xcel
07-02-2006, 10:59 PM
Lab's scientists, execs give plenty of thought to their vehicles' fuel efficiency. (http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_4816798,00.html)
Frank Munger - Knoxnews - July 2, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/ORNL_-_Director_drives_a_Prius_II.jpg
CLAY OWEN - NEWS SENTINEL
Marilyn Brown, interim director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Engineering Science and Technology Division, drives a highly fuel efficient Toyota Prius. "I try to live my life always conscious of the energy implications," she said.
OAK RIDGE - A few years ago, while in New Jersey visiting her parents, Marilyn Brown drove to a local dealership to get a first-hand look at the Toyota Prius - the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle and an icon of energy efficiency in the 21st century.
She was frustrated that she couldn't find one in Tennessee.
Brown liked the hybrid, powered by a combination of electric motors and an internal combustion engine, and she purchased one via the Internet, waiting patiently for nearly six months for it to arrive. She now owns the next generation of Prius, a 2006 model that's ultra-low on emissions and high on miles per gallon (55). She also has another hybrid vehicle, a 2007 Ford Escape SUV, that gets 36 mpg.
Energy conservation is a big deal to Brown. It's also her job. She works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research labs. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent here annually to help solve the nation's and the world's energy problems.
For five years, Brown was director of the energy efficiency research program. She's now interim director of the Engineering Science and Technology Division.
"I try to live my life always conscious of the energy implications," she said.
Not everyone at the Oak Ridge lab is so dedicated.
Frank Akers, a highly decorated Army general who served the nation from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf and now heads ORNL's national security directorate, drives what amounts to a domestic tank.
His 2005 Yukon XLT is one of the bigger sport utility vehicles on the market and gets 14 miles per gallon - a low mark on any scale of fuel efficiency.
Indeed, many of the same big trucks, SUVs and overgrown sedans that cram the roads in East Tennessee can be found on a tour of the lab's parking lots. But they are clearly in the minority at ORNL, where you're more likely to find a hybrid than a Hummer or some of the other fuel hogs.
Practice what you preach Most lab researchers and administrators interviewed are sensitive to the image they project, even if they're not a shining example of energy savings and environmental protection.
Perhaps embarrassed by his Yukon's energy profile, Akers noted that he was buying his son a hybrid vehicle as a graduation present.
Michelle Buchanan, the associate lab director for physical sciences, also drives a sport utility vehicle - a BMW X5 that gets 23 mpg. After moving to a hilltop home in Solway a few years back, a switch in vehicles became necessary, she said. "In the wintertime, you've got to have a four-wheeler."
Buchanan added, "When I first came to the lab in the late '70s, early '80s, everybody had little-bitty cars. I had a tiny Honda back then."
Times have changed and so have the cars, but Tom Boden said, "You have to practice what you preach."
Boden is director of ORNL's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, which maintains the world's leading database on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases associated with climate change.
He uses mass transit instead of renting a car when he travels to places like Washington, D.C., but he feels guilty that he doesn't carpool to work at ORNL.
Boden drives a 1989 Toyota Camry with a fading paint job and more than 218,000 miles on the odometer. "I still get 30 miles to the gallon, believe it or not," he said.
One of his strongest memories from graduate school is a lesson he learned outside the classroom.
"This ecologist who was teaching conservation - and advocating simple things like turn off the light when you leave the room and turn the thermostat down - was driving a gas-guzzling Porsche," Boden said. "I didn't find that out until later, but it just struck me wrong."
Luxury can be a lure, especially at a lab where good salaries make high-end vehicles an option.
Alex Fischer, technology transfer chief in Oak Ridge, rides to work in a 2006 Infiniti M35, which by his estimate gets 20 miles to the gallon. Fischer said he sometimes drives a 2006 Toyota Highlander, a hybrid SUV that gets 38 miles to the gallon. But he admitted that the Highlander belongs to his wife, "the environmentalist" in the family.
