Posters and banners have started to dot the EMU Amphitheater informing students and faculty of the need to conserve and create energy. In response, the University has begun to look into alternative forms of energy to help alleviate the power crunch on the West Coast.
Frank Vignola, director of the Solar Energy Center, helps monitor the solar resources on campus. He said the campus is researching solar energy as one form of alternative energy.
Photovoltaics, which take the sun’s light and convert it into energy, are tentatively planned to be placed on the roof and southwest side of Gilbert Hall.
Vignola said many people do not realize that two-thirds of the state receives as much solar radiation as the state of Florida. But “it’s really hard to make use of solar energy unless the building is made for it,” he said.
He added that the University should look into what solar heating can do to lower the costs of heating Leighton Pool, located in the Student Recreation Center.
Steve Still, an energy management specialist for the Eugene Water and Electric Board, said EWEB has been working closely with architects to plan the possible installation of the new technology. He said nine-kilowatt photovoltaic cells would be placed on the southwest corner of Gilbert Hall, while 15-kilowatt photovoltaics would be on the roof of the building. But the main issue, he said, is money.
“The only way it would happen is if we could get some sort of funding,” he said.
George Hecht, the campus operations director for Facilities Services, said the University has been using a co-generation plant since the 1930s to get some of its energy. The plant generates steam and electricity, which improves efficiency, he said.
“Efficiency will go up to 75 or 80 percent because you are doubling the use,” he said.
He said steam is an important source of energy on the campus. The steam is run through an electric turbine and represents one-third of the campus energy use. This does have a drawback, he said — during the winter months, steam efficiency is high, but during the summer, the efficiency drops. Hecht said when the energy system was built, the University was used primarily during the winter months, but has recently seen an increased amount of activity during the summer.
Although energy from steam or solar sources is possible, Still said using wind power is not an option on campus.
“We don’t have enough wind resource here,” he said. To garner enough energy from wind panels, there must be an average minimum wind speed of 10 miles per hour, Still said. Mahlon Sweet Field, otherwise known as the Eugene Airport, receives an average wind speed of only 7 mph, he said.
Still said the possibility of installing fuel cells is real, but they currently operate on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels will not last indefinitely and can be costly.
With increased technology, the use of hydrogen may also be an idea the University could look into, he said. Right now, electricity through hydrogen is possible, but it is less efficient than the University can afford. Forty percent of energy is lost through electrolysis, which is the breakdown of a chemical through electrical current. The University would be paying too much for little energy production, he said.
Ben Gates, co-director for the Solar Information Center, said the University needs to address the energy issues.
“What can we use to prevent the need for more energy?” he said.