Energy Revolution
Monday, February 22, 2010
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Intern
Leonardo After Hours has been such a great success that we decided to take it on the road to Logan, home of some of the leading experts in the energy revolution. Join us Feb. 24 as we talk about new ways to make and store energy.
Jeff Muhs, executive director at Utah State University Energy Lab, will discuss new initiatives from his lab, such as creating biofuels from algae and automated electric transportation, which will make energy mobile. Other presenters include Kevin Shurtleff, who is a member of the USTAR Technology Outreach team, and Lynsey Talbot, who is a student energy researcher at Utah State University.
The event will be held at The Italian Place, Wednesday, Feb. 24, from 5:30 until 7 p.m. Space is limited and we're already filling up so RSVP by contacting Chris Davies at 801-531-9800, or email rsvp@theleonardo.org. And, as ever, thanks to USTAR for co-sponsoring this event.
Algae solutions from Muhs' lab
The event will be held at The Italian Place, Wednesday, Feb. 24, from 5:30 until 7 p.m. Space is limited and we're already filling up so RSVP by contacting Chris Davies at 801-531-9800, or email rsvp@theleonardo.org. And, as ever, thanks to USTAR for co-sponsoring this event.
(And, if you can't make it to Logan this Wednesday, put our next Leonardo After Hours event on your calendar: March 9 we'll look at how technology and advancements in genetics are changing your healthcare.)
Labels: education, energy, events, Leo, locals, science, technology, university, USTAR
GASLAND
Friday, January 29, 2010
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Intern
Every year in Sundance's documentary competition, stand-out movies feature environmental impact topics. The premiere of An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 started this tradition. Some movies show how our environment is changing (Climate Refugees, 2010), and others show us what we can do to change (No Impact Man, 2009).
This year, however, one documentary stood above the rest. GASLAND, about natural gas drilling, got its start when a company offered Director Josh Fox a substantial amount of money to lease his land in Milanville, Penn., for natural gas drilling.
Fox initially planned a 5-minute short that would show how natural gas drilling worked and what kind of impact it would have. However, that small tasked turned into a huge project after he found out that fracking, the process they use to extract natural gas, was contaminating the natural watershed. As Fox traveled around the country he found that in almost every town near drilling, drinking water had been contaminated with...well, too many chemicals to name.
Be sure to check out GASLAND when it is released, or you can try for tickets to the last showing -- 8:30 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Prospector Square Theatre. For more information on fracking (or hydraulic fracturing), and to support restrictions on this process, visit WaterUnderAttack.com
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Labels: energy, environment, science, sustainability, video
Cashing in on Green (Energy)!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
Bob Barson, executive director at the Center for Active Sensing and Imaging at Utah State University, showed us how CASI uses new technologies to improve wind energies, including pinpointing the best spots for new wind turbines. Nathan Furr, from the business management department at Brigham Young University, discussed the importance of an entrepreneurial spirit in energy innovation. Kent Udell from the University of Utah talked about using heat banking to store our currently bitter cold weather to air condition buildings on hot summer days (and storing heat from those 105-degree days to comfort us in this 9-degree weather!).
A 10-minute presentation from each speaker sprinkled with questions from the audience and some friendly moderation from the Salt Lake Tribune's Kirsten Stewart made for a successful and lively evening where audience members got to participate in the discussion about what will make Utah a better innovation center in green energy. Stay tuned for details about our next Leonardo After Hours, which will be March 9.
Labels: energy, events, Leo, sustainability, technology, USTAR, video
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