ORNL Director Jeff Wadsworth drives a BMW 740 IL or "the big, long one," as he described it. The car's gas mileage, he said, is somewhere in the mid-20s.
"At some level, I think people are becoming more aware of the fact that large SUVs and big cars consume more gas than smaller ones," he said.
Wadsworth said he didn't worry about what the 4,000 or so employees at ORNL drive to work, calling that a "small piece" of the energy equation. Even with his own car, Wadsworth admitted spending more time fretting about the CD player, which somehow malfunctioned because of the navigational system, than his fuel mileage.
"I think the price at the pump is an interesting metric," he said. "The last energy secretary said the department got more calls on the price of gas than anything else. What worries me is if gasoline dips, goes down, are people less concerned about overall energy policy?"
Kelly Beierschmitt rides his Harley-Davidson motorcycle to work, and he gets the feel of the road as well as 52 miles to the gallon of gasoline.
"I live very close to the lab. It's about 15 minutes. It's just perfect," he said.
Beierschmitt, who once managed the assembly of nuclear warheads at Pantex Plant in Texas, was part of the UT-Battelle contractor team that took over operation of ORNL in April 2000. He initially was in charge of environment, safety and health, and directs the lab's nuclear operations.
When rain or cold make his Harley-Davidson 1200 Sportster Roadster an unattractive option, Beierschmitt falls back on "Old Red" - a 1992 half-ton Chevy pickup truck - that gets about 18 miles per gallon.
Ray Brittain, an engineer who works on nuclear nonproliferation projects, also drives a truck, a 1998 Ford F150 that gets about 16 mpg, but he's among about 20 or more lab employees who sometimes ride their bicycles to work - the ultimate energy-saver.
Brittain said he probably rides his bike 30 days a year, and he's trying to build that number. It's about a 15-mile ride from his home in East Oak Ridge, which takes about an hour. He sometimes rides from Jefferson Middle School after dropping off his kids in the morning.
A "cycling advisory group" was started about a year ago at ORNL to provide support for those who ride to work or bring their bikes and ride them during lunch.
Stan Milora aims to be king of the road. The lab's fusion energy director drives a Honda S2000 roadster, a two-seater with 240 horses that, according to Milora, goes from 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds with an "advertised" top speed of 147 mph.
But Milora insists his high-performance car is fuel efficient, getting 30 miles to the gallon (premium). He also boasts that it would kick the behind of colleague Lee Riedinger's Saab 93 convertible on speed and fuel mileage. Both of their cars, by the way, are red.
Doing homework Scientists are an innovative lot by nature, and that shows up in their vehicles.
Mark Downing, who does research on alternative fuel sources and related technologies, converted his personal vehicle to biodiesel.
His "ancient" Volvo station wagon, a 1984 original stock with 230,000 miles on it, became the experiment. "About three years ago, I put some biodiesel (fuel) in it and decided I had absolutely nothing to lose. It was a junkyard car," he said.
Conventional wisdom was that small amounts of biodiesel fuel, maybe 5 percent, wouldn't be a problem for cars with diesel engines. But Downing soon exceeded that, went up to 20 percent and eventually all the way to 100 percent biodiesel - manufactured from soy oil and other non-petroleum products.
"Everybody thinks you've got to have a conversion kit. You don't. The hardest thing was to open up the gas cap and pour it in," he said.
Downing reportedly has the longest-running biodiesel vehicle in the state.
The fuel filter clogs occasionally because biodiesel acts as a solvent and uncakes all sorts of residue, but otherwise the results are all positive, he reports.
Emissions are way down, the trail of black smoke disappeared, and his fuel mileage is up - from about 21 to 30 mpg - in a vehicle that dates back to Ronald Reagan's presidency. "I'm really pleased. I gave it a paint job a couple of weeks ago for the heck of it," Downing said.
