One Florida State University researcher is working to break that cycle
through the development of new energy technologies that are easy to
install, environmentally sound and-perhaps most importantly-inexpensive to
produce. Anjane'yulu' Krothapalli holds the Don Fuqua Eminent Scholar
Chair of Engineering at FSU. He has established a new research center at
FSU, the Sustainable Energy Science & Engineering Center (SECEC), which is
developing technologies that have the potential to transform much of the
developing world. Such technologies also could help the United States and
other developed nations deal with ever-rising energy costs and combat the
spread of global warming.
"The principles really are very simple," said Krothapalli, a professor of
mechanical engineering at the Florida A&M University-FSU College of
Engineering since 1983. "At SESEC, we are exploring ways to combine
existing technologies to convert solar radiation to heat; to use that heat
to produce steam to run a low-cost, highly efficient turbine; and then to
use the power generated by that turbine to run a small electric generator.
Individual homes could be equipped with these technologies. So, rather
than being connected to a vast power transmission system, which is
prohibitively expensive in much of the world, individual homeowners would
be able to generate the energy they need."
What SESEC brings to the energy table, Krothapalli said, is the ability to
take existing technologies and find ways to make them simple to install
and operate, much cheaper to produce, and more sensitive to the
environment.
"For such a system to work in a rural village in India, for example, it
has to meet those criteria," he said. "It must be easy enough for the
average person to maintain, inexpensive enough for that person to afford
or his government to subsidize, and clean enough that it won't exacerbate
global warming."
To demonstrate the various technologies, plans are under way to build a
small, completely self-sustaining demonstration house in a parking lot
outside Krothapalli's office at the FSU Fluid Mechanics Research
Laboratory. The 800-square-foot facility, which will include both living
space and an office, will be constructed entirely out of "green," or
environmentally sensitive, materials, will produce zero greenhouse-gas
emissions, and will feature low-energy LED lighting and other innovations.
The house's 5-kilowatt (kW) solar energy array will even produce hydrogen
fuel to run a specially equipped automobile. The house will serve as a
precursor to the biannual "Solar Decathlon" competition sponsored by the
U.S. Department of Energy.
Already, Krothapalli's work has generated considerable interest around the
world. Governmental officials from India, Brazil and a number of other
countries have contacted him to find out more, and he travels regularly to
conferences throughout the world to share his ideas with fellow scientists
and others.
His research also is bearing fruit in other ways. A patent for one of his
technological innovations was approved in 2005, and four others now are
under review. With a colleague, Brenton Greska, Krothapalli recently
formed an outside business, Sustainable Technology LLC, to help bring some
of the energy systems he is developing at FSU to the marketplace. And his
research has netted a $100,000 grant from FSU's Cornerstone Program, as
well as a second $100,000 award funded jointly by the FSU Research
Foundation and the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.
Although his research keeps him more than busy, Krothapalli still keeps
his eye on the bigger picture.
"The challenge is to fuel worldwide economic growth and a reliable energy
supply without despoiling our environment," he said. "At SESEC, we're
focusing on technologies that will ease some of the burden that humanity
places on our planet."
Courtesy of the Florida State University News Service
