Leapfrogging Technologies and Producing the Next Generation of Technologists
Most of the headlines today focus on all the negative reasons for why the US needs to invest in clean technology. After all, the average price of gas is over $3/gallon. Besides our lighter pocketbooks, the World Meteorological Organization just released a report that current greenhouse gas concentrations are worse than the worst case scenarios presented by the United Nation’s expert climate panel back in 2001. And in the not so distant future, the explosive growth of the middle class in developing countries such as India and China will drain the limited supply of fossil fuels at an even more accelerated rate.
However, back in 2008, Hank and Rebecca Conn pledged $20 million to the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville to focus on all the positive reasons for clean tech research. Their generosity and guidance to create the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research coincided with the Commonwealth’s decision to launch the Center for Renewable Energy Research and Environmental Stewardship (CRERES) at the University of Louisville. The goal of the Conn Center is to develop and commercialize technologies that leapfrog all others being developed for the global marketplace and establish both the Commonwealth and the US’s competitiveness in renewable energy and energy efficiency. UofL’s shared commitment to green initiatives is also reflected in the new Duthie Center for Engineering, the University’s first LEED-NC certification (gold level) on the footprint of the former Kersey Library Building.
The major research initiatives of the center are organized under five themes, each headed by dedicated, full-time research leaders: 1) solar, 2) renewable energy storage, 3) energy efficiency & conservation, 4) biofuels, and 5) advanced energy materials manufacturing. In addition to these areas, the center has a partnership with the University of Kentucky that focuses on traditional fossil fuel coal research, water splitting, and battery manufacturing research and development. While our unique access to cheap coal and cheap electricity rates keeps jobs and the economy going in the Commonwealth, there is still opportunity for improvement in coal efficiency. The Conn Center is focused on all areas of renewable energy research, including ocean and river energy capturing mechanisms, that require extensive fluid dynamics and modeling studies before being demonstrated in water. As my primary contact and guide for the Conn Center, Dr. Matthew Turner’s position as the Post Doctoral Scholar for the KY SmartGrid Initiative involves evaluating various technologies and crafting policy guidelines for lawmakers and public utilities. “I think that Kentucky is right for a mixed bag of arrows. We can’t count on one technology, but solar is definitely usable. I would also stress that biomass and biogas are actually pretty big upcoming technologies given our agricultural heritage. So we can do something green and renewable, and we can do some job transitions for the farmers,” Dr. Turner states. Andrew Marsh, Assistant Director for the Conn Center, adds that beyond just U of L and UK, the center is “designed to be inclusive of the entire commonwealth’s research efforts in these areas.” It’s difficult to do justice to the breadth and full creativity of the research being conducted at U of L, so the examples listed here only represent a small sample of the work being done. Marsh continues, “While the best strategies for widespread deployment of renewables in concert with fossil fuels for the state are still under investigation, the manufacture of these technologies in Kentucky can happen right now.”
Ah, the electric vehicle, or EV for short. Now that the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf are available to the public, who doesn’t dream of owning one and never having to go to the gas station again? One of Dr. Turner’s research interests is in EVs. Although they are currently powered by coal generated electricity, he points out that if the infrastructure is in place, as renewable energy sources come online, the transition to electric loads can occur seamlessly. Isn’t it also cheaper than paying at the pump? The answer is yes, but with caveats. “If you buy an EV, in terms of how much it costs you to drive per mile for your daily commute, it is considerably cheaper. But there are other cost considerations that can complicate the situation,” says Dr. Turner.
Louisvillians probably don’t realize that we have a charging station for EVs here in town, let alone that it’s the largest charging station in the Commonwealth. The lack of advertising is intentional: located on the U of L’s Belknap campus and capable of charging up to six EVs at the same time, it’s currently being used in research by Dr. John Naber, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), to identify and quantify the messy cost considerations alluded to by Dr. Turner. The chargers follow a standard that all auto manufacturers are supporting for new EVs and are capable of charging at either the standard 120V or at 240V (EVs upgraded to have the option of charging at 240V are able to fully charge in 4 hours versus the 10-12 hours it takes at 120V). In addition to the charging station, the university owns three EVs. The first EV is a Wheego purchased and donated by Bob Hook Chevrolet. With the popularity of the Chevy Volt and the announcement from GM that they’re ramping up production, it’s just the kind of private sector synergy that the Conns envisioned for the center. Because the two seater is capable of a 40 mile range on a single charge with maximum speed of 40 mph, it can’t be taken on the highway, but is perfect for use by the parking office to do their rounds on campus. The second EV is a Toyota Prius hacked to be electric plug-in compatible by Dr. Michael McIntyre while he was a faculty member at Western Kentucky University. When Dr. McIntyre joined UofL’s ECE Department, the university purchased it so that he could continue his research. The third EV is a golf cart formerly used by the parking department. Once they were able to use the Wheego, they no longer had a need for the golf cart and donated it. After $600 worth of 12V batteries were installed, it was fully converted to electric and given a new life for university IT to travel across campus for service calls.
