EnviroBuzz

Why Oil Will Be With Us for a Long Time

2010-07-11T17:45:00.006-04:00

In a remote village beyond an unnamed hill, where the last road ended miles ago, a man picks up an earthenware bowl. He pours some refined oil into it – maybe vegetable oil, maybe palm oil. Into the oil he inserts a cotton wick, then puts a match to the wick.

That lamp will shine all night long.

That villager could never have gotten the same result with solar or wind – not yet, anyway. Until we find a source of energy that combines the convenience, cost and potency of oil, we'll never give up on the black gold.

Yes, I understand oil has its drawbacks. But society has decided that oil's pros outweigh its cons. The scales will continue to tip that way for quite some time.

Using Solar and Nuclear Energy Won't Cut Our Oil Bill

2010-06-26T18:48:00.011-04:00

A few days ago I heard a radio talk-show host say we should cut our dependence on foreign oil by using more wind, solar and nuclear power. While this is a popular notion, increasing our use of these sources will do extremely little to reduce our oil consumption.

Reason: Oil-fueled power plants generate less than 1% of U.S. electricity. Most of our power is produced from domestic fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in the 12 months ending March 2010, about 45% of our electricity came from coal, 23% from natural gas, 20% from nuclear plants, and 7% from hydroelectric sources.

Renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass and others contributed nearly 4% of our power.

So where does the oil we drill or import go?

Once again, the EIA to the rescue. In March 2010, finished gasoline accounted for 46% of our oil usage. The rest is used in the manufacture of diesel oil, jet fuel, heating fuel, asphalt, plastics, etc., etc.

Which means if we want to reduce our dependence on oil, we need to severely curtail our use of gasoline-powered cars.

Fuel cells, anyone?

Some Chevrolet Volt Owners May Get 240-volt Charging Stations

2010-06-19T14:12:00.005-04:00

When the Chevrolet Volt goes on sale later this year as a 2011 model, about 4,400 owners will be eligible for free 240-volt charging stations. The stations will be funded by federal stimulus money through a program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy.

240-volt charging stations recharge the car in about 4 hours. Standard household 120-volt outlets take about twice as long to recharge the Volt.

The Chevrolet Volt can travel 40 miles on electrical power alone. When the electricity runs out, an onboard generator powered by gasoline recharges the batteries and keeps the car running for, as GM says, "hundreds of miles."

Clean Energy R&D Funds Should Be Tripled in U.S.

2010-06-12T09:04:00.001-04:00

When the CEOs of 7 companies like GE and Microsoft talk with one voice, people should listen.

The American Innovation Energy Council, a council of corporate leaders, urged Congress and President Obama to triple funding for clean-energy related R&D from $5 billion to $16 billion per year.

As reported in the Times, GE's CEO Jeff Immelt said, "The world is not going to wait for the United States to lead. This is about innovation; this is about competition; this is about energy security."

We're not leading — that's a given. But not only are we not following, we're looking in the opposite direction.

Or is it that our only hope of being competitive is waiting for Chinese goods to become more expensive?

Solar-Powered Plane "Solar Impulse" Makes Impressive Debut Flight

2010-05-30T13:50:00.004-04:00

On April 7, 2010, the 3,500-pound solar powered airplane "Solar Impulse" took off from a Swiss military airport near the town of Payerne and flew for 90 minutes.

In the history of solar powered flight, this is a highly significant achievement.

12,000 solar cells, 880 pounds of lithium batteries and 4 electric motors of 10 hp each got the plane off the ground and kept it aloft at an altitude of nearly a mile. The solar powered plane took off at just 30 mph, reaching an average cruising speed of 44 mph.

Watch a video of the maiden flight:

And if you think the plane looks too skinny and delicate to inspire confidence about its ability to carry passengers and cargo, remember that the Wright brothers' Flyer looked puny too. But it spawned leviathans like the Antonov An-225 and the Airbus A380.

Why Government's Response to Oil Spill Is Different From Other Disasters

2010-05-27T17:55:00.006-04:00

When a bridge falls down or a natural disaster strikes, the federal government knows what to do. It has the knowledge and resources to help. It can send food, water, tents, trailers, first aid, sandbags. It can deploy crews to rebuild roads and structures. It can coordinate efforts from private relief agencies.

But when it comes to plugging an oil spill in 5,000 feet of water, the government can't do much. It doesn't have the know-how or technology to fix the problem.

Frustrating as it may be, the solution lies with the oil and oil services companies themselves. They have the knowledge, the experience, the equipment.

If this were, say, a bridge that was slowly buckling for a month, the government would be able to halt the crumbling. It has engineers who could do this in their sleep.

But a specialized field like deep-sea oil drilling? Almost all the engineers with the relevant qualifications are working in industry — not in the government.

Which is as it should be. We can't expect governments to spend time and money developing in-house expertise in every technology. That's the domain of the private sector. This distribution of skills between the public and private sectors leads to efficient allocation of the nation's wealth and resources.

It's only a problem when the private sector misbehaves in a way the government can't remedy. Then all the government can do is criticize, cajole and threaten.

Area Taken Up by Wind Farms

2010-05-02T12:08:00.004-04:00

Wind produces little of the U.S.'s power: 70,761 GWh in 2009, or 1.7% of all electricity generation. At the same time, wind farms seem to take up huge amounts of land. So I began wondering, if we were to aim for, say, making 50% of our electricity from wind, how much of our land area would that take up?

RenewableUK, a trade body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries, provides the answer. (There's no reason for me to believe that the UK's space requirements are different from ours.)

According to them,

To obtain 10% of our electricity from the wind would require ... 0.3% to 0.5% of the UK land area.

They go on to say that less than 1% of this area would be used for foundations and access roads and that the other 99% could still be used for farming. By comparison, they say, 1.5% of the UK land area is covered by roads and about 77% is used for agriculture.

Photo: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Photographic Information Exchange.

Battery-Driven Locomotives

2010-04-17T17:28:00.000-04:00

You knew batteries could power cars. Did you know they could also power locomotives?

Batteries can provide up to 2,000 horsepower to a locomotive. What's more, locomotives spend many minutes while dynamic braking, as opposed to cars that brake for only a few seconds at a time. The energy captured from regenerative braking can cut a locomotive's fuel use by 15%, equivalent to 25,000 – 30,000 gallons of diesel per vehicle per year, and eliminate more than 300,000 kg of CO₂ emissions, equivalent to that from 2,600 cars. The reduction in NO_x emissions is even more significant.

General Electric is currently modeling a sodium metal-chloride battery for use in hybrid locomotives as an alternative to the lithium and metal-hydride batteries used in cars. Key requirements for a locomotive battery are:

Higher energy densities
Ability to withstand the environment of a long-haul locomotive
Tolerance of cell failures in high-voltage strings, where batteries with failed cells continue to operate safely and effectively.

GE has posted a video on its site about the future of battery-powered hybrid locomotives. To see it, click here.

DOT-EPA Fuel Economy Rules - A Summary

2010-04-03T12:01:00.006-04:00

On April 1, 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation and EPA jointly announced new national standards for automotive fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions. Here's a summary.

Vehicles Covered
Passenger cars and light trucks, model years 2012 onward.

New Standard

Starting with MY 2012, improve fleet-wide fuel efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions about 5% each year.
By MY 2016, fleet fuel economy should be 34.1 mpg without credits for air-conditioning improvements, as required by DOT's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration rules.
By MY 2016, manufacturers must achieve a combined average vehicle emission level of 250 grams of carbon dioxide per mile.

Potential Costs
Building cars and light trucks that achieve the standard will cost carmakers an extra $52 billion for MY 2012 through 2016.

Potential Savings

$3,000 in lower fuel costs for each buyer of a covered vehicle, over that vehicle's life.
Nationally, 1.8 billion barrels of oil and nearly 1 billion tons of greenhouse gases over the lives of covered vehicles.

Why the Executive Branch of the Government Loves the New Standard

The savings.
Realizing one of the Obama Administration's first major directives.
Clearer rules for all automakers, instead of three standards (DOT, EPA, and a state standard).

Why the Legislative Branch of the Government Isn't Too Thrilled
Some senators say the rules could hurt the economy, and want to curb EPA action.

Who Else Hates It
The American Petroleum Institute.

Who Else Loves It
Canada. On the same day as the U.S. action, Environment Canada released proposed regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles and which would harmonize with those of the U.S. starting with MY 2011.

