ITU Journal: The Green Energy Issue

Volume V, Issue III, 2015

ITU JOURNAL

International Technological University

A WASC Accredited Graduate School

WHAT’S INSIDE

When we hear green energy, we think of environmental sustainability. But green energy is also education, technology, and creating a holistic infrastructure to bring about positive change. Due to this fact, ITU encourages the development of green energy resources by offering courses and projects.

Like most universities around the country, ITU is finding ways to use energy efficiently to set an example for students and communities. The university has built energy efficient classrooms and offices. ITU is continuously developing programs, projects, systems and industry relationships to educate and prepare students for green job paths. Each department implemented an energy plan, and recognized the importance of social responsibility, by developing new curriculum, improving the internship process, and adding certificates to some of the courses. An e-learning resource library that comes with the online education is another aspect of green planning.

These measures are aimed at empowering students to bring forth a new energy paradigm with sustainable jobs and resources.

Amal Mougharbel, PhD Business Administration Department Chair ITU Journal Editor in Chief

Editor-in-Chief : Amal Mougharbel, PhD

TEAM

Editorial Board: Patricia Wiggin James Dohnert Daniel Keenan Priyanka Dave

ITU Journal cannot be held liable for its content. The views expressed are those of the writers only. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit submissions.

Designers: Kathia Rubi Tiffany Crader

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Green Energy: A 360° View

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Top 5 Must See Environmental Documentaries

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High Voltage: How the Energy Grid is Getting Smarter

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Who Loves the Sun? Or Shining A Light on The Importance of Solar Panels

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Green-Mania: Opportunities and Obstacles

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Mirrors : 40 Shades of Green Energy and Fossil Fuel Extraction

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Bios of Authors

International Technological University is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Volume V, Issue III, 2015

By Priyanka Dave

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this, most corporations and individuals would simply opt for conventional forms of energy. In the absence of demand, there would be no mass production of renewable energy – and mass production is necessary to achieve economies of scale and lower costs. Let us take a look at the environmental impacts of some renewable energy sources.

ost of us believe that fossil fuels are destroying our environment and renewable energy sources are our glorious savior. We’ve labeled fossil fuels as ‘bad’ and renewable energy sources as ‘good’. But are renewable energy sources really our knight in shining armor?

All energy sources, whether renewable or conventional, do affect our environment to varying degrees. ITU Business Administration professor Dr. Venkatesh Gopal explains, “It is the ‘net’ green energy that is important. We must remember that even the production of green energy requires inputs and has environmental impacts. One needs to assess how ‘green’ these impacts really are.”

Solar Energy: Sunlight is often thought of as an unlimited resource capable of producing clean electricity without contributing to global emissions, but not many of us think about the toxicity of the substances that go into the creation of solar cells and panels.

There are chiefly two kinds of solar technologies: Photovoltaic Solar Cells (PV) and Concentrating Solar Thermal Plants (CSP).

The process of manufacturing PV cells involves several hazardous materials. Many of these chemicals like acetone, sulfuric acid, and hydrogen fluoride are used to clean semiconductor surfaces. Thin-film PV cells consist of toxic substances like gallium arsenide or cadmium telluride that can pose significant environmental threats if not disposed of appropriately. Lead is used in PV circuits for wiring and also in some printing pastes. Fugitive air emissions release harmful chemicals like trichloroethane and ammonia.

Renewable energy sources should ideally be evaluated not simply on the basis of emissions but also on the type and quantity of the resources they use. At the 2014 Energy Thought Summit in Austin, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said, “If you had a solar cell that took two Joules of dirty energy to make it and it only returned one Joule of clean energy in its life—it’s a loss. We fool ourselves.”

Measuring the net environmental impact of renewable energy has been a subject of discussion for many years now. All the interfaces between the environment and the energy generation system need to be accounted for to arrive at a net ‘greenness’ conclusion.

Although the United States has rules about how solar companies can dispose of toxic waste, researchers claim that it is difficult to get transparent and high-quality data from solar companies on their waste disposal practices. China has a similar story. For example, Jinko Solar faced massive protests in China in 2011

Another area of concern is the cost of producing renewable energy. It needs to be lower than or at least equal to the prices of conventional energy sources for people to adopt it. Without

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for failing pollution control tests in spite of repeated warnings.

It is just one amongst the many Chinese companies that do not follow prescribed practices on toxic waste disposal. As Dr. Gopal rightly points out, “Some people say that nuclear energy is dangerous. Solar energy has its own set of hazards too. Some substances used in manufacturing solar panels are toxic. We need to figure out an effective way to handle these toxic wastes.

We’re in a phase where we’re still discovering several of these new technologies. Fossil fuel energy has been around for years, so it has gone through this phase already. In some years from now, solar and nuclear energy might be equally safe and we may no longer perceive nuclear energy as a bigger hazard than many other renewable sources. It is all really a question of learning how to manage these risks.”

