An Energy Use and Emissions Inventory

Maintaining a 400-acre campus which supports the education of 3000 students requires energy. Data were gathered from across campus as part of a faculty research project and in conjunction with an undergraduate course. The project was initiated in order to develop an energy usage and emissions inventory for the University while at the same offering students exposure to the process. Inventory inputs included stationary consumption (burning of natural gas to supply heat), electricity purchased, campus vehicle usage (gasoline consumption), commuter vehicle usage (faculty and staff only), and transportation and distribution (T&D) expenses. Whereas the student population has increased by only 8% since 2000, the dollar amount budgeted for energy expenses on campus has risen by 50% over the same time period. Emissions from the various energy inputs were analyzed. In 2007, electricity purchased from the local utility company accounted for 74% of the campus energy usage. Since the university does not have direct control over which fuel is being used to provide this needed electricity and since Congress is currently debating “Cap and Trade” legislation, it behooves the university to take a serious look at its energy conservation practices. Recommendations to the university administration include the following: (1) line-item the energy cost to students as a part of their bills, (2) increase the rate of replacing older equipment with high-efficiency units, (3) develop a plan for becoming carbon-neutral by a specified date in the future, and (4) sponsor a project which integrates environmental, business, engineering, and technical writing majors to produce a “Green Guide” for the campus

Cutting Away from the Power Grid

One of the course objectives for the junior-level Thermodynamics course being taught to our mechanical engineering (ME) majors is “students will analyze engineering systems to evaluate their thermodynamic designs”. The Rankine Cycle and its application to power plants were studied intensely. Students were provided with the results of the campus Energy Usage and Emissions Inventory. Some key data which they noted was (1) 74% of the campus energy usage was electricity purchased from the local distributor (2007), (2) roughly 90% of the campus energy usage over the past 10 years was attributed to either purchased electricity or purchased natural gas, and (3) while the student body has grown a modest 8% over the past 10 years, the dollar amount of the energy purchased by Cedarville University has risen 50% over that same 10- year period. Students were then placed onto teams and assigned one of six alternative energy sources (wind, natural gas, fuel cell, solar, biodiesel, or nuclear) for which they developed a Partial Replacement of Campus Electricity plan. Student teams were required to identify Cedarville’s electricity supplier’s energy source, its cost of purchasing the electricity, and the carbon output resulting from the electricity purchased by the university. Their task was to locate an existing commercial power generating unit which could generate at least 15% of Cedarville’s current electricity demands, compute the capital expenditure to purchase and install the unit, and perform a lifecycle analysis in order to compute total cost to the university over a 30-year period for implementing their plan. Though Congress has yet to finalize “Cap-and-Trade” legislation, students were also asked to compute the cost savings to the university for a “carbon credit” of $50 per tonne of CO2 saved. The student teams then developed conclusions as to the viability of their proposals. They freely expressed their feelings about the relative importance of “carbon neutrality” versus their personal educational expenses

DAYCENT Simulations to Test the Influence of Fire Regime and Fire Suppression on Trace Gas Fluxes and Nitrogen Biogeochemistry of Colorado Forests

Biological activity and the physical environment regulate greenhouse gas fluxes (CH4, N2O and NO) from upland soils. Wildfires are known to alter these factors such that we collected daily weather records, fire return intervals, or specific fire years, and soil data of four specific sites along the Colorado Front Range. These data were used as primary inputs into DAYCENT. In this paper we test the ability of DAYCENT to simulate four forested sites in this area and to address two objectives: (1) to evaluate the short-term influence of fire on trace gas fluxes from burned landscapes; and (2) to compare trace gas fluxes among locations and between pre-/post- fire suppression. The model simulations indicate that CH4 oxidation is relatively unaffected by wildfire. In contrast, gross nitrification rates were reduced by 13.5–37.1% during the fire suppression period. At two of the sites, we calculated increases in gross nitrification rates (\u3e100%), and N2O and NO fluxes during the year of fire relative to the year before a fire. Simulated fire suppression exhibited decreased gross nitrification rates presumably as nitrogen is immobilized. This finding concurs with other studies that highlight the importance of forest fires to maintain soil nitrogen availability

Small Mammal Diversity Varies by Vegetative Cover (Greene County, Ohio)

