Students and faculty at Rowan University and Rutgers University in New Jersey and Rochester Institute of Technology in New York will benefit from pollution-prevention grants awarded today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
to assist the pharmaceutical industry in implementing source reduction,
pollution prevention, and green engineering design through an engineering
clinic program. In these clinics, Rowan professors and students will
demonstrate to industry representatives how they can reduce energy consumption,
water consumption, hazardous material releases and save money in their
manufacturing processes.
University Center for Advanced Energy Systems will implement a smart electrical
metering system on their Busch and Livingston campuses in Piscataway. Smart
meters record energy consumption and communicate that information to utilities
and their customers. This system will allow Rutgers to identify ways to achieve
energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption, while reducing emissions of
greenhouse gases and energy costs.
Rutgers will received a separate $150,000
grant to recruit high school students as “Water Champions” to lead
water conservation changes throughout their communities. These students will
educate their communities about water conservation, recruit local retailers to
participate in selling water efficient devices, gather data and calculate water
saved from installations of water efficient devices, share project results and
encourage participation from other organizations.
promote wet cleaning in dry cleaners throughout the state. Traditional
dry cleaning uses an environmentally hazardous solvent, while wet
cleaning uses water-based biodegradable detergents. The New York State
Pollution Prevention Institute will select two dry cleaners as case
studies, and will provide technical assistance and funding to defray
equipment costs for converting to wet cleaning. Information will be
shared with other dry cleaning businesses.
In addition, the EPA is providing the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) with $180,000 to train college students to work as
interns in pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities conducting pollution
prevention assessments of their operations. The goals will be to
achieve measurable reductions in energy and water use, minimize
contaminants present in wastewater discharges, and reduce operational
costs.
chemicals being used, stored and generated by New York State high school
laboratories by providing assistance with chemical inventories, the
development of chemical hygiene plans and the distribution of green
chemistry guides.
NJ Technology Council’s final call for presentations
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