Introduction
The forest products industry is one of the most energy intensive industries
in the United States and generates over 2 billion tons of waste every
year. To help address this issue, in 1994 the American Forest and Paper
Association and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Industrial Technologies
formed a partnership to research, develop and deliver advanced energy
efficiency and pollution prevention technologies for the forest products
industry. The Energy Challenge program was a byproduct of this partnership.
The Energy Challenge is directly aligned with the US Department of Energy's
Agenda 2020, a program that assists the pulp and paper industry in reaching
the vision of an energy efficient manufacturing process in the year 2020.
A major thrust of the design competition is the sponsor's commitment to
promote energy efficiency and waste minimization concepts in higher education
In 1998, the first year of the program, the theme was thermal insulated, impact resistant, liquid packaging. Student teams designed and built a package, which protected a raw egg when dropped 20 feet onto a solid surface.
The cube was filled with water and built solely from chemical wood pulp, secondary wood cellulose and paper chemicals. The cube was not to leak on or after impact and also had to meet specific temperature requirements.
Energy Challenge 99 involved students designing and building a one person kayak made from wood fiber, which they raced on a lake near Atlanta. The kayaks were neither to leak nor to absorb water while in the water. Each product had specific requirements and was judged against similar designs by other student teams.
The next competition, Energy Challenge 2001, took place at Lake Lanier in Atlanta, Georgia. Students were tasked with designing and constructing a nonwoven synthetic composite sail, using wood fiber, synthetic polymers and commonly used paper chemicals. The wood fiber utilized in the sail construction was obtained from an initial wood to fiber reduction stage.
This project had a special emphasis on a fundamental understanding of fiber-to-fiber bonding, liquid penetration resistance, energy efficiency, the structural mechanics and strength of paper products, the minimization of waste in product design, and the environmental impact.
The DesignAn All Paper Sailboard was the focus of Energy Challenge 2002. The emphasis was to 1) improve environmental performance of the forest products industry at minimum cost, 2) focus on energy performance through technologies that provide maximum value from the industry's unique position in renewal and recoverable energy and cogeneration. 3)Teams were also asked to focus on the development of enabling technologies that provide the basis for new materials, including chemicals, from our forest base. Students had to design and construct an all paper sailboard using paper materials such as corrugated paperboard or linerboard. Commonly used paper chemicals could be utilized in finishing and bonding the board. Merit points were awarded to teams who developed novel materials from wood fiber and/or who developed novel functional chemicals from wood that were then utilized in the construction of the sailboard.
A Paper Hang Glider is the focus of the Energy Challenge 2003 Competition. Teams will design, construct, and fly a hang glider constructed from approximately 75% wood fiber and the remainder from other materials required to ensure the overall safety and controllability of the glider. This will be a gliding, not a soaring event. The objective will be to design and construct the glider to comply with engineering and material science specifications. As in previous competitions, merit points will be awarded for novelty and innovative design considerations. This competition will be a distance event starting from a known elevation in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
