Newsletter June, 2005

In this issue:

• NJHEPS Summer Energy Workshop: Gather Your Sun to Save a CO2 Ton
• NJHEPS Featured in Oculus Magazine
• Burlington County College Places 2nd in Tour de Sol
• Upgrading Princeton's Chilled - Water System
• New Jersey Named Energy Star Partner of the Year
• Apply for NJCEP's Clean Energy Leadership Award
• Ocean County Beaches Kept Open Despite Pollution
• Hydrogen From Wastewater
• Upcoming Events
  • NJ Biofuels Workshop (June 16)
  • SunEdison Solar Services Workshop (June 16)
  • Operation Kill-A-Watt (June 16)
  • New Jersey Solar Market Mixer (June 20)
  • NOFA 31st Annual Summer Conference (August 11 - 14)
  • Upcoming AEE Telecourses

NJHEPS Summer Energy Workshop: New Technologies for Old Problems

• Solar
• Stormwater
• Biomass and Microturbines
• Lighting
• Tour of the UMDNJ Power Plant

NJHEPS Featured in Oculus Magazine

Oculus writers interviewed NJHEPS Executive Director, Dr. Donald Wheeler, and the majority of the NJHEPS Green Design Writing Team fpr a 3 page featured article.
Highlighted are:

• Green buildings in the Garden State
• The New Jerseys higher education community's commitment to the Greenhouse Gas Action Plan
• The High Performance Campus Design Handbook: Vol. I and II,

"The reason is very basic. New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country and we have to keep it livable. Once you make that argument and show the economic feasibility of green design, your case is won." - Dr. Dawood Farahi, President, Kean Univerisity.

Burlington County College Places 2nd in Tour de Sol

The Olympian, as the vehicle is known, has a long and distinguished history beginning in 1996 with the conversion of a 1986 Ford Escort. It was first entered in the Tour de Sol in 1998 and has now completed seven successful Tours.

To this day, the Olympian continues to promote sustainable transportation. The two-passenger electric car is powered by lead acid batteries that provide enough energy to drive for 100 miles. In place of oil changes, air filter replacements and spark plug changes, there is only battery maintenance. Refueling is as easy as plugging the car into a power outlet. Not only has this durable vehicle competed in seven Tours, it has been featured at many events throughout Burlington County as well.
Article featured above from the Burlington County College Press Release

Jack Braun, Physics Professor and Member of the NJHEPS Sustainability Education Team, is also looking to convert a 99 Cougar, in which they hope to be able to afford Lithium-Ion batteries. Burlington County College will need to raise about $25,000 for this project. Please let us know if you can help finance this project.

* For more information and to pre-register, visit http://ruec.rutgers.edu/EarthDay.html

Upgrading Princeton's Chilled - Water System

Princeton's Chilled Water Plant was featured as a Cover Story for the First Quarter 2005 edition of District Energy Magazine. Princeton's Ted Borer was interviewed for the article. Ted is responsible for Princeton's energy plant operations and managing the chilled water plant's expansion. Ted is also Vice-Chairperson of the Energy Technical Team and creator of the Greenhouse Gas calculation tool used by NJHEPS in calculating all the greenhouse gas consumption data.

The Princeton Campus has a single chilled water plant which provides cooling for the entire campus. Two thirds of the plants capacity is produced from steam turbine-driven chillers, run off the steam capacity of 300,000 lb/hr from Princeton's 15 MW cogeneration plant. The remaining one third demand is produced by electric driven chillers.

Since electrical deregulation, Princeton has a different approach to operating their chilled water plant. Princeton purchased an IceTec energy management system, which helps them make operating decisions on real time market prices. Princeton is fed real time electrical pricing information from the P.J.M. Grid and real time gas and oil pricing from the NY Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). They Calculate each machine's running efficiency which helps them make the decision to either purchase electricity from the grid, or if it is more cost effective for Princeton to generate electricity from their cogeneration plant.

With implementation of Princeton's new chilled water storage system, Princeton is able to purchase electricity at night when it is least expensive to produce chilled water. The chilled water is stored in the tank overnight, and used during peak demand time of the day, when it is most expensive to purchase electricity and the cogeneration plant is running at full capacity. Thermal storage theoretically has environmentally friendly aspects attributing to the load reduction from off the grid during peak demand times. Thermal Energy Storage is environmentally friendly since it reduces the amount of power purchased during peak hours - when the utility's least efficient and most polluting equipment is running to meet peak demand, and increasing the proportion of power purchased during the most efficient generating hours. From Princeton reducing the peak electrical de `.mand load, they are helping to reduce the use of inefficient power plants, which produce the most emissions.