T.J. Blasing, an environmental scientist who studies climate change and other planet-threatening issues, drove a 1987 Toyota Corolla for many years, eventually reaching 266,000 miles. He got 34 miles to the gallon.
Now Blasing has a 2006 model - yes, still a Corolla - that initially got 32 mph, and that's going up with usage. He saves additional energy by rolling up his windows with old-fashioned cranks.
Brown, the Prius owner, is bothered by the fact that she often has to go outside the region to find appliances and commercial products that support sustainable living or ask local businesses to order them for her. She said she could find a better selection of fuel-efficient cars on a California rental lot than she can at local dealerships.
"The Southeast is so far behind the rest of the nation," she said.
'Like everybody else' The Oak Ridge lab, however, does "walk the talk" when it comes to investing in energy-saving technologies for new facilities, Brown said, recounting some of the recent awards. New buildings have, in some cases, replaced World War II-era office structures that were ugly and inefficient, including one dorm-like facility that had dozens of window-unit air-conditioners dotting the walls.
The laboratory also manages a fleet of ethanol-fuel vehicles and had the first LED (light-emitting diode) traffic lights in the state.
David Greene, a leading fuel economist who applies research results to energy and transportation policy, said higher gas prices seem to have made a difference in U.S. consumer habits over the past six months or so. That's reflected in the types of vehicles being purchased and other markers, and Americans may be reacting to a belief that elevated gas prices are here to stay, he said.
Greene drives a 2000 Mazda Miata, which gets 28 mpg and which he almost always drives with the top down - even in near-freezing weather.
He doesn't necessarily think energy lab employees should act as role models.
"No more than anybody else," Greene said. "We all have decisions to make. But I do think these kinds of problems - dealing with oil security, dealing with global warming - these are problems we expect the government to work on and to solve. We don't expect in our private choices we should have to solve those problems. I think national lab people are similar to that. You'll find a few, like Marilyn Brown, who set an example and buy a Prius, but I think most of us are like everybody else."
Senior writer Frank Munger, who drives a 2000 Mazda 626 and has no idea of his gas mileage, may be reached at 865-342-6329.
Frank Munger - Knoxnews - July 2, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/ORNL_-_Director_drives_a_Prius_II.jpg
CLAY OWEN - NEWS SENTINEL
Marilyn Brown, interim director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Engineering Science and Technology Division, drives a highly fuel efficient Toyota Prius. "I try to live my life always conscious of the energy implications," she said.
OAK RIDGE - A few years ago, while in New Jersey visiting her parents, Marilyn Brown drove to a local dealership to get a first-hand look at the Toyota Prius - the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle and an icon of energy efficiency in the 21st century.
She was frustrated that she couldn't find one in Tennessee.
Brown liked the hybrid, powered by a combination of electric motors and an internal combustion engine, and she purchased one via the Internet, waiting patiently for nearly six months for it to arrive. She now owns the next generation of Prius, a 2006 model that's ultra-low on emissions and high on miles per gallon (55). She also has another hybrid vehicle, a 2007 Ford Escape SUV, that gets 36 mpg.
Energy conservation is a big deal to Brown. It's also her job. She works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research labs. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent here annually to help solve the nation's and the world's energy problems.
For five years, Brown was director of the energy efficiency research program. She's now interim director of the Engineering Science and Technology Division.
"I try to live my life always conscious of the energy implications," she said.
Not everyone at the Oak Ridge lab is so dedicated.
Frank Akers, a highly decorated Army general who served the nation from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf and now heads ORNL's national security directorate, drives what amounts to a domestic tank.
His 2005 Yukon XLT is one of the bigger sport utility vehicles on the market and gets 14 miles per gallon - a low mark on any scale of fuel efficiency.
Indeed, many of the same big trucks, SUVs and overgrown sedans that cram the roads in East Tennessee can be found on a tour of the lab's parking lots. But they are clearly in the minority at ORNL, where you're more likely to find a hybrid than a Hummer or some of the other fuel hogs.
