Posted by
Allison Paradise on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/save-the-electron-tp7583238p7583258.html
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Good morning everyone,
Thanks so much to all of you have completed the survey already. A copy of the
study will be available in the spring, and I will share the link with the group
when it is online.
I really appreciate the conversation this post has generated. In response to
some of the comments/questions:
1. I know electrons aren't actually wasted; 'please stop inconveniencing
electrons' just didn't have the same ring to it. But I do appreciate those of
you who have pointed this error out to me. You are correct - I should not have
sacrificed accuracy for the sake of a tag line, and for this I apologize.
Perhaps instead I should have pointed out that on average laboratories consume
nearly 5x as much energy as a typical office space. Laboratories account for
nearly 60% of all energy used on a typical academic campus, while only occupying
25% of the total space. On average, one dual compressor -80 freezer consumes 20
kWh/day, which is as much as an average house uses. One fume hood can consume
over 60 kWh/day. And while no one, to my knowledge, has yet rigorously studied
the amount of energy consumed by an Argon-Ion laser, I'd be willing to bet it's
not trivial, especially when the effects on the HVAC system are taken into
account.
So labs have the attention of the utility companies. And that's a good thing,
because they are willing to provide financial incentives to save energy. For
example, a utility company in California fully funded the replacement of a gas
laser with a solid state laser simply based on energy savings. We'd like to be
able to do this for many different pieces of equipment, and that is why we are
asking for your help with this study.
2. In response to the comment about the Hg bulb: based on the plug load alone,
metal halide and mercury bulbs are not the largest consumers of energy in a lab.
However they do radiate a substantial amount of heat (I used to use our metal
halide light source to warm my hands), and this heat can have a significant
impact on the heating/cooling in the building. The extent of this impact will
depend on the size of the room, the type of HVAC in the building, and the number
of mercury or metal halide light sources, but our models show that removing
these light sources can reduce HVAC-related energy use anywhere from 10-30%.
3. Because we can really only have an impact on labs in the US we have limited
the survey to people whose labs are in the US. We didn't feel like it was fair
to ask anyone outside of the US to donate their time to this project when they
themselves would likely not benefit from it.
I hope this helps clarify some things. As always, any questions and all
comments are welcome. And please, if you haven't already done so, complete the
survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/CEEL
Have a great day!
Best,
Allison
allison paradise | executive director | my green lab | 860.680.3283 |
[hidden email]
> On January 8, 2015 at 1:16 AM Peter Gabriel Pitrone <
[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
>
> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
>
http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy> Post images on
http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Hello Allison,
>
> Also, the questionnaire won't let you go on to the next page unless the
> location of your lab is in the USA.
>
> Best Regards,
> Pete
>
> Peter Gabriel Pitrone - DipRMS TechRMS FRMS
> Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopist and Imaging Specialist
> for Dr. Pavel Tomancak's research group at the
> Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
> Pfotenhauerstraße 108
> 01307 Dresden, Saxony
> Germany
>
>
>
http://www.mpi-cbg.de/research/research-groups/pavel-tomancak.html &
>
http://www.openspim.org>
> "I KEEP six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); their names
> are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who." Rudyard Kipling -
> The Elephant's Child
>
> On Thu, January 8, 2015 08:52, Andreas Bruckbauer wrote:
> <|> *****
> <|> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> <|>
http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy> <|> Post images on
http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
> posting.
> <|> *****
> <|>
> <|> Hi Allison,
> <|> Good cause but you chose the wrong name! We are returning every single
> <|> electron we borrow from the electricity supplier. Otherwise our lab
> would
> <|> be negatively charged and our hair stand up all the time! Just that
> <|> pumping the electrons around takes an awful lot of chemical, nuclear,
> <|> solar or other energy which is then converted to useless heat at our end
> <|> and we probably have to pump more electrons around to transport this
> heat
> <|> to somwhere outside the building (switch on the air conditioning).
> <|>
> <|> Best wishes
> <|>
> <|> Andreas
> <|>
> <|> -----Original Message-----
> <|> From: "Allison Paradise" <
[hidden email]>
> <|> Sent: ‎07/‎01/‎2015 23:43
> <|> To: "
[hidden email]"
> <
[hidden email]>
> <|> Subject: save the electron!
> <|>
> <|> *****
> <|> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> <|>
http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy> <|> Post images on
http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
> posting.
> <|> *****
> <|>
> <|> Every day, millions and millions of electrons are wasted in laboratories
> <|> -
> <|> from centrifuges kept at 4 degrees 'just in case' and water baths
> <|> permanently set to 37 degrees, to microscopes that are left on overnight
> <|> because the Hg bulb needed to be left on for 30 minutes, laboratories
> <|> waste
> <|> a lot of energy. Our non-profit, My Green Lab, is working to reduce
> <|> energy
> <|> use in labs, and put those energy savings back into the pockets of
> <|> researchers in the form of energy rebates. But before we can develop
> <|> financial incentives, we need to know more information about the type of
> <|> equipment you use in your lab.
> <|>
> <|> Please help us by taking this 15-minute survey. Anyone who works in a
> <|> lab
> <|> is qualified to participate, and all participants will be entered to win
> <|> a
> <|> MacBook Air. A link to the survey is here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/CEEL
> <|> Feel free to share this link with your friends and colleagues.
> <|>
> <|> For more information about our non-profit, or about how you can save
> <|> energy
> <|> in your lab, please visit our website: www.mygreenlab.org
> <|>
> <|> Feel free to contact me with any feedback or questions at
> <|>
[hidden email]
> <|>
> <|> Thank you!!
> <|>
> <|> Thank you for helping us save the electron!
> <|>