The AECP Energy Expo, which was held at the Roanoke Civic Center on September 12 and 13, was by all accounts a major success. Over 1,000 people attended the two-day educational event. There were over 40 diverse and interactive exhibits and demonstrations. Almost 400 students and teachers attended the Expo on Friday where they received a special presentation on renewable energy in the Civic Center Auditorium. The presentation was conducted by Jonathan Miles and Matthew Heck representing the Integrated Science and Technology Dept. at James Madison University and the Virginia Wind Energy Collaborative respectively. The students and teachers then enjoyed the exhibits in the Exhibit Hall. The sixth grade science classes particularly enjoyed the Energy Cycle, The House of Pressure, Virginia Save Our Streams, and a water conservation demonstration by the City of Roanoke. The high school classes were very interested in the alternative fuel vehicles on display – the hybrid gas-electric Honda Civic, the hybrid hydrogen-electric Ford Explorer, and the all- electric GEO Tracker.
Special thanks to all AECP members – including Lil Weston, John Bodtmann, Bill Beachy, Anthony Cox, Joanne Langford, John Langford and his crew, Chris Heslep and his crew, Bill Craig, Linda Rayner, Tom Daniel, John Saunders, and Melissa Commins for all of their hard work. And many thanks to Gini Cooper, Carol Beachy, and Judy Weitzenfeld for handling registration and door prizes.
NITROGEN OVERLOAD PREVENTS CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM IMPROVING WATER QUALITY
Nearly 300 million pounds of nitrogen enters the Chesapeake Bay every year. The sources of this nitrogen pollution to the Chesapeake watershed are agriculture runoff, sewage treatment plants discharge, and air pollution. Nitrogen pollution is seriously undermining any efforts to restore natural resources to the Bay – such as underwater grasses, crabs, and oysters.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has launched the Chesapeake Clean Water Campaign, which is a multi-year initiative to cut in half the overall amount of nitrogen that is entering the Bay. Check out www.cbf.org and see how you can help clean up our national treasure – the Chesapeake Bay.
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WEAKENS CLEAN AIR ACT
On August 27, 2003 the Bush Administration signed a ruling that creates a loophole, which will exempt power plants from the Clean Air Act protection that requires older factories to install modern pollution control technologies when making changes or upgrades that increase the pollution they produce. Power plant and other industrial polluters can replace huge pieces of their factories without installing readily available modern technology to curb the soot and smog pollution that endangers our communities. The Clean Air Act had previously required older power plants to install modern pollution control equipment whenever a major upgrade was being undertaken. The Bush Administration maintains that the old rules prevented power plants from making needed improvements that will ultimately make the plants more efficient. Common sense would dictate that saving the big corporations a few dollars is not as important as all the lives that will be saved by requiring old power plants to clean up their act.
NEW ELECTRIC RANGES USE INDUCTION TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY
A new electric kitchen range being developed uses magnetic induction to provide superior cooking performance at increased energy efficiency on a surface that doesn’t get hot. This unit has an energy efficiency of 92% versus 72% for the standard radiant electric range.
Induction ranges generate a high frequency, alternating current magnetic field to heat an iron-based cooking pan through a ceramic-glass cooking surface. This keeps the cooking surface cool, which will help to reduce household air-conditioning loads as well as providing residential customers with an induction range that is faster, safer, easier to clean, and very responsive to controls.
DOE AWARDS $23 MILLION FOR BIOMASS RESEARCH
The Dept. of Energy (DOE) has selected 19 biomass research projects and awarded these a total of $23 million dollars. Biomass is organic matter from plants or animals that is renewable and can be converted to biomass fired energy systems and biofuels that can power vehicles and fuel cells. Biomass is a rapidly growing renewable energy resource and several of these newly funded projects are aimed at developing “biorefineries”, which are industrial complexes that convert a wide range of biomass materials into biobased products and fuels.
ENERGY TIP
Its time to have your heating system cleaned, tuned, and tested for maximum efficiency and safety. Be sure to inspect all chimneys and vent pipes to insure proper and efficient venting of all flue gases.