Earth Hour at 8:30 pm Local Time Today

2010-03-27T09:29:00.002-04:00

Earth Hour returns at 8:30 pm (2030 hours) local time today.

Last year, nearly 1 billion people in 4,100 cities in 87 countries on 7 continents celebrated Earth Hour. Landmarks that went dark for an hour included:

Empire State Building
Brooklyn Bridge
Broadway Theater Marquees
Las Vegas Strip
United Nations Headquarters
Golden Gate Bridge
Seattle’s Space Needle
Church of Latter-Day Saints Temple
Gateway Arch in St. Louis
Great Pyramids of Giza
Acropolis and Parthenon in Athens
Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro
St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City
Big Ben and Houses of Parliament in London
Elysee Palace and Eiffel Tower in Paris
Beijing’s Birds Nest and Water Cube
Symphony of Lights in Hong Kong
Sydney’s Opera House

The Earth Hour website has some cool videos. Here's a slideshow of Earth Hour 2009:

Micro Hydro Power From the Flipwing

2010-03-25T22:04:00.003-04:00

A Seattle-based company called Hydrovolts has been winning awards for its miniature turbine that you can drop into streams, canals, and pretty much any place that has a steady flow of water.

The turbine, brand named Flipwing, will be produced in three sizes. The smallest will be about the size of a 2-drawer filing cabinet and the largest will be about 2 x 2 x 6 meters. It can be installed in the water stream vertically or horizontally.

The Flipwing's blades swing open on the reverse upstream stroke, presenting their edge to the current. Thus the kinetic energy of the water flow is used almost entirely in turning the blades in the downstream direction.

Hydrovolt's website is a bit opaque about the amount of electricity the Flipwing produces. Using an average market price of electricity of $0.11 per kWh, the site says the turbine can generate, in a 2m/sec current, $1,400 worth of electricity per year. By my calculations, that means it can make 12.7 MWh of electricity annually.

Here's a video of a small Flipwing unit in operation in a stream. Hydrovolt has several more videos on its YouTube channel:

Wallpaper That Emits Light

2010-03-03T22:16:00.004-05:00

You've heard of the incandescent light bulb, and the compact fluorescent light bulb, and the LED light bulb. How about a source of light that isn't a bulb, but an entire wall that emits light?

LOMOX, a company that develops OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technologies, has built OLED materials that could be coated onto a film, which could in turn be attached to a wall. This would turn the entire wall into a light source.

A light source that emits natural-looking light with a brightness of 150 lumens/watt.

The film would consume just 3 to 5 volts of electricity, which means you could power it with a battery. LOMOX says it has overcome a major drawback of OLED technology: short product lifetimes.

The company expects its lighting technology to reach the market in 2012.

Via GlobalSpec.

Solar Cells Made From Common Substances

2010-02-27T14:43:00.003-05:00

From CNET's Green Tech: Researchers at IBM have written a paper describing a solar cell made from common materials like copper, zinc, tin and sulfur or selenium (CZTS).

Conventional silicon and thin-film solar cells are made from scarce or expensive materials that limit production capacity and improvements, according to IBM. Solar cells made from abundant elements have no such cost or production constraints.

The cells IBM describes convert only 9.6% of the solar energy falling on them into electrical energy. While this is 40% higher than what CZTS solar cells have achieved to date, it's far lower than the efficiencies of polysilicon and even thin-film solar cells.

However, IBM's cells use only small amounts of material. If the cells' efficiency were pushed up to 12%, they would be commercially viable alternatives to current products.

Marines Target Solar Energy Development on Front Lines

2010-02-27T10:43:00.003-05:00

In remote battle locations, electronic devices used for communications and targeting run on electricity from generators. Transporting fuel to these places is risky and expensive. The Navy is therefore focusing on renewable energy to power computers in the field.

During the first quarter of this year, the Navy will start procuring renewable power systems made up of solar panels and rechargeable batteries. Known as the Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy System (Greens), it can provide an average continuous output of 300 watts of electricity, with peaks of up to 1 kW.

According to the report in Defense Systems, that's enough to power most of the essential communications and targeting electronics that Marine forces would need in remote locations.

Last October, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced five energy goals through the year 2020. One of the goals is to ensure that by the end of the next decade, at least 40% of the Navy's total energy consumption comes from alternative sources.

How Nuclear Power Works

2010-02-20T18:27:00.013-05:00

A hyperboloid cooling tower at a nuclear power plant. The tower transfers excess heat from the water to the atmosphere.

A nuclear power plant generates electricity by heating water to produce steam, which drives a turbine. The heat is created by splitting uranium atoms.

Uranium is the heaviest naturally-occurring atom in nature. Its nucleus has 92 protons and, in its most common form, 146 neutrons, giving it a mass number of 238. It is indicated by the symbol ²³⁸U₉₂, or just ²³⁸U. For our purposes, we'll refer to it as U-238.

Over 99% of uranium is U-238. Another 0.7% of the element is of a form (or isotope) that has not 146 but 143 neutrons. This is U-235, and is of chief interest to us, because this is the form that can be split manually and that discharges heat on splitting.

Uranium extracted from the earth must be enriched until it contains 2% to 3% of U-235. (Weapons-grade uranium is enriched to 90% U-235.)

The U-235 is placed in a container in a nuclear reactor, where it absorbs neutrons. On being hit by a free neutron, the uranium atom splits into two smaller atoms (typically krypton and barium) and releases two to three neutrons and a huge amount of energy as heat. This event is known as fission.

Each U-235 atom that undergoes fission releases 200 million electron volts, or MeV, of energy. Now 1 MeV is extremely tiny, so tiny you would never feel it. But one gram of U-235 has 2,562,553,191,489,360,000,000 atoms. When all those atoms split, the electron volts emitted add up to a lot of energy (you do the math!). Actually, one gram of U-235 produces the same amount of energy as 5.16 tons of TNT.

Obviously, we can't have that. The fission of uranium must be controlled. Fortunately, there's a way to do that.

Ordinary water, heavy water or graphite are used to slow the neutrons down, and rods of cadmium or barium are inserted into the container to absorb neutrons and thus control their concentration.

As a result, all that fission energy is safely channeled toward making steam, which powers the turbine, thereby generating electricity.

And if you live in Connecticut, know that about 38% of your electricity comes from nuclear power.

Renewable Energy Industry Groups Urge Stronger U.S. Renewable Energy Standard

2010-02-13T21:45:00.003-05:00

CEOs representing renewable energy companies in the U.S. released on Feb. 4, 2010, a study (pdf) that showed increasing our renewable electricity standard to 25% by 2025 would support 274,000 jobs.

The study was released by RES Alliance for Jobs, a coalition of businesses and organizations that support Congressional enactment of a strong federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES).

Battery Than Can Produce Utility-Scale Power

2010-02-03T22:08:00.002-05:00

Think of an aluminum plant running in reverse, generating electricity instead of consuming it.

That's the concept behind a new stationary battery large enough to produce utility-scale power, a technology being developed by MIT Professor David Sadoway.

The battery produces power by making a sandwich out of 2 layers of liquid metal alloy with a layer of a salt in between, and then placing the entire sandwich in an electrolyte. Ions flow from one metal layer through the electrolyte to the other layer, generating electricity. The whole system is maintained at 700° C.

Sadoway's project has already received a grant of nearly $7 million over 5 years from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E. Soon after that, the French oil company Total announced a $4-million research agreement with MIT to jointly develop a smaller version of the battery.

In its press release announcing the grant for the battery (along with names of other grant recipients), ARPA-E said:

If successful, this battery technology could revolutionize the way electricity is used and produced on the grid...

Massive Gains Possible from Energy Efficiency, Says McKinsey & Co.

2010-01-30T15:20:00.001-05:00

There is a McKinsey report out that shows the potential savings of non-transportation energy in the U.S. simply through efficiency.

According to the report, we could (emphasis mine):

reduce annual non-transportation energy consumption by roughly 23 percent by 2020, eliminating more than $1.2 trillion in waste – well beyond the $520 billion upfront investment (not including program costs) that would be required. The reduction in energy use would also result in the abatement of 1.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions annually – the equivalent of taking the entire U.S. fleet of passenger vehicles and light trucks off the roads.

For a pdf copy of the report's executive summary, click here.

For the full 165-page report, click here.

Sustainable Packaging Using Bioplastics

2010-01-23T21:37:00.001-05:00

Just about everything we buy is covered in plastic packaging at some stage of its production cycle. With oil prices rising and consumer demand for sustainable packages growing, companies are turning their attention to packaging made out of bioplastics.

