Posts

Date	Title	Description
2026-01-02	ENGR333 project Fall 2025	The Fall 2025 ENGR333 project focused on development of a green revolving fund for the City of Grand Rapids.
2025-12-06	ABET-Lemelson award wrapup	Here are some final thoughts, photos, and links associated with the ABET and The Lemelson Foundation Engineering for One Planet Innovation in Sustainability Award ceremony…
2025-10-26	ABET-Lemelson award acceptance speech	On Friday, 24 October 2025, I received the ABET and The Lemelson Foundation Engineering for One Planet Innovation in Sustainability Award at a ceremony at the Marriott…
2025-09-24	Global transport emissions 1850-2020: Historical drivers and lessons for transport decarbonization	My latest article (with co-authors from Portugal and England) has appeared in Transportation Research Part D. In it, we look at global transport CO₂ emissions from 1850 to…
2025-09-08	From twin transition to twice the burden? Digitalisation, energy demand, and economic growth	My latest paper is now available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108747. The “twin transition” in the title is the ongoing digital transition and the hoped-for…
2025-08-18	Insights from the evolution of transport technologies, 1800–2020	My colleague Bernardo Tostes is the lead author on my latest article: Insights from the evolution of transport technologies, 1800–2020: Energy use, transitions, and efficiency…
2025-08-01	ABET/Lemelson Innovation in Sustainability Award	I am surprised and humbled to be the recipient of the 2025 ABET and The Lemelson Foundation Engineering for One Planet Innovation in Sustainability Award.
2025-07-24	Part II	My latest article (again with co-authors Gregor Semieniuk and Paul Brockway) is now available at https://doi.org/10.1177/01956574251331966. This is Part II of a two-part…
2025-07-07	Energetic and Economic Aspects of Rebound, Part I: Foundations of a Rigorous Analytical Framework	With colleagues and friends Gregor Semieniuk (economist) and Paul Brockway (energy analyst), I developed a mathematical framework to describe the rebound effect. More than…
2024-12-26	ENGR333 project Fall 2024	The Fall 2024 ENGR333 project focused on solar PV electricity generation for Calvin University.
2024-11-27	Calvin Solar Farm project featured in The Banner	The Fall 2024 ENGR333 Calvin Solar Farm project was featured in an article in The Banner today.
2024-10-01	Calvin Solar Farm interview	I was interviewed today on The Shelley Irwin Show. I discussed the Fall 2024 ENGR333 Calvin Solar Farm project.
2024-06-17	A country-level primary-final-useful (CL-PFU) energy and exergy database: overview of its construction and 1971—2020 world-level efficiency results	My colleague Paul Brockway is the lead author on a new article that took six years to write: A country-level primary-final-useful (CL-PFU) energy and exergy database…
2024-05-20	Estimation of useful-stage energy returns on investment for fossil fuels and implications for renewable energy systems	My colleague Emmanuel Aramendia is the lead author on a new article entitled Estimation of useful-stage energy returns on investment for fossil fuels and implications for…
2024-04-28	On the right track? Energy use, carbon emissions, and intensities of world rail transportation, 1840—2020	My colleague Bernardo Tostes is the lead author on a new article entitled On the right track? Energy use, carbon emissions, and intensities of world rail transportation…
2024-01-13	ZA2005 blog comes back to life	Over the December 2023 holiday, I set a project for myself: resurrect four old blogs.
2024-01-09	CLPFUDatabase: A suite of R packages for energy conversion chain analysis	My latest article was published today and is entitled CLPFUDatabase: A suite of R packages for energy conversion chain analysis and was published in the Journal of Open…
2023-10-06	ENGR333 project Fall 2023	The Fall 2023 ENGR333 project focused on the carbon neutrality date for Calvin University.
2023-10-05	ENGR333 project Fall 2022	The Fall 2022 ENGR333 project focused on sustainable heating for Calvin University.
2023-10-04	ENGR333 project Fall 2021	The Fall 2021 ENGR333 project focused on the sustainable housing and featured a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Kent County.
2023-10-03	ENGR333 project Fall 2020	The Fall 2020 semester ENGR333 class did not have an all-class project, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023-10-02	ENGR333 project Fall 2019	The Fall 2019 ENGR333 project focused on the energy rebound effect.
2023-10-01	ENGR333 project Fall 2018	The Fall 2018 ENGR333 project focused on renewable energy generation.
2023-09-30	ENGR333 project Fall 2017	The Fall 2017 ENGR333 project focused on campus energy cost savings.
2023-09-29	ENGR333 project Spring 2017	The Spring 2017 ENGR333 project focused on campus energy consumption.
2023-09-28	ENGR333 project Fall 2015	The Fall 2015 ENGR333 project focused on building operational efficiency.
2023-09-27	ENGR333 project Fall 2014	The Fall 2014 ENGR333 project focused on net zero homes. I asked the students “What would it take for a home in Grand Rapids to become net-zero?”
2023-09-26	ENGR333 project Fall 2013	The Fall 2013 ENGR333 project focused on production and use of biofuels at Calvin University.
2023-09-25	ENGR333 project Fall 2012	The Fall 2012 ENGR333 project focused on a prospective West Wing addition to the Spoelhof College Center at Calvin University.
2023-09-24	ENGR333 project Fall 2011	The Fall 2011 ENGR333 project focused on the Bunker Interpretive Center (BIC) at Calvin University. I asked the students “What would it take for Calvin College to obtain an …
2023-09-23	ENGR333 project Fall 2010	The Fall 2010 ENGR333 project focused on heating and air-conditioning in campus dormitories, which are notoriously leaky and inefficient.
2023-09-22	ENGR333 project Spring 2010	The Spring 2010 ENGR333 project assessed options for the design of a redundant data center for the Calvin campus.
2023-09-21	ENGR333 project Fall 2008	The Fall 2008 semester ENGR333 project assessed the feasibility of a Green Revolving Fund for Calvin College. I asked the students “What would it take to implement a Calvin…
2023-09-20	ENGR333 project Fall 2007	The Fall 2007 semester ENGR333 project involved a collaboration with students in BIOL354, taught by my colleague Dave Warners. We asked our students “What would it take to…
2023-09-19	ENGR333 project Fall 2006	In the Fall 2006 semester, I challenged the ENGR333 students to “construct a realistic plan to make a significant impact on the Calvin College campus with electrical power…
2023-09-18	ENGR333 project Fall 2005	In the Fall 2005 semester, I challenged the ENGR333 students to “develop realistic designs for the wellness center HVAC system and upgraded physical plant infrastructure.”
2023-09-17	ENGR333 project Fall 2004	In the Fall 2004 semester, I assigned the first in a long series of ENGR333 all-class projects.
2023-09-16	About ENGR333	ENGR333 is a class taken by senior mechanical engineering students and energy, environment, and sustainability engineering students at Calvin University, usually in the Fall…
2023-07-27	January Series in July	Today, colleague Kate Van Liere and I were featured on the January Series in July.
2023-04-20	Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching	Tonight, I was awarded Calvin University’s Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching. My acceptance speech follows.

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