Practice what you preach Most lab researchers and administrators interviewed are sensitive to the image they project, even if they're not a shining example of energy savings and environmental protection.
Perhaps embarrassed by his Yukon's energy profile, Akers noted that he was buying his son a hybrid vehicle as a graduation present.
Michelle Buchanan, the associate lab director for physical sciences, also drives a sport utility vehicle - a BMW X5 that gets 23 mpg. After moving to a hilltop home in Solway a few years back, a switch in vehicles became necessary, she said. "In the wintertime, you've got to have a four-wheeler."
Buchanan added, "When I first came to the lab in the late '70s, early '80s, everybody had little-bitty cars. I had a tiny Honda back then."
Times have changed and so have the cars, but Tom Boden said, "You have to practice what you preach."
Boden is director of ORNL's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, which maintains the world's leading database on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases associated with climate change.
He uses mass transit instead of renting a car when he travels to places like Washington, D.C., but he feels guilty that he doesn't carpool to work at ORNL.
Boden drives a 1989 Toyota Camry with a fading paint job and more than 218,000 miles on the odometer. "I still get 30 miles to the gallon, believe it or not," he said.
One of his strongest memories from graduate school is a lesson he learned outside the classroom.
"This ecologist who was teaching conservation - and advocating simple things like turn off the light when you leave the room and turn the thermostat down - was driving a gas-guzzling Porsche," Boden said. "I didn't find that out until later, but it just struck me wrong."
Luxury can be a lure, especially at a lab where good salaries make high-end vehicles an option.
Alex Fischer, technology transfer chief in Oak Ridge, rides to work in a 2006 Infiniti M35, which by his estimate gets 20 miles to the gallon. Fischer said he sometimes drives a 2006 Toyota Highlander, a hybrid SUV that gets 38 miles to the gallon. But he admitted that the Highlander belongs to his wife, "the environmentalist" in the family.
ORNL Director Jeff Wadsworth drives a BMW 740 IL or "the big, long one," as he described it. The car's gas mileage, he said, is somewhere in the mid-20s.
"At some level, I think people are becoming more aware of the fact that large SUVs and big cars consume more gas than smaller ones," he said.
Wadsworth said he didn't worry about what the 4,000 or so employees at ORNL drive to work, calling that a "small piece" of the energy equation. Even with his own car, Wadsworth admitted spending more time fretting about the CD player, which somehow malfunctioned because of the navigational system, than his fuel mileage.
"I think the price at the pump is an interesting metric," he said. "The last energy secretary said the department got more calls on the price of gas than anything else. What worries me is if gasoline dips, goes down, are people less concerned about overall energy policy?"
Kelly Beierschmitt rides his Harley-Davidson motorcycle to work, and he gets the feel of the road as well as 52 miles to the gallon of gasoline.
"I live very close to the lab. It's about 15 minutes. It's just perfect," he said.
Beierschmitt, who once managed the assembly of nuclear warheads at Pantex Plant in Texas, was part of the UT-Battelle contractor team that took over operation of ORNL in April 2000. He initially was in charge of environment, safety and health, and directs the lab's nuclear operations.
When rain or cold make his Harley-Davidson 1200 Sportster Roadster an unattractive option, Beierschmitt falls back on "Old Red" - a 1992 half-ton Chevy pickup truck - that gets about 18 miles per gallon.
Ray Brittain, an engineer who works on nuclear nonproliferation projects, also drives a truck, a 1998 Ford F150 that gets about 16 mpg, but he's among about 20 or more lab employees who sometimes ride their bicycles to work - the ultimate energy-saver.
Brittain said he probably rides his bike 30 days a year, and he's trying to build that number. It's about a 15-mile ride from his home in East Oak Ridge, which takes about an hour. He sometimes rides from Jefferson Middle School after dropping off his kids in the morning.
A "cycling advisory group" was started about a year ago at ORNL to provide support for those who ride to work or bring their bikes and ride them during lunch.