Although agricultural needs are pressing and crop sales are vital for the local economies in southern Ohio, the resulting clearing of land has removed much of the state’s forests and natural prairies. A variety of species depend upon these habitats that have been reduced resulting in a potentially narrower ecological niche. In this study, we seek to determine the species richness and diversity of small mammals in three habitats (old field, forest, and lawn) and to evaluate factors affecting their activity. Our experimental results supported our hypothesis that the lawn site would have lower diversity than the other two sites. We captured and identified to species a total of 72 individuals in 512 trap nights (14% capture rate) with 30, 33, and 9 in the old field, forest, and lawn sites, respectively. The Shannon Index of diversity (H’) for the lawn was lowest (H’ = 0.49) with just two species observed. In contrast, we documented the greatest diversity (six species, H\u27 = 2.26) in the old field. Intermediate to these two sites we identified five species in the forest (H’ = 1.46). There was also a low community similarity between the plots, suggesting that increased landscape diversity (patches of varying habitat) may also boost landscape biodiversity. We noted that there was no correlation between captures and weather conditions suggesting activity was not impacted by weather in this study. Furthermore, we observed that in the forest, species were captured on the first trap day; however, in the old field and lawn, species were not captured until days 6 and 12 of our 19-day study

Evaluation of Massie’s Creek Habitat and Water Quality

In November of 2009, Greene County completed a restoration project on the North Fork of Massie Creek. This project was designed to address “...erosion and water quality concerns, improve drainage, and restore the habitat of NFMC”. The project worked to “...stabilize the stream banks, create riffle/pool habitat, and restore and enhance vegetation along a 2.2-mile long segment of the creek”. The project was finalized with seeding the area in January of 2010. Now four years later we will evaluate the aquatic habitats, macroinvertebrate biodiversity, and water quality in the restored (North Fork) and unrestored (South Fork) segments of Massie’s Creek as well as points after their confluence. We predict that the water quality, macroinvertebreate biodiversity, and aquatic habitats will be of greater quality in the restored North Fork as compared to the other segments. We will be monitoring water quality (light, temperature, and turbidity) at different points along Massie Creek. Additionally, we will use the Ohio EPA’s Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index to assess habitat quality and macroinvertebrate biodiversity

Distribution of Fish Species in Cedar Lake

With over 13,000 described species of freshwater fishes, diversity within aquatic systems can vary extensively. At the local scale small changes in the diversity of fish species within an ecosystem will modify processes within the ecosystem such as community decomposition and metabolism. Recent analyses indicate that actual species diversity within small, shallow ponds may be higher than previously thought. Fish species distribution will differ based on location within the aquatic system relative to the species’ position in the trophic web. We will measure both quantitative and qualitative differences among species at different locations within of Cedar Lake, expecting to find a decrease in both species diversity and total number of fish as the depth increases. We will count the number of fish species and the total number of fish at each depth and use t-test analysis to determine if depth influences fish diversity

Soil Bulk Density Variability in a Restored Prairie Ecosystem

Soils act as the foundation for all terrestrial biotic activity. Given this it is important to consider the factors that influence the physical makeup of soil as well as the management practices that can lead to changes and significant biological implications. Beginning in 1999 Cedarville University established a Prairie Restoration Site. In the past fifteen years work has been to done to reseed the area with native prairie grasses as well as to introduce regular disturbances that are common to prairie grasslands, such as fire. The goal of this work the goal has been to aid a system in ecological succession. In the current study, we seek to evaluate the success of this with regard to the corresponding changes in the soil environment. We look to distinguish this source of variability from the natural variability introduced by the physical landscape (slope) and the resulting soil series. To evaluate these ideas we will investigate how two factors, soil series (corresponding to slope position) and prairie restoration, affect soil bulk density. We collected soil samples (to a depth of 15 cm) from the restored prairie as well as the adjacent area. In addition to this variable, we acquired samples in both locations across a range of three different soil series distributed within this same area. Specifically, we collected samples from the “XeB-Xenia B,” “Ra-Ragsdale,” and “Russel-Miamian - RvB2” soil types. We will use a two factor ANOVA to evaluate the impact of a change in soil series, or prairie restoration on soil bulk density

An Energy Use and Emissions Inventory of Cedarville University (2003-2013)

The rising cost of fossil fuels has been paralleled by an interest in maximizing efficiency and conservation at all levels (individual to corporate). Amidst this the burning of fossil fuels carries with it concerns regarding the contribution of the resulting emissions to climate change. This has generated interest in energy conservation and the use of renewable energy. In this time period Cedarville University has demonstrated a strong interest in managing its energy use (and associated greenhouse gas emissions) with emphasis on cost effectiveness. Thus, the objective of our study is to analyze Cedarville University’s energy use and carbon emissions from 2008 through the end of 2013. We will collect data on all sources of energy use and related emissions including electricity consumption, natural gas for heating, commuting, gasoline consumption, trash output, water use, and paper use. These data will be organized into the Campus Carbon Calculator to determine how much each factor contributes toward the campus’ carbon footprint. We will use the data to analyze the efficiency of the campus’ energy use by investigating energy use and emissions per student and per square foot of building space over the last decade. These data will serve as an update to the energy audit completed in 2008. Furthermore this will serve as a baseline to compare the lasting impact of the campus efficiency upgrades as well as the 2 megawatt solar array installed in March 2013