Bio-fuels: Fossil fuels and bio-fuels both require combustion of some sort of feedstock. Feedstock is the input resource (such as agricultural waste or energy crops) that is required for producing bio-fuels. So how ‘green’ are bio-fuels really? As Dr. Gopal explains, “You need energy to generate energy through bio-fuels.” The eco-friendliness of biofuels depends on the type of feedstock used and the manner in which this feedstock is generated.

Feedstock sources like agricultural or forest waste do not require additional water. However, certain energy crops require huge amounts of water to cultivate. An easy way of looking at this is to compare the amounts of water used to generate the amount of fuel required to drive a mile in a car. According to data from the U.S Energy Information Administration, with corn as the fuel source, you’d need 283 gallons of water to produce enough fuel to drive a mile. With cellulosic biofuel, it is just 0.26 gallons. With petroleum and oil shale, it is even lesser at 0.04 and 0.08 gallons of water utilization per mile.

Geothermal Energy: Most geothermal power plants are in places where molten rocks are closest to the earth’s crust. Most of these plants use natural steam from within the Earth but there are several places with no natural steam reservoirs. ‘Enhanced geothermal systems’ have been developed to overcome this. This system involves drilling wells into hot rocks, injecting water in those rocks at extremely high pressures, and allowing it to fracture rocks and absorb heat. This extremely hot water is pumped back to the earth’s surface and the steam it generates is utilized to run turbines that generate electricity.

Certain feedstock, like cellulosic feedstock (waste that’s left behind after crops are harvested) uses minimal amounts of water. However, cellulosic feedstock is hard to procure on a scale that’s large enough to meet our fuel requirements.

Clearly, certain types of biofuel feedstock cannot be sustainably produced. The challenge lies in identifying feedstock that is most productive and causes the least environmental stress.

Several studies have shown that hydrothermal plants lead to a greater risk of earthquakes. While scientists have always been aware of this fact, it often takes a major disaster or two for us to wake up to the fact that the risk is not as small as we think.

In December 2006, a geothermal project in Basel, Switzerland triggered some 30 earthquakes. The project was reviewed in great detail and experts came to the conclusion that any more drilling could potentially trigger a major earthquake. The expected damage, they believed, was as high as $500 million.

An analysis of 30 years of earthquake data (1981 to 2012) has revealed that geothermal plants near California’s South Salton Sea have triggered around 10,000 earthquakes – with the largest one measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale. Scientists today are concerned that in the long run, these smaller quakes around the San Andreas Fault could trigger a much larger earthquake.

Another concern is that when crops are grown specifically for use in the production of biofuels, they would take up land that could potentially have been used to grow food. We live in a world that is already short on food. Are we willing to make this trade-off between growing food and growing feedstock for biofuels? We cannot grow feedstock on land that is otherwise unsuitable for agriculture. Very little is going to grow in the Sahara or in the permafrost of Siberia or Alaska. Also, making forest or non-agricultural land suitable for agriculture in most cases involves the use of fertilizers which contributes to polluted agricultural runoff – which eventually makes its way into our water bodies.

While the world goes crazy over the ‘green’ trend, we need to step back, dig deeper and think about what we’re compromising to go green. We collectively need to arrive at a consensus about whether these compromises are good for us in the long run. We need to create policies not just about going green but also about the best ways to go green. Dr. Gopal sums it up, “This isn’t just about generating a ‘feel-good’ factor. You need to think not just about outputs but also about inputs and opportunity costs. You need to understand the role of every component in a system and also how it is impacted. A very holistic assessment of the situation is important.”

For geothermal projects to be completely safe they need to be far away from areas with human populations and we need to invest time and money for their rigorous and constant testing.

The question here really is whether the benefits from these geothermal power projects outweigh their risks.

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Volume V, Issue III, 2015

TOP MUST SEE

ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTARIES

BY Daniel Keenen and James Dohnert

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f you’re like me (highly unlikely), then the proliferation of video streaming platforms has made you a lot smarter. Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes, has made it easier than ever to watch great documentaries and episodes of Ballers online. Docs, specifically, have been a great resource to fans of infotainment. They’ve shed light on issues that get very little attention, and do it in an engaging way. This is especially true for films that focus on the environmental movement. Here is a list of some of the best documentaries that have focused on the topic and made a lasting impact on spreading awareness for the cause.

their mind about climate change after seeing the movie.

2. Gasland Fracking, an issue so topical you probably already read our article on it! The concept of spraying high-powered hoses on rocks to create liquids is not recent but it certainly wouldn’t have been so well known without the film Gasland. Inspired by an oil company’s request to buy land on his families property for fracking use, Gasland’s director Josh Fox set out to meet farmers who had done the same and find out if he should sell.

