Still Life
Commencement across Penn State: Spring 2012
Spring commencement 2012 under way
Penn State, Moroccan students problem-solve together
Finals Week Spring Semester 2012
Children explore career options at University Park
Painting the Lines at Beaver Stadium
Did They Get It Right? - RedTails
Iconic Penn State elm taken down over spring break 2012
We ... are Penn State (December 19, 2011)
Disease stricken matching elm tree slated for removal
Penn State's creamery, from the cow to the cone
Three Penn State faculty members have been named Evan Pugh Professors, joining a list of only 62 recognized since the title's inception in 1960. Even Pugh Professorships are the highest honor the University bestows on its faculty.
The latest honorees are Jainendra K. Jain, Erwin Mueller Professor of Physics, Eberly College of Science; James F. Kasting, Distinguished Professor of Geosciences, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; and Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering. (more)
Production of energy from the difference between salt water and fresh water is most convenient near the oceans, but now, using an ammonium bicarbonate salt solution, Penn State researchers can combine bacterial degradation of waste water with energy extracted from the salt-water fresh-water gradient to produce power anywhere. "We are taking two technologies, each having limitations, and putting them together," said Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering. "Combined, they overcome the limitations of the individual technologies."
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A grain of salt or two may be all that microbial electrolysis cells need to produce hydrogen from wastewater or organic byproducts, without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or using grid electricity, according to Penn State engineers. "This system could produce hydrogen anyplace that there is wastewater near sea water," said Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering. "It uses no grid electricity and is completely carbon neutral. It is an inexhaustible source of energy." Microbial electrolysis cells that produce hydrogen are the basis of this recent work, but previously, to produce hydrogen, the fuel cells required some electrical input. Now, Logan, working with postdoctoral fellow Younggy Kim, is using the difference between river water and seawater to add the extra energy needed to produce hydrogen. (more)
"What this University is going to lead will be more than a pioneering research center or an economic engine for Pennsylvania and America for years to come: what you're going to do is lead a modern-day incubator for what sets us apart -- the greatest force that the world has ever known," said President Barack Obama Feb. 3 at Penn State's University Park campus. Watch a brief video summarizing the president's visit and Penn State's research leadership at a new national Energy Innovation Hub. (more)
In his policy speech today (Feb. 3) at Penn State, President Barack Obama advocated alternate energy research and increased energy efficiency. Penn State has more than 500 researchers working in the areas of energy and the environment, centered through the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, which are working to advance the energy and environmental missions of the University. Following are five videos from Penn State's Advancing Energy series that highlight a small sample of the variety of cutting-edge energy research at Penn State. (more)
A free public lecture titled "Not Science Fiction: Using Microbes to Make Electricity and Clean Water" will be given on Jan. 23, at Penn State's University Park campus by Bruce Logan, the Kappe professor of environmental engineering at Penn State. The event is the first of six lectures in the 2010 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science series, a free minicourse for the general public with the theme "Water: The Next Frontier." No registration is required. The lectures take place on six consecutive Saturday mornings from 11 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. in room 100 of the Thomas Building. (more)
The first demonstration of a renewable method for hydrogen production from wastewater using a microbial electrolysis system is under way at the Napa Wine Company in Oakville. The refrigerator-sized hydrogen generator will take winery wastewater, and using bacteria and a small amount of electrical energy, convert the organic material into hydrogen, according to a Penn State environmental engineer. (more)
A process that cleans wastewater and generates electricity also can remove 90 percent of salt from brackish water or seawater, according to an international team of researchers from China and the U.S. (more)
Converting waste water into energy has earned Bruce Logan, Kappe professor of environmental engineering, Penn State, the 2009 National Water Research Institute's Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for excellence in water research. The prize was established in 1993 to recognize outstanding research scientists who have demonstrated excellence in water-science research and technology. The prize includes a medallion and $50,000 and is awarded annually. Logan is the 16th recipient. (more)
A tiny microbe can take electricity and directly convert carbon dioxide and water to methane, producing a portable energy source with a potentially neutral carbon footprint, according to a team of Penn State engineers. "We were studying making hydrogen in microbial electrolysis cells and we kept getting all this methane," said Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, Penn State. "We may now understand why." (more)
