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April 09 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine My ViewMike Mallory: Energy-wise for a brighter future
Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez
How important is it to conserve energy? That is a big question for many of us at the Laboratory who are looking toward the future with an eye on energy use and availability. Without hesitation, I can assure you it is very important. In the coming years, Los Alamos must consider the availability of energy resources as we identify new goals and projects. For example, as we move forward with our plans to transform the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center into MaRIE (Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes), our energy needs will increase beyond what we currently use at LANSCE. The same holds true for our supercomputing initiatives and numerous other activities in the upcoming years. The more we can do with our day-to-day activities to lighten the energy load, the more energy will be available to support new initiatives and maintain our essential capabilities. The more efficient we become, the smaller the load on our aging infrastructure, and the better prepared we will be to meet new challenges in the future. As we go forward, we hope to grow our energy research at the Lab and become a leader in discovering new technologies and methods to improve not only our energy efficiency but the nation’s as well. As we build new facilities, such as the CMRR, we will design and construct them to be as energy efficient as possible, but we won’t stop there. We will continue to look for ways to improve the energy efficiency of our current facilities by incorporating efficient lighting and improving the efficiency of our heating and air-conditioning systems. We also are looking at installing renewable energy resources on site and using the energy produced for ourselves and Los Alamos County. And we will need your help. Each of us should not underestimate our ability to contribute to energy savings. We can start by doing simple things like turning off computers and lights at the end of the workday or when away from our work areas for long periods and only using space heaters when we really need them. Instead of turning on the space heater to ward off a chill, we can put on a sweater or jacket for added warmth. The future holds many challenges, but by working together, we can make it much brighter by being energy-wise today. --Mike Mallory, principal associate director for Operations Other Headlines
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