For more information please see the District Energy Website or contact Ted Borer.

New Jersey Named Energy Star Partner of the Year

Directions available at www.njmeadowlands.gov/EC/come_visit/directions_and_map.cfm. Please Contact Janell Bevan, Education Office, at 201-777-2406 for more information on this event.

Apply for NJCEP’s Clean Energy Leadership Award

Please visit the NJCEP web site for the application and guidelines.

Photography property of Terra Meierdierck

Ocean County Beaches Kept Open Despite Pollution

If the surface water quality standard is exceeded, "then why should we be allowed to swim in it?" asked Jennifer Samson, principal scientist for Clean Ocean Action, a Sandy Hook-based coalition. "It raises a lot of questions." Some officials praised or stood by state rules for deciding when to ban swimming. But one county health official said advisories could be issued at beaches exceeding the surface water standard. At issue are two standards used to gauge water quality at beaches, one of which is used to decide whether people should go in the water.

Under a 2000 federal law, New Jersey and many other states and territories were required to adopt a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-recommended standard for enterococci bacteria in marine waters. Enterococci, which are fecal streptococcus bacteria commonly found in human and animal waste, indicate that disease-causing bacteria, viruses and protozoans might be in the water. The most common illness linked to swimming in sewage-polluted water is gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines that can cause symptoms such as stomachache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and fever.

Robert J. Ingenito, environmental health coordinator in the Ocean County Health Department, said "technically, by the state's sanitary code, I don't have the power" to ban bathing at beaches that exceed the Enterococci average standard. However, Ingenito did state: "You could put an advisory to them" indicating that such beaches have had problems.

Please contact Todd B. Bates: (732) 643-4237 or tbates@app.com for more information. The above article has been excerpted from the Asbury Park Press.

Hydrogen From Wastewater

"This MFC process is not limited to using only carbohydrate-based biomass for hydrogen production like conventional fermentation processes. We can theoretically use our MFC to obtain high yields of hydrogen from any biodegradable, dissolved, organic matter -- human, agricultural or industrial wastewater, for example -- and simultaneously clean the wastewater," Dr. Bruce Logan, the Kappe professor of environmental engineering and an inventor of the MFC, said. "While there is likely insufficient waste biomass to sustain a global hydrogen economy, this form of renewable energy production may help offset the substantial costs of wastewater treatment as well as provide a contribution to nations able to harness hydrogen as an energy source."

The researchers call their hydrogen-producing MFC a BioElectrochemically-Assisted Microbial Reactor or BEAMR. The BEAMR not only produces hydrogen, it simultaneously cleans the wastewater used as its feedstock. It uses about one-tenth of the voltage needed for electrolysis, the process that uses electricity to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen.

Please visit the Renewable Energy Access for the full story.

We would like to cordially invite you to the First SunEdison Solar Services Workshop in New Brunswick, NJ scheduled for Thursday, June 16 from 10 am – 2 pm. Find out how you can work with SunEdison to get solar installed at your facility at NO COST TO YOU.

Location: the Rutgers Student Center off of Exit 9; 126 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. Why should you come, and why now? The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is reducing its solar electricity rebates as of June 24, 2005. This rebate program helps to make solar power affordable, often saving businesses 10% of their utility bill. The price of solar energy is not likely to ever be this low again.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Claire@sunedison.com, or 410 528 1922.

As a member of the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability, your educational institution can make a difference and generate considerable goodwill by reducing its electric usage for just two hours, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on June 16.

That day will be Operation Kill-A-Watt in the state. It will mark the launch of the first, privately supported effort in New Jersey—and the largest in the country—to show how small, medium and large institutions can reduce their demand for electricity.

Participating in Operation Kill-A-Watt is free. There is no cost, no obligation and no long forms to complete. It’s a risk-free opportunity for your educational institution to be counted among those that care to be more efficient, environmentally friendly and socially responsible. Reducing demand for electricity strengthens the bottom line, averts pollution and shows sensitivity. Supported by the NJ Board of Public Utilities, NJ Chamber of Commerce, NJ School Boards Association, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, NJ Retail Merchants Association and other organizations and agencies, it’s a win-win opportunity for NJHEPS members.

There are many simple and pain-free ways to reduce demand for electricity. Decorative and other lighting could be turned off. Air conditioning thermostats could be raised two degrees. Idle machinery could be shutdown. All we ask is that you and your institution participate in some way. Any electricity your organization saves will by reflected in a lower utility bill.

Be part of Operation Kill-A-Watt. Visit www.operationkill-a-watt.com to be counted as an energy saver. Email rlesch@publicenergysolutions.com or call 866-818-1900, ext. 102.