Energy, Environment and Resources Center

Jack Barkenbus, Executive Director

Center For Clean Products and Clean Technologies

Gary A. Davis, Director

Office of Communications and Publications

David Brill, Director

Center for Geography and Environmental Education

Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, Director

Oak Ridge Technology Research and Development Program

Sheila Webster, Director

Systems Development Institute

Donald Alvic, Director

Pro-Dialogue

Mary R. English and David L. Feldman, Directors

Water Resources Research Center

Tim Gangaware, Associate Director

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Highlights and Initiatives is written and edited by Constance Griffith <cbgriffith@utk.edu>.

For more information call Gail Farris at 865-974-4251 or write to EERC, 311 Conference Center Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134.

Visit our Web site at: http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/

APPOINTMENT. David Feldman, formerly an EERC Senior Scientist, has been appointed professor and head of UT’s Department of Political Science. He will continue to serve EERC as a faculty associate. Feldman, who also directs the Southeast Water Policy Initiative, previously served as adjunct professor of political science, taught in UT’s graduate program in environmental policy, and provided the state with key policy advice as research coordinator of the Tennessee Water Supply Policy Panel.

EDUCATION. In July, EERC’s senior scientist in sustainable development, Don Huisingh, led a course for educators at the UT Conference Center. The five-day "Toward a Sustainable Future" seminar attracted participants from colleges and universities across the country. Joining Huisingh on the faculty were David Feldman (Political Science), Michael McKinney (Geological Science), and other noted sustainability experts, such as David Orr of Oberlin College (Ohio). The course demonstrated how instructors can incorporate principles and tools of sustainable development into curricula across higher education.

PRESENTATION. Ruth Anne Hanahan, a research associate with EERC’s Water Resources Research Center, along with Caitlin Cottrill (graduate research assistant, Planning), have been conducting a study comparing three southeastern statewide volunteer monitoring programs, including Alabama Water Watch, Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, and Kentucky Water Watch. They recently presented interim findings at the Alabama Water Watch Association’s 10th Annual Meeting in Auburn, Alabama.

WORKSHOP. EERC’s Fuels Coalition (ETCFC), along with the National Biodiesel Board, the Tennessee Soybean Promotion Board, and the U.S. Department of Energy Region Four Clean Cities Program, sponsored the 2003 Biodiesel Workshop at the Knoxville Convention Center. Jonathan Overly, EERC research associate and coordinator of ETCFC, welcomed participants from Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Kentucky and gave an overview of the Coalition’s goals and Tennessee’s use of alternative fuels. Overly also presented data on nitrogen-oxides emissions reductions, and highlighted biodiesel use in the National Park system. Other presentations included success stories from across the nation and Tennessee, an overview of soybeans and biodiesel, and production and other issues surrounding biodiesel fuel.

PUBLICATION. EERC Research Leader Mary English, along with doctoral student Sean Huss (Sociology), coauthored a book chapter on "Population and Urbanization," which will appear in A Land Imperiled: The Declining Health of the Southern Appalachian Bioregion (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2004).

Strategy for Clean Air

Local leaders convene to chart a course for meeting federal clean-air mandates without stalling the economy. BY ELISE LEQUIRE

AS DEADLINES FOR COMPLIANCE with stricter air-quality standards loom, leaders from around eastern Tennessee convened in April at the University of Tennessee’s (UT) Conference Center in Knoxville for a Regional Clean Air Action Summit. 

Hosted by Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale and 11 other county mayors, the summit featured Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander as keynote speaker. Calling the condition of the air in the Tennessee Valley and Great Smoky Mountains National Park "completely unacceptable," Alexander, who is the chairman of the Senate Energy Subcommittee, noted that only Los Angeles and Houston had more days of ozone air violations than the Smokies had in 2002. 

"For the next 20 years, we need to rely much more on newer, cleaner forms of energy, including natural gas, nuclear power, wind power, and coal gasification," Alexander said, citing Eastman Chemical’s technology for cleaner burning of coal. 

EPA is scheduled to designate regulatory nonattainment areas in April 2004, and five area counties—Anderson, Blount, Jefferson, Knox, and Sevier—are likely to fall into that category. However, 30 counties and seven urban areas in Tennessee have chosen to adopt Early Action Compacts (EAC) that allow them to delay the nonattainment designation by designing local actions that will move them toward the goal of attainment by 2007. 

Betsy Child, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, moderated the discussion, and Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp, co-chairman of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus and a strong proponent of renewable energy, spoke at the luncheon. Breakout session topics included alternative fuels, energy efficiency, commuter choice, and educational programs.

Jonathan Overly, presenter of the breakout session on alternative fuels and executive director of the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition, noted that eastern Tennessee is trisected by three major interstate systems—I-40, I-75, and I-81— heavily traveled by diesel-fueled tractortrailers. 

Using an alternative fuel, biodiesel for example, to power these big rigs could significantly reduce emissions locally. 

Biodiesel, which can be produced from renewable resources like soybeans or from recycled waste streams like cooking grease, can be mixed with diesel fuel in any percentage or used as a pure fuel.

"Though there is a regional component of air pollution, local action is crucial," said Overly, who also serves as a research associate with UT’s Energy, Environment and Resources Center (EERC).

The summit was sponsored by 10 regional companies, including TVA, Akins Crisp Public Strategies, and IdleAire. Lynne A. Liddington, director of Knox County’s Air Quality Management division, spearheaded efforts to organize the summit.

Jack Barkenbus, EERC executive director, served with Overly on the planning committee for the Action Summit. "The local community in Knoxville has a history of working together on water issues. This is the beginning stage of putting together a group to deal comprehensively with air quality issues," Barkenbus said.

For more information, contact Jonathan Overly, EERC, University of Tennessee, 311 Conference Center Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134, call 865-974-4251, or email <jgoverly@utk.edu>.