What Fox found was not only insightful for a whole a generation but it was also the first time the world got to see the affects of fracking. To those who saw the film it became an eye-opener of the tricky aftermath of fracking for energy. While the documentary had a dramatic impact, it was not without it’s naysayers. Following the release, some members of the scientific community decried the films depiction of the aftermath of fracking.

Specifically, a scene that showed a man light water from his tap on fire using a lighter caused quite the uproar. The scene, which was meant to demonstrate the containments that leak into water after fracking, had some questioning the authenticity of the film. However, despite such claims the film has since become a staple of the modern green energy conversation.

1. An Inconvenient Truth Not many politicians have had a second act like Al Gore. After missing out on the White House in 2000, the former Veep went on to release An Inconvenient Truth.

The climate change documentary lit a fire under the science community and was many American’s first taste of the dramatic impact of greenhouse emissions on our planet. A PowerPoint that Gore has been giving across the country after losing his presidential bid inspired the talking heads styled doc. The film delved into a variety of studies that Gore had collected over the years and shed light on the— now all to obvious— issue of climate change. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, the 2006 film tapped into the culture zeitgeist and actually made quite the difference. According to a 2007 Nielsen study, 66 percent of those who saw An Inconvenient Truth changed

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5. Earth Disney Nature’s Earth is a globe-trekking looking at the changing environment of the planet’s animals. Narrated

by Darth Vader James Earl Jones, Earth shows how climate change has affected the habits of the polar bear, African bush elephant and humpback whale. The film offers an up close look at the effects of climate change while offering one of the most well-shot documentaries of our time. Shooting on location for over five years, Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield followed the world’s most endangered animals as they try to find their way in a world with climate change. The film was remixed from footage originally created for the BBC television series Planet Earth. Upon release the film earned $100 million worldwide and became the second highest grossing nature documentary of all-time.

3. Food, Inc Beef has become quite the staple of the American Diet.

From Bovril to prime rib, our society’s love for meat spreads from breakfast to dinner. Unfortunately, such a meat rich diet might not actually be very sustainable.

Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc. delved into issues like animal cruelty, environmental impact, and economic viability of our modern diets. The documentary even talked about the mass farming that is affecting how we shop and eat in first-world countries. Calling out major food producers like Monsanto and McDonalds, Kenner’s work was one of the first exposes on the modern issues surround food production in the United States. For many Americans it served as a wake up call of how mass consumption effects on the world. After release, the film would go to win an Emmy for best documentary and serve as an overview of some of the biggest issues in the food industry. Upon release, the film even got some surprising praise from fast food chain Chipotle. The Mexican restaurant offered customers free screening of the movie at select locations and told customers we are different.

4. Who Killed The Electric Car? We now live in a world where the electric car is as mainstream as trucker hats. However, back in the 1990s, when Smash Mouth ruled the airwaves and Michael Jordan was dropping sweet dimes, things were quite different. In 1996, GM dropped one of the first mass produced electric cars ever. GM’s EV1 was battery powered and could go 100 miles on a single charge.

It’s 70s-UFO-meets-storage-space atheistic was a surprisingly beloved car for many on America’s left coast. The film about the car, Who Killed the Electric Car? opens with stars like Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, and Ralph Nader, gushing about their love of the Wall-E looking car. Unfortunately, for those bastions of the green economy, the EV1 was murdered by consortium of higher powers. At least that is the film’s theory.

Jesse Pain’s documentary lays out a well-constructed investigation that lays the blame for the death of the electric car at car companies, the government, and oil companies.

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Volume V, Issue III, 2015

High Voltage:

How the Energy Grid is Getting Smarter

By Patty Wiggin and James Dohnert

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as this ever happened to you: You go to pay your intelligent, wireless technology for monitoring power electric bill and see that you’re paying far more utilization, showing real time usage. This real time data than usual. Perhaps you end paying an extra $100 to the enables the power companies to predict and plan for future electrical company, or maybe even $200, for a month. That power use. The meters also allow for faster detection of extra money in your bill is troubling but the real issue is power outages, providing efficiency in targeting power you have no idea where you went wrong. Did you leave restoration. The wireless component alleviates meter one too many lights on? Is the fridge not closing all the reading costs and errors. Just as smart phones these way? Is your home suffering from a poltergeist? All these days indicate a phone with a computer in it, a smart grid questions may be running through your mind as you do the signifies computerizing the utility power grid. Featuring electrical math of the month that has passed you over. This two-way digital communication technology with the grid, is an issue experienced by many families across the globe, each device is driven by sensors that gather data, and uses and one that might finally be corrected in the near future. digital means to communicate between a home device and Imagine, for a moment, that when you get your excessive the utility’s network. bill you also had a way to look up your energy usage on Automation technology your smartphone. By from a central location simply checking an app allows the grid provider on your iPhone you might be able to plan The advantage is that it is much to adjust, control and individualize resources accordingly for your monthly bills and make smaller and costs less than current to one or many meters. who view sure everything is in transformers. But most important Consumers their smart meter order once you have reports, and understand to make a payment. of all it is tamper-proof. their time-based rates Perhaps you’re well and different tier pricing, on your way to doing can even lower their so thanks to the power consumption during peak times to save money. research work of ITU Provost Dr. Karl Wang. Dr. Wang Smart meters also support security improvements, and and ITU recently initiated technology research into a new provide integration with many different types of energy. application for monitoring power usage through Smart The Smart Meter programs have resulted in many overall Meters. enhancements towards energy efficiency for utilities “When I first came to ITU, I taught the embedded system companies and in regulating power use. While Smart course. In that course, I asked students to do a final project Meters are common in the current power grid used by in the field of energy management. We were thinking about many power companies, what makes Dr. Wang’s device all the problems about using transformers for voltage and so unique is its size and tamper-proof nature. He recently current sensing, and at the time I was thinking there might received a patent for a unique piece of the device that be a better way,” explains Dr. Wang as he shares how he reduces the size and complexity of the meter by removing came up with the idea for his Smart Meter device. the transformer that measures voltage usage.