So, going back to the cost consideration question, while standard residential fees for electricity are a straight-forward 6.5-7.5 cents/kWh, commercial fees are 3.5 cents/kWh + peak power rates structures per kVA. Based on Dr. Naber’s calculations, if there are 1,000 cars charging on campus, the baseline cost of electricity is only going to be about $5,000/month. However, it could jump up to $50,000/month if charging occurs during peak usage. Thus, being able to monitor and predict when peak usage is about to occur so that the charging stations can be momentarily shutdown is central to the research being done by Nick Jewell, one of Dr. Naber’s PhD students. The next phase of the research is to integrate it all into a mesh network of interconnected devices. “We want to be able to talk to each vehicle and ask ‘What is your state of charge?’ or ‘What’s the state of health of your batteries?’ and ideally we want to give charging priorities to certain cars [during peak usage]. Say this car needs to leave by 4pm, but this other car doesn’t need to leave until 8pm, so the first car will be given some priority. Or if one car has 10% battery remaining and the other has 80%, you could shut this one off as well,” Jewell explains. This research will be critical to figuring out a viable system for widespread commercial deployment.
Given that only 8% of energy comes from renewable sources currently in the US, there is a strong commitment throughout the Conn Center to finding solutions that are scalable. Another example comes from the research of Dr. Gamini Sumanasekera, Conn Center Theme Leader in Energy Storage. A property of any material is that if it’s heated to a high enough temperature, it will emit electrons. This property is called thermionic emission. Combing this phenomenon with the thermoelectric effect (temperature differences convert to electrical voltages), allows for the direct conversion of heat into electricity. These techniques are already employed today in spacecraft and nuclear power plants. The problem is that most suitable materials, such as platinum or gold, require temperatures of 2000 °C in order to emit electrons. Dr. Sumanasekera’s research focuses on identifying, manufacturing, and then scaling production of novel materials that will emit electrons at lower temperatures. One such material is made of conical carbon nanotubes with diamond nanocrystals grown at the tip. This material is capable of emitting electrons at 600-700 °C, which happens to be the temperature of a running car’s exhaust system. In other words, a car’s own waste heat can then be used to power itself. At this time, they are still only able to make it in small amounts. The tubes aren’t microscopic – in fact, they are clearly visible via the naked eye. However, they are far from being the size of car exhaust tubes. So, if this technology is going to be commercially viable, it has to be scaled for bulk production and that’s a central focus of the research today.
A Conn Center research project led by Dr. Paul Ratnasamy, Conn Center Emeritus Theme Leader in Biofuels, that has successfully made the leap into commercialization is the conversion of a variety of biomass materials into jet fuels. Its patented technology ensures the end product meets the industry’s specifications for quality and was recently licensed to Aliphajet, a Delaware corporation. Mr. Marsh attributes part of the success the center has been able to achieve in only a year and a half to the fact that it has research staff who are able to work on the materials and methods of interest developed by faculty or industry on a full-time basis rather than in between classes, service, and all the other aspects of a traditional faculty position. The problems are incredibly technical and the researchers are able to work on them without interruption.
During a tour of the laboratory of Dr. Thad Druffel, Conn Center Theme Leader in Solar Manufacturing Research and Development, he tells me that it is just as important to him to develop techniques to scale the production of roll to roll thin-film, flexible photovoltaics (PVs, also known as solar panels) as it is for him to teach the next generation of renewable energy engineers. I am struck by his sincerity and follow-up on the importance of nurturing technologists with Mr. Marsh. “This is an opportunity for students to work directly with our big theme leaders and the effect is that they get to be immersed in the research as it’s happening, developing the technology itself. These are opportunities that they’re simply not going to find at other institutions; they get to work on the technologies that will have an affect for the rest of their lives. The feedback we get from our students is that it’s like working in a dream (job).”
Not all jobs have a real potential to change the world, but the research at the Conn Center does in almost every aspect of energy research. As a result, it’s possible that in the future people will drive vehicles on the road powered by renewable energy sources, live in zero net energy homes, cover their homes and devices in thin-film PVs for solar power, store generated electricity in highly efficient batteries, and experience fewer power outages thanks to a smarter electric grid. I want to live in that future, and I’m glad that the Conn Center is working hard to make it happen.
I encourage readers who are interested in more information to go to the Conn Center’s website:
ConnCenter.org.
–Grace Simrall
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