Contact: Eric Leonhardt, WWU associate professor of Engineering Technology, (360) 650-7266, or e-mail eric.leonhardt@wwu.edu.
BELLINGHAM - Western Washington University Associate Professor Eric Leonhardt will present "Beyond Petroleum: Local Transportation Solutions for a Global Problem" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the Bellingham City Council chambers, second floor, Bellingham City Hall, 210 Lottie St.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is offered as the first event of the annual Science and the UniverCity community science lecture series. It is sponsored by the WWU College of Sciences and Technology, the City of Bellingham, and, along with the other CST outreach programs, ‘Wizards at Western" and the "Leaders in Their Fields," is also sponsored in part by a grant from the Cherry Point BP refinery.
Leonhardt, the director of WWU's Vehicle Research Institute and an associate professor of Engineering Technology, said the transportation sector in the United States is 97 percent dependent upon fossil fuels; and growing global demand, limited production capacity, emissions, global warming and oil supply chain security are a few of the continuing challenges facing the global use of oil for transportation. At the lecture, he will discuss three of the VRI's projects focused on alternative fuels and increased fuel efficiency:
- Viking 45 - A prototype vehicle for the Progressive Automotive X Prize. Designed to attain 100 mpg, the vehicle is made of lightweight composites and should weigh around 1,400 pounds, including two occupants. Both a hybrid and an electric version of the vehicle are planned.
- Viking 32 -Turning cow power into horsepower, this parallel hybrid vehicle runs on biomethane derived from dairy waste. A pilot scale biomethane refinery is being built to turn biogas from Lynden's Vander Haak Dairy's anaerobic digester into biomethane (natural gas) fuel for vehicles. The designed capacity is 100,000 gasoline-equivalent-gallons of energy per year.
- Kitsap Transit Access Bus - A low-floor, composite hybrid 14-passenger bus is being designed for Kitsap County and several other transit authorities across Washington state.
Leonhardt has bachelor's degrees from Whitman College and WWU, and a master's degree from the University of Michigan. He has taught at WWU since 2002.
"We are pleased again this year to have the support of the City in our efforts to bring programs on important topics in science and technology to the Bellingham community. Furthermore, to have endorsement of our efforts, in the form of support for this series by the BP Corp., is especially gratifying," said Arlan Norman, dean of the College of Sciences and Technology. "This is a program for the community, a program that we hope really contributes to the general understanding of many important and exciting topics in today's complex world of scientific and technological advances."
Leonhardt's presentation will also be taped and rebroadcast on Bellingham BTV 10. For more information on the lecture, contact Leonhardt at (360) 650-7266, or e-mail eric.leonhardt@wwu.edu.
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