 | Energy captured in a camera lens |
Hoover Dam, photo by Mitch Epstein
Photographer Mitch Epstein’s series entitled “American Power” is featured in a recent New York Times article. “Powerful” is certainly one way to describe these images, which can be seen in a slideshow at the NYTimes site.
Mitch uses an 8 x 10 large format camera to capture these wide-angle shots, which feature classic American scenery overshadowed by the massive energy infrastructure that runs our nation.
| Kickoff meeting covered in Badger Herald |
Our kickoff meeting was a success, with lots of new students coming to hear what they can do to get involved in our energy future. To get involved with Energy Hub, email info@uwehub.org with “Join eHub” as the subject line.
The event was also covered in the Badger Herald. Click here for the full story.
Many thanks to our guest speakers, Lauren Azar of the Public Service Commission and Professor Dane Morgan of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at UW-Madison. They gave excellent talks about the enormity and uncertainty of the challenges surrounding energy but also the opportunities we have to make a difference.
| “Greenest” Schools |
The Sierra Club has just released its third annual “Cool Schools” rankings, which judges colleges around the country on their eco-friendliness. Meanwhile, The Princeton Review has started to give each college a “green rating.”
As it turns out, UW-Madison is not on the Sierra Club’s list, and it did not receive a rating from the Princeton Review because of “insufficient data.” This suggests that the university did not respond to inquiries from these two entities.
Why would it not respond? The university should be proud to display its “We Conserve” effort, and it has a good public transit system in place thanks to collaboration with Madison Metro. However, there may be some aspects that UW-Madison may not be proud of, such as the Charter Street coal plant that ran into trouble with the DNR over air pollution a couple of years ago.
Attaining a “green” campus starts with students, who can save energy through their individual actions and push campus leaders to do more to help the environment. One way we’re trying to inform students about conservation and sustainability is the “Why We Conserve?” course, a joint effort between Energy Hub, We Conserve, and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. Spots are still open for the Fall 2009 semester if you’d like to register. The course number is Environmental Studies 400, Section 1.
| Midwest Goes Green |
It took awhile, but the U.S. Midwest finally has recognized that the industries that once powered its economy will never return. Now leaders in the region are looking to renewable energy manufacturing and technologies as key to the heartland’s renaissance.
With federal stimulus money helping to drive a green transition, the Midwest is determined to get its share.
Read the full story from Yale Environment 360
| Gov. Jim Doyle discusses climate issues on E&ENews.tv |
On E&E News TV today, Gov. James Doyle (D) discusses Wisconsin’s progress on clean energy and explains how his state will be affected by a federal cap on emissions. Specifically, Doyle responds to questions about the Waxman-Markey ACES legislation. He addresses a recent move by Wisconsin’s Legislature to cut $30 million in funding for a signature clean energy fund. Doyle also explains how Wisconsin plans to use stimulus funds for clean energy programs and job development.
Read the transcript or watch the video.
| MG&E to install EV charging network |
Madison Gas & Electric is installing several charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs), right here in Madison. Check out this story from autobloggreen.com. According to MG&E, this is the first project of its kind in the United States. All we need now are affordable EVs or plug-in hybrids to get some use out of these stations once they’re built.
In related news, a new report from New York found that their regional grid will be able to handle a substantial increase in plug-in vehicles without building new capacity, as long as they charge overnight. The report also supported the argument that plug-in vehicles would support wind power, since wind is intermittent and often blows stronger at night. Plug-in cars’ batteries provide a source of storage for intermittent power sources. But, it’s too early to tell how quickly these cars will make a dent in the market.
| Physicist and the IEA: facing the facts on energy in our lives |
A “wake up and smell the coffee” article in The Times of London reminds us of some truths about energy we use to get us up and running every day. The article covers physicist David MacKay squaring off against the IEA as he knocks flat misconceptions about our gadgets and the widely-believed good done for the climate.
The Times of London article is one of many to review a new e-book by MacKay, physicist at Cambridge University. As written, take-home message from the article is that appliances left plugged-in are perhaps the least of our worries.. For example: your phone charger “consumes only 0.01kWh a day”, and 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. Going farther above and beyond cars and chargers, What about planes? MacKay calculates a roundtrip flight from London to Cape Town uses “nearly as much as the energy used driving an average car 50km a day, every day, all year.”
These are only light-weight soundbites. The article carries the right message – don’t lose sleep at night if you left your coffeemaker plugged in all day, but definitely don’t feel satisfied if that is your good deed for the day – there are much bigger appliances to fry. Read the rest of this entry →
| NPR’s week-long series on the grid |
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.
| Energy Hub’s Ted Holby wins Climate Leadership Challenge |
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!
