ENVS 301 students' presentations
Associated Project(s):
Attached are the presentations prepared by the students in ENVS 301. The course syllabus is also attached.
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Projects Updates for Explore Options for 100 Percent Clean Campus Energy
EGEN SWATeam Meeting (2.17.17)
Associated Project(s):The EGEN SWATeam held another bi-weekly meeting. Topics covered include:
- Updating the EGEN objectives project page
- Reporting steam generation on-campus
- Plans for this semester
Attached Files:EGEN SWATeam Meeting (2.3.17)
Associated Project(s):The EGEN SWATeam a meeting for the Spring 2017 semester. Topics covered include:
- Determining Team Chair
- Final Review of rooftop solar recommendation and Petascale offsets recommendation.
- What constitutes clean energy usage? (REC count vs. RECs don't count)
Attached Files:EGEN SWATeam Meeting (1.20.17)
Associated Project(s):The EGEN SWATeam held their first meeting for the Spring 2017 semester. Topics covered include:
- Review draft recommendations for 1) on-campus solar and 2) petascale offsets
- An update from Morgan Johnston on the Associate Director of Campus Sustainability position
- Updating iCAP portal project pages for EGEN objectives
- Clean Energy PPA
- Potential for future solar farm
- Asking for feedback from EGEN team members regarding recommendation proces
Attached Files:EGen004 Electrification Study recommendation - Returned
Associated Project(s):The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on December 6, 2016, to discuss the SWATeam recommendation, eGen004 Electrification Study. The iWG agreed to return the recommendation to the eGen SWATeam for further discussion with F&S, iSEE, and other stakeholders.
See SWATeam recommendation eGen004 Electrification Study here.
EGEN SWATeam Meeting (12.2.16)
Associated Project(s):The EGEN SWATeam held their final meeting for the Fall 2016 semester. Topics covered include:
- Guest presentation by Niharika Kishore regarding rooftop solar on campus
- Potential recommendations to Working Group
- Potential solar: greenspace vs. rooftop vs. parking lot cover
Attached Files:Heat Recovery Chiller Study
Associated Project(s):A contract is in place to perform a heat recovery chiller (HRC) study to identify potential location(s) for HRCs on campus, and to assess opportunities for one system to serve multiple buildings. Preliminary review and assessment is expected to begin October 2016.
Biomass Boiler at Energy Farm
Associated Project(s):Construction is underway in Fall 2016 to install a 200 kW biomass boiler at the Energy Farm. This system will initially satisfy all heating needs for the greenhouse onsite, and will replace the current propane heating system. In the future, more buildings may be added to the boiler system.
Geothermal Profile Project
Associated Project(s):Beginning Fall 2016, a team at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS, a division of the prairie Research Institute) led by Illinois Professor Yu-Feng Forrest Lin is conducting a series of detailed observations of the geothermal profile on campus - including high-resolution temperature profiling and thermal analysis. The team will drill to 330 ft and install a geothermal loop and fiberoptic cables. Results will help determine the feasibility of implementing geothermal systems on campus by identifying costs and possible challenges.
Professor Lin has coordinated with faculty from the University of Wisconsin to incorporate lessons learned from their implementation of a geothermal exchange system at the nearby EPIC health care systems campus in Verona, WI.
Professor Lin's team began drilling on 9/19/16. Daily drilling progress is logged and can be found by clicking this link.
Attached Files:Solar construction info
Associated Project(s):Professor Scott Willenbrock shared this link with photos from the installation of solar on his home. http://www.newprairieconstruction.com/solar-panel-installation.
Possible Electrification Study under discussion
Associated Project(s):A group of faculty, students, and staff are looking into the options for an Electrification Study for campus. This would be a study that goes through the formal "Feasibility Study" process at F&S, starting with a "Qualifications Based Selection" or QBS.
Electrification Study discussion with F&S
Associated Project(s):Ben McCall, Morgan Johnston, Scott Willenbrock, and Mike Larson met with Ted Christy and Jim Sims to discuss the process for an Electrification Study. Ted provided the attached document that needs to be completed in order to move forward. Additionally, Ted indicated that attachment a is the most pertinent. He said, "This statement would tell us what, from your perspective you hope to receive at the end of this study for it to be considered successful. It doesn’t need to get into detail. A paragraph or two in your own words to provide general description is very helpful. On the other hand, don’t feel like you need to limit this item, many departments submit a several page document. This information is used by the Planner to develop a scope statement that you will need to sign off on before we seek project approval."
Attached Files:EGen004 Electrification Study recommendation - Submittal
Associated Project(s):The eGen SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating, "Hire a consultant to undertake a study of electrifying most space and water heating on campus."
See attached the SWATeam recommendation EGen004 Electrification Study complete with comments from all the eGen SWATeam members.
Attached Files:Award Letter - Anaerobic Digester Pilot
Associated Project(s):Food waste is the second largest category of municipal solid waste (MSW) sent to landfills in the United States, accounting for approximately 18% of the waste stream. Agricultural and garden wastes comprising of wood and yard trimmings come next in the list, accounting for approximately 15% of the waste stream. At the U of I campus as well, about 100-120 gallons of food waste is generated from one dining hall unit per week. That is roughly 0.5 cubic yards/week currently.
Anaerobic digestion occurs naturally, in the absence of oxygen, as bacteria break down organic materials and produce biogas. The process reduces the amount of material and produces biogas, which can be used as an energy source. This technology is commonly used throughout the United States to break down sewage sludge at wastewater treatment facilities. In the past few years, there has been a movement to start adding food waste to anaerobic digesters already in place at wastewater treatment facilities.
This proposal provides setup costs for a pilot test of an anaerobic digestion process to determine if a full-scale digester prototype is feasible.
