After Years of Persistence, UMass Amherst Emerges as a National Leader in Green Research, Advocacy and Campus Facilities

May 29, 2009

Contact:

Ed Blaguszewski 413/545-0444

AMHERST, Mass. - Green stands alone as the dominant color in today’s economic and political discourse. Green energy, green buildings, green jobs. Want to find a model of green commitment? Exhibit A is UMass Amherst, which has emerged as a national leader in clean energy research and defining the shape of the green economy, all while transforming its campus into a showcase of environmentally progressive initiatives.

“At UMass Amherst,” says Chancellor Robert Holub, “We build green, we research green and we help the entire country envision a green future. The campus has worked at this tirelessly for years, and now our expertise and leadership position are being recognized.”

Green Biofuels Research and Spinoffs

Take, for example, original research on green biofuels conducted by UMass Amherst scientists George Huber, chemical engineering (pictured above), and Susan Leschine, microbiology, which has led to two spinoffs that could anchor a green industry corridor in western Massachusetts and economic growth in the greater Commonwealth. Marlboro-based Qteros uses Leschine’s discovery of the anaerobic Q Microbe, named for its Quabbin Reservoir discovery site, to produce ethanol from abundant plant waste. The company’s bright economic promise is on firm footing: Qteros expects to nearly double its workforce to 60 and recently closed a $25 million financing deal. Plans include a pilot plant in the Indian Orchard section of Springfield.

Like Qteros, Huber’s spinoff, Anellotech, is pursuing a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Demonstration of Integrated Biorefinery Operations initiative. This funding could place a pilot-scale biorefinery in the Springfield area with jobs for an estimated 25 workers at each company’s facility. Anellotech takes advantage of Huber’s fast, efficient process for producing gasoline and diesel fuel from waste wood, corn and other materials. He and Anellotech recently received a $1.9 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant to investigate new catalysts for low-cost conversion of biomass into a liquid that can be refined to a fuel such as JP-8 jet fuel.

Polymers, Wind, Fuel Cells, Green Building and More …

Chemist Paul Lahti, an expert in organic electronic materials, and Thomas Russell, the Silvio O. Conte Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science & Engineering, are co-directors of a new multi-million-dollar Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the Department to pursue advanced energy research. Taking advantage of the campus’s formidable strengths in polymer science engineering, materials chemistry and physics, with projected funding of up to $16 million over five years, the center will seek to create and test polymer-based photovoltaic structures for converting sunlight into electricity.

James Manwell, director of the Renewable Energy Research Laboratory at UMass Amherst, has been a trailblazer in wind energy research and teaching since the 1970s, when he first employed a small turbine atop nearby Mount Tom. Today, his lab is a lead partner for testing wind-turbine blades at a new federal facility in Boston, offering real promise toward developing offshore wind power. Manwell, a mechanical and industrial engineer, helped Hull, Mass., construct two wind turbines that now produce municipal electricity, and the town wants to expand capacity.

Environmental stewardship also means carrying knowledge of sustainable energy into the future. Manwell and RERL recently received a two-year Department of Energy grant to design an upper-level course, Offshore Wind Energy Systems Engineering, and test it for immediate national use. The goal is to meet a pressing national need for engineers qualified not only in the technical challenges of offshore wind energy, but in practical regulatory, permitting and planning.

Meanwhile, May 2009 witnessed the first graduate, Ryan Harb, from the campus’s new Master of Green Building program. His advisor, mechanical engineer Simi Hoque, collaborated with nonprofits YouthBuild-Holyoke and the Center for Ecological Technology, Northampton, to develop a pilot curriculum. Harb and others taught a dozen disadvantaged young people job skills for the coming green, energy-efficiency economy, including home energy auditing methods, building inspection skills and carpentry and weatherization.

Microbiologist Derek Lovley has brought more than $21 million in sponsored research to UMass Amherst, focusing on bioremediation and new energy sources. His research team discovered a tiny biological structure that is highly electrically conductive. This breakthrough helps describe how microorganisms can clean up groundwater and produce electricity from renewable sources. The conductive structures, known as microbial nanowires, are produced by a microorganism called Geobacter.

Chemist Sankaran Thayumanavan heads an NSF-funded chemical innovation research center, “Fueling the Future,” which focuses on the cutting edge of hydrogen fuel-cell science. Among the center’s quests is to better understand proton transfer, a critical component of fuel cells, which could reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.

“This university has a world-class faculty and excellent students, and they are making a major contribution to further the economic development of the Commonwealth and putting the country on the path of sustainable development,” observes Paul Kostecki, vice chancellor for research and engagement. “After so many years of laying the groundwork, it’s rewarding to see the impact we’re having on such matters of international importance.”
Add to the mix new green building standards, green cleaning programs and support of local agriculture by UMass Dining Services, and the university’s comprehensive commitment to sustainability is apparent.

Envisioning the Green Economy

Meanwhile, UMass Amherst is influencing the national discussion about how best to stimulate the U.S. economy and promote sustainability. Economics Professor Robert Pollin and the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) are cited regularly in the national media, from National Public Radio to The New York Times to BusinessWeek, and he has advised government officials on stimulus strategies.

Recent PERI research provided a blueprint for national green recovery, concluding that investing in clean energy such as wind power, solar and biofuels would result in about three times the number of jobs with good pay than conventional projects. At the same time, the researchers say such spending will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil. The latest PERI report estimates that new federal investments in infrastructure projects could generate 1.6 million jobs in one year.

Research To Create a Sustainable Future

Propelling today’s urgent efforts to create new energy sources is scientific evidence that demonstrates the dangers of global warming. Recognized as a pioneer in the field, geoscientist Raymond Bradley of UMass Amherst was among the contributors to the report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that earned a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize shared by former Vice President Al Gore. Bradley and land use planner Elisabeth Hamin addressed a climate change and transportation symposium organized by the Boston Society of Civil Engineers. Her message: If the new century continues to unfold as the “age of climate change,” it’s clear that cities and towns should start now to assess such predicted impacts as warmer winters, more severe storms and more intense rainfall based on Bradley and others’ work, not on past records.

The university’s portfolio in green and clean energies is diverse and impressive, with endeavors that stretch back, in some cases, for decades.

Finally, but not least, is the campus’s award-winning Central Heating Plant began operating this winter. Ten years in the planning, the facility replaces a coal-fired plant built more than 90 years ago. It relies on natural gas and diesel for fuel and is capable of generating both steam and electricity. Eventually, the campus will be capable of producing 80 percent of its total electrical load. Greenhouse gases will decrease by 6 percent in the coming year, due to the plant alone. This facility, however, is only the most visible investment in creating a greener campus. A variety of measures have cut greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent since fiscal 2004. Energy consumption has been reduced by 21 percent over the same period, as the campus was retrofitted following a comprehensive energy audit. Among the measures taken: replacing 117,000 light bulbs along with light ballasts, toilets and other plumbing fixtures.

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