SMU played host to a “green experiment” during June, allowing Texas Gulf Coast Company to install and demonstrate a zero-emission electricity generator on campus.

The generator is dubbed “the green machine” because it uses no fuel to generate electricity. Instead, it uses industrial waste heat, which is generated as a byproduct of an industrial process, or geothermal energy to heat a refrigerant that expands into high-pressure vapor that drives the generator.

SMU chose to install the “green machine” outside the SMU police department on a large boiler, using the heat produced from the boiler to cycle out more energy.

According to Loy Sneary, CEO of Gulf Coast, this is the first application of the equipment for commercial use.

“It’s almost a research project that SMU is allowing us to do,” Sneary said in a recent Dallas Business Journal interview. “Texas is the first site for commercial application.”

The generator at SMU produces approximately 50 kilowatts of electricity an hour, which is enough to power 40 to 50 homes, Sneary said. The university has not purchased the machine, which costs $130,000. Rather, SMU is evaluating the equipment to see if it would be worthwhile for the university, according to Michael Paul, SMU’s director of energy management and engineering.

The equipment was installed just in time to host the International Geothermal Energy Utilization Conference on June 17. The conference was held to discuss technology advancements, geo-pressure development, green power for utilities, and economics and business plans for the energy. The “green machine” provided a demonstration of green energy potential for all of the conference goers.

The green technology will also be used as a teaching agent for students in the fall, Paul added. The “green machine” will aid environmental engineering and students of the geo sciences by demonstrating the potential of green energy and its applications in their fields.