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In use for several years, Smart Meters are part of the smart grid energy management system, and are centered on computer-based remote controls. The meters use

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Dr. Wang explains the importance of this by saying, “The advantage is that it is much smaller and costs less than current transformers. But most important of all it

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is tamper-proof. If you use a normal transformer you can saturate the core of the transformer and you no longer sense the correct voltage and current. People will sometimes do this to defeat the normal electrical voltage measurement, and kind of steal power from companies like PG&E.” The work of Dr. Wang and his research students comes at an interesting time for the country and it’s relationship with conspicuous electrical consumption. America is using less power than it has in years. Two years ago, US citizens were consuming power at level not seen since 2001. Since 2013, that number has stayed consistent and people have reported to be using less power than they have in the last 10 years.

The fuel for this low-level consumption partly comes from the proliferation of green-inspired tech. From power saving AC units to Smart Refrigerators, the innovation seen in the field has been leading to real-world results in energy consumption habits. These new tools have become a brand new revenue stream for companies the world over and are now a key market for many an investor. According to a 2014 Bloomberg report, global investments in renewable energy increased by 17 percent since 2013. The report calculated that investments in the industry peaked at over $270 million last year. One such energy efficient product spurring international investments are Smart Meters like the one Dr. Wang is creating in the lab.

Dr. Wang’s breakthrough has plenty of opportunities to commercially prosper both domestically and abroad.

The overall global market for smart meters is expected to grow, from a total worth of $11 billion in 2014, to more than $18 billion in 2019. With such a shift, many countries currently employ and utilize Smart Meter technology, with regions such as Eastern Europe and China pledging to ramp up deployment, for completion within ten years.

China especially has been bullish in getting it’s energy usage down. The country is actively trying to reduce power usage everywhere. The government even recently created an edict that mandates the reduction of power year-over-year. Every factory in China to cut their electrical power by a certain percentage, therefore, companies have to show data to the government that proves they’ve reduced their power output.

This mandate and need for metrics of power usage make China a great resource for Dr. Wang’s work.

Serendipitously, in 2013, Dr. Wang learned of a contact at a Chinese company who had an interest for Smart Meter technology. At the same time, Dr. Wang was creating

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his curriculum for courses that would emphasize lab and hands-on learning. His contact was involved in energy management for the China market and inquired if ITU had the expertise to help. Because he and ITU had already been working on embedded system design, Dr. Wang knew that this request was a great opportunity for he and his students to engage in research. Almost immediately, Dr. Wang instructed his students to work on a Smart Meter project. His course subject matter covered Smart Meter specifications, basic techniques and concepts. To his surprise and amazement, Dr. Wang’s class completed a working, smart meter prototype within the same semester. The Smart Meter prototype successfully demonstrated measuring voltage in current, and transmitting data wirelessly to a data center, using the Amazon cloud. The technology is incredibly useful and simple: data can be reviewed in any Internet-connected device, like your smart phone.

While device has showed incredible promise in the lab, the Smart Meter project also needed to demonstrate feasibility for becoming a commercial product. Dr. Wang and the Chinese company had further conversations and agreed this next step would be critical. Throughout 2014, students worked on improvements, and the team proposed a realtime, green campus application. This next phase would move things from concept to reality. Dr. Wang suggested a project to measure energy consumption at ITU’s San Jose campus. The team of students would install smart meters throughout the campus to monitor any and all energy or power use. The energy records will be stored in the Amazon cloud, demonstrating the ability to access and display data on a laptop or smart phone. Currently being used on campus, research students are actively utilizing real-world data to uncover how best to apply the Smart Meter in the real world.

