Fuel cells will be the topic of discussion for the Sustainability Café on Tuesday, November 16, from 12:10-1:00pm in the Clark Lounge in the Campus Center.
The presenter for this event will be Cornelius B. (Neil) Murphy Jr., president of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.
Bring a bag lunch; light refreshments and beverages will be served.
The Sustainability Café series is offered in conjunction with the faculty colloquium series sponsored by the Center for Faculty Excellence. All faculty colloquium series events and Sustainability Cafés are free and open to the entire College community.
The complete title of Murphy's presentation is "Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Demonstration and Research at ESF." SUNY-ESF has received funds from both the New York Power Authority and the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to install a molten carbonate fuel cell that will be used to produce energy to help power the college's campus and to research methods for commercializing clean energy.
The 250-kilowatt fuel cell will be the only one of its type in New York State, and one of only about five across the country. The installation is the first stage of a larger project that will eventually match the fuel cell with a gasifier fueled by wood. The wood, a type of willow known as salix, has been the focus of more than 15 years of research by ESF scientists exploring ways to commercialize woody crops in the United States.
Neil Murphy has been president of SUNY-ESF since May 2000. Prior to that position, he held various positions at O'Brien & Gere Engineers, Inc. starting out as a laboratory technician, and working his way up to president and chairman of the board.
Murphy's technical expertise lies in the areas of environmental science and engineering management, hazardous waste management, environmental assessment, limnology, urban runoff planning, and industrial wastewater treatment.
Contributed by Marian Brown
