 |
|
UNR
Renewable Energy Center (UNR-REC)
|
 |
Nevada will soon have the only college campus in the world completely powered by geothermal energy. The Redfield Campus, a partnership among the University of Nevada, Reno, Truckee Meadows Community College, Desert Research Institute, the Regional Transportation Commission, Sierra Pacific Power, and Ormat Nevada, has the potential to become a world-class research facility in the field of renewable energy resources. In 1995 the Nell J. Redfield Foundation donated land for the campus, southwest of the junction of the Mount Rose Highway and U.S. 395. A year later, the foundation pledged $5 million to help construct the inaugural building. In 1999 the Nevada Legislature allocated $5.2 million for the project. The building is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2005. |
|||||||||||||||
|
REDFIELD CAMPUS |
||||||||||||||||
|
The UNR Renewable Energy Center (UNR-REC) Housed at the Redfield Campus, the goals of UNR-REC are to: Produce geothermal based electrical power, heating, and cooling to meet the Redfield Campus’ needs, Conduct research on hydrogen production to meet the need for hydrogen based power for an initial fleet of Regional Transportation Commission buses being converted to hydrogen operation, Provide laboratories for geothermal and renewable energy research, Provide classrooms and laboratories for geothermal and renewable energy undergraduate and graduate education and workforce training, Provide for K-12 education for students and teachers in geothermal and renewable energy and to stimulate interest in engineering as a career, Provide a forum to stimulate public interest and awareness of the possibilities for geothermal and renewable energy to impact the Nevada economy and national security positively, and help to stimulate economic development in Northern Nevada. |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
The Redfield Campus is located at the south end of Reno, adjacent to
the Steamboat Springs geothermal area. Ormat Nevada, which operates
three geothermal power plants at Steamboat Springs, has agreed to
contribute
one megawatt of electricity from geothermal energy,
600 gallons per minute of 180o F degree water (enough to heat the campus buildings), and 100 gallons per minute of
300o F degree water at no cost, for research purposes.
In addition to geothermal energy research and education the Redfield Campus also will focus on other renewable energy technology including solar thermal energy, solar photovoltaic energy, wind energy, hydrogen energy, heat exchange development and waste materials energy resource. |
|||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
| The photo at right, looking west towards Steamboat Springs, shows the approximate location of the proposed hot water pipeline and transmission line (dashed red line) from the power plants to the Redfield Campus. | ||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
The Role of the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy at UNR-REC The Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy, part of the University of Nevada, Reno, has as its focus the identification and characterization of new high-temperature geothermal systems in the Great Basin, for the purpose of electrical power generation. This focus on "front end" geothermal exploration at the GBCGE, together with the reservoir characterization and power plant design aspects of the REC will provide the world's first integrated geothermal power research and education institution. |
||||||||||||||||
|
See what the Nevada Southwest Energy Partnership (NSEP) says about the Renewable Energy Center |
||||||||||||||||
|
To download a Powerpoint Presentation outlining the UNR-REC project! |
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |