AURELIUS - Technology teacher Mark Izzo has something new to share with his students.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Megan Thomas, of the Corning-Painted Post school district, puts distilled water in the hydrogen fuel cell of the HOPE mobile, at the BOCES building on Wednesday afternoon. The model hydrogen powered car being shown to area school teachers is designed to demonstrate renewable resources to students.
Megan Thomas, of the Corning-Painted Post school district, puts distilled water in the hydrogen fuel cell of the HOPE mobile, at the BOCES building on Wednesday afternoon. The model hydrogen powered car being shown to area school teachers is designed to demonstrate renewable resources to students.
Izzo, who teaches at West Middle School in the Auburn Enlarged City School District, spent an entire day last week learning about hydrogen and how it may be the solution to the nation's current energy crisis.
“I'm very curious about this new type of energy and how it's going to affect our lives,” he said. “I'm very excited about sharing this with our students.”
Science and technology teachers from central New York congregated at the Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services Regional Education Center last Wednesday for the High School Hydrogen Workshop sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York Power Authority. The workshop was presented by M.R.S. Enterprises, LLC, which provides management consulting services in strategic planning, business development, government relations and education for energy and environment.
The workshop explored the possibility of curtailing our petroleum dependency and turning to hydrogen, a renewable and clean-burning energy source.
With a ruler in one hand and a thin piece of wood in the other, Izzo, along with technology teachers Robert Hill and Jay Staple, followed the direction of presenter and retired technology teacher Ernie Ruiz, from Long Island, as they built a HOPEmobile - or Hydrogen Outreach Program for Education - a model hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle during an interactive exercise.
The trio said the workshop and research into a hydrogen economy is timely as prices at the pump continue to rise.
“It's amazing that in just a few years, we as a nation have gone from, ‘Global warming, we need more research,' to 'Global warming, we are in deep trouble,” said Hill, a technology and computer science in the Fulton City School District. “I think we as a nation are getting it, finally.”
And that was the point of the workshop, M.R.S Enterprises President Mary-Rose de Valladares said. In the face of climate change and skyrocketing energy costs, research and development must be done to find a renewable, clean-burning and cost effective alternative.
Then enters hydrogen, a natural material that can be produced worldwide from a number of sources, such as solar, wind and biomass, she said. Hydrogen can be generated by electrolyzing water into its main components of oxygen and hydrogen; fermentation of garbage and organic waste can also create the element.
Hydrogen can cleanly fuel our cars and power homes and businesses just like gasoline does, de Valladares said.
So what's stopping the introduction of hydrogen from happening today?
De Valladares said that storage and infrastructure are key elements that require further research and development. Also, people need to be willing to change their habits.
“Ultimately political will is going to be what gets hydrogen introduced in the economy,” she said.
A growing emphasis on energy efficiency and eco-friendly practices has generated a need for a prepared work force eager to create new technologies, de Valladares said, and so providing teachers with materials to take back to their students dealing with these issues is ever-more important.
Teachers that attended the workshop received the New HOPE Pilot curriculum, an abridged version of the original HOPE Pilot developed with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy. The curriculum contains “One-day” and “One-week” lessons plans to present to students. Teachers also received a video, a fuel cell car kit and manual as well as supplementary HOPEmobile kits for classroom use, de Valladares said.
“These are useful skills and they are going to be needed in abundance, and they are probably going to be needed soon,” she said. “So we need to be ready.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
“I'm very curious about this new type of energy and how it's going to affect our lives,” he said. “I'm very excited about sharing this with our students.”
Science and technology teachers from central New York congregated at the Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services Regional Education Center last Wednesday for the High School Hydrogen Workshop sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York Power Authority. The workshop was presented by M.R.S. Enterprises, LLC, which provides management consulting services in strategic planning, business development, government relations and education for energy and environment.
The workshop explored the possibility of curtailing our petroleum dependency and turning to hydrogen, a renewable and clean-burning energy source.
With a ruler in one hand and a thin piece of wood in the other, Izzo, along with technology teachers Robert Hill and Jay Staple, followed the direction of presenter and retired technology teacher Ernie Ruiz, from Long Island, as they built a HOPEmobile - or Hydrogen Outreach Program for Education - a model hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle during an interactive exercise.
The trio said the workshop and research into a hydrogen economy is timely as prices at the pump continue to rise.
“It's amazing that in just a few years, we as a nation have gone from, ‘Global warming, we need more research,' to 'Global warming, we are in deep trouble,” said Hill, a technology and computer science in the Fulton City School District. “I think we as a nation are getting it, finally.”
And that was the point of the workshop, M.R.S Enterprises President Mary-Rose de Valladares said. In the face of climate change and skyrocketing energy costs, research and development must be done to find a renewable, clean-burning and cost effective alternative.
Then enters hydrogen, a natural material that can be produced worldwide from a number of sources, such as solar, wind and biomass, she said. Hydrogen can be generated by electrolyzing water into its main components of oxygen and hydrogen; fermentation of garbage and organic waste can also create the element.
Hydrogen can cleanly fuel our cars and power homes and businesses just like gasoline does, de Valladares said.
So what's stopping the introduction of hydrogen from happening today?
De Valladares said that storage and infrastructure are key elements that require further research and development. Also, people need to be willing to change their habits.
“Ultimately political will is going to be what gets hydrogen introduced in the economy,” she said.
A growing emphasis on energy efficiency and eco-friendly practices has generated a need for a prepared work force eager to create new technologies, de Valladares said, and so providing teachers with materials to take back to their students dealing with these issues is ever-more important.
Teachers that attended the workshop received the New HOPE Pilot curriculum, an abridged version of the original HOPE Pilot developed with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy. The curriculum contains “One-day” and “One-week” lessons plans to present to students. Teachers also received a video, a fuel cell car kit and manual as well as supplementary HOPEmobile kits for classroom use, de Valladares said.
“These are useful skills and they are going to be needed in abundance, and they are probably going to be needed soon,” she said. “So we need to be ready.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net