The benefit of bioplastics is, of course, that they degrade in the environment.

As the video below explains, bioplastics can be made from a range of plants such as sugarcane, wheat, tapioca, potato and soy.

Using vegetable products in packaging, however, means they have to be diverted from the food supply — which could lead to food shortages and higher prices. So chemical manufacturers are also looking into making bioplastics out of agricultural waste.

Plastic Solar Cells Provide Light in Villages Lacking Electricity

2010-01-23T17:00:00.006-05:00

Photovoltaic solar cells have long been seen as the most efficient source of inexpensive lighting in rural villages that lack electricity.

Now a scientist at Denmark's Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy has built a lamp made of a flexible plastic sheet on which are embedded a photovoltaic (PV) solar cell, an LED light source, a lithium battery, a diode and copper circuitry.

The rectangular plastic sheet is about the size of an overhead-projector transparency (yes, they still exist). Snapping together the fasteners on two corners of the sheet results in a funnel-shaped structure that produces directional light.

The solar PV cell charges the lithium battery during the day so the battery can power the LED bulbs at night. The cell is made of organic polymers and carbon nanostructures. It is inexpensive to produce but converts only 1% to 2% of the energy falling on it to electricity.

Sure, the light is dim, but the price ($27 for now) is about half what a villager would pay for a year's worth of kerosene to fuel an existing lamp. Each plastic sheet/lamp would last for a year. After all, you can flex a plastic sheet only so many times before it cracks.

Frederik Krebs, the lamp's inventor, hopes to start selling them this year. The market consists of 1.5 billion people in villages in Asia, Africa and Latin America that don't have electricity. Many of these places are so inaccessible they may never be on the grid.

If you were wondering whether an ordinary battery-powered lamp might not cost less, the answer is no. The batteries would run out after about 20 hours, which means each customer would have to buy hundreds of batteries to keep the lamp lit for a few hours every night of the year.

Internet's Power Usage Could Be Reduced 99.9%

2010-01-16T11:01:00.004-05:00

Smarter data coding could cut the energy used by the world's data networks 99.9% by 2015.

The New Scientist reports that Bell Labs has launched a coalition of information and communications industry experts called Green Touch. The consortium has the vision of "significantly reducing the carbon footprint of ICT [information and communications technology] devices, platforms and networks."

Smarter Coding Cuts Through Noise

Green Touch members have identified many approaches to cutting energy use by data communications networks:

Today's networks use high levels of power to rise above the noise inherent in communications channels. Bell Labs plans to develop low-power networks by implementing a code that detects low-power signals and ignores the noise.
An MIT engineer is looking at ways to bundle data traveling over similar routes, which will reduce traffic on trunk routes that consume large amounts of power.
A professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia, will consider "ways to make modems and phones go into a sleep mode when not in use — but from which they can wake up quickly."
Other efforts will focus on power savings in memory and displays, and on changing user behavior.

Generating the power for our telephone, internet and cell phone networks releases 300 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air every year, says the head of research for Bell Labs. That's equal to the emissions from 50 million cars, or one of every 5 cars registered in the U.S.

Imagine the reduction in air pollution if 99.9% of those cars — or 49.95 million cars — were taken off the road.

Smog Standard Strengthened By EPA

2010-01-09T19:38:00.006-05:00

The EPA is proposing to steeply lower the existing standard for emissions of particles that cause ground-level ozone, better known as smog.

According to the EPA, "Ground-level ozone forms when emissions from industrial facilities, power plants, landfills and motor vehicles react in the sun."

Under the proposed "primary" smog standard, emissions would be limited to between 0.060 and 0.070 parts per million (ppm) in eight hours. A separate "secondary" standard would vary with the seasons and protect plants and trees. The agency did not say what this standard would be.

The new smog standard replaces the 0.075 ppm limit the agency set in March 2008.

The agency estimates that implementing the new smog standard would cost industry $19 billion to $90 billion. But its benefits to human health would range from $13 billion to $100 billion, mainly from reduced premature deaths, aggravated asthma and bronchitis cases, and hospital and emergency room visits. Another benefit to society from the lower smog standard: fewer people missing work and school days because of ozone-related symptoms.

“Smog in the air we breathe poses a very serious health threat, especially to children and individuals suffering from asthma and lung disease. It dirties our air, clouds our cities, and drives up our health care costs across the country,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Using the best science to strengthen these standards is a long overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier.”

Children are at the greatest risk from ozone, the agency said, because their lungs are still developing, they are most likely to be active outdoors, and they are more likely than adults to have asthma.

The public may comment on the smog standards for 60 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.

According to the New York Times, under the current smog standard of 0.075 ppm,

322 counties of the 675 that monitor ozone levels are out of compliance. If the 0.070 limit is adopted, 515 counties would be out of compliance. Only 15 of the 675 monitored counties now meet the 0.060 standard.

The Times reports that the agency expects to issue a final rule in August. The new rules would be phased in between 2014 and 2031.

Coal Fly Ash Spill in TVA Greater Than Waste Released in All U.S. Rivers

2010-01-06T22:52:00.003-05:00

The coal fly ash spilled at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant on Dec. 22, 2008, carried toxic metals like arsenic, mercury and barium.

According to data from the EPA, the amount of metal in that one spill exceeded what was released into rivers by power plants throughout the country during the entire year.

The EPA estimated that 2.66 million lbs. (1.2 million kg) of 10 toxic metals flowed into the Emory River.

Meanwhile, area residents filed hundreds of lawsuits against the TVA before the 1-year deadline expired for personal injury claims.

Paper or Plastic Shopping Bags? In D.C., That'll Be an Extra Nickel, Please

2010-01-02T09:13:00.004-05:00

Washington, D.C., has started imposing a 5 cent fee on plastic and paper bags at businesses that sell food or liquor. The fee went into effect on Jan. 1, 2010.

The extra charge on each bag is expected to generate $3.6 million for the city in its first year. Three to four cents of each nickel collected will be spent to clean up the Anacostia River.

Reactions from D.C. residents ranged from enthusiasm to incredulity.

The Washington Post says it's one of the toughest measures in the country. Neighboring states Maryland and Virginia may introduce similar laws this year.

Last year, Seattle residents voted against a 20-cent per bag tax.

Could a similar tax be coming to your city or state? Maybe. Sometimes, an avalanche begins with one pebble rolling down the hill.

Large Dams Lead to More Rainfall

2009-12-30T18:34:00.009-05:00

Photo: ClaudioT.

From the Things You Never Thought Of dept.: Dams lead to higher rainfall and more floods.

Scientists from the Tennessee Technological University and the University of Colorado, Boulder, explain why large dams bring more rain.

First, the reservoir behind the dam produces excessive evaporation that falls to the earth as rain. This seems obvious.

But what's more, says the Newsweek article that reported on the finding, "dams increase atmospheric instabilities in the vertical profile of temperature and humidity."

The increased instability "enhances the amount of convective energy in the air above the reservoir." That means more thunderstorms of greater intensity than before. That, in turn, means higher and more frequent floods than engineers had calculated when they built the dam.

And that, say the scientists, "...raises concerns about dam safety."

Solar Power Financing for Consumers: PACE, PPA, Lease

2009-12-26T11:35:00.015-05:00

Putting a solar power system on your roof can get expensive. You're usually talking five figures at least.

But solar companies and governments have devised a number of financing options for rooftop solar systems that require little or no upfront payment and may cost you less per month than your electric bill. Here are outlines of 3 programs for consumers:

PACE

PACE, or Property Assessed Clean Energy, is a program that allows a homeowner to pay for solar power installations through their property tax. The cost of the solar system is amortized over 20 years at a reduced interest rate and tacked on to the tax bill.

The property tax attaches to the house, not the homeowner. If the owner sells the house, the buyer inherits the solar power system and the higher property tax.

For more on how PACE works, click here.

PPA

In a PPA, or Power Purchase Agreement, a solar power company installs solar panels on a house's roof, usually at little or no cost to the property owner. The company holds title to the panels. The property owner simply pays the company for the solar electricity, usually at a fixed rate lower than that of the utility.

Most solar providers offer PPAs only to commercial building owners. A commercial building typically belongs to the same landlord for several decades, which makes it good candidate for long-term agreements. For a guide to PPAs for organizations, click here (pdf).

At least one company, San Francisco-based SunRun, offers homeowners PPAs with a "small installation fee" upfront. There may be others — check in your area.