Stan Milora aims to be king of the road. The lab's fusion energy director drives a Honda S2000 roadster, a two-seater with 240 horses that, according to Milora, goes from 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds with an "advertised" top speed of 147 mph.
But Milora insists his high-performance car is fuel efficient, getting 30 miles to the gallon (premium). He also boasts that it would kick the behind of colleague Lee Riedinger's Saab 93 convertible on speed and fuel mileage. Both of their cars, by the way, are red.
Doing homework Scientists are an innovative lot by nature, and that shows up in their vehicles.
Mark Downing, who does research on alternative fuel sources and related technologies, converted his personal vehicle to biodiesel.
His "ancient" Volvo station wagon, a 1984 original stock with 230,000 miles on it, became the experiment. "About three years ago, I put some biodiesel (fuel) in it and decided I had absolutely nothing to lose. It was a junkyard car," he said.
Conventional wisdom was that small amounts of biodiesel fuel, maybe 5 percent, wouldn't be a problem for cars with diesel engines. But Downing soon exceeded that, went up to 20 percent and eventually all the way to 100 percent biodiesel - manufactured from soy oil and other non-petroleum products.
"Everybody thinks you've got to have a conversion kit. You don't. The hardest thing was to open up the gas cap and pour it in," he said.
Downing reportedly has the longest-running biodiesel vehicle in the state.
The fuel filter clogs occasionally because biodiesel acts as a solvent and uncakes all sorts of residue, but otherwise the results are all positive, he reports.
Emissions are way down, the trail of black smoke disappeared, and his fuel mileage is up - from about 21 to 30 mpg - in a vehicle that dates back to Ronald Reagan's presidency. "I'm really pleased. I gave it a paint job a couple of weeks ago for the heck of it," Downing said.
T.J. Blasing, an environmental scientist who studies climate change and other planet-threatening issues, drove a 1987 Toyota Corolla for many years, eventually reaching 266,000 miles. He got 34 miles to the gallon.
Now Blasing has a 2006 model - yes, still a Corolla - that initially got 32 mph, and that's going up with usage. He saves additional energy by rolling up his windows with old-fashioned cranks.
Brown, the Prius owner, is bothered by the fact that she often has to go outside the region to find appliances and commercial products that support sustainable living or ask local businesses to order them for her. She said she could find a better selection of fuel-efficient cars on a California rental lot than she can at local dealerships.
"The Southeast is so far behind the rest of the nation," she said.
'Like everybody else' The Oak Ridge lab, however, does "walk the talk" when it comes to investing in energy-saving technologies for new facilities, Brown said, recounting some of the recent awards. New buildings have, in some cases, replaced World War II-era office structures that were ugly and inefficient, including one dorm-like facility that had dozens of window-unit air-conditioners dotting the walls.
The laboratory also manages a fleet of ethanol-fuel vehicles and had the first LED (light-emitting diode) traffic lights in the state.
David Greene, a leading fuel economist who applies research results to energy and transportation policy, said higher gas prices seem to have made a difference in U.S. consumer habits over the past six months or so. That's reflected in the types of vehicles being purchased and other markers, and Americans may be reacting to a belief that elevated gas prices are here to stay, he said.
Greene drives a 2000 Mazda Miata, which gets 28 mpg and which he almost always drives with the top down - even in near-freezing weather.
He doesn't necessarily think energy lab employees should act as role models.
"No more than anybody else," Greene said. "We all have decisions to make. But I do think these kinds of problems - dealing with oil security, dealing with global warming - these are problems we expect the government to work on and to solve. We don't expect in our private choices we should have to solve those problems. I think national lab people are similar to that. You'll find a few, like Marilyn Brown, who set an example and buy a Prius, but I think most of us are like everybody else."
Senior writer Frank Munger, who drives a 2000 Mazda 626 and has no idea of his gas mileage, may be reached at 865-342-6329.