A Rainforest at CSUN
When most people think of the “Valley,” images of the “valley girl” or triple-degree dry summers come to mind. As the largest suburb of Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley is also home to one of the fastest growing universities in California, California State University, Northridge. However, the university, that is closely associated with a 1994 earthquake, will soon be known for something no one could ever imagine in the Valley: a subtropical rainforest.Remarkably, Cal State Northridge will be introducing the very first quarter-acre subtropical rainforest to the San Fernando Valley by January 2009. The outdoor “green” space will emulate the high-humidity and high-moisture climate found most often in areas with close proximity to the equator.
However, this thriving rainforest will not simply be for the pleasure of visitors, instead, it is yet another step CSUN takes to be “green,” and fight global warming.
In 2006, CSUN began its initiative to become more environmentally friendly when it installed a one-megawatt stationary fuel cell power plant system. The system comprises of four power plants, which converts hydrogen from natural gas to power the fuel cell.
“We (CSUN) were the first to actually self-install a fuel cell power plant,” said Bill Sullivan, an energy manager at CSUN’s power plant management department. “There are only a couple other universities in the world that have a fuel cell but we are the largest and we’re the only (ones) to self-install.”
According to critics, fuel cells are among the cleanest and most reliable sources for generating power today. The four fuel cells installed at CSUN provide high-quality power and the production of hot water that is used to heat buildings.
“We get one megawatt of power out of our power plant,” Sullivan said. “That covers about 18 percent of our (CSUN) usage in a year.”
Additionally, the fuel cell power plant helps reduce more than 100 tons per year of harmful pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The fuel cell power plant also reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions of CO2 by more than 6,400 tons per year.
“A typical coal fire power plant creates about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity produced and our fuel cells do about 790 pounds, so right there, we have way less CO2 in the environment,” Sullivan said.
By generating its own power, CSUN not only contributes to lessening the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, but is also able to reduce their energy costs.
“Where we really make the money is the heat recovery. I calculated that out to about $156,000 dollars a year in just heat,” Sullivan said.
Utilizing the fuel cells also decreases the amount of energy the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is required to supply for CSUN. Overall, this assists to release pressure on the “power grid,” which, if overloaded with electric use, can cause blackouts.
The university further benefits from the fuel cells by utilizing waste heat to provide 22 billion British Thermal Units of thermal energy per year in the form of hot water, which is used throughout campus, according to Sullivan.
Also, instead of CO2 being released into the air, further harming the environment, CSUN
has devised several ways to use the little amount of CO2 waste produced in a “green” way.
Currently, the fuel cell power plants channel leftover CO2 into the adjacent biology department’s greenhouse. Most recently is a developing channel in which wastewater and leftover CO2 will be distributed into the soon-to-be subtropical rainforests.
“We are taking the waste and we are pumping it out and we are building a subtropical rainforest,” Sullivan said. “The fuel cells generate about 5 gallons per minute of waste water and condensate recovery, and that is about 5 gallons per minute 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are collecting it in a tank…so, we are going to take that and irrigate the subtropical rainforest.”
The subtropical rainforest is expected to be completed in January and will cover a quarter acre adjacent to the four fuel power plants located near the University Student Union.
Besides pumping the rainforest with water and CO2, a cooling tower with a chiller will be installed to keep the pseudo-climate warm and moist.
“The plants then will grow because they like that high humidity, high moisture,” added Sullivan. “They will also sequester the CO2 because we will put the CO2 in there and distribute it in the subtropical rainforest.”
Furthermore, even CSUN students are beginning to express surprise and intrigue when learning about its plans for a tropical rainforest.
“Personally, I can’t believe CSUN is making a rainforest, and we’re in the middle of the Valley,” said Nichole Cropper, a junior art major. “I am really excited, I have never been in a rainforest environment and plus our world could always use more trees.”
However, some community members have their doubts.
“I understand we all want to be ‘green,’ but does this rainforest really make a difference, or is it another way for CSUN to attract people and make more traffic,” said Lynne Hart, a 39-year-old mother and Northridge resident.
Despite the various opinions, CSUN believes that the subtropical rainforest will only enhance the efforts it has made to become a more environmentally safe university. Contrasting to other power plants, CSUN officials are confident that their fuel cell power plant will make a difference in the fight against greenhouse gases.
“A coal fire power plant creates about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity produced and our fuel cells do about 790 pounds, so right there we have way less CO2 in the environment,” Sullivan said.
This state-of-the-art fuel cell system also gives students and faculty a prime opportunity to study this rarely seen technology.
Professors and students of the College of Engineering and Computer Science department were able to help research and assemble components of the fuel cells, providing real-life experience.
“We used Engineering students,” Sullivan said. “We actually hired them to do a lot of research and construction management training.”
A challenge for many of the CSUN physical plant management employees and the students of the engineering department was to understand how the various components of the fuel cell work together. Environmentally safe fuel cell plants require knowledge of sciences, engineering and mechanics.
Sullivan explains this complicated power-making process: “It is kind of like a battery that
works in reverse. It’s kind of like an electro-chemical reaction instead of burning coal. Basically
it takes the oxygen and fuel, combines them, then the electron is split off and goes around and does the work and that's what lights the light bulb. The hydrogen and the carbon meet up on the other side of the membrane and that is where you get the carbon dioxide and water as the only exhaust.”
CSUN’s $5.8 million fuel power plants were purchased from FuelCell Energy, Inc. In addition, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power committed $500,000 to help the initiative. CSUN qualified for the award by participating in the Self-Generation Incentive Program, a state-sponsored program that provides financial incentives to government and businesses for generating their own on-site electricity.
In addition to the fuel cell power plant and subtropical rainforest, CSUN has a photovoltaic cell project, which installed more than 3,000 solar panels to two parking lots on campus to reduce energy use.
The solar panels are predicted to save the university more than $50,000 dollars each year, according to Tom Brown, director of CSUN’s physical plant management.
On the other hand, students and faculty are thrilled with the shade the solar panels provide for their cars.
“When I first started parking there, I thought they (solar panels) were just shade,” said Cropper. “Now that I know they are solar panels, it surprises me how many things CSUN is doing to help the environment.”
CSUN’s solar panels are some of the largest solar electrics installed at a public California university, and were developed by CSUN’s physical plant management, the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power, Southern California Gas Company and Shell Solar Industries.
The solar panels, fuel cell plants and future subtropical rainforest are all part of CSUN’s campus-wide “Greening Project.” The project is developing a portfolio of sustainability initiatives that will eventually make the entire campus environmentally friendly.
With the many projects all supporting a more “green” CSUN, faculty and staff cannot help but be thrilled with the advancements.
“The first in the world in any major university, it is a major accomplishment,” Brown said. “We are thrilled to be a part of such an important advancement for the University and the environment.”
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