Science Alliance Annual Report
2008–2009
Other Ventures
Solar Cell unit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (courtesy of ORNL)
Sustainable Energy Education and Research
The pressure to find renewable energy resources at a price we can afford remains high in the wake of the economic downturn of July 2007. Energy experts predict a 32 percent increase in world energy consumption between 2010 and 2030; 13 percent of this is U.S. demand. On the positive side, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are predicted to drop nine percent. But, we have no reason to relax; the United States remains one of the “grand gas guzzlers” of the world.
Confronted by an economic crisis, not to mention our increasing energy costs and demand, shrinking petroleum resources, the acidification of our oceans, and threat to the Earth’s ozone from carbon dioxide emissions, Congress enacted the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), on February 17, 2009. The bill provides $787 billion to stimulate the economy and create a more sustainable future. Of that total, $43 billion targets energy issues, $111 billion goes to infrastructure and science, and $53 billion to education and training.
Fortunately, The University of Tennessee and Science Alliance are in a position to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the ARRA and help the nation deal with its energy problem. For two years the Science Alliance has contributed to UTK Sustainable Energy Education Research Center (SEERC) projects. Science Alliance support for the STAIR project also falls into this category (more about STAIR on the Ventures: Support for Students page).
Polymeric Photovoltaic Devices
The largest share of U.S. CO2 emissions come from generating electricity (EIA figure 81). So, a solar cell filled with polymer photovoltaic devices could become an attractive “green” source of electricity, if scientists can master the technology to make it both efficient and inexpensive.
A team of five UTK researchers led by Bamin Kohmami, UTK chemical and biomolecular engineering, joined together to study a special class of easily processed, soluble polymers whose properties make them excellent candidates for photovoltaic devices. Called conjugated polymers, the carbon-based semiconductors have unique advantages because they are both good at absorbing sunlight and at assuming the conditions needed to convert light into electricity. They are limited, however, in their ability to actually convert the light to charge and move it along.
The team—also including Barry Bruce, UTK biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology; Mark Dadmun, UTK chemistry; Bin Hu, UTK materials science and engineering; and Jimmy Mays, UTK polymer chemistry—created and analyzed materials with three different nanocomposite structures. Two incorporate highly conductive carbon nanostructures (nanotubes or fullerenes); a third employs chlorophyll-containing biological molecules as tiny photosynthetic reaction centers.
UT Zero
We know it intuitively. Our households burn plenty of energy, what with heating and cooling, washing machines and dryers, refrigerators, and dehumidifiers; and then we have our toys—video games and DVD players, not to mention the plasma televisions and computers that draw power even when they are “off.” Energy Information Administration statistics for 2008 show residential consumption in the U.S. to be 3.77 billion kilowatt-hours per day—that’s 36 percent of total U.S. consumption.
Only recently, though, as electric bills began to soar, have we given this the attention it deserves.
UT Zero is aimed at satisfying our energy-hungry households without endangering the environment or resources of future generations. The Science Alliance contributed to this project.
The UT Zero Energy House and the Solar Platform for Excellence in Energy Design (S.P.E.E.D.) projects combine Tennessee architects, scientists, and engineers from UTK and ORNL in a venture targeting the rigorous DOE-sponsored 2011 Solar Decathlon. Every two years the Solar Decathlon enlists 20 winning college and university teams in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar powered house. These are exhibited for a week on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where they are open to the public and judged for first, second, and third place in the competition.
This summer (2009), the UT Zero team, led by Edgar Stach, UTK architecture, and graduate student Neil Parrish, moved construction of their prototype house outside, where, when finished, it will use power from the sun for all its basic functions.
The companion S.P.E.E.D. project team has constructed a 375 kW solar array above a green roof on the UTK Art and Architecture building. The new array is expected to offset 16.8 million pounds of CO2, an amount equivalent to 2,300 acres of trees—and produce near $100,000 per year of clean energy. The project tests the performance of this green technology, a vital step in fulfilling UTK’s goal to become carbon neutral.