Sustainability concerns draw energy workshops to campus
MU pairs with U.S. Department of Energy to emphasize awareness.
Published April 13, 2007
As part of campus interests in improving sustainability, the Energy Audit Workshop was held on Wednesday in Lafferre Hall for energy plant owners and managers and engineers.
The MU Industrial Assessment Center in the College of Engineering and the U.S. Department of Energy, one of IAC's funding agencies, co-sponsored the workshop. The workshop concluded with a lecture titled "Renewable Energy for Sustainability, Clean Environment and National Security."
Ramesh Agarwal, engineering professor at Washington University in St. Louis, presented the lecture. Agarwal spoke about the major global environmental issues, global stratospheric ozone reduction and global warming.
The types of energy used now, such as oil, coal and natural gas, causes these environmental issues.
"In general, the majority of the world uses oil, coal and natural gas," Agarwal said.
Agarwal said the United States has the largest coal reserves in the world.
"Coal is the biggest polluter and emitter of greenhouse gases," Agarwal said.
The United States consumes 26 percent of the world's oil though it only possesses 2 percent of the world's oil, according to the 2005 Congressional Records.
Agarwal said conventional oil and gas reserves will probably be exhausted between 2030 and 2050. These statistics show the importance of developing renewable energy.
Renewable energy resources fall into three categories: solar-derived renewable energy, non-solar-derived renewable energy and renewable hydrogen.
Examples of renewable energy include solar thermal energy, wind energy, biomass and tidal energy.
Biomass sources include energy forestry, crops, municipal solid waste, dedicated energy plantations, agriculture, forestry and livestock residues. Solar thermal energy can use a small amount of space to power the entire country.
Agarwal said the solar land area of parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas combined would generate enough power for the United States.
According to a 2004 report by the United States and seven other countries, rising global temperatures will melt areas of the Arctic this century and make them more accessible for oil and natural gas drilling.
Since this report came out in 2004, Agarwal said he feels the United States had a change in its opinion on global warming.
"The action may not be fast, but there is a slow recognition that we need to do something," Agarwal said.
In his conclusion, Agarwal called for a change in energy usage.
"Sustainable future for all mankind with clean environment, health, education, decent livelihood and free of violence is not possible under the present dependence on fossil fuels as the primary source of energy," Agarwal said. "Therefore, a political will is needed for immediate shift and investment in the scientific and technological development of renewable energy sources."