GREEN Energy from Space:
A Conceptual Solution using Lunar Resources for Terrestrial Energy Needs

 Presenter: Dr. Harrison Schmitt, NASA Astronaut               

Location: NASA Glenn Research Center,
Building 3, Administration Auditorium
21000 Brookpark Rd
Cleveland, OH

Dr. Harrison Schmitt was the 12th astronaut to walk on the Moon, and had the distinction of being the only geologist and scientist of the Apollo astronauts.  He flew in space as part of the Apollo 17 crew that explored the Moon in December 1972.  He later became the only Apollo astronaut to be elected to the United States Senate and the only natural scientist to serve there since Thomas Jefferson.  Following his Senate term, Dr. Schmitt has been a consultant in business, geology, space, and public policy.

Up until a year ago, Dr. Schmitt served as Chair of the NASA Advisory Council which provides technical advice to the NASA Administrator.  He is an adjunct professor of engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.   He is the founder and serves as chairman of Interlune Intermars Initiative Inc., an organization whose goal is to advance the private sector’s acquisition and use of lunar resources. 

Dr. Schmitt is an advocate of returning to the Moon, as the Moon could be used as a source for Helium 3, a rare isotope of helium that can be used as a fuel for nuclear fusion reactors.

Please join us for this exciting GREEN Forum!  This presentation will take place during the scheduled screening of the Ares 1-X  launch, and may be interrupted at time of launch.

Presenters: Mr. Ofer Haviv – President and Chief Executive Officer, Evogene
Mr. Assaf Oron – EVP, Strategy and Business Development

Location: NASA Glenn Research Center,
Building 3, Auditorium
21000 Brookpark Rd
Cleveland, OH

Global population growth and increase in quality of life have emerged the need to apply biotechnology tools to supply growing demand for food, feed and energy.  Evogene is a leading agricultural-biotech company, specializing in the development of improved plants through the use of plant genomics.  Since its foundation in 2002, Evogene has established a powerful platform based on its proprietary computational technology, the ATHLETE (Agro Traits Harvest Leads Technology) that enables highly accurate and rapid discovery of genes that have the potential to improve desired plant traits.  

Evogene is currently utilizing its platform in two main fields: (1) improved plant traits for the seed industry and (2) improved plants for biofuel production.  Today ,Evogene has on-going collaboration agreements with world leading seed companies such as Bayer, Monsanto, Pioneer and Syngenta.

This talk will survey modern techniques for improved plant traits, focusing on Evogene’s  recent program on biodiesel and its close derivative – aviation fuel.  The program begins with second generation crops that can be used as a sustainable, viable and competitive source for biodiesel.   Evogene’s  program is targeted at developing high oil-yielding non edible crops, such as castor bean, which can be commercially grown under harsh-environmental conditions.  Such crops are expected to significantly decrease feedstock costs and not compete with agricultural lands used to grow food crops. Through the program, Evogene is utilizing its’ extensive knowledge on oil yielding crops genomics, unique selection systems and capabilities in classical and advanced breeding.

Presenter: Richard A  Dennis, Turbine Technology Manager. , Office of Coal and Power Research & Development
National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy

Location: NASA Glenn Research Center,
Building 3, Auditorium
21000 Brookpark Rd
Cleveland, OH

In 2002, Mr. Richard A. Dennis was appointed the Turbine Technology Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) where he provides strategic planning for the U.S. Department of Energy ‘s Fossil Energy Advanced Turbine Program.  Prior to that, Mr. Dennis was a part of the Gas Power Projects Division at NETL where he managed fuel cell, heat engine and fuel cell-hybrid turbine related projects .  Mr. Dennis also served in  the Office of Project Management at NETL from 1992 to 2000, where he managed contracted research in advanced coal-based power systems.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy Turbine Program is implementing a new research program to develop turbines for integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems that capturer CO2.   On September 8, 2005, the U.S. DOE Office of Fossil Energy announced a $130 million investment of government money in turbine related technology to promote the development of IGCC power systems that can capture CO2 and minimize the emissions of criteria pollutants.  These funds will be matched at various levels by the industry partners. 

In part through this investment the FE Advanced Turbine Program is designed to attain three primary goals:

(1) By 2010 develop advanced coal based power systems capable of 45 – 50 per cent efficiency at < $1000 / kW,

(2) By 2012, develop technologies for capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide that result in less than 10 percent increase in the cost of electricity, and

(3) By 2015 demonstrate coal based energy plants that offer zero emissions (including CO2) w/ multi product production. 

This presentation will discuss the turbine technology under development to meet these goals.

Presenter: John D. Wrbanek, Gustave C. Fralick,  Susan Y. Wrbanek
Date: August 14, 2009
Location: NASA Glenn Research Center, Building 3, Auditorium
21000 Brookpark Rd
Cleveland, OH

Sonoluminescence is defined as the generation of light from sound waves in a liquid.  It was first discovered in the 1930’s as a by-product of early work on sonar and was assumed to be caused by static discharges.  A report in 1992 of single-bubble sonoluminescence in water proved this assumption to be incorrect, and initiated a cascade of research.  The glow was found to be generated in bubbles compressed to several atmospheres with an extremely short duration flash, and had temperatures of many times the surface of the sun for the single bubble.  Light generation in these conditions could not be explained using standard physics.

