Page 4 ^ ^ The Clarion | Jan. 29, 2C
Efficiency tiie solution to our energy woes
by Dr. Jim Reynolds
Faculty Contributor
Transitioning away from fossil fuels
toward a renewable energy future was
just a good idea until recently. What is
occurring now is a wholesale acceleration
toward natural renewable energy as more
and more executives and accountants come
to the reahzation that the enviroimiental
movement was fundamentally correct
in its assessment of energy trends and
enviroimiental crises.
This isn’t a bad revelation because it
provides anopportunity forformer opponents
to work side by side toward a sustainable
and less volatile energy and economic
future.
Make no doubt
about it energy
and economics
are intimately
intertwined. If
the kilowatt-
hour became a
currency unit,
few would have
trouble making
the switch.
It’s all about
ENERGY!
The faster we
get off of fossil
fuels the better
off we will be. What are our options? The
two biggest sources of renewable energy
are the sun, in all of its forms (solar, wind,
waves, ocean currents, hydroelectric, and
biomass), and efficiency.
Geothermal and tidal energies round
out our smorgasbord of natural renewable
energy options. Of these choices, efficiency
is the tool we already possess and can
implement with the lowest effective cost,
shortest payback time, and quickest start
up. We just have to use it. Just look around
us; waste is everywhere.
For over a year the Brevard community
has been treated to the spectacle of an
erupting geyser and steaming landscapes
reminiscent of a styxian cruise as our
decaying infrastructure collapses around
us.
Students must routinely leave their
dorm windows open in winter because
there is no way for individuals to control
temperature in the chronically overheated
residence halls.
Summer residents in the Villages have
two complaints: 1) the rooms are too cold
and 2) they can’t open the windows. Our
academic buildings are lit through poorly
designed, heat-leaking windows installed
in the 1960’s.
Even our exam schedule is designed to
maximize the number of student days spent
on campus, thereby augmenting their per
capita energy use.
I estimate that we could close the campus
down two days earlier each semester with
a more efficient final
exam schedule, reducing
utility and cafeteria costs
due to earlier student
departures.
Students in Ms.
Rathbone’s BCE 21IL
labs are required to give
group presentations of
environmental issues/
improvements that
they observe needing
attention on campus.
They don’t have to
look very far Nearly all
of these presentations
address efficiency issues,
be they low-flow showerheads, metered
dorm rooms, campus fighting, or campus
driving policies.
We teacfi sustainability in BCE 211.
I think we do a fairly good job because
almost all of the students are quick to point
out that we do little at Brevard College tfiat
is sustainable when it comes to our energy/
utility use.
Replacement of tfie steam plant witfi
decentralized water fieating units is an
important first step toward an efficient,
renewable energy campus.
Once the gap is bridged from the steam
plant to decentralization, the new units
must be regarded as the back-up system as
our energy transition extends to the other
major form of renewable energy, the sun:
specifically, solar water heating.
Solar water heating will further reduce
the CoUege’s utility expenditures, at least
until the sun burns out. It would also
include, for the first time, air conditioning
in the academic buildings currently served
by the steam plant.
My point in discussing this topic is that,
eventually, even the conservative elements
of our society will realize that sustainability
is a good thing.
It puts conservation back into
conservatism. If they think it is all about
the bottom line and making money in the
short term before nonrenewable resources
mn out, then they should look at the bottom
line of sustainable energy use because that’s
a LOT more money over a longer period of
time (like forever or at least until the sun
bums out).
When that change comes, our transition
to renewable energy will shift from a hnear
mode to an exponential skyrocket. Energy
will be abundant, clean, and relatively
inexpensive.
We hope to achieve this goal by 2050;
my guess is that it will happen long before
that. To get there, we need leadership with
a vision.
Brevard College is a mirror on society.
Experts suggest that, at many institutions,
energy use could be reduced by >50% by
efficiency upgrades alone.
If we demonstrate good fiscal
responsibility through more efficient
energy usage, other facets of society will
learn from us, probably through our alumni
as they spread out into the world, and
become more efficient too.
If we choose to do so, we can provide the
leadership that is needed to get there. This
can only be good for the human family.
To hsten to the energy debate, one might
be led to beheve that a dark future awaits
us all. I don’t subscribe to that school of
thought.
Energy is abundant and all around us. We
just have to be smart about how we use it.
What better place is there to be smart
than at a small liberal arts college set
in beautiful natural surroundings with a
motivated student body.
REUSE^?
REDUC
RECYC