Energy Facts

• The U.S. spends over $500 billion dollars annually on energy.
• Oil imports account for 55% of the total U.S. consumption, up from 42% in 1990.
• Energy demand is projected to rise by over 30% by 2020, much faster than the projected increase in domestic energy production.
• The shortfall between energy demand and domestic production is projected to increase nearly 50% by 2020.

Current Events                                         

Missouri S&T Solar House Competition 2013

The Missouri S&T Solar House Team is the only team in the world today that has been accepted to compete in five out of the six U.S. Solar Decathlons. In this video, you can see the creation of their fifth home, the Chameleon House! The Chameleon House is unique in the fact that its home automation system adapts the interior space in the most efficient way possible by looking at all options to heat and cool the space. Whether it be opening the automatic windows, or turning on its efficient air conditioning unit, it will find the most cost-effective way to condition the home. Watch as the Missouri S&T Solar House Team builds the Chameleon House from scratch! The team spent two years designing this home, and in this video you can see how their designs came to life for the 2013 Solar Decathlon competition.

Now that the house has made its journey back to Rolla, MO following the Solar Decathlon, it will become the first installment of a new Solar Village. Our current village of four past competition homes has been a great learning and outreach tool for the Solar House Team. To keep up with the ever growing number of homes being produced by the team, Missouri S&T has allocated a large plot of land nestled in between the football stadium, golf course and Innovation Center. This plot will have the space for up to 6 new homes including the Chameleon House. Once the house is reassembled in the spring of 2014, it will become a meeting space and office area for the team to use as a new design comes to life. This will serve as a testing period for the homes systems to make sure that everything is operational and safe for a full time resident. After the testing, the home will be open for use as student housing. Students and faculty can apply for a spot to actually live in and enjoy the homes on the Missouri S&T campus. The home will also be available for research of sustainable technologies and techniques. This will provide even more students with hands on experience of what it means to go green.

The team is currently hard at work on yet another Solar Decathlon proposal for a chance to compete in the US DOE Solar Decathlon 2015. The team is taking all of the lessons learned throughout the 2013 competition and applying the knowledge to build a winning home. Several concepts are being discussed and developed for the proposal which is due at the end of December.

In the News

Haloalkaliphilic Bacteria in a Biofuel Cell

November 26, 2013 by Melanie Mormile, Biological Sciences, Missouri S&T

Small Modular Reactors Angling to Fill Nuclear Niche
September 10, 2013  by Conway Irwin,  Breaking Energy 

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has alluded to the promise of small modular reactors (SMRs) multiple times over the past few months, noting that they may offer benefits in terms of financing, costs and security, but warning that realistic expectations suggest these reactors are unlikely to come onstream for almost a decade.

“We remain very interested in pursuing small modular reactors as a technology option for the future,” he said in Washington, DC in June. “We don’t know at this stage what the cost is, and that’s why we’re helping to move some new technologies towards licensing,” but “this would change a lot of the dynamics around how nuclear power’s deployed, particularly the financing structure.”  (more)

World News

The Wall Street Journal

Read more about the current status of energy research around the world.