After on campus tests are completed, ITU will demonstrate the project to its Chinese partner and discuss the how to move forward. One idea is to license this technology— either to the original contact in China, or to a spin off company, solidifying financial support from the company or other investors. Licensing always presents its advantages in royalties. The ITU green campus project may mean not only royalties to ITU, but also potential job opportunities for the research students. With any luck, the innovative ITU Smart Meter project is well positioned to meet the emerging market demands for wireless commercial and industrial energy management products, worldwide.

Volume V, Issue III, 2015

Who Loves the Sun?

Or Shining A Light

on The Importance of

Solar Panels H

By James Dohnert

ave you seen that movie Sunshine? It’s that Danny releasing The Dharma Burns. None of those things had Boyle film about a group of space travelers who anything to do with solar panels. have to launch a bunch of nuclear bombs into the sun in Despite their long history, solar panels didn’t really order to make sure it doesn’t stop shining. Chris Evans pick-up consumer viability until some 30 years is in it as a Captain America-type, and his whole crew is after their invention. Solar panels were exorbitantly supposed to represent the best of humanity. It’s a good expensive in the early days. They used expensive movie, until the third act when [spoiler alert] weird materials and manufacturing was costly. For the most stuff starts happening. I give it three stars! The movie is part, nobody was even interesting because it’s trying to turn solar one of the few films energy into a consumer to actively delve into option. During the first one of those hot button Since I started working, the biggest 20 years of solar panels issues, the importance existence, the private change I’ve seen is an improvement in of the sun. If there’s sector was outpacing no sun, there’s no efficiency. Efficiency has increased quite government-funded humanity. It gives research. By itself, oil a bit since I started working with solar life, and over the past giant Exxon actually many decades, we’re cells - Dr. Mantha invested more in solar learning it can do a panel research than the whole lot more.

US government in the This article is about 1970s. Exxon’s efforts solar panels. You know those things found on the tops can now be seen in more efficient panels. ITU Professor, of yurts at your local commune. Those giant mirrored and solar panel’s expert, Dr. Bhaskar Mantha believes surfaces that reflect light like the head of Captain Jeanthe biggest changes brought on by research funds since Luc Piccard. Solar Panels were invented 60 years ago. the 1970s is in solar panels ability to collect usable Scientists of Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, Gerald sunlight. He says cheap and efficient panels are now the Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin. Since Bell new normal.

Labs was primarily a national telephone company, “Since I started working, the biggest change I’ve seen is the very first test of solar panels was used to power an improvement in efficiency. Efficiency has increased telephone lines in the Peach State of Georgia. The year quite a bit since I started working with solar cells,” says of this breakthrough was 1955. By 1958, the same solar Dr. Mantha. panels were adapted by NASA to be used on one of their very first satellites. Other interesting things that The uptick in better cells also came out of necessity. happened in 1958 included the Yankees winning the If it wasn’t for the private sector, research in solar World Series, Elvis joining the Army, and Jack Kerouac

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panels during their infancy the world would have been nonexistent, and the world could have been a very different place. It wasn’t until the early 1970s that the world started understanding the needs for alternatives to petrol. You see, a funny thing happened to America’s oil based economy at that time, and oil prices skyrocketed in the early 1970s.

Prices hit a peak in 1973, after the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC)— one of the largest distributors of oil in the world— put an embargo on the US, after the Yom Kippur War. The conflict came after Egypt and Syria ran a surprise attack on Israel in retaliation for the Six Day War. Following the attack, OAPEC decided to bring an embargo onto countries that were allies of the Israeli government. The embargo eventually led the Nixon administration to bring about peace talks that led to an end of the embargo. While the embargo was brief in nature, it had longterm affects on oil prices and proved the economic power of Arab countries belonging to OAPEC. Other interesting things that happened in 1973 include The Godfather winning the Oscar, the A’s winning the World Series, and Kurt Vonnegut releasing Breakfast of Champions. None of those things had anything to do with solar panels.

handful of years, solar panel manufactures have made great strides in keeping thickness down while increasing efficiency. According to Dr. Mantha, the advances in manufacturing have caused an uptick in affordable and decently efficient solar panels. What is the secret to these advances? Aluminum backings behind the wafers, of course!

“An ideal efficiency for a cell is about 31 percent. You won’t get that— it is very difficult to get that— so a good practical efficiency is 21 to 22 percent.

You can improve manufacturing techniques by doing things like putting aluminum contacts on the back to help reflection back into the cell. We don’t want metal on top, we want it on the back. With a backing you effectively have a more durable cell,” adds Dr. Mantha.

Moving towards the future, there is still quite a bit that can be done to improve solar cell prices. There is a trade off between expensive cells and super efficient ones. For example, multi-junction solar cells—which are a combination of the most efficient cell materials— are used to generate energy for things like satellites and spaceships. On average, multijunction solar cells have a maximum theoretical efficiency of 34 percent. Unfortunately, those cells are remarkably expensive and not viable for the consumer market.

Consumer solar cells you see on your local commune use cheaper materials, that are less efficient.

With efficiency of solar panels increasing after the 1970s, it’s reasonable to wonder why solar panel cars are not touring the country like a Garth Brooks tour bus. The reason they’re not is that the price of solar panels are still relatively high, when considering other energy outputs.

It’s far cheaper than what it once was 50 years ago but in comparison to oil prices, it could be better. Why are they so expensive? And why might they reach a competitive price point in the near future?

Today we are seeing material like crystalline silicon being used in a number of solar panels. This material only yields an ideal maximum efficiency in the early 20 percent.

However, the future won’t be found in creating crystalline silicon panels. Instead, it’s all about getting the price down for more efficient solar cells. That will happen over time as manufacturing know-how improves. It’s not a matter of if, it’s simple a matter of when. Today, solar cells are big business and more than just Exxon is getting in on the research. China, Germany, and the US, are looking into research hand-in-hand with the private sector. The US specifically committed over $120 million to research and grants in the sector earlier this year. With such a commitment, and the looming threat of climate change, the push for alternative energy solutions is real, and the future looks bright for solar panels. Thanks Obama!

“The main reason for the decrease in solar panel cost is because the material costs are down. That means we used to have 400-micron thick silicon, but now the average is down to 200-micron thick silicon. You can’t cut wafers too thin or they will break. But if they do get the right thickness, they can cut the material cost and get a better price,” said Dr. Mantha.

A major issue with thinner wafers is that they are less efficient about collecting light. Luckily, over the past

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Volume V, Issue III, 2015

Green-Mania: Opportunities and Obstacles

By Priyanka Dave

T

here is no doubt about the fact that green energy growth has become a necessity today. Governments across the world are prioritizing environmental preservation and sustainability.

ITU Electrical Engineering professor Dr. Qingning Li explains, “Going green is essential. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, our consumption of energy has steadily risen – and so has global pollution. We have a limited amount of fossil fuels left.

So something definitely needs to be done.” The real question, however, is ‘how’ we plan to do this. Today, most governments push the ‘green’ agenda by incentivizing renewable energy sectors in one way or the other – through subsidies or easily available loan guarantees.

The problem is whether this method is sustainable in the long term. Does green growth really create more jobs than the number of jobs it destroys? Would these jobs continue to exist if the government withdraws its subsidies and incentives? Are green jobs sustainable in the long run? It is difficult for policymakers to arrive at any consensus as to the number and quality of green jobs created or likely to be created in the future. Much of the inconsistency comes from the fact that there is no standard definition for a green job with most definitions being generic at best. For example, in 2008, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and United Nations Energy Program (UNEP) broadly defined a green job as “any decent job that contributes to preserving or restoring the quality of the environment whether it is in agriculture, industry, services or administration.”

natural resources”. One might ask whether this includes jobs in conventional energy sectors, which are designed to reduce waste or emissions. The BLS has put this confusion to rest by including a second part which states that “jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources” are also green jobs.

Dr. Li echoes a similar view, “If we find a way to reduce power consumption in a datacenter, that too is a green job although it isn’t a part of the solar energy, or wind energy, or any other renewable energy domain.”

Dr. Li’s example falls under - Dr. Li the second part of the BLS’ definition of green jobs.

While this might seem like a comprehensive definition, it hasn’t really been formally and universally accepted.

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If we find a way to reduce power consumption in a datacenter, that too is a green job although it isn’t a part of the solar energy, or wind energy, or any other renewable energy domain.

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There is no argument around the fact that the green economy revolves around alternative energy sources. However, even within the US different states have their own definitions of alternative energy. Some states include solar power, wind energy, hydro-electricity, geothermal heat, and biomass utilization in their definitions of alternative energy – but not nuclear power.

While some other states consider nuclear power a renewable energy source. For example, Marc Anderberg, Director of Applied Research Labor Market and Career Decision Making Division for the Texas Workforce Commission includes nuclear energy in the list of alternative energy sources in a 2008 report.

For its part, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has come up with a two part all-encompassing definition. The first part states that green jobs are “jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve

From an emissions perspective, one might say that nuclear energy is green. However, one cannot ignore the environmental risks associated with modern nuclear energy. If we speak of the

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potential environmental dangers of nuclear energy, we must also remember that fossil fuels pose a similar risk.

While it is a popular belief that the green economy will produce several productive jobs, there is little concrete data to prove this. It isn’t just the number of jobs that matter; it is also the quality of jobs being created. Malta is one country that has recently jumped onto the green economy bandwagon.

