Natural Outlook, Fall 2010 Page: 2
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initiated an innovative approach to
environmental education at the Wetlands
Research and Education Center, through
a cooperative GEAR UP (Gaining Early
Awareness and Readiness for Under-
graduate Programs) grant. GEAR UP
Waco works to increase the number of
low-income students who are prepared
for college.
Water Conservatio
Tarrant Regional Water District,
Fort Worth
As a water supply wholesaler for the
North Central Texas area, the Tarrant
Regional Water District (TRWD) provides
service to more than 70 water-user
groups, including the Trinity River
Authority and the cities of Fort Worth,
Arlington, and Mansfield. In an effort
to develop a unified water conservation
message for North Texas, the TRWD
approached Dallas Water Utilities (DWU)
in 2007 about using DWU's existing
campaign tagline, "Save Water. Nothing
Can Replace It," for the district's own
collaborative campaign. Since then, the
TRWD's water conservation campaign
has continued to reach citizens of North
Texas, who make up approximately
20 percent of the state's entire population.
By implementing strategies such as
not watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
consumer water use has declined the pasttwo years, despite population growth.
Since the campaign began, water use
among the district's primary customers
has declined by more than 36.2 million
gallons a day, saving a total of 13.2 billion
gallons of water.
Waco Metropolitan Area
Regional Sewerage System
The Waco Metropolitan Area Regional
Sewerage System wastewater treatment
plant launched an initiative in 2002 to
reduce and manage its energy usage
in a way that benefits the environment
and saves money. The plant treats up to
37.8 million gallons of municipal waste
from seven member cities each day and
has been systematically increasing the
efficiency of its equipment and processes
over the past eight years-yielding a
35 percent average reduction in annual
energy usage.
The treatment plant also found a way
to turn some of its waste into energy. In
2006, it developed an industrial receiving
station capable of accepting fats, oils,
grease, and high-strength organic wastes.
The receiving station allows the plant to
produce more methane gas and convert it
to electricity. This bio-generated electric-
ity now satisfies 33 percent of the plant's
overall electricity needs, thereby reducing
its reliance on natural gas.-. I
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Texas Lehigh Cement Company, LP, Buda
Buda is now a bustling suburb. But
in 1978, when Texas Lehigh Cement
Company first began operating its dry
cement kiln there, the town was a rural,
agricultural community. Texas Lehigh
realized that the community might well
have objections to having a cement plant
as a neighbor, so it opened the plant'sNATURAL OUTLOOK- FALL 2010
2
\_
&
usiness/Technical and
novative Technology
Oncor Electric Delivery LLC, Dallas
Operating the largest distribution and
transmission system in Texas, which
delivers electricity to approximately 3 mil-
lion homes and businesses in the Dallas-
Fort Worth Metroplex, Oncor Electric
Delivery realized that it needed to increase
the reliability of electrical power to meet
rapidly expanding energy demands from a
growing customer base. To this end,
Oncor invested $60 million in Texas' only
urban Static Var Compensators (SVCs).
This cluster of SVCs, the largest
concentration in the world, acts as a
local, high-speed "voltage reservoir" that
responds automatically to support the
system during peak electricity demand.
When a higher-than-usual demand on the
electric grid system causes voltage fluctua-
tions across the grid, the SVCs kick into
action within 20 milliseconds-the fastest
response time in the world-to prevent
potentially widespread power outages.
In addition, installing an SVC in the
Parkdale neighborhood of Dallas elimi-
nates the need to generate an estimated
563 hours of peak-load electricity, thereby
reducing air emissions and conserving
988,160 megawatt hours of energy. These
annual savings will occur over the lifetime
of the equipment and will continue to
increase as the electric load grows.
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Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Natural Outlook, Fall 2010, periodical, 2010; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth576277/m1/4/: accessed June 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.