Obama Administration Announces Clean Coal Research Awards for Universities Across the Country

Obama Administration Announces Clean Coal Research Awards for Universities Across the Country | Department of Energy Skip to main content Energy.gov Find information about your town or city. Search form Search Energy.gov Public ServicesTax Credits, Rebates & SavingsHomesVehiclesBuilding DesignManufacturingNational Security & SafetyEnergy EconomyFunding OpportunitiesState & Local GovernmentScience & InnovationScience & TechnologyScience EducationInnovationEnergy SourcesEnergy UsageEnergy EfficiencyMissionNews & BlogMaps & DataAbout UsFor Staff & ContractorsOfficesAll OfficesProgram OfficesStaff OfficesLabs & Technology CentersField SitesPower Marketing AdministrationOther Agencies You are hereHome Obama Administration Announces Clean Coal Research Awards for Universities Across the Country June 6, 2012 - 12:18pm Addthis News Media Contact(202) 586-4940

WASHINGTON, D.C.— As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above approach to American energy, the Energy Department announced that nine universities have won awards for research projects that will continue to support innovation and development of clean coal technologies. The awards, which will leverage student-led teams across the country as they continue research and development of new technologies and materials that will advance clean coal energy production, are part of the Administration’s focus on ensuring we can rely on a broad range of energy sources as we move towards a clean energy economy.

“Advancing the development of clean coal technologies is an important part of President Obama’s strategy to develop every source of American energy and ensure the United States leads the world in the global clean energy race and continues to take advantage of domestic resources here at home,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.  “These university research projects will help build on extensive progressive made by this Administration to promote innovative technologies that help make coal-fired energy cleaner and more cost-competitive, while training the next generation of scientists and engineers in cutting-edge clean coal technologies.”

The projects announced today at the nine universities will each receive approximately $300,000 to spur the next generation of trained scientists and engineers from universities across the nation to focus on the development of high-temperature, high-pressure corrosion-resistant alloys, protective coatings, and structural materials for advanced coal-fired power plants and gas turbines. Research projects will also develop new processes and computational design methods to develop these materials, improve efficiency and reduce the costs of cleaner power generation systems. The Energy Department’s $2.7 million investment will be leveraged with additional funds from the universities to support $3.1 million in total projects.

Today’s awards are part of a more than $5 billion investment strategy by the Obama Administration in clean coal technologies and R&D. This strategy, which has attracted over $10 billion in additional private capital investment, is designed to accelerate commercial deployment of clean coal technologies – particularly carbon capture and storage (CCS) – and to position the United States as a leader in the global clean energy race.

Thanks in part to this strategy, the United States is currently leading the world in CCS technologies. In fact, last week, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, in its semi-annual “Race to First” ranking of the world’s most advanced large-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration projects, announced that the United States was in first place. Topping the list was a project led by Pennsylvania-based Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. – an effort spurred by investments made by the Energy Department in 2010. 

This announcement shows growing momentum for CCS in the U.S. For example, earlier this year, CPS Energy of San Antonio – the largest municipally owned utility in the United States – signed the first agreement in the country to purchase low-carbon power from a commercial-scale coal-based power plant with carbon capture.  The Midland-Odessa- based project – the Texas Clean Energy Project – will be the cleanest coal power plant in the world when it becomes operational in 2015.

In addition, the Energy Department is leveraging investments in clean coal technologies to study and demonstrate ways to continue improving the economics of clean coal projects through enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects.  With EOR, companies can use captured carbon to help develop marginal oil wells and further increase domestic oil production.

President Obama’s sustained all-out, all-of-the-above commitment to American energy also includes the safe and responsible production of our oil and natural gas alongside the development of clean, renewable American energy resources. Today, American oil production is at the highest level in eight years, and last year the U.S. relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years. And over the past few years, renewable energy use has nearly doubled, with the U.S. reclaiming the position as the world’s leading investor in clean energy in 2011.