Their Environment Minister Leo Brincat rightly pointed out a few years ago that, “our biggest challenge should be that of matching our short term goals with our medium term and long term objectives with the ultimate aim of creating more and better quality jobs.” Most green jobs estimates do not segregate how many of these jobs are going to be clerical or administrative and how many are going to be ‘productive’ or ‘high skills’ jobs. The segregation is important. If most of these new jobs are going to be administrative or clerical, we are faced with another question: What net value do these jobs add to the economy and society? Are they generating additional skills or knowledge? What about the opportunity costs of the jobs lost in the brown energy sectors, or traditional energy production methods?

If we talk about the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster of 2011, we cannot ignore the BP oil spill in 2010 among other fossil fuel related disasters. The Cosmo Oil Refinery Fire in Japan in 2011 or the Sago Mine Disaster of West Virginia in 2006 are just a few in the list of tragedies associated with fossil fuels.

A 2014 report by the European Commission presents a very positive outlook. It estimates that a growth rate of a mere one percent in the water industry in Europe could generate 10,000 to 20,000 additional jobs. It also predicts that when existing legislation on waste prevention and waste management are implemented, an expected 400,000 new jobs could be created.

It all seems very cheerful. However, there’s a conflicting point of view too. In 2013, the Institute of Energy Research summarized data from the United States Department of Energy’s Loans Programs Office. This data revealed that around $26 billion of taxpayers’ money was spent between 2009 and 2013 for renewable energy projects. The number of jobs created by these projects was slightly less than 2,300.

Does this mean that these jobs cost the taxpayers $11.45 million per job?

A 2009 research paper by Dr. Gabriel Calzada Alvarez of the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos stated that for every green job created in Spain, 2.2 jobs were destroyed as an opportunity cost. The same paper also stated that many of these jobs were sustainable only so long as they had the support of government financing or subsidies. Against the number of new green jobs created, the cost of jobs lost also needs to be factored in and its net impact on employment numbers needs to be assessed.

Several green energy companies that received government support went bankrupt. Solar power company Solyndra went bankrupt in 2011. It had received $535 million in federal loan guarantees and $198 million from private investors. Abound, for example, went bankrupt in the summer of 2012— just two years after it received a loan guarantee of $400 million from the US government. Soon after the New York Times ran a story on how China was on the brink of a similar calamity.

While the Chinese Government kept providing incentives to the solar industry, most solar energy companies remained largely unprofitable. This led several to speculate on whether these green companies were surviving simply due to the enormous amounts of government support. Could it be that this government money was being taken for granted?

‘Greening’ the energy sector is most definitely a wellintentioned movement. Yet, it still requires great scope to mature – in its methods, impact assessments, and in its perception in the minds of society. The coming decade is a period to watch out for – for it will prove or disprove the potential of this massive global initiative. As a society, we know we need it. Will this be yet another bubble that will pop with the slightest disturbance or will this be an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable gamechanger? The mystery shall unravel gradually in the next few years and only time can tell how it will turn out.

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Volume V, Issue III, 2015

Mirrors :40 SHADES OF GREEN ENERGY AND FOSSIL FUEL EXTRACTION

By Daniel Keenan

A

t home in Ireland, the expression ‘black gold’ will probably evoke more desire for a pint of Guinness than the thought of oil. In America, that same expression is more synonymous with a rotund, bolo tie-wearing Texan, or Daniel Day-Lewis wearing a funny moustache and beating up people with a bowling pin.

fuels as a source of revenue, even during the worst of times.

Oil ventures in the North Sea have been very successful for Norway, home to the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, and a country who are now a fully fledged petro-state. The Scottish National Party (SNP) hinged the economy on oil deposit in the North Sea, during the vote for Scotland’s independence in 2014. While they may have lost the vote for independence, their overwhelming success in the 2015 British National elections, indicates that voters are all in favor of turning Scotland into yet another petro-state, and that the push for green energy is now less likely to come to fruition.

That’s because Ireland’s oil industry is close to nonexistent, as Ireland depends completely on imported oil. There is little money being made in oil digging, and little discussion in exploring Ireland’s potential oil reserves. But why is it that Ireland is not exploring the billions of euro of potential revenue that oil fields (and gas fields) in the North Sea could generate, especially considering the economic quagmire we endured during the financial crisis? In Ireland, we suffered through a housing bubble burst, banking crisis, Eurozone crisis, and global recession, all in the same year. That’s like being shot three times when you’re already in your coffin. The IMF was welcomed to the country about as warmly as Kim Jong-un would be.

There is occasional talk in Ireland along the same lines, of exploration and discoveries of oil, the most recent of which was in 2012 when it was claimed there was approximately 1.6 billion barrels of oil off the southeast coast. Yet investors and companies willing to drill did not materialize, and the idea faded. So Ireland is a country mistrusting of fossil fuel exploration, aside from the capitalization of turf (peat) from bogs. Additionally, among the biggest and most consistent controversies in Ireland, has been over fossil fuel extraction and fracking.

