[ back ]
Local organizations focus on diversifying green energy
(by Julia Werner - February 03, 2010)
Whether planning to install solar panels or not, Renew Missouri’s PJ Wilson said a helpful tool for homeowners and businesses in decreasing energy costs is conducting an energy audit and implementing efficiency measures such as weatherproofing. EarthWays Center’s Jean Ponzi said she feels that these energy-efficient practices are vital and often overlooked.
“The amount of energy that we waste in our buildings in the United States, if we eliminated all that it would be equivalent, figuratively speaking, to discovering a whole new energy source, like all of a sudden discovering natural gas,” she said.
EarthWays offers adult classes, seminars, public tours and more that educate people on efficiently meeting energy needs from diverse sources and incorporating locally appropriate solutions.
“The wind does not always blow, the sun does not always shine, so you have to get your needs met from a diversity of sources in the same way that any organism in any ecosystem in the natural communities of Earth get their food and get their habitat and get their mates and all that from different sources, not just from one-stop shopping,” Ponzi said.
Pratim Biswas, chairman of the Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering at Washington University, said he supports local solutions as well and feels that although Proposition C is a step in the right direction, certain addendums could have helped the initiative make a bigger impact.
“Renewables today are very expensive; we are very reliant on fossil fuels,” he said. “There was no mandate to work on technologies to clean up fossil fuels, which is very essential, so you know developing clean coal technologies and actually using them, I wish that aspect was covered too.”
Washington University is currently working with 24 international universities and industrial collaborators on initiatives such as the Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization and the McDonnell Academy Global Energy and Environment Partnership. In October, they will officially open Brauer Hall, a new engineering complex and green structure.
[ back ]
