Energy Research

New and Sustainable Energy Sources

Oregon State University has a broad range of research in new and sustainable sources of energy, including some that were specifically cited as opportunity areas by President Bush in his 2006 State of the Union Address. At that time, the president called for a 22 percent increase in federal support for development of alternative energy technologies to reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels.

If you are planning future coverage of this topic and what it may mean to the nation’s energy future, you may wish to contact researchers at OSU who already have significant programs under way in this area. In particular, new concepts in nuclear power, wave energy, hydrogen fuel cells and the university’s “Sun Grant” initiative could provide useful material for print or broadcast news coverage.

The federal government has granted OSU $8 million over four years as one of the nation’s five Sun Grant centers of excellence – regional hubs charged with research and development of new technologies for using agricultural wastes, residues, and new crops for the production of bio-energy.

Some of the programs under way also take advantage of unique research facilities at OSU – such as the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory. This facility, which includes a 340-foot-long wave flume as well as the world’s largest tsunami wave basin, will be essential for advances on wave energy technology. OSU also has the highest-power energy systems laboratory of any university in the nation, one of the world’s most sophisticated nuclear power safety testing facilities, and other technologies that make it well suited to these types of research.

If we can be of further help in identifying appropriate experts for your news coverage of sustainable energy, please contact us at 541-737-4611 or david.stauth@oregonstate.edu.

Leading Energy Experts at Oregon State University:

• Goran Jovanovic, new technologies for biodiesel production
• Jose Reyes, “passively safe” nuclear power systems
• Annette von Jouanne, wave energy
• Hong Liu, electricity production from wastewater
• Kevin Drost, microtechnology based, energy efficient cooling systems
• Stel Walker, wind energy
• Roger Ely, hydrogen fuel
• Michael Penner, converting agricultural residues into energy

News Stories on Energy Research:

• Tiny Microreactors Could be Breakthrough for Biodiesel Production
• Looking to the Future: “Passively Safe” Nuclear Energy
• OSU Moving to Center of Wave Energy Development
• OSU Meeting Call for Bioenergy Research
• Researchers Harness Microbes to Make Hydrogen
• New Energy Technology Removes the Waste from Wastewater

Short Summaries of OSU Energy Research:

• A New Age of Nuclear: OSU nuclear engineers have helped pioneer a new concept of “passively safe” nuclear energy plant designs, which have no greenhouse gas concerns, are increasingly reliable and very cost competitive. Some reactors under development may also be able to produce hydrogen for use as an alternative fuel for automobiles. More than $13 million dollars of testing in OSU laboratories has helped the first two of these new nuclear plans to gain final design approval. (Contact: Jose Reyes, professor and director of the OSU Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics, 541-737-7065 or reyes@ne.oregonstate.edu)
• The Waves of the Future: Electrical engineers at OSU are national leaders in the development of wave energy, a fairly new concept in which the constant movement of ocean swells is tapped for a clean, reliable source of electrical power. Work is underway to set up a test facility for such technology off the coast and make Oregon the focus of research and development of this promising source of alternative energy. (Contact: Annette von Jouanne, 541-737-0831 or avj@eecs.oregonstate.edu)
• Harnessing Nature: Hydrogen fuel cells offer a practical alternative to gasoline to power future automobiles, but the costly production of hydrogen by existing technologies is one of the key obstacles. OSU bioengineers have a major three year, $900,000 research effort under way to harness photosynthetic microbes that would use solar energy to split water molecules and make hydrogen in the process. Of particular promise is a group of photosynthetic microorganisms called cyanobacteria. (Contact: Roger Ely, 541-737-9409 or ely@engr.oregonstate.edu)
• Taking the Waste Out of Wastewater: New “microbial fuel cell” technology under development at OSU could not only revolutionize the treatment of wastewater, but also use organic material in the water to create either usable electricity or the hydrogen needed to run fuel cells. The amounts of energy created might be modest, but they could be enough, for instance, to make a waste treatment plant “self sufficient” in terms of energy use. About $25 billion a year is spent for domestic wastewater treatment, so major cost savings may be possible. (Contact: Hong Liu, 541-737-6309)
• Biodiesel and Sun Grant: OSU students, faculty and Corvallis community members are involved in a variety of projects relating to the manufacture, use or improved technologies using biodiesel fuel. Work in this area is also a component of several educational initiatives, and is a key focus of the Sun Grant Initiative, a national effort to reduce fossil fuel use by more emphasis on biological-based fuels. OSU is the lead university representing nine western states in the Sun Grant program. (Contact: David Hackelman, 541-737-8988 or david.hackleman@oregonstate.edu)