Ireland is steadily recovering, with the 2016 budget being the first austerity-free budget in six years. The economy is being rebuilt on the back of new and expanding multinational businesses, tempted to go to Ireland because of the lower corporate tax rate and highly educated workforce. Many Silicon Valley companies have their European headquarters in Ireland. But rarely was their talk of exploring fossil

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of digging into shale rock, first vertically then horizontally, in order to tap into the natural gas trapped in fissures in the earth. Slick water and a

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sand-like element are then pumped into the pipe at high pressure, which releases the gas molecules from the fissures; the gas then flows out of the pipe. What’s the issue with fracking? Well, like most fossil fuel exploration, it has inherent risks. It can contaminate water and underground water reserves, causing long-term health problems for locals, and even geological insecurity. Additionally, the digging, refining, and end product of fracking, directly contributes to global warming, as well as continues our dependence on fossil fuels, and reduces investment in green energy.

Vindicating it even though it causes environmental and health issues would be like vindicating wars, because they create jobs (oh, wait, that also happens).

Of course, America, despite its vast oil and gas production, is no stranger to the vitriolic reaction that increasing fossil fuel production garners. For similar environmental reasons, many were reluctant to accept the fourth phase extension of the Keystone pipeline, leading to President Obama rejecting it.

Natural gas is a particularly sore point in the west of Ireland, where there are weekly protests by an organization called Shell to Sea. They regularly clash with Gardaí (the Irish police force) in attempts to stop the Shell Corporation building a pipeline to refine the gas inland, when it could be done at sea.

Fracking is common practice in Canada, New Zealand, Poland, Germany, Australia and South Africa. While the British government is keen to begin fracking, it is facing a backlash from communities where drilling is expected to take place, as well as from environmental groups. Recently, fracking has been banned in France and Bulgaria, as well as the state of New York. It is hard to drive around rural areas of Ireland where fracking is taking place, or where companies are attempting to frack, without noticing numerous protest signs. To say it is a divisive issue would be misleading. The only ones who want it are those who directly profit financially from it, or those who are so far from the drilling, that the environmental impact is like The Edge’s hair: its existence is talked about, but never seen. Indeed, fracking is a little like Bono: a lot of people hate him; others like him, but they don’t want him anywhere near them.

Shell to Sea’s stance is that, for economic reasons, the Shell Corporation is unnecessarily exposing local residents to health and environmental risks caused by refineries.

Considering Ireland’s only other refinery is located off the coast, it’s hard to argue against Shell to Sea. Ireland’s energy industry is, like many countries, at a crossroads: drawn by the economic benefits of fossil fuel exploration, despite its environmental dangers, while half-heartedly exploring whether green energy is viable.

Ireland has pledged to generate 40 percent of its electricity consumption from renewables by 2020, but is set to fall short of that, resulting in a moderate fine and possible restriction on energy exports. These EU deterrents should be motivating, but the truth is that we need more of a shift in mentality. For a country famous for having 40 Shades of Green, a stronger green energy initiative is warranted. Ireland’s weather is perfect for vast wind, solar, and tidal energy exploration, and we have the chance to make Ireland a beacon for green energy. The drive to do it is what is really needed.

The environmental impact of fracking needs exploration. For as long as gas companies run ‘scientific’ experiments to downplay pollution accusations, there will always be claims that fracking is harmless, especially with lobbying groups as powerful as they are. They claim that the environmental impact is minimal, and contaminations have been from bad practice, rather than an inherently risky technique.

If it is as environmentally damaging as many reports suggest, there can be no vindication. Gas prices no longer matter in this instance, nor does availability.

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Volume V, Issue III, 2015

Writer Bios Patricia Wiggin is Core Faculty in the Business Department. She enjoys teaching classes such as Organizational Leadership Theories, Business Communications, Managing Emotions and Persuasive Effectiveness. She has been on the ITU Journal’s editorial board since its inception.

Priyanka Dave is an MBA student at ITU. She has previously earned an MBA degree with a major in finance from Singapore. She is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Master’s Degree in Commerce. She has held roles in corporate strategy, finance and private banking in India and UAE. She is interested in academic research and has co-authored a research paper that was published in the Journal of Sustainable Development.

James Dohnert is an External Communications Writer at ITU. His work has previously appeared in publications like V3, The Commonwealth Club, Clickz, GamenGuide, CachedTech, Mashable, and Shonen Jump Magazine. He studied Journalism at Weber State University.

Daniel Keenan was forged in the hardy, windswept hills of Ireland: ITU Communications Writer by day, and an MBA student by night, he’s essentially a lamer version of Bruce Wayne (TV’s Batman). He graduated with a BA in English Literature from University College Dublin, where he spent 2 years as an editor for the UCD newspaper.

Having previously written and directed several plays back in Ireland, he has recently written and produced Miner Issues, a tv spec pilot for entry into film festivals.

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