The Future of Renewable Energy at Texas State

By Billy Crawford and Patrick Ygnacio

A recent report from the University News Service said Texas State is now working to further “green energy” technologies.

The staff in the Multifunctional Materials Laboratory at Texas State has partnered with MicroPower Global to develop thermoelectric-chalcogenide based chips which can convert heat into electricity. MicroPower chips are more than twice as efficient as photovoltaic materials already being used in solar power arrays, according to the company’s website.

Kyle Dicke, Assistant Director of San Marcos Electric Utility, said the city is pursuing grants for solar power arrays which will be constructed at the San Marcos Activity Center. He said these arrays are currently the best option for generating renewable energy locally.

“The science and technology is not hard they’re just very expensive,” Dicke said. “What we’re seeing with the residential customers is, in order to get one that is of any real benefit, it has to be very big and cover essentially the whole roof of the house.”

One hundred percent San Marcos’ electricity is purchased from the Lower Colorado River Authority and approximately eight percent of that power comes from LCRA’s “green energy” sources, Dicke said. These renewable energies include power generated at several West Texas wind farms. Dicke said the transmission of electricity from these facilities to San Marcos is costly and the willingness of the consumer to pay for this is a factor in determining future “green energy” purchases.

The University of Texas is one of the few area colleges that generates any of its own electricity, and turns excess heat from energy generation into an energy resource.

Mack Andrews, assistant utilities operations supervisor at Texas, said that capturing the excess heat allows the school to nearly double the amount of electricity it generates while drastically cutting down wasted energy.

One model that Texas State might look to follow could be the University of Central Florida. UCF is one of the nation’s most energy-efficient schools, and is emerging as a leader in renewable energy.

“We use geo-thermal heating to keep our buildings warm, which cuts back on energy consumption,” said David Norvell, UCF’s energy manager. “We’re leading the way in research on renewable energy right now, and hope by 2020 to get twenty percent of our total energy from renewable resources.”

In addition to using geothermal energy, UCF also uses multiple solar panels to generate energy. Like Texas, UCF utilizes excess steam and heat as an energy source.
Another school with strong ties to renewable resources is the University of Iowa. There, school officials have reached a deal with the nearby Quaker Oats plant, and burn waste oat hulls with coal for generating energy.

“The oat hulls are just one of the things we do on campus,” said Glen Mowery, energy management director. “We also have our own water plant, and we have our own power plant. All in all, we probably save about $4 million every year in energy costs.”

Other schools have turned to their regional resources as well. Arizona State and West Texas A&M both use power generated from nearby wind turbines and several campuses use nearby bodies of water to generate hydroelectricity.

“I think that there’s always a way for schools to be more self-reliant,” Norvell said. “There are always some sort of renewable resources that are available, you just have to know how to use them, and then continue to be committed to using them.”