Umass Lowell walking a green path
Imagine a world where you get paid whenever your car is parked. Imagine a world where you can virtually eradicate all your power bills. That is the world you live in today.
The University of Massachusetts Lowell has been making immense strides in the realm of alternative energy for the past fifteen years, an endeavor that included installing wind turbines and solar panels on campus.
The first wind turbine was installed in 1994 and has only required minor upkeep. The original photovoltaic arrays (solar panels) have been in place since the same year and have not yet required maintenance of any kind.
The University began its labors for going “green” with the assistance and vision of Professor Ziyad Salameh. According to Professor Salameh there are three key goals for the project; complete relevant research, educate people about infrastructure, and generate electricity.
The research has been funded by a grant from National Grid, which has been renewed without incident for the past fourteen years. Over one hundred and ten peer-reviewed papers have been written on the subject, all of which praise the capabilities of clean energy and the possibilities it creates.
Roughly 53 students are working directly with these efforts, learning about the multitude of benefits clean energy offers and its ability to not only strengthen but completely fortify infrastructure. The program contains students who come from not only the corners of the nation but the far reaches of the planet. These students covet the incredible opportunity to not only gain inconceivable amounts of knowledge, but to make a difference.
The last goal, generate electricity, is in a way the most relevant because it is the final outcome of the fruitful endeavors of a number of people and paves the path for future “green” advancements.
The University currently has four wind turbines, a number of solar panels, and a fuel cell, which generate 4.3 kW, 13.1 kW, and 1.2 kW, respectively. On their own, the wind turbines generate enough power to run thirty five CPUs and their monitors. That is only 4.3 out of 18.6 kW.
The wind turbines take the force of the wind and the solar panels take the intensity of the Sun to create energy. The fuel cell combines pure hydrogen and oxygen to create water and a byproduct of this process is electricity.
“In 15 years houses will produce their own electricity and people will not need to pay outrageous amounts of money to the CEOs of businesses,” predicts Professor Salameh.
The professor does not want this to be a mere prediction though; he believes it is essential that the prediction become even more of a reality.
There are three key reasons for the necessary nature of “green” energy. The first and most important is to reduce and eventually disband dependency on not only foreign oil, but oil as a whole. The second reason is that it is clean energy and will lead to fewer health problems caused by the harmful byproducts of our current energy system. The third reason is to combat the growing threat and ramifications of global warming.
“It really is the most efficient way of producing electricity,” said Professor Salameh.
Salameh is in fact working with students on a new concept in the field of “green” technology, V2G. V2G stands for vehicle to grid and the basic concept is that cars (mainly electric and hybrids) will have the ability to give unused electricity to the electric companies.
Not only would this increase the efficiency of both automobiles and electric companies, but the companies would be paying the vehicle owners for their assistance.
Renewable, clean, alternative forms of energy are no longer concepts of the future. In the present, “green” energy is slowly, but surely becoming the norm.
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