Saturday, June 11, 2011

Graduates everywhere, but are they green?

The need for green industries and jobs has never been greater on this planet, and Universities continue to churn out degrees tied to old school industries nearly completely oblivious to the changes in the world that awaits the graduates the future. As recently as one year ago, awards were passed out for environmentally friendly green buildings incorporating fuel manufacturing retailing and housing. In the forward thinking buildings of the future, the multi-use construction projects are shifting the designs for the future that modern  society is seeking. In 2010, California State University in Los Angeles (CSULA) was awarded for a building design that incorporates four 175 Kg Hydrogen electrolysis generators in a retail station, parking garage topped with housing units with a roof filled with the solar collectors that manufacture the fuel right on the premises. A fill up for a 4 Kg tank costs just $12 dollars and the fuel is non-polluting, lasts for a weeks worth of commuting, and returns the benefits of property maintenance right to the residence of the building. This design project was funded by energy companies and Praxair, one of the leading manufactures of gas in the country. The Oxygen which is separated from the water, which is partly gathered from the rain that falls on the roof, will be sold to companies that use gas in their normal business practices as one of its byproducts and will eliminate the hydrocarbons that are added to the environment in its manufacture presently. If you think that we're talking about a technology that is decades in the future, let me assure you that the hydrogen generating plant is very much a reality and CSULA has one such plant on its campus that is acting as a teaching facility for engineers,  and will open this fall as a fully functioning fueling station.


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