Earth2Lincoln 10/26

Tonight's Earth2Lincoln will feature part 2 of our series discussing issues with UNL environmental studies students. Join us tonight at 6 p.m. on KZUM 89.3 FM in Lincoln and online at www.kzum.org

Check back this evening for streaming audio from tonight's show.

350-A Day Of Action

350--The most focused and coordinated day of climate action approaches rapidly. A dizzying frenzy of mountain climbs, underwater demonstrations in island nations, bike rides, rallies, and speeches will take place across the globe, underscoring the indisputable consensus: we need action, right now--based on sound science--to protect our planet. For more information, click here. For a challenge, Dutch and Polish translations are available on the website.

The even better news. Lincoln has two critical events for 350! The first is a post-Nebraska football recycling and clean up session, this Saturday, October 24th. Interested individuals should meet at the west end of the Vine Street parking loop at 2:30 p.m. Gloves and bags are provided. Enthusiasm is self-supplied.

And on Sunday, October 25th at Noon, hundreds of bikers will mass on the north side of the Capital building. We will ride through downtown as a collective call to awareness and call to action.

For more information, auditory stimulation in the form of a KZUM PSA:



Both of these events are sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Progressive Student Coalition. They have a nifty website, available right here.

Hyde Observatory--Observing Solar Since 1978

Hyde Observatory is a stacked facility. As a community access astronomical observatory, it regularly opens its doors to sky-gazers. But it also has been at the vanguard of solar energy. Since 1978, or for some 11,315 days, the Observatory has metamorphosed sun rays into pure, clean energy. The photovoltaic panels adorning the rooftop now provide 40% of the building's energy--while any extra energy is funneled back to LES.

Erik Hubl, a Lancaster County G.I.S. Engineer and Hyde Observatory volunteer, shares his insights into Hyde's solar past and solar future:



Click HERE to view a Hyde Observatory solar PowerPoint stocked with charts, graphs, photos, tables and more!

Earth 2 Lincoln 10/5-Ethanol

University of Nebraska-Lincoln agronomist and chair of the Nebraska Center For Energy Sciences Research, Dr. Kenneth Cassman, shared his research and insights into corn ethanol's current and future role in the domestic energy equation.

The United States is the world's leading ethanol producer, with production of over 9 billion gallons last year. The 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard calls for 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022, much of that from the 1-2 punch of corn ethanol furnished by Nebraska and, ugh, Iowa.

Cassman and his colleagues at UNL have developed the BESS or Biofuel Energy Systems Simulator, a software tool to calculate energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and natural resource requirements of corn-to-ethanol production systems. Try it out, here

Finally, stay tuned to legislative news as Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson recently co-sponsored legislation encouraging a higher blend of ethanol (from 10% to 15%) to be sold at gas stations nationwide.

Click here to listen to Monday's program:

Earth 2 Lincoln 9/28-Solar Powered Future

Dr. Bing Chen and Michael Shonka of the Nebraska Solar Energy Society shed light on the current and future state of solar energy. Brighten up!

Svata Louda--October 19th

UNL Biology Professor Svata Louda will be paging Earth 2 Lincoln on Monday, October 19th. Louda's areas of interest include ecological interactions of insects with plants in the dynamics, distribution and persistence of plant populations and communities. Can she eradicate beg-bugs once and for all? Tune in Monday, October 19th at 6 p.m. on KZUM 89.3 FM and www.kzum.org to find out.

Professor Louda has also conducted intensive reserach on biological control insects and the positive and detrimental impacts on their introduced environment.

Ken Cassman-October 5th

UNL Agronomy and Horticulture professor Ken Cassman will join us next week, October 5th, to discuss the current state of corn ethanol and biofuels.

Cassman recently published a paper on "Improvements in Life Cycle Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn Ethanol." We'll need those ethanol ameliorations--the 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard calls for 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022, with much of that coming from Nebraska's bountiful cornfields.

In etho-politics, the Benator (a.k.a. U.S. Sentor Ben Nelson) joined several other corn-belt legislators, introducing biofuel legisltaion with two primary prongs, a) to increase the minimum blend from E10 to E15 (fuel enriched with 15 % ethanol instead of 10 %) and to limit the EPA from penalizing domestic ethanol producers for environmentally-damaging land use.