The projects selected for awards include:

Brown University (Providence, R.I.)Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)Indiana University, in partnership with Purdue University and Praxair Surface Technologies (Indianapolis, Ind.)Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio)Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, Ill.)Texas Engineering Experiment Station (College Station, Texas)University of North Texas (Denton, Texas), in partnership with University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho)University of Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.)University of Toledo (Toledo, Ohio)

Complete project descriptions can be found HERE.

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For the Love of Country

I'm one of those Americans who get goose bumps when I hear the national anthem played before a huge stadium crowd. Whenever I hear it while I'm visiting another country, I am also filled with a warm sense of pride.

That's why for me it's baffling to hear about students who refuse to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school. Often, this is done in retaliation of something. A couple of years ago in Arkansas, a ten-year-old did it because he objected to the statement "liberty and justice for all" in the pledge. He believed that gays were not given liberty and justice. Apparently, when his substitute teacher persisted in getting him to stand, the boy said, "With all due respect ma'am, go jump off a bridge."

In another incident, a South Florida student took his issue to the Supreme Court, stating that it was his constitutional right to refuse to do the Pledge of Allegiance. He felt that as a matter of conscience he should be allowed the choice to not stand and not recite it. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Many teachers grapple with the issue of inspiring patriotism, and some resort to turning a blind eye to the student who won't comply. It's a tenuous battle telling students to stand for thirty seconds, much less getting them to recite the pledge. I remember back as a high school teacher, a student of mine slumped back in his chair, with arms crossed at his waist, as the other students stood and said the pledge. Despite my asking him to stand, he refused. I called his mother later, only to receive defensive comments back like "He isn't hurting anybody" and "It is his right to do that."

Back then in the 1990s, students were automatically given a detention for defiance against a teacher and school policies like this-as was the case for my student. Today, however, it has become a sensitive issue of civil rights. Detention forms aren't readily written up as much.

The concern is whether we should teach (or preach) patriotism to our students. The argument is-that's what other countries, like China, are doing. Earlier this year, Hong Kong education officials announced an initiative to make classes on Chinese patriotism compulsory for school children (AFP, May, 2011). Students are to take 50 hours of lessons per year that focus on building national harmony, identity, and unity among individuals. Banners will be displayed in classrooms; flags will fly all over campuses; and students will stand in respect to their country's pledge and anthem.

Rather than indoctrinated lessons in schools, shouldn't love of country be something that grows naturally?

Perhaps the answer to this comes from looking at the example set by Marisol Guntkowski, a Costa Rican-borne woman. Over several months, I watched in awe her determination to become a U.S. citizen. Marisol was already married to an American. She did not have to go through the naturalization process of the application paperwork, interviews, background check, training, and test-taking to become a U.S. citizen...and yet she did. When asked why, she flashed a bright smile and beamed back a reply that every student should hear-she loved this country.

There were 675,967 individuals from over 150 countries who became U.S. citizens in 2010. Dozens of reasons were given. In a recent HBO Documentary, "Citizen USA: A 50-State Road Trip", people reported they wanted to participate in the elections and vote. Others said they liked having the ability to succeed in life, while others indicated the desire to be part of a country where freedom is for everybody.

I like Marisol Guntkowski's answer the best. For the love of our country, I always stand proudly whenever I recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I hope that our students will learn to capture this in their hearts and do the same.

*Teri Pinney, Consultant & Education Advocate
http://www.professionalwritingconsultant.com/

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Mini-UAV Blimp Mister Machine for Golf Country Club Use

Last year, I was visiting Scottsdale AZ and I noted the supreme heat, it was even hot on the golf course, with all the grass around. Worse, because there are so many golf courses there, the humidity was quite high, and it takes a lot out of you just to play a round of golf, even if you are driving a golf cart. The golf cart we were using was equipped with a "mister system" which was quite nice. Still, we had to get out of the cart each time we hit the ball, and while we were on the green putting. Now then, I think I have a new invention idea, a rather cool innovation that the golf community needs there.

