A group of about dozen college students interested in algae and biofuels research toured the UK CAER Lab 2 Renewables Building and the CAER Greenhouse that houses the center's CO2 algae project.  The students, from Lindsy Wilson College, interacted with energy researchers as well as touring the University's newest renewables research laboratory that features state-of-the-art energy saving techniques and processes.

The workshop offered informative technical presentations that provided an overview of carbon capture technologies and recent research progress allowing attendees to become more informed in carbon management issues and recent technical advances.  The speakers included:

• Abhoyjit Bhown from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
• Gary Rochelle from University of Texas
• Stan Lam from Koch Modular Process Systems
• Jim Neathery from UK CAER
• Kunlei Liu from UK CAER
• Joe Remias from UK CAER

Members from the University of Kentucky College of Design Studio toured the UK Center for Applied Energy Research facilities (February 2, 2013).  The group toured CAER Lab #2 Renewable Building as well as visiting the Algae Greenhouse and Minerals Processing Laboratory.  CAER researchers spoke to the group at each stop, giving them a brief overview and primer of the energy research that is currently being done in that specific location. 

Three University of Kentucky faculty members will present at the first-ever Southeastern Conference Symposium which will be held in Atlanta February 10-14, 2013.

John Anthony, UK's Gill Professor of Chemistry will present at a session about advanced materials for energy applications Dr. Anthony's laboratories are housed at the UK Center for Applied Energy Research Lab #2 Renewable Energy building.

Mark Crocker, associate director of UK CAER's Biofuels and Environmental Catalysis research group and Dr. Burt Davis, associate director of UK CAER's Clean Fuels and Chemicals research group will also present at the SEC Conference.Dr. Crocker will speak in a session about technologies for producing biopower, biofuels and biomaterials. Dr. Davis will present in an energy advances in transportation sector session.

More information can be found in UK's UK NOW news article.

The city of Somerset has recently installed Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling capabilities. Currently CNG prices range from $1.50 to $2.00 gasoline gallon equivalent. This will result in considerable cost savings for the city. The facility is located at the city’s refueling station on Chapel Dairy Road. The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research's Eastern Kentucky regional representative, Greg Copley, was on hand to observe a CNG powered Freightliner dump truck being refueled.

The dedicated fuel truck was in route from South Carolina to a truck show in Peoria, Illinois when the driver determined he needed to fuel up before making it to Louisville. He contacted the Somerset facility manager who agreed to sell enough CNG for the truck to get to Louisville.

One noticeable attribute of this type of vehicle is the lack of noise from the engine as it started and drove down the road. According to the driver, the truck has an automatic transmission and the truck seemed to handle hills well. Since this was the driver’s first experience driving this vehicle, its performance is still unknown at this point. There are four CNG tanks that can be operated separately or together to run the vehicle.

The Bluegrass Chapter of the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers (KSPE) toured the UK CAER Renewables Laboratory.  The group tours recently completed engineering projects and were very interested in this Murphy + Graves Architects project.  

The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research recently completed construction on a new 43,000 square foot high-performance laboratory building that will allow expansion of the center's renewable and energy storage research. This research is devoted to Kentucky's growing renewable energy industries, including biomass and biofuels, electrochemical power sources (like capacitors and batteries), and distributed solar energy technologies.

The laboratory building design target was a 50 percent reduction in energy usage compared to similar facilities.

Recently the University of Kentucky received additional funding to help advance research in the Houseboat to Energy Efficient Residences (HBEER) project, which provides low-cost, energy efficient housing options to Kentuckians. The UK Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) will be developing public education framework about the HBEER project and disseminate findings throughout the state to bolster interest in energy efficient modular structures.

HBEER is a partnership between the UK College of Design, CAER, KHIC and the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC). The multi-year project was initiated in the fall of 2009 and directly responds to the impact the current economic downturn has had on the houseboat manufacturing industry in the Commonwealth. As part of the partnership, more than 50 students and faculty at the UK School of Architecture were responsible for researching and developing initial models of energy-efficient, affordable housing that could be produced by the region's houseboat manufacturers.

The next phases of the HBEER project includes a prototype for multifamily housing, as well as classroom space for schools as an energy efficient and more durable alternative to portable classrooms.

University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research seeks a Postdoctoral Scholar that will design, fabricate, and evaluate electrochemical cells at elevated temperatures. Specific focus will be placed on the development of molten salt electrolysis cells for thermal energy generation.

January 2013 - Electrochemistry PostDoc Position Available

Energeia Newsletter Volume 20-4 now published

New <a href="http://www.caer.uky.edu/energeia/PDF/vol23_4.pdf">2012 Energeia Newsletter</a> now published, including:

• Why China's energy scence is the new silk road;
• What werewolves have to do with energy; and
• Meeting announcements and much more.