UW Energy Hub

After many years of uncertainty, the US Department of Energy finally launched its new program, ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy).

ARPA-E was designated back in 2007, but to certain extent, APRA-E was finally and formally described in President Obama’s speech on April 27, 2009 to the National Academy of Science. A handy summary comes from the ARPA-E website:

“ARPA-E will uniquely focus on high risk, high payoff concepts – technologies promising true energy transformations. The Department invests heavily in basic research and ARPA-E is not intended to augment these efforts.”

Most exciting is the recent request for proposals announcement. Visit ARPA online to learn more.

A “wake up and smell the coffee” article in The Times of London about leaving your coffeemaker plugged in establishes some truths about energy we use to get us up and running every day. Reporting on a recent e-book by David MacKay, physicist at Cambridge University, the article says that appliances left plugged-in are perhaps the least of our worries. For example, your phone charger “consumes only 0.01kWh a day.” Switching off your phone charger for a day saves as much energy the same as a hot bath, or driving an average car for one second. And what about planes? Flying roundtrip from London to Cape Town uses “nearly as much as the energy used driving an average car 50km a day, every day, all year.”

Facing the facts helps clarify the implications of the recent report on consumer electronics by the International Energy Association (IEA). The report analyzes trends (expect 3.5 billion mobile phones, 2 billion TVs, and 1 billion personal computers by 2010; many of us can already count 20 to 30 gadgets and appliances in our home). It has helps to re-frame the Associated Press (AP) headline, “Charge your iPod, kill a polar bear?“

POWER HUNGRY: Re-Envisioning Electricity In The U.S. - a week-long series about our grid, in seven parts plus three extra features and a very cool interactive map.

Follow the whole series at npr.org

If you’d like to join the Energy Hub team, organize energy/environment events, or help make a more energy-conscious community at UW, come to our weekly meeting. All are welcome to learn more and share their ideas.

Come by Monday @ 5:45-7:00pm
Room 3118 in the Student Activity Center, 333 East Campus Mall


Read the rest of this entry →

Ted Holby, a Computational Materials Group member and Energy Hub executive, and his business partner Matt Miller, a PhD candidate in Physics, won the Nelson Institute’s Climate Leadership Challenge competition yesterday for “Best National Solution” for his proposal called “A Novel Method of Carbon Sequestration” (involving solar thermal energy, biochar, and a bunch of other really sustainable stuff! – ask Ted for details). This award is accompanied by a hefty cash prize.

Congratulations Ted, and thanks for your leadership in making our world a better place!

Sigma Xi invites films that address an aspect of energy production, consumption, or distribution, in the context of the world energy crisis and the need for sustainable energy technologies. Films are judged for high quality of production and with the accuracy and depth of the scientific ideas they present. They must be well made, educational and informative, and they must be rooted in science. They may be scripted or candid, fictionalizations, live video or animation or any combination of these, but must communicate scientific ideas in a manner that the general public can understand.

Prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 awarded for the top three films! No entry fee! Registration deadline is August 18.

Learn more at Sigma Xi.

A formula put forward in an Earth Day article on energy by the New York Times’ Tierney Lab needs a second look… Comments are welcome!

You’ve surely heard about Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s call for 25% renewable electricity in Wisconsin by 2025. Learn how we’ll get there at Energy Hub’s Spring Forum!

Meeting the Challenge of 25 by ‘25

Time: Thursday, April 23, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Morgridge Auditorium, Grainger Hall, 975 University Ave

Read the rest of this entry →

Mr Hagen’s lecture will focus on the economic concept of discount rates applied in an ecological context – including the physiological reasons (evolutionary and otherwise) that cause humans to consume resources as fast as (or faster than) the earth can proffer them. Nate Hagens is the editor of theoildrum.com (a very popular energy blog). Sponsored by Energy Hub, The Nelson Institute, and Madison Peak Oil Group. Contact:  Nathan Pinney, npinney@wisc.edu

Update: Watch the lecture on YouTube