Retiring President's Lecture
Energy Trade-Offs
Robert L. Hershey
Professional Engineer
Retiring President
About the Lecture
Energy choices involve trade-offs. The costs and availability of energy sources must be considered, as well as the environmental effects. Generally, these factors will be site-specific to the area being served. This lecture will address these issues in relation to a project the author analyzed in the Czech Republic. Various scenarios were considered for heating the town of Cesky Krumlov, 90 miles south of Prague. Based on the trade-offs, an economical method was chosen to provide heating for the buildings while achieving a significant reduction in particulate emissions.
About the Speaker
Robert L. Hershey is a consulting engineer. He has consulted to the Department of Energy, EPA, and others on energy and environmental studies. He developed spreadsheet techniques used to analyze trade-offs for U.S. projects in Poland and the Czech Republic. He has held engineering and management positions at Booz Allen & Hamilton, Science Management Corporation, BBN, and Bell Labs. He received his B.S. summa cum laude from Tufts University in 1963, his M.S. from MIT in 1964, and his Ph.D. from Catholic University of America in 1973. He is the author of two books, “How to Think with Numbers” and “All the Math You Need to Get Rich: Thinking with Numbers for Financial Success.” He is currently president-elect of the District of Columbia Society of Professional Engineers.