What they need is mini-UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) blimps with mister systems, which follow the golfers around. While they are following the golfers around, they can send a signal back of the bird's eye view of the course to the player's iPad or tablet. The golf carts now have holders for the iPad and tablets on the steering wheels as you golf in case you want to get all the information about each hole, as you play. Therefore it would be quite easy for the UAV video camera to send the real-time video feed back to the golfers. The UAV Blimp could also measure the angle and speed of the golf ball, along with the yardage, and send all of that data back to the iPad or tablet.

The UAV could hover above the golfer as it was their turn to hit the ball, spraying a cool fine mist, and as the golfer went to hit the ball the UAV could move vertically for a perfect camera shot to perhaps 18 to 40 feet above the fairway. Now then, there are several different models of indoor remote controlled micro air vehicles. Since a round of golf doesn't take that long to play, the UAV would need to hold just over a gallon of water which is a little over 7 pounds. The UAV would have to be quiet also, and therefore its propulsion system would have to have specially shaped propellers, luckily such technology does exist.

The video cameras and other sensors to keep the UAV from hitting trees, or going out of control would also weigh in at a few pounds. Indeed, I'm considering about 10 pounds in all of useful load, on top of the weight of the fuel used whether it be a battery pack such as a hybrid Ion-Lithium battery or a small fuel tank which is commonly found on remote-control hobby aircraft. We wouldn't want the micro air vehicle or UAV to be too large, or too bulbous in shape, it would need to be a sleek design, so it would not get blown away by high winds.

Often, the fairways with trees on both sides can funnel the wind causing the Bernoulli Affect, thus speeding up the wind, and creating dynamic wind currents. A small light weight unmanned aerial vehicle or micro air vehicle could be challenged by this, but not if it had a low profile, and the right sensors to run autonomously. Obviously, you wouldn't want anything that was big such as those blimps that are used for grand openings of retail stores, the ones that you put a sign on the side and fly at 200 feet above the store.

Picture this if you will; A Boeing blended wing aircraft design of the future, albeit a little bit fatter. Such a design with proper vertical fans embedded into the design could work and would have space in the blended wing fuselage for vertical fans, along with a combination of propellers for forward propulsion. It should be dynamically stable, at least for the simple purpose of staying with the golfer, and keeping up with a golf cart which may be able to run at up to 25 miles per hour. Also, it would be important to have a strong rubber nose in case the device crashed into a tree, had to make an emergency landing on the fairway, or had to ram a paparazzi micro air vehicle, or remote-control UAV which happened to be spying on the golfers.

Further, whenever our politicians go out golfing, we could use that live video feed, for primetime television. A Congressman, Senator, or President's publicity team could also take the best shots of the day, and tweet them to the news media at their discretion. Perhaps they would be golfing in Hawaii, Martha's Vineyard, or one of the other very popular golf courses that movers and shakers enjoy playing at.

Now then, it might also be wise to use distilled water, de-ionized water, or reverse osmosis water. This would prevent stains on the golfer's clothes, and de-mineralized water in this case would be lighter weight per gallon for the UAV.

There are of course other uses for such UAVs, and micro air vehicles, and perhaps we could take a current version of such technologies and use that instead of redesigning the system from scratch. All of the sensors, autonomous terrain guidance systems, mister technologies, lightweight video feed systems, and remote-control propulsion systems already exist. Most all of this would be off-the-shelf technology, along with a simple operating system, and customized software to round out what's needed. How much would a system like this cost you wonder?

Not more than $2000 per unit. The average country club golf cart is running in the neighborhood of $5000, and therefore the unit cost of a micro air vehicle or UAV for this purpose would more than pay for itself very quickly. And it would make sense at the more exclusive golf courses, that people would want to document and videotape their experiences, and then burn a CD-ROM or DVD for later use and viewing at home or at the office when bragging to friends. It would be extremely great for professional golfers who are working to better their game at some of the top PGA golf courses prior to the tournaments.

These UAVs could also be used by groundskeepers to find spots in the grass which are over watered, or under watered, and therefore it would help in the maintenance of the golf courses as well. The video footage which was gathered would be great for a country club's website, as it would add to the strength of its brand name. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,500 articles by August 24th or 25th will be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

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