Leasing

Just as you lease a car, you can lease the solar panels on your roof. A California company called SolarCity now markets solar system leases.

The concept is simple: Instead of getting all your electricity from the grid, you get some of it from your leased panels. Which means your utility bill shrinks. And if your monthly lease payment and lower electric bill are less than the amount you paid the utility when you got all your power from them, then leasing has saved you money.

At the end of the lease, you can return the panels, upgrade them or renew the lease — just like with your car lease.

Emissions Standards Set for Large U.S. Ships

2009-12-24T08:07:00.008-05:00

The Environmental Protection Agency has released regulations that set emissions and clean fuel standards for U.S.-flagged ships.

The standards apply to new marine diesel engines with per-cylinder displacements of 30 or more liters. Under the new rules, stronger standards for nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions will begin in 2011 and new sulfur content specifications for diesel fuel will be introduced in 2012, for ships traveling within 200 nautical miles of the U.S. and Canadian coastlines. This zone has been designated as an emission control area.

The rules will go far in curbing air pollution from large ships and helping improve the health of residents of coastal and neighboring inland states. Because of the regulations, ultimately, releases of NO_x, particulate matter and sulfur oxides will be reduced 80%–95%.

These regulations have been in the works for a while. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says air pollution from large ships, such as oil tankers and cargo ships, is expected to grow rapidly as port traffic increases.

Copenhagen 2009: Draft Text and Summary of the Climate Change Accord

2009-12-19T11:48:00.008-05:00

Click here to read the draft text and appendices of the "Copenhagen Accord" president Obama announced at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Here's the summary:

Climate change is the greatest challenge of our lifetimes.
Countries will enhance their cooperation to combat climate change and keep global temperatures from rising more than 2° C.
Developed countries will provide "adequate, predictable and sustainable financial resources, technology and capacity-building to support the implementation of adaptation action in developing countries."
The so-called Annex I countries committed to individual emissions targets that they would meet by 2020.
Non-Annex I countries pledged to implement their own mitigation actions. They will communicate these actions every 2 years.
Programs such as REDD-plus will provide financial incentives from developed nations to prevent deforestation and forest degradation.
Developed countries will pay $30 billion between 2010 and 2012, with a goal of reaching $100 billion by 2020, to fund mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing nations. This amount includes REDD incentives.
A High Level Panel will study how the money is being sourced.
A Copenhagen Green Climate Fund will take care of transferring funds between parties, and a Technology Mechanism will "accelerate technology development and transfer."
Finally, the accord asks that its implementation be assessed by 2015. Nothing legally binds anyone to do anything.

Is this the start of something big? Or simply a lot of hot air? Time will tell.

Oh, by the way: the a in Copenhagen is not pronounced aa but ay.

How Much Solar and Wind Power Could You Produce in Your Backyard?

2009-12-17T21:59:00.012-05:00

The blue rectangle on the roof of the building left of center is a drawing of the solar array.

Have you ever idly mused about the amount of renewable electricity you could produce in your backyard?

Muse no more.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has created a nifty map-based tool called "In My Backyard" or IMBY (get it?) that enables you to measure how much solar and wind power you could generate at home.

To use it, type your address into the tool. Doing so brings up a Google Maps satellite image of your house.

Next, select the kind of power you want. If you choose solar power, the tool asks you to draw your solar array. Then it tells you things like how many kilowatts your array will generate, what your rebate and tax credit will be, your payback period and other information.

You can even compare your solar power generation with your existing power consumption.

If you select wind energy, the tool asks you to draw the location of each turbine on your property. Then it may or may not give you energy production data, because it doesn't have wind energy information for all locations.

Try it out.

West Virginia Wind Farm Halted by Judge

2009-12-16T22:22:00.001-05:00

In October, we reported on the proposed wind farm in West Virginia that was the subject of a lawsuit because of its potential to harm endangered Indiana bats.

A federal judge in Maryland ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, halting construction of the farm until the developers obtained a special permit known as an "incidental take permit."

An incidental take permit allows, as the name suggests, the "incidental take" of endangered species when a non-Federal entity is conducting lawful activities. The Endangered Species Act defines "take" as "harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect."

The ruling is not expected to affect other wind projects around the country.

Quality of Drinking Water in Large Cities Ranked

2009-12-13T20:50:00.004-05:00

If the quality of your municipal drinking water is important to you, move to Arlington, Texas. The Environmental Working Group has rated its water the best among large cities in the U.S.

On the other hand, if you'd rather live in the Northeast because you love its winters, despair not. Providence, R.I., came in 2nd.

The Environmental Working Group rated the water utilities of cities with populations of 250,000 or more on three factors:

...the total number of chemicals detected since 2004; the percentage of chemicals found of those tested; and the highest average level for an individual pollutant, relative to legal limits or national average amounts, including for the most common pollutants (disinfection byproducts, nitrate and arsenic). [From the Group's website.]

The top 10 cities were:

1. Arlington, TX
2. Providence, RI
3. Fort Worth, TX
4. Charleston, SC
5. Boston, MA
6. Honolulu, HI
7. Austin, TX
8. Fairfax County, VA
9. St. Louis, MO
10. Minneapolis, MN

And the bottom 10 were:

91. Jacksonville, FL
92. San Diego, CA
93. North Las Vegas, NV
94. Omaha, NE
95. Houston, TX
96. Reno, NV
97. Riverside County, CA
98. Las Vegas, NV
99. Riverside, CA
100. Pensacola, FL

Connecticut residents: the highest-ranked utility in our state was Bridgeport-based Aquarion, at No. 21. Hartford's Metropolitan District Commission ranked 23rd, and New Haven stood 37th.

See the entire list of cities here.

Tracking Deforestation With Help From Google's Cloud

2009-12-11T09:28:00.005-05:00

Countries will now have an easier time tracking the destruction of their forests, thanks to satellite images and cloud computing.

At the International Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen Thursday, Google introduced technology that enables online observation of deforestation over time.

The technology helps nations benefit from the United Nations' REDD framework (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries), which pays countries with rainforests to protect their forests from denudation. To be eligible, the deforestation must be independently verified and tracked over time. Many of the tropical countries where deforestation occurs lack the funds to adequately monitor the forests' destruction.

Google Earth will provide the satellite images recording the advance of deforestation. The data will be combined with existing software from the Carnegie Institution for Science and Imazon, which maps forest cover and deforestation using satellite imagery.

All these petabytes of historical satellite image data will be crunched in thousands of computers in Google's data centers worldwide.

Google will provide the world this technology as a not-for-profit service. It is available at present to a few organizations for testing, and may be offered "more broadly" in 2010.

The advantages of using the cloud to compute deforestation data: lightning speed, lower costs, privacy, security and transparency. Add in the environmental benefits from halting or slowing deforestation and REDD financial incentives to rainforest countries, and everyone's a winner.

(Source of story: Mediapost.)

Shock Absorbers' Motion Powers Vehicle Drivetrain, Saves Energy

2009-12-06T11:44:00.012-05:00

Conventional shock absorbers.

If you look hard enough, you can find energy savings almost anywhere.

Three students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology realized one day that the energy produced by the up-and-down motion of a car's shock absorbers could be harnessed instead of being dissipated as heat.

And a new product, the GenShock shock absorber, was born.

Every time the shock absorber moves, an electric generator attached to it creates a small current. This translates to energy savings of 2%–10%, depending on the vehicle's weight and how bumpy the road is. According to GenShock's makers, there's quite a bit of shock absorber travel even on smooth highways.

If a company fleet of thousands of trucks cuts fuel usage by 2%, it can save millions of dollars and prevent emissions of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases.

More, if those trucks travel frequently on one of these highways.

Carbon Emissions of G-20 Nations From 1950 to 2006

2009-12-04T19:24:00.003-05:00

The Washington Post has a cool interactive map that shows how the amount of carbon emissions from fossil fuels of G-20 and other nations changed from 1950 to 2006.

Moving a slider on the map allows you to see how the emissions grew year over year. Check it out!

Batteries to Store Wind Power in California

2009-12-02T12:33:00.002-05:00

More news from the energy-storage front. I tell you, this sector is hopping!

The Modesto Bee reports that Primus Power Corp. in Alameda, Calif., recently won a $14 million federal grant to develop batteries that will store 25 megawatts of green electricity. The Modesto, Calif., Irrigation District's wind energy will send juice to the batteries, and the stored energy will be sold during periods of peak demand.

Doing so will displace some of the power generated from natural gas.