The sonoluminescence phenomenon became an increasing source of interest to those outside of the ultrasonic community in the previous decade.  Even as the effect was being explored, applications for the effect were taking shape.  Claims put forward for the generation of fusion reactions caused controversy in the scholarly and popular media.  However, if realized, harnessing the high energy release in safe, emission-free ultrasonic processes would lead to the development of revolutionary power systems for in-flight use by both aircraft and spacecraft.

The NASA Glenn Research Center conducted a preliminary investigation of the technologies and techniques to characterize sonoluminescence.  This presentation will review the apparatus and imaging methods, indications of high temperature from modification of exposed thin films, and implications for energy harvesting that came from this investigative effort.

Presenter: Ms. Jane Harf
United Clean Energy Alliance of Ohio
Location: Ohio Aerospace Institute, http://www.oai.org

Presenters: Anita Liang, David Taylor, Richard Danks, Robert Puzak,
NASA Glenn Research Center Panel
Location: Glenn Research Center Administration Building, Auditorium

Glenn Research Center (GRC) proposes to enter into a 20 to 25 year strategic partnership with a Wind Energy Developer for the development and operation of a wind farm at GRC’s Plum Brook Station (PBS) campus. GRC intends to issue a solicitation and offer use of approximately 2,000 acres of PBS property for the development. The selected developer will be the owner/operator of the wind farm and will be responsible for design, construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning.

Benefits realized by the wind developer include in-kind use of NASA property, well established return on investment from wind power production, and federal and state renewable energy production credits. In exchange, a portion of the power generated will be used to supply GRC’s electrical power needs and will be applied toward meeting overall NASA renewable mandates in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) and Executive Order 13423. The developer can use the remaining power for revenue generation, as it is tied into the grid for regional use. 

The wind farm will have an estimated 70 megawatt (MW) capacity, consisting of about 20 to 30 wind turbines, each rated at approximately 2 MW. This equates to approximately 20 MW of average total power output based on a 30% wind capacity factor. This activity will leverage wind characterization study data currently being compiled as a result of the PBS wind tower installation in August of 2007.

Presenters: Mr. Raymond Beach and Dr. Jeff Trudell, NASA Glenn Research Center
Location: NASA Glenn Research Cener, Administration Building, Auditorium

Intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind can use the power grid to absorb production, which relies on the load following capability of the traditional generating units. At low penetration levels, this works fine as the grid has already handled a similar variability in electricity demand. At high penetration levels, grid energy storage becomes necessary.

Flywheels can store and release kinetic energy quickly upon demand over many charge-discharge cycles to provide frequency regulation support instead of trying to constantly adjust generator output. Technology development over the past decade have enabled flywheels to become a commercial product with many possible uses including trains, cranes, uninterruptible power supplies, pulse power, as well as frequency regulation.

With the aid of new technology to lower costs and increase stored energy, flywheels will play a significant role in securing global energy sustainability. The presentation will explore flywheel technology for renewable energy storage, discuss flywheel design and safety considerations, present NASA flywheel programs and applications, and summarize future technology development needs.

Presenter: Mr. Marc Millis, NASA GRC
Location: NASA Glenn Administration Building, Auditorium

Fusion was announced two decades ago and quickly became infamous. After that, most researchers wouldn’t touch the subject. Nonetheless, some persisted and the subject has now resurfaced in peer reviewed journals under new terminology; “Anomalous Heat Effect” and “Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR).” Physical evidence is mounting that suggests that some sort of anomalous effect does indeed seem to exist. This presentation will introduce a variety of those experiments, their status, and what can be done about it.

Marc Millis is no stranger to research on the edge of knowledge, having recently published a scholarly book on gravity control space drives and faster-than-light travel [Frontiers of Propulsion Science, AIAA, 2009]. With energy back in the spotlight, Millis has been asked to lead Glenn’s research team this is investigating the viability of the anomalous heat effects for NASA applications.

With over 30 years in NASA, Millis has a BS in Physics from Georgia Tech (1982), a MS in Physics Entrepreneurship from Case (2006), and is an alumnus of an International Space University Summer Program (1998).

Location: NASA Glenn Administration Building Auditorium
Presenter: Dr. Larry Viterna, NASA Glenn Research Center

Over the past 30 years, wind energy has become one of the most successful renewable alternative energy sources in the world. It provides an interesting case study of technology innovation and its adoption into the marketplace. In addition to current and future wind turbine technologies, the importance of business planning and public policy for emerging technologies will also be discussed. The lessons learned from wind energy¹s success are fundamental to developing a portfolio of technology-based solutions to the challenge of sustainable energy.

Dr. Viterna was on the team that developed the world¹s first multi-megawatt wind turbine in 1979. He is the recipient of NASA¹s Blue Marble Award for aerodynamic models, now named for him, that are part of international design tools for wind turbines. He received his PhD in Engineering from the University of Michigan and has completed executive education in business administration at Stanford University, public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and international management at the National University of Singapore.