 Winter 2005 |
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A New Energy Crisis – In Brief |
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• "The platforms that will support wind energy turbines are designed like those for oil rigs. They can withstand Category 5 hurricane winds of 150 to 165 miles an hour for a short period. The wind turbines are designed to stop rotating after wind speeds reach about 50 miles an hour to prevent damage." – Susan Stewart, SEI research engineer |
| • A National Renewable Energy Laboratory study showed the potential for wind energy from areas 5 to 50 nautical miles off the U.S. coast is about 907 gigawatts of power – an amount greater than the total installed electricity-generating capacity in the nation. Additional resources in the Gulf Coast and Great Lakes regions have yet to be fully characterized and have not yet been quantified. |
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• “Today, there’s more consensus that our natural gas resource is finite – that there’s not as much out there as we once thought. It’s a highly regarded commodity because of its low environmental impact and there are certain chemical processes which require the molecular structure of natural gas.” – Bill Bulpitt, senior research engineer for the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Initiative |
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• Savannah Electric recently started a solar energy buy-back program. The company will purchase a total of 500 kilowatts of solar energy at 15 cents per kilowatt hour from homeowners who generate it with solar panels installed on their rooftops. The program in Georgia is the state’s first. Homeowners in California can also sell solar energy to the state’s utility companies.
Read more at: infinitenergy.gtrep.gatech.edu/incentives.html |
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• “The fact that the nation doesn’t know where it’s headed in energy technology is the reason we call this the Strategic Energy Initiative. We need to do strategic studies to ask what technologies can get us through this period of time we need to develop clean, renewable energy sources to drive our economy.” – Sam Shelton, director of the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Initiative |
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• Because of geological conditions (i.e., the flow of oil through soil, rocks and sand), oil production peaks and then reaches a physical limit to how fast it can be pumped out after the source is depleted to less than half its original reserve. Because of this geological principle, the United States now produces 60 percent of the oil it produced in 1970.
of Energy’s Energy Information Administration |
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• “To support future societies with a continued energy supply, the development of integrated and combined systems that maximize energy efficiency and renewable energy use is essential. The focus should not simply be on developing new technologies, but also evaluating and integrating available technologies and advances in research on a rational basis that will yield maximum societal benefits. This requires the research community to innovate at every level of the energy value chain, including public awareness.” – Jean-Lou Chameau, Provost, Georgia Institute of Technology |
| • The Georgia Institute of Technology operated a Biomass Research Facility on campus in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It tested ways to use waste wood and crop residue to make ethanol and methanol for gasohol, methane gas, char-oil and fuel to generate electricity. |
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Last updated: April 3, 2005