Students get a glimpse of future without oil

Local high school students are on the road to breaking the oil addiction they’re inheriting from their parents’ generation.

Sixteen students at the Colorado Springs School are studying energy for a month, from fossil fuels to renewable resources.

After learning about coal, crude oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, biomass, solar power, wind power, hydrogen and ethanol, the students got their final assignment: design and build a model car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell that travels at least 10 meters (32.81 feet).

Some think the hands-on project will help shape their career paths. Eleventh-grader Tye Tutt has his sights set on engineering, one of the disciplines involved in creating cleaner-burning fuels.

“I’d like to end up on the design side,” he said. “Right now, it’s hard to tell what technology will rise above to power transportation.”

Senior Maddie West sees a competition developing between alternative fuels. Factors including cost, reliability, availability and portability will come into play, she said.

Ninth-grader Christopher Dailey looks forward to the day when it’s common to fill up at a hydrogen fueling station instead of a gas station.

“We’re going to run out of oil at some point, and although hydrogen doesn’t seem very efficient today, it’d be a good thing to switch to because it wouldn’t pollute the air,” he said.

Students produced hydrogen by using a battery current to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, which fuel cells then use to produce electricity.

The technology has emerged as an energy alternative evidenced by President Bush’s committment of $1.2 billion between 2004 and 2008 to accelerate research and development so that by 2020 the automotive industry will be ready to commercialize fuel cell vehicles.

Some students plan to make lifestyle changes based on what they’re learning about the dwindling supply of fossil fuels and the Bush administration’s push to reduce the nation’s dependency on foreign energy sources.

West said she’s going to get her bicycle fixed so she can ride instead of drive and look for ways to reduce energy consumption as she heads into a career in biology.

“This really opened my eyes to how much energy we waste,” agreed 11th-grader Robert Kosar. “It’s time to find something else that’ll work for the future.”

This is the first time for the school to offer a special seminar focusing on energy, said Paul Young, a mathematics teacher who created the curriculum.

“These kids will see drastic changes in the energy sector in their lifetimes, and some will be able to have an impact and be on the cutting edge of the great debate,” Young said.

“It’s one of the hottest topics and one of the greatest challenges in the 21st Century — finding cleaner, more efficient and cost-competitive technologies to utilize renewable resources.”

Using an interdisciplinary approach that blended economics, engineering, technology and environmental issues, the seminar culminated with a contest to create small cars powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Students tested their projects Thursday. Each had a different design, using materials such as wood, metal, aluminum tubing, balloons, even compact discs for wheels.

“It was harder than I thought to build and get it to work,” Dailey said. “This will be a big career field as I get older, so I might look into it.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0235 or debbie.kelley@gazette.com