Lake Land College Receives Two Energy Grants

Lake Land College has been awarded a $30,000 grant to help determine what type of wind turbine would fit the needs of the college. The college also plans to install solar hot water heaters, natural lighting via skylights with reflective lenses, and prairie grasses into the landscaping. The projects are expected to begin in the spring of 2008. The College also recently received a $45,000 grant that enabled it to complete the installation of a geothermal system in the Student Fitness Center, which is now heated and cooled entirely with geothermal energy. The geothermal grant was provided by GeoAlliance as part of a $1 million program to further the proliferation of geothermal technology. The wind turbine grant was provided by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.

July 24, 2008
Lake Land College Lightning Bug hits the road

Lake Land College's electric powered Lightning Bug has made its maiden voyage!  On Thursday, the state of-the-art Bug traveled through four counties across the college's district starting south of Dieterich and ending at the main campus in Mattoon. The "green" car made the entire journey consuming no gasoline, as it is fueled with 16 re-chargeable batteries.
"This is the culmination of 14 months of work by Lake Land students and employees," said Tim Van Dyke, division chair of technology. "The car performed beautifully, we were able to get up to about 50 miles per hour and we traveled about 40 miles."

Van Dyke said the car has been used as a learning tool so that faculty can teach students to how work on electric cars, which are sure to continue to grow in numbers on the road. Van Dyke said the college also hopes to increase community awareness of eco-friendly cars, how they operate and their benefits.

At the "finish line" at the college's main campus the Lightning Bug was met with much fanfare, as Lake Land employees, students and children from the Childcare Lab cheered it on. 

The 1972 Super Beetle, donated to the college foundation by Dr. John Wright of Paris, has been converted from gas to "green." Through a partnership with Mid America Motorworks in Effingham, Lake Land faculty and students removed the internal combustion gasoline-fueled engine and replaced it with an 8-inch D.C. electric motor. Six-volt batteries are the source of power upgrading this old technology to a cleaner, eco-friendly mode of transportation.

Lake Land has many eco-friendly initiatives, such as a new recycling program and geothermal loop and solar panels were both installed this summer. Construction on a wind turbine will begin this fall. In addition, the college’s administration has identified alternative energy as a top priority and has even started using the motto “LLC stands for Leaving Less Carbon.”

“Lake Land doesn’t just want to take part in alternative energy, we want to be a leader,” said Scott Lensink, president.  “We have already implemented some alternative energy projects, but we are looking at what long-term advancements are viable.”

For more information or to watch a video clip of the day's activities, visit www.lakelandcollege.edu/automotive/beetle.