Media Watch Archives
RCAM Technologies and Accucode Target 3D Printing for Offshore Wind Turbines
3D Printing Industry -
A low-cost wind turbine tower 3D printing method for land has been developed and tested by RCAM in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine, with funding from the California Energy Commission Grant EPC-17-023. Concrete 3D printing for offshore wind turbines is the next step.
Scientists from UC Campuses Study Floods, Flood Socioeconomics
Spectrum News1 -
UC Irvine Professor Brett Sanders says .... the data will help urban planning and public policy researchers to see how millions of people living in those high-flood risk areas could be affected. UC Irvine Professor Richard Matthew says that list could include, “their employment, their housing, their health, their transportation, their credit scores.” Matthew says history has shown poor communities fare far worse than wealthy communities. “We could take steps that reduce the vulnerability of the poorest people in our country,” Matthew said.
Drugs in Our Water Can Leave Even More Toxic By-Products
Eos – Earth and Space Science News -
“Ibuprofen is one of the most consumed pharmaceuticals around the world. It, and probably its transformation products, is found in considerable amounts in wastewater effluents,” said Adeyemi Adeleye, a civil and environmental engineer [assistant professor] at University of California, Irvine who was not involved with this research. “This study emphasizes the need to consider the by-products formed in the environment when assessing the risks of pharmaceuticals and other chemicals,” he said.
The Death And Life Of Iran's Lake Urmia
NPR – The Picture Show -
"The floods certainly helped and increased the water levels," says Amir AghaKouchak, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine who has studied the lake. "However, one or a series of floods won't have a long-term impact. The main issue in the basin is that the water demand is much higher than the renewable water in the basin. ... If the water demand in the basin is not managed, after a while the lake will continue to dry out."
Opinion: Valley Voice: Let’s use local resources to tackle California's electric utility woes
The Desert Sun -
One approach that I believe needs attention — locally, if not nationally — was explained in a recent NPR interview (“Take Two,” with A Martinez, KPCC radio, Oct. 24, 2019) with Professor Jack Brouwer, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at UC-Irvine. Brouwer made an excellent case for utilizing fuel cell technology in conjunction with battery storage that is used along with solar and wind technology to comprise a microgrid.
Sonoma Fire, Microgrids, EV Chargers
KPCC -
Microgrids. Southern California Edison has shut off power to about 1,500 homes in the Southland today. It's a preemptive measure in case heavy winds knock over electricity transmission lines that could spark a wildfire. The move follows a controversial power shutoff in the Bay Area, and it's raising an important question: Isn't there a better way to produce and transmit electricity? Guest: Jack Brouwer, [associate professor, mechanical & aerospace engineering], University of California, Irvine. (Starts: 13:10)
‘There are lives at stake’: PG&E criticized over blackouts to prevent California wildfires
CNBC -
“There are lives at stake,” said Jack Brouwer, an engineering professor and director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. “I can’t over emphasis the calamity that these events cause at the neighborhood level. Hundreds of health care facilities don’t have back-up generators,” he said. “If you’re out of power for an hour, that’s fine, but for a couple of days — those lives count as much as those that would be lost in a fire.” The blackouts could also seriously hamper local response efforts for fire emergencies, Brouwer added.
Sunpin Solar hosts engineering students to learn about solar project development
Solar Builder -
A group of engineering students from Engineers for a Sustainable World at University of California, Irvine visited nearby Sunpin Solar, a leading utility-scale solar developer and long-term asset owner. … The cool part to us is the tangible, real-world learning: UC Irvine students learned about the development process from land acquisition, construction to project completion. The presentation also addressed the questions students raised before their visit.
UC Irvine Engineering Students Get Firsthand Look At Solar
Solar Industry -
A group of students from UCI’s Engineers for a Sustainable World attended Sunpin’s “Lunch and Learn” presentation and took a tour of the developer’s 96.75 MW ColGreen North Shore solar project in Riverside County. … “As engineering students, we learn about the science behind solar panels but never about the logistics and maintenance of a solar power plant. It gave us a new perspective on solar power,” says Nicole Alvarez, vice president of external affairs at UCI’s Engineers for a Sustainable World.
Sunpin Solar hosts California college students for solar ‘lunch and learn’
Solar Power World -
A group of engineering students from Engineers for a Sustainable World at University of California, Irvine visited Irvine-based utility-scale solar developer Sunpin Solar last week for a Lunch and Learn presentation and a solar tour at Sunpin Solar’s 96.75-MW ColGreen North Shore solar project in Riverside County. Sunpin Solar execs covered the fundamentals of solar energy, the solar project development process, and explored post-graduation options in renewable energy industry for aspiring sustainable engineers.