What is FSEC doing right to earn this distinction?

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) serves a crucial need by saving real energy and real money. It has a 30-year history of energy research, education and development excellence not only in solar energy (photovoltaic: sunlight to electricity and solar thermal: sunlight to hot water), but also in hydrogen technologies (generation, storage and use in fuel cells) and building efficiency that is estimated to be currently saving Floridians more than $100 million annually in energy costs.

What can FSEC offer a concerned citizen who wants to be more energy efficient, but doesn’t know where to begin?

The quickest way a concerned citizen can learn more about efficiency and renewable energy alternatives is our web site. More than 100,000 users visit FSEC’s web site every month, where they have access to hundreds of free online energy notes, technical papers, copies of presentations and other information. Among the information on the web site is specific consumer information on ways to use renewable energy and energy efficiency in their homes. http://www.fsec.ucf.edu

Are there any areas in which Florida and UCF’s FSEC can serve as an example to the rest of the nation in energy efficiency?

Energy dominates today’s news headlines: the price of crude oil has just passed $57 per barrel, the price of gasoline is over $2 per gallon nationwide, the U. S. Senate has just passed legislation allowing for oil drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve and the war in Iraq continues.

In addition, it is now clear that the rapid development of China ’s economy coupled with the depletion of the world’s oil resources is rapidly bidding up the price of petroleum products on the world market in a way that is not reversible. These critical issues all point to the importance of oil and to the need for a national goal of energy independence through the replacement of fossil fuels with sustainable energy resources and fuels. FSEC’s vision – Energy Independence for Florida – constitutes a critical long-term goal if Florida is to successfully move forward into the future. FSEC possesses the broad energy expertise, experience and infrastructure to lead the research and development efforts required to bring this vision to fruition. I believe that our 30 years of success in moving toward this vision serves as an excellent example for the rest of the nation.

Your research specialty is fuel cells. Are there any new developments in that area that can offer hope for those suffering from sticker shock at the gas pump?

As you may be aware, fuel cells are more efficient than internal combustion engines that are used in automobiles today. This means that the potential for higher miles per gallon and less pollution will occur if we adopt fuel cell powered vehicles. We still have major technical and cost hurdles to overcome before every American is driving a fuel cell powered car. We must remember that while the fuel cell may be more efficient than the internal combustion engine, the fuel cell prefers hydrogen, a fuel of the future not today. So until we have a hydrogen fueling infrastructure (hydrogen generation and storage along with fuel cells are the major research emphasis of FSEC’s hydrogen division) that rivals that of gasoline we will continue to suffer from sticker shock. The price of a gallon of gasoline over the long term will continue to go up. The good news is that there are cars today that are more fuel efficient than the cars of yesterday. So until we have a “Hydrogen Economy” and a moderately priced fuel cell car we must be more energy efficient (energy efficiency for buildings is the major research area of FSEC’s building division).

Is your center open to the public?

YES! The public is encouraged to visit.

www.fsec.ucf.edu
jfenton@fsec.ucf.edu