The Modesto Irrigation District provides electricity, irrigation and surface water treatment to parts of California's Central Valley. It wants to get 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2017, according to the Bee. The District will take part in a 5-year demonstration of the batteries at no cost to its ratepayers.

Solar Panels Pit Homeowners Against Homeowners' Associations

2009-11-30T18:18:00.006-05:00

It's happening in California, in Minnesota, and in Texas. In New Jersey, Arizona, and Maryland. And probably in a state close to you.

Homeowners' associations are forbidding solar-minded homeowners to put solar panels on their roofs. Homeowners, steamed at being told they can't be environmentally responsible or save money through solar power, are retaliating with lawsuits. And they're usually winning.

A story in the Los Angeles Times tells about the travails of a resident of Camarillo, Calif., whose homeowners' association denied him permission to install solar panels on his home.

He sued, invoking California's 1978 Solar Rights Act. And won. He went ahead with his solar panels, and now 3 other houses in the community have solar panels on their roofs too.

The issue of homeowners' groups resisting solar panels has been an ongoing one. The groups sometimes prevail, but in the long run they're fighting a losing battle. As GE's residential power systems website reassures customers, "Many states prohibit homeowners' associations from restricting solar devices."

Solar panels have been growing in popularity as their prices have dropped and utility rates have increased, according to the L.A. Times story. Many solar companies now allow you to lease solar panels, significantly reducing the cash outlay required to start enjoying solar power.

The House of Representatives passed an energy bill this year that made it illegal for homeowners' groups to prohibit the installation of solar systems. Let's see if the Senate follows suit.

California Might Use Compressed Air to Generate Electricity

2009-11-28T20:52:00.004-05:00

Wind farms produce more than enough electricity at night -- when demand is lowest. One option for storing the excess energy is to capture the resource that generates it. In effect, to bottle the wind.

Or cram it into caves.

Which is what Pacific Gas & Electricity would like to do. The utility just received a $25 million award from money set aside in stimulus funds for smart-grid projects. The award will help pay for a study to find out if California can pack away pressurized air in underground caverns.

Here's how a compressed-air power plant would work. At night, wind turbines would force air into porous rock in Kern County, Calif. In the morning, the compressed air would be released to rotate turbines, which would generate up to 300 MW of electricity.

The generating plant will cost about $365 million. According to CleanTechnica, building a fossil-fuel plant that supplies the same amount of energy would come to $850 million.

Nanotech Batteries Deliver High Power at High Energy Density

2009-11-21T10:52:00.014-05:00

Electrostatic nanocapacitors formed in nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (darker yellow) film by sequential atomic layer deposition of metal (blue), insulator (yellow), and metal. Insert: cross-section of actual structure, represented as rescaled scanning electron micrograph. (A. James Clark School of Engineering, U-Md.)

Electricity is normally stored in batteries and capacitors. The problem is, these devices have inherent limitations that prevent them from meeting our electricity needs.

They can't deliver the high power, high energy density, and fast recharge that modern electrical usage demands.

Batteries store energy but can't provide high power or fast recharge. You have to connect a lot of batteries to achieve high power.

Electrochemical capacitors can generate high power but have low energy storage density.

And electrostatic capacitors deliver high power and fast recharge, but like their electrochemical counterparts, suffer from low energy storage density.

High power, high density, fast recharge. You need all 3 -- but can only have 2.

Still, all is not lost. Nanotechnology comes to the rescue.

Researchers at the University of Maryland's NanoCenter have built electrostatic nanocapacitors out of billions of nanostructures, increasing the energy storage capacity of the capacitors by a factor of 10 over that of conventional devices.

According to the story in InTech, a publication of the International Society of Automation:

This advance brings electrostatic devices to a performance level competitive with electrochemical capacitors and introduces a new player into the field of candidates for next-generation electrical energy storage.

These nanocapacitors could be mass-produced as energy storage panels layered one on top of the other. Multiple panels could stack together inside a car battery system or solar panel.

Long term, nanotech could give us new energy capture technology that would integrate with storage devices used in manufacturing.

Chinese Solar Panel Plant to Open in the USA

2009-11-19T21:42:00.004-05:00

Suntech Power next year will become the first Chinese company to open a solar panel manufacturing plant in the U.S., reports the New York Times. The plant will be built near Phoenix and is expected to begin production by the 3rd quarter of 2010.

The solar cells in the panels will be made in China. But the polysilicon in those cells will be made in a plant in Texas.

Why not just make the panels in China too? Because with prices of solar panels dropping, shipping costs make up a greater portion of the panels' overall cost. Polysilicon solar panels are heavy because of all the aluminium and glass they contain. A typical 280-watt Suntech solar panel weighs about 60 lbs. (27 kg.).

It also doesn't hurt that the solar panels will carry a "Made in the U.S.A." label.

The move by Suntech comes amid increasingly loud objections by U.S. lawmakers over stimulus funds paying for green jobs overseas.

If you appreciate irony, you will find this story especially poignant. Just 2 months ago, Tom Friedman of the New York Times had written about an American company, Applied Materials, that is also in the solar power business.

Applied Materials, based in Silicon Valley, is the "world leader" in making the equipment that makes solar panels. It has 14 plants worldwide.

Not one is in the United States.

Recycling Carbon Dioxide

2009-11-16T19:33:00.004-05:00

Burning fossil fuels results in the emission of 27 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide worldwide every year. By 2030, that figure will climb 60% to 43 billion metric tons.

(Incidentally, one metric ton of CO₂ occupies about 556 cubic meters, approximately the volume of a 3-bedroom house.)

What are we going to do with all that CO₂?

We could corral the gas through Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies. But CCS is expensive and will not be widely available for years.

The alternative, say a number of researchers and companies, is to recycle the carbon.

That's right. You can recycle practically anything these days. Why not CO₂?

Through a technology called electro-reduction of carbon dioxide (ERC), scientists can take CO2 directly from industrial waste gases and convert it to formate salts and/or formic acid. Both chemicals are widely used in industrial applications. Or the CO2 can be recycled into algal fuel or methanol.

What's more, whereas CCS is a net cost to industry, ERC technology could bring in net revenues.

Plus, ERC can be ramped up relatively quickly. A demonstration ERC unit could be installed within a year, or a commercial plant within 2 years.

Recycling -- it's everywhere you never expected it to be.

(Source of story: Global Spec.)

Wood Burning Power Plants in Massachusetts -- Doubts Creep In

2009-11-15T22:31:00.004-05:00

Massachusetts had embraced wood-burning power plants in a big way, investing $1 million this year in power plants in the western part of the state.

The Boston Herald now reports that the state is rethinking its emphasis on wood-burning plants. Critics of the wood-burning plants say supplying the plants with sufficient wood would cause deforestation in the surrounding areas. And the plants would emit more carbon dioxide than coal-fired plants.

Massachusetts's Patrick Administration is seeking more information into the adverse effects of generating electricity from wood-burning plants. The state Environmental Affairs Secretary is ordering a 6-month study of the issue. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy Resources is developing new regulations for biomass power plants.

This is the kind of news one has mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it's gratifying to note the government is taking environmentalists' concerns seriously and ordering a review of the greenhouse-gas and deforestation effects of the wood-burning plants.

On the other hand, shouldn't they have done this before spending $1 million on the plants?

On balance: better to reconsider late than never. And it's not like the $1 million was a total waste. I'm sure it did a lot of good for many state residents.

Stimulus Funds Should Not Pay for Jobs in China, Senator Says

2009-11-06T08:52:00.003-05:00

Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants none of our stimulus dollars to pay for jobs in China, according to Bloomberg News.

He will send Energy Secretary Steven Chu a letter urging him to release stimulus funds for a Texas wind farm project only if the high-value components, including the wind turbines, are made domestically.

At issue is a proposed 600-megawatt wind farm that is being jointly developed by American and Chinese companies. The wind turbines for the farm will be made in China, leading to the creation of about 3,000 jobs there.

Some of the investment for the farm is coming from China, and perhaps about $450 million from U.S. stimulus funds. Unless the Obama Administration denies the project the money.

The Energy Department says that to date, the project has not applied for funds.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing asks, "Why aren't American firms building this clean-energy project?"

Why indeed?

Washing Machines to Be Subject to Energy-Efficiency Standards in California

2009-11-02T19:22:00.006-05:00

Photo credit: celila.

Given that clothes washing machines use several resources, like water, electricity and (sometimes) natural gas, it's kind of surprising that no government agency has tried to set standards for their energy efficiency.

Until now.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the California Energy Commission has prevailed in a lengthy lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy enabling the commission to set efficiency standards for washing machines. The new standard could go into effect in 2013.

According to the L.A. Times, the average washing machine uses 39.2 gallons of water per wash. The proposed standard would reduce that average to 21.1 gallons per wash.

The California Energy Commission estimates that 12 to 15 years after the new standard takes effect, the state could save 66.7 billion gallons of water. That's enough water to supply a city the size of San Diego every year, the L.A. Times says.

Energy savings would follow, too. California would need 50 million fewer therms of natural gas and 500 fewer gigawatt-hours of electricity to heat and move water around in the new clothes washers.

Easier Than Ever to Be Green

2009-10-29T16:29:00.003-04:00

A guest post today, from my friend Marc Halpert. Marc's company, Your Best Interest, LLC, helps businesses and non-profits get paid electronically. No messing with paper, no waiting for checks -- getting paid electronically speeds up your cash flow and helps the environment.

Here's Marc's post:

It’s Easier Than Ever to Be Green

Poor Kermit the Frog. He thought it wasn't easy being green. Now we all strive to be "greener" by saving gasoline or adjusting our thermostats to run less heat and air conditioning, especially at peak demand times.

Have you thought how to make your business or nonprofit greener by using new payment technologies?

Here are a few observations:

1) stop snailmailing invoices. It takes gasoline and electricity to process the mail and it takes days (sometimes a week) for delivery; use electronic invoice presentation with a link to your web page to accept the payment far faster.

2) start accepting credit card and/or checks by phone, by fax or on your website; easy to implement in your office and makes your staff far more efficient. No more running to the bank (eats gas) by 2pm to make a deposit.

3) if you must process checks, do so electronically by feeding them through a specialized check reader and converting them to a data file. Then let your computer send them to a processor for clearing. It's called Remote Deposit Capture. No more adding machine tapes, deposit slips or trips to the bank, saving electricity and gas as well.

Ask us, we love a challenge.

Marc W. Halpert
Your Best Interest LLC and e-giving
PO Box 320048
Fairfield, CT 06825-0048
203.373.0875
efax 203.549.0406
www.linkedin.com/in/marchalpert

Where's the Greenest Place in the U.S.? Think Northeast.

2009-10-28T20:27:00.005-04:00

The greenest place in the U.S., at least according to this article in Yale Environment 360, is...

(For a hint, look at the picture on the right.)

... New York City. More specifically, the Manhattan borough of the city.

The article reveals some surprising facts about New York and New Yorkers. For example:

The average Manhattanite uses just 90 gallons of water a year.
New Yorkers consume about 4,700 kilowatt-hours of electricity per household per year.
If New York City were a state, it would rank 12th in population but 51st in per-capita energy use.
One third of all public-transit passenger miles traveled in the country are located in Metropolitan New York (i.e., New York City, Northern New Jersey and Fairfield County, Connecticut).
54% of New York City households do not own a car.
And so on.

By contrast, Vermont, which Forbes magazine in 2007 called the greenest state:

Pipes 7,100 kWh of electricity to every household every year.
Has no public transport to speak of.
Depends heavily on cars.
And so on.

Whether you agree with the writer's premise or not -- and you'll see plenty of dissent in the comments on the Yale 360 website -- it's an interesting and informative article.

Wind Turbines in W. Va. Face Lawsuit Over Danger to Indiana Bats

2009-10-23T11:01:00.002-04:00

A wind farm project in Greenbrier County, W. Va., is in federal court because opponents, including a local caving enthusiast and the Animal Welfare Institute, sued the developers of the wind farm under the Endangered Species Act.

The lawsuit is the nation's first court challenge to a wind farm under the Endangered Species Act. Plaintiffs are suing on the grounds that the wind turbines will harm the Indiana bat, which spends the spring and summer in forests and migrates to caves to hibernate in the fall. The caves are near the wind farm, and the plaintiffs say the bats are likely to fly into the 389-foot wind turbine blades.

The Indiana bat has been on the endangered species list since 1967.

Wildlife experts and wind power producers have known for several years that wind turbines cause bats to die. In 2008, researchers determined that the deaths occur mainly due to internal hemorrhaging as the reduced air pressure near the turbine blades leads to internal trauma in bats' light and delicate bodies.

In this blog, I've written about bats dying mysteriously because of white-nose syndrome, a mysterious fungus that appears on their faces and wings. That disease is still not understood.

Poor little bats. Their world is under so much stress.

Largest Photovoltaic Solar Plant in North America Opens Today in Florida

2009-10-20T09:16:00.001-04:00

The largest photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant in North America opens today in DeSoto County, Florida.

When fully ramped up, the solar power plant's 90,000 panels will follow the sun and churn out 25 MW of power daily.

But dark clouds on the horizon dim the solar plant's future. Florida has no renewable portfolio standard, hence no requirement that power companies produce a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources, or a formula to set rates for such electricity.

That means solar power must compete for customers on the same footing as conventional power. Which makes it almost inevitable that solar plants like this one will not survive, because solar power is way too expensive.

The money to build the DeSoto county solar power plant came from a one-time customer rate increase that the Florida legislature authorized. There's no legislative backing for a rate measure that would keep the plant economically viable.

Team Germany Wins Solar Decathlon

2009-10-18T09:31:00.004-04:00

Team Germany's solar house. Photo credit: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.

The Solar Decathlon in the National Mall at Washington, DC, is over. Team Germany won the contest, scoring 908.29 points out of a possible 1,000.

The team from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked 2nd with 897.30 points, and Team California from Santa Clara University's California College of the Arts was 3rd with 863.08 points.

Team Germany, from Technische Universität Darmstadt, achieved a perfect 150 score in the heavily-weighted net metering category of the contest. Throughout the event, the team's house produced more energy than it consumed.

The application process has begun for the next Solar Decathlon, to be held in 2011.

Carbon Emissions Expected to 9% Decline Since 2007

2009-10-16T18:16:00.004-04:00

The Guardian's Grist website reported this week that carbon emissions in the U.S. had dropped 9% since 2007.

While part of this drop is due to the recession, Grist says part of it is from "efficiency gains and from replacing coal with natural gas, wind, solar, and geothermal energy."

The "efficiency gains" claim sounded too good to be true. As I reported in a previous post, America's energy-efficiency improvement from 2007 to 2008 was less than 0.1 percentage point.

So I did some digging.

This month, the Energy Information Administration released a report (pdf) titled "Understanding the Decline in Carbon Dioxide Emissions in 2009." In it, the EIA said it expected CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels in 2009 to be 5.9% below the 2008 level.

70% of the decline in emissions was from:

Lower energy consumption by the industrial, commercial and residential sectors because of the poor economy
Utilities switching from coal to natural gas to take advantage of lower natural gas prices -- which had dropped because of the weak economy
Increased electricity production by non-CO₂-emitting sources like hydropower and wind (these two sources accounted for only 8.3% of electricity generation in 2009)

The other 30% of the drop in CO₂releases came from declines in petroleum consumption for jet fuel and distillate fuel oil (which includes diesel fuel oil and heating oil). The EIA attributed over two-thirds of this contraction to "economy-related reductions in consumption."

Regarding fuel efficiency, this is what the EIA had to say (emphasis mine):

The data are not yet available to reliably allocate consumption to end-use sectors or the decline in jet fuel, distillate fuel, and other transportation fuel consumption between economy-related declines in demand for transportation services and increases in fuel efficiency, which may be permanent due to technology-related improvements in equipment or transitory because of higher load factors.

In other words, it's too early to declare victory in the drive to fuel efficiency.

In-Wheel Electric Motors -- Another Possible Substitute for the Internal Combustion Engine

2009-10-13T19:59:00.004-04:00

In-wheel electric motors put the motive power right where it's used -- at the wheel. With the in-wheel motor sitting in the rim, there's very little loss of energy between motor and wheel. Fully 90% of the in-wheel motor's electrical energy gets converted to mechanical energy.

In contrast, gasoline engines operate at about 20% efficiency. You can thank all those friction losses in the engine and drivetrain for this abysmal statistic.

So will the in-wheel electric motor replace the internal combustion engine? Who knows. It's one of many automotive power technologies in use or on the horizon. It's too early to tell which -- if any -- will dethrone the reigning champ.

While we wait to see whether the in-wheel electric motor will indeed propel our cars in the future, why not see this clever video from Siemens that explains how the motor works?

Drawing the Line at Clotheslines

2009-10-11T11:53:00.006-04:00

Outdoor clotheslines are forbidden for a majority of the people who live in America's 300,000 private communities, according to an article in the New York Times. Anti-clothesliners think they scream "Here be poor people" and lower property values.

Lined up on the on the other side are homeowners who say drying clothes outside is the environmentally right thing to do, since dryers account for at least 6% of household electrical usage.

When homeowners and community associations clash, lawmakers step in.

In the last year, says the Times, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont have passed laws that protect the right to hang clothes on outdoor clotheslines. Florida and Utah already had such laws, and Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia are considering similar bills.

Environmental concerns and the state of the economy may be driving more residents to string up clotheslines. The U.K.'s Daily Mail reported in August 2009 that sales of outside airers and clothes pins had risen 20% in the past year.

Still, the lure of drying your clothes with Nature's free dryer runs into the inconvenience of being unable to control the sun and the rain. Modern life leaves no time for the homemaker to stand by the window, hanging and pegging clothes one by one, pushing the clothesline out bit by bit, hiding underwear among larger clothes and offering thanks you don't live in an area with frequent weather changes.

People find it much simpler to toss wet clothes into a dryer, go about their business and pick the clothes up after about an hour. As a bonus, your neighbors won't know about your discount-store clothes with their labels snipped in two.

Researcher Invents Bridge Made of Recycled Plastic

2009-10-09T21:35:00.002-04:00

A researcher who says he has devoted his whole life looking for ways to use waste plastic has struck pay dirt. Rutgers University professor Tom Nosker invented a bridge that is constructed of recycled materials, and it is being used by the U.S. military on one of its bases. The first installation of the bridge, says this article from the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer at http://www.fayobserver.com/Articles/2009/09/27/934955, has been at Camp Mackall in North Carolina, and the bridge has won kudos for being strong enough to hold a 70-ton tank.

Spanning a 30-foot gap over a local creek, the thermoplastic composite structure cost about $370,000. To come up with the 85,000 pounds of composite material used in the bridge, car bumpers, milk cartons and liquid detergent bottles were ground up and mixed. They were then molded into the needed shapes for the bridge design. Benefits of this type of construction are that the up-front cost is less than a comparable bridge made from different materials, considerably fewer raw materials are used, and the maintenance savings are expected to be significant.

The Electric Car Should Be Permanently Parked

2009-10-06T08:14:00.001-04:00

Here's a Reuters blogger's view of the electric car and whether it really presages the end of gasoline as a fuel.

No it doesn't, he says. And it's all because of the electric car's battery. It's nowhere near being able to deliver the same amount of power per volume as gasoline or diesel. Plus, it takes too long to get charged.

And then there's the issue of all the rare earth metals in the battery. China produces 93% of all the rare earths in the world, and over 99% of the rare earths dysprosium and terbium. The country recently announced it would tighten its control over exports of these elements.

While the world may not run out of rare earths, Reuters says, it will have to pay more for them. Another strike against the electric car.

I agree with the Reuters post to some extent. I don't think the electric car will displace the gasoline car. For a while we'll have different technologies powering our motors, until one of them proves to be the most efficient and least polluting. Then the market will converge on that technology, as it did on the gasoline-powered engine.

(Photo: An electric police wagon in Switzerland.)

Solar Decathlon Comes to National Mall, Oct. 8-18 2009

2009-10-03T12:12:00.003-04:00

Solar fans, your solar home demonstration extravaganza is here! The Department of Energy's 4th Solar Decathlon will be held at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., from Oct. 8 to 18 this year.

Twenty university teams comprising over 800 students from the United States, Canada, Germany and Spain will show off the high-efficiency solar-powered homes they have built for the Solar Decathlon.

Homes entered for competition in the Solar Decathlon will open to the public from Oct. 9 to 18. The winner will be announced Oct. 16.

The Solar Decathlon includes 10 contests that evaluate the architecture, engineering, comfort, marketability, appliances, lighting and other aspects of the teams' houses. The teams will have to perform everyday tasks, including cooking, laundry and washing dishes, to test the energy efficiency of their homes.

Of the 20 teams, 16 are from the U.S., 2 from Canada, and 1 each from Germany and Spain.

You can learn more about the teams and the homes and technologies they have entered in the Solar Decathlon by visiting this page.

World's 10 Largest Renewable Energy Projects

2009-10-01T22:49:00.005-04:00

From Scientific American, a slideshow of the world's 10 largest renewable energy projects.

The world is going to need 2 TW (terawatts, or million megawatts) of electricity in the next 40 years. The projects shown in this slideshow are producing electricity right now. They are:

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, Taylor and Nolan Counties, Texas (currently overtaken by the Roscoe Wind Complex 220 miles west of Dallas)
Lynn and Inner Dowsing Wind Farm near Skegness, Lincolnshire, England (now in second place behind the Horns Rev 2 project off Denmark)
Rance Tidal Barrage in Bretagne, France
SeaGen Turbine in Strangford Lough, Ireland
Solar Energy Generating Systems in Southern California
Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park in Olmedilla de Alarcón, Spain
The Geysers in Sonoma and Lake Counties, Calif.
Oy Alholmens Kraft in Pietarsaari, Finland (dry biomass-fired power plant)
Aguçadoura Wave Farm near Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal
China's Three Gorges Dam
(Bonus) Puente Hills in Whittier, Calif. (landfill gas recuperation plant)

Number of Electrical Devices Explodes, Sucks World's Electricity

2009-09-29T12:30:00.007-04:00

Save electricity all you want. The growing number of gadgets in your home will eat up those savings.

Electricity use is surging all over the world, says this New York Times article. All those iPods, flat-panel TVs, video game boxes and PCs are sucking up energy faster than we can produce it.

And not all of these devices are stingy with their power usage. Some flat-panel TVs soak up more electricity than do refrigerators.

Worldwide, consumer electronics is expected to make up 45% of household electricity demand in the next 20 years. To feed all those power-hungry devices, we'll need the equivalent of 560 coal-fired power plants or 230 nuclear plants, according to the International Energy Agency. The Times article contains a link to the IEA's report.

If the world doesn't want to build that many power plants, governments will have to start imposing energy-efficiency standards for consumer electronics. Refrigerators have them; why not electronic gadgets?

That must be what California regulators asked themselves, because the California Energy Commission recently proposed regulations that would drastically reduce energy usage of TVs sold in the state. The commission proposed that TVs sold after January 1, 2011 use 33% less electricity than current models. By 2013, that number will rise to 49%.

As usual, technology comes to the rescue. Or promises to. New LED (light-emitting diode) flat-panel TVs consume far less power than their LCD (liquid crystal display) brethren. In one Samsung LCD model, power consumption dropped from 170W to 100W when it was converted to an LED type.

But then, LED TVs are still about 1.5 to 2 times the cost of LCD TVs. By 2011, this gap may shrink as more manufacturers get into the LED game.

The makers of consumer electronics have taken many steps over the years to cut their energy consumption footprint. But just as cars and fridges made no great strides in energy efficiency until governments set down mandates, consumer electronics may become better at managing power given more regulations like California's.

Fossil-Fuel Subsidies Will Be Phased Out, Say G-20 Leaders

2009-09-27T14:00:00.007-04:00

Leaders of the G-20 nations, who met in Pittsburgh last week, pledged on Friday to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels in the "medium term."

It's a small step, outlined in vague language, but it indicates a desire to cut dependence on fossil fuels over time.

The G-20 agreement protects aid from rich nations that help developing countries pay for conventional energy, subsidize renewable energy and combat the effects of climate change.

Environmentalists welcomed the pledge. They look forward to more concrete language on financial aid in the next round of G-20 climate talks in Copenhagen in November, when a climate-change treaty will be negotiated.

Oil and natural gas industry executives in the U.S. said reducing subsidies would raise costs on consumers.

Decisions by the G-20 countries carry much weight, as the council represents economies that account for 85% of the world's GDP and 66% of its population. G-20 nations are:

Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
South Korea
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
European Union, represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank.

The G-20 will replace the G-8 as the world's leading economic council.

9 Threats to Earth's Environmental Stability

2009-09-26T10:24:00.011-04:00

The Earth's environment has been unusually stable for the past 10,000 years, but human actions now threaten that stability, say Johan Rockström and 28 colleagues in a recent article published in Nature.

This statement, by itself, is hardly shocking. Scientists began sounding alarms about climate change years ago. But Rockstrom et al present a new approach to the question of human sustainability. They list 9 boundaries that we are crossing and endangering Earth's ability to maintain the environment that enabled human development. Giving teeth to their thesis, they quantify 7 of these environmental boundaries.

The boundaries are:

Climate change
Rate of biodiversity loss (terrestrial and marine)
Interference with the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles
Stratospheric ozone depletion
Ocean acidification
Global freshwater use
Change in land use
Chemical pollution
Atmospheric aerosol loading

The boundaries are interrelated, the authors say. For example, land-use changes in the Amazon could influence water resources in Tibet. And "transgressing the nitrogen–phosphorus boundary can erode the resilience of some marine ecosystems, potentially reducing their capacity to absorb CO₂ and thus affecting the climate boundary."

All boundaries must be addressed, according to the authors. We no longer have the luxury of concentrating on one at the expense of others.

The Nature article summarizes the full paper, "Tipping towards the unknown," available at the Stockholm Resilience Centre (where Professor Rockström is executive director). The paper's web page includes abundant complementary material, such as videos of some of the paper's contributors, the full 36-page scientific article and information for the press.

New DOT and EPA Program Criticized by Environmental Groups

2009-09-24T15:12:00.007-04:00

Remember that proposed fuel economy program from the DOT and the EPA? Remember how it promised to curb greenhouse gas emissions and put a dent in our foreign-oil purchases?

Well, according to Time magazine, some environmentalists aren't too happy about loopholes in the program that weren't publicized in the press release.

Loopholes like:

Electric car makers will get credits that apply to their overall pollution targets. But the electricity that powers the car comes from power plants that emit carbon dioxide, and this CO₂ is not factored into greenhouse gas calculations for such vehicles.
The flex-fuel credit still stands, allowing carmakers to build gas guzzlers provided the guzzlers can run on E85 (a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline). This credit reduces the corporate average fuel economy target for manufacturers of these cars by 1.2 mpg.

What makes this credit pointless, says Time magazine, is that only 1% of the gas stations in the country sell E85, and that number isn't expected to go up soon.
Carmakers will get carbon credits for selling their most fuel-efficient vehicles in California and other states that had adopted separate standards before the program was proposed. If a manufacturer had already been prepared to sell in California even without the credit, it now stands to earn a credit just for doing so.

There's something inherently wrong with that. Not because the carmakers will benefit from fortunate timing, but because California's standard should be the nation's standard. Meeting it shouldn't earn anyone an extra gold star.
Manufacturers that sell less than 400,000 vehicles a year will have to live up to a lower EPA standard.

More loopholes -- and benefits -- will surely emerge as the plan gets closer to implementation.

Kill Weeds in Your Driveway With Vinegar

2009-09-19T08:44:00.004-04:00

A couple of days ago I used ordinary store-brand vinegar to kill weeds in my driveway. Just sprayed the vinegar directly onto the weeds, and by the next morning the weeds had started wilting.

I found applying vinegar to be much more economical and environmentally friendly than using herbicides. A 2-gallon bottle of 5% white vinegar cost around 2 dollars. Compare that to the price of your favorite (and much-advertised) herbicide.

You can pour the vinegar on the weed straight from the bottle, or load some vinegar in a spray bottle and squirt it on the offender (like I did).

I sprayed the vinegar in the morning, on a day when there was no chance of rain. (Vinegar degrades in water.) I think I'll spritz some weeds in my lawn next -- see what happens.

New Fuel Economy Program for Vehicles Proposed by DOT and EPA

2009-09-17T07:35:00.008-04:00

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Sept. 15 jointly proposed a national program for improving automotive fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gases.

The program covers model years 2012 through 2016. It allows carmakers to build a single, light-duty national fleet that would satisfy all federal requirements and the standards of California and other states.

And it replaces rules set under 3 standards (DOT, EPA, and a state standard) by a single set of clearer rules -- something that automakers will probably welcome.

Some specifics:

Fuel economy of a corporate light-duty vehicle fleet would increase by about 5% every year, to 35.5 mpg in model year 2016. The current law requires an average fuel economy of 35 mpg in 2020.

Greenhouse gas emissions: The proposed rules introduce the nation’s first national greenhouse gas standards. They cover vehicles that produce almost 60% of all transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Model year 2016 vehicles would have to emit no more than 250 grams of carbon dioxide per mile. CO₂ emissions would be cut by about 21% in 2030 over the level that would occur had there been no new greenhouse gas or fuel economy standards.

The program is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 950 million metric tons, equivalent to the emissions of 42 million cars.

Lower costs for consumers: According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the EPA, if you buy, not lease, a new 2016 car, you would save more than $3,000 in fuel costs over the lifetime of the car. In the first 3 years, you would save enough to offset the increase in the price of the car.

Fewer oil imports: The program is projected to conserve 1.8 billion barrels of oil -- or twice the amount of oil imported in 2008 from Persian Gulf countries.

How will the car industry meet these standards? By improving engine efficiency, transmissions and tires, and air conditioning systems, and by increasing the use of start-stop technology. Hybrid vehicles and clean diesel engines would also probably get a boost in sales.

Rubber Trees to Provide Electricity in Liberia

2009-09-14T22:01:00.006-04:00

Biomass produces a minuscule fraction (0.9% in 2007) of all the electricity in the United States. Liberia, however, is planning to make all -- or most -- of its electricity from trees.

Old, non-performing rubber trees, to be specific.

The country hosts the world's largest single natural rubber operation, a Firestone plantation with 8 million trees. Those trees will be used in a new $150-million power plant to produce 35 MW of electricity, and double that when the nation's power grid gets upgraded. The Liberian Electric Company will sell that power to citizens for half what they are paying now.

A bonus result of felling trees for energy: More room to plant new rubber trees, leading to continuous rubber production. You can tap your tree and burn it too.

Other benefits from the biomass energy operation include 400 new jobs in electricity generation and distribution. And as businesses save money through lower rates for energy, they're likely to hire more workers.

Renewable Energy Bill in California Faces Veto by Schwarzenegger

2009-09-13T22:02:00.004-04:00

On Friday Sept. 11, the California legislature passed bills that would require the state to get 33% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

On Saturday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would veto the bills.

The governor said he plans to implement the changes through executive order. Among his reasons for rejecting the legislation:

It was tying up the renewable-energy industry in regulatory knots.
It set limits on how much renewable energy could be bought from out-of-state suppliers.
It would have killed the solar industry in California (because of curbs on where solar power plants could be sited), and raised prices.

We'll see how this plays out. I have a feeling the governor will prevail.

Distributed Solar Power Market to Exceed $55 Billion by 2012, says Pike Research

2009-09-11T13:28:00.008-04:00

You can make electricity in massive, utility-scale generators and push it hundreds of miles over high-tension wires. Or you can make it close to where you use it, and skip the high-tension wires, the towers, the whole bit.

Distributed energy generation, as the latter method is called, is one of the most important tools for meeting the world's energy needs, says Pike Research, a cleantech research and consulting firm.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems make up the biggest component of the distributed energy generation market, according to the firm.

In a study of the PV market, it forecasts that "global installed capacity will approach 2.5 gigawatts by 2012, with annual system revenues surpassing $55 billion." The U.S. will become the largest market for small PV systems by 2011, Pike says.

If you'd like to read an executive summary of the report, click here.

Distributed renewable energy has lots of appeal. Making your own electricity is the kind of thing that swells the heart of the archetypal rugged American individualist. I've written about my view that the future of solar power lies with distributed energy.

But distributed energy has problems. It's not continuous, power quality varies and you can't easily adjust supply to match demand.

Technological solutions to these problems are afoot and the world remains undaunted. Use of distributed energy will keep growing and might even eclipse Pike's projections.

Nuclear Power Prospects Brighten

2009-09-08T11:45:00.007-04:00

An article in the Wall Street Journal today analyzes the prospects for nuclear power and finds the outlook decidedly brighter than it has been in quite a few years. The next generation of plants could start construction by 2012.

Public attitudes toward the industry have become favorable, the Journal says, and legislators are paying attention. Nuclear power is carbon-dioxide-free and popular the world over - including in America.

(In 2005, 19.3% of the electricity in the United States was made in nuclear power reactors. Connecticut residents get 38% of their electricity from nuclear power (pdf) - specifically, from the Millstone nuclear power plant near New London, CT.)

The Journal article examines the nuclear power industry's claims about addressing its cost, safety and waste issues. It also lays out the criticisms of the industry's assertions.

Wood-Burning Plants Generate Energy in Massachusetts

2009-09-