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Story category: energy
Making the UI's Footprint Smaller
Story air date: Thursday, October 09, 2008
Everyone is spending much more on energy these days, and the University of Illinois is no exception. Curbing the cost is just one goal of a new Office of Sustainability on the Urbana campus. It’s meant to draft and supervise new conservation efforts, but also to reduce the amount of pollution the University creates – whether it’s exhaust from Abbott Power Plant or old computers and other electronic waste. The office’s first director is Richard Warner, a wildlife ecology professor and formerly an administrator in the College of ACES. He tells AM 580’s Tom Rogers that his first priority is simply to take stock of all the programs already in place.
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Story categories:
energy • environment • water resources • University of IllinoisRural Issues and the Campaign: Ethanol Plants
Story air date: Monday, October 06, 2008
AM 580 is joining with public radio stations across the country to look into how the Presidential race impacts rural residents.
The debate over alternate energy sources like wind and solar power is not only aimed at reducing dependence on natural resources like coal and natural gas.
Driving cars and using other machines rely more on these sources. While John McCain stresses greater production of oil, and nuclear energy, Barack Obama speaks more of using alternates. One getting a lot of attention in recent years is ethanol. But lately, supply and demand have hurt the development of new facilities that produce it. AM 580’s Jeff Bossert looks at how the state of the industry is affecting two rural Central Illinois towns and what the presidential candidates’ energy policies could mean for their future.
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business • community life • energy • government • elections • United States • politicsNew Energy Worries, New Vehicles
Story air date: Monday, August 04, 2008
In small towns across the country, many people have decided that a cheaper way to get around is to leave the car in the garage and pile into the golf cart. Golf carts and other small slow-speed vehicles are becoming more appealing to people living in areas where traffic is low, but gas prices are high. In Illinois, several small towns are allowing golf carts on their streets --- while others are holding back. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports.
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business • community life • economy • energy • government • lifestyle • urban planningFutureGen's Future -- Elsewhere?
Story air date: Monday, March 10, 2008
With the proposed FutureGen power plant on hiatus, it’s unclear which path so-called clean coal research will take next. FutureGen was to turn coal into hydrogen before burning it to generate electricity, and to inject the resulting carbon dioxide deep into the ground – all at one single plant near Mattoon. But as AM 580’s Tom Rogers reports, other projects using portions of that technology are already taking root.
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community life • economy • energy • environment • government • United StatesFutureGen Now in Doubt
Story air date: Thursday, January 31, 2008
US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has made it official -- he's pulling federal funding from the FutureGen clean-coal plant slated for Mattoon. He favors several smaller projects using the same technology. Meanwhile, members of Illinois' Congressional delegation hope they can convince congress or the President to return to the original plan. AM 580's Jim Meadows reports.
