Assessing the educational opportunities from a solar powered cultivator at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

Abstract

The need to develop alternatives for fossil fuel energy consumption is mandated by the limit of world oil reserves and the environmental costs associated with their continued use. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate to local farmers the environmental benefits provided by a modified farm implement and to enhance interest in alternative energy systems. The investigators wanted also to evaluate the attitudes among students and the general public in studying energy in lower power applications at Slippery Rock University. This was accomplished through the administration of a purposefully designed survey to 72 subjects who were introduced to alternative energy systems by the investigators at the farmers' fairs. Presents a discussion about every indicator proposed by the research instrument with implications for colleges and universities in gearing curricula toward sustainability. The acquisition of solar powered equipment remains inaccessible for a majority of Pennsylvania farmers. However, this initial evaluation study demonstrates a sincere interest toward solar energy, in an attempt to pursue sustainability a step further, at an institution of higher education, in this prominent agrarian region of the USA.

Citation

Borsari, B., Elder, T. and Reynolds, T. (2004), "Assessing the educational opportunities from a solar powered cultivator at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 190-198. https://doi.org/10.1108/14676370410526260