The June 2010 Programs may
be summarized as follows:
June 7 – Stacey Patterson from the Tennessee Solar Institute talked about the Tennessee Solar Institute. The University of Tennessee is joining Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority as a partner in Gov. Phil Bredesen’s $62.5-million initiative.
The Tennessee Solar Institute will receive $31 million of that funding to focus on basic research to improve solar product affordability and efficiency. Also proposed in the initiative is the West Tennessee Solar Farm near Brownsville a five-megawatt 15-acre power generation facility at the Haywood County industrial mega site. Funding for the proposed comprehensive solar energy and economic development program will come from federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to advance job creation, education, research, and renewable-power production in Tennessee.
There will be a $23 million solar opportunity fund ti encourage growth of solar power. There will be $9million in installation grants. They have been requesting grant proposals for competitive peer review. Projects will be in the range of 1 to 2900 kw and can be on the gtound or on an existing building. Expansion of existing facilities is not included. Applications started June 21.
June 14 – Mr. H.E. (Bill) Knee , a transportation researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, spoke on Transportation Technology. He is associated with the Center for Transportation Analysis (CTA) which is located on Hardin Valley Road. It was a very informative talk.
Currently 21percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. Commercial trucks get about 6 miles per gallon of fuel and carry 1.3 trillion ton miles of freight. There are three types of trucks from the standpoint of behavior on the road. Flat bed trucks which are very flexible, box trucks which are rigid but may be lightly loaded and tank trucks which are shorter but are rigid and heavily loaded. One important project under way is the use of
wider truck tires which appear to offer significant fuel savings. The highway through Knoxville is one of the most travelled in the country and the truck stops at Watt Road are the second heaviest used truckstops in the country.
June 21 – Richard Lounsbury is a geologist who has worked on numerous karst sites. For several years he has been with ARCADIS working mostly on
TN DOT projects in support of road building.
His talk was titled “Characterization of Karst Systems to Support EIS (Environmental Impact Study) Decisions”. This was a project ARCADIS conducted for TDOT related to the extension of the James White Parkway. The project involved dye measurements to verify the interconnectedness of sinkholes and caves in the area of the highway extension and it was a part of the information needed to decide on the route to be followed.
June 28 – Dr Robert Hatcher. UT Knoxville distinguished scientist and professor discussed earthquakes in Tennessee. We are in the second most active earthquake area in the east!
We were all delighted to see Walter Wunderlich back after his operation and looking very fit.