Anchorage to Miami
produces less smog-forming pollution
than a can of air freshener. Driving it
150,000 miles produces less smog than
latex-painting a 500-square-foot room.
Technology for Shalom
Every day the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets
full of children die from diseases. Most of these 6,000 deaths could be
prevented by providing sources of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. U.
of Wisconsin civil and environmental engineering prof. Peter J. Bosscher used
those facts to make his case that the developing world needs engineers more than
doctors.
Speaking on the topic “Technology for Shalom,” he
bolstered his case by pointing out that the average African woman walks 6 km
to get fresh water, another six to return, carrying a 20 kg water load. In
the developing world, the average person uses 10 liters of water per day — their
full day's water use for washing, eating, drinking and cooking. That's
the equivalent of one standard American toilet flush [ed. note: this would
be slightly more than two flushes of a 1.28-gallon high-efficiency
toilet].
Cooperating with Engineers without Borders, Bosscher sends
engineering students to implement low-tech/high impact projects like potable
water sources or sanitation facilities. Some organizations send university
students on overseas projects with goals merely to have a good time and to return
safely. But when his students engage in humanitarian outreach, "Engineering
has a human face. No longer is it just calculations and mechanics and calculus." When
they see their engineering expertise help people, many of them make it their
life's career.
He quoted Bernard Amadei, founding president of Engineers
without Borders-USA, who said: "Improving the lives
of the 5 billion people whose chief concern is to stay alive another day on our
planet is no longer an
option; it is an obligation."
A solar cooker is very appropriate for
underdeveloped countries. ..... [This paragraph, and the
three below, were located here in the ASA Newsletter, but have been moved to the
beginning
of this section because
they're more directly related to the "alternative energy" theme of
this page.]
For developed countries, hybrid cars make
a lot of sense. ... The gasoline engine... Ken claims his car...
Bradley Aspires to Be “George
Washington Carver of Coconuts”
Walter Bradley (Baylor U.
professor and ASA Council member) champions
using technology in creative ways to
help the poor.
In Papua New Guinea he has implemented
that goal by converting coconuts
into valueadded
products.
Realizing
that extracting
milk from the
coconut produced
substantial
waste, he
resolved "to
become for
coconuts what
George Washington
Carver had become for peanuts." He and associates discovered the
various parts could be used:
• as fuel, for
chip-burning cook stoves and for biodiesel;
• as animal feed, containing
16% protein and all essential amino acids;
• in construction, processed
into particle board;
• in ecology, as matting to minimize
erosion;
• in the household, as cooking oil, glycerin
for soap, and the empty shell as a
cup.
Making it even more suitable for
developing countries, coconuts grow
primarily in soil that is sandy and near
coastlines — the very areas where poverty
and drought are most intense.
Each tree can bear continually, producing
two to four crops per year, and an
experienced climber can harvest about
1,000 coconuts per day. That sounds
like an ideally ‘appropriate’ solution
for developing countries!
The R/C Ratio
That expression was mentioned several
times during the conference. NREL's
Ken Touryan explains, "R stands for
Resources and C for Challenges. That
ratio is often very much less than 1, especially
for Christians. However, if we
multiply it by God's name, His hands, etc., which can be described as ‘infinite,’
then R times infinity will be
larger than any challenge whatsoever!" { For details
of the R/C Ratio and scriptural examples, see Ken's elaboration
in the page-introduction. }
• more about Energy Conservation and Alternative
Energy Sources
• more about Developing Appropriate Technology to
Meet Human Needs
• homepage for Christian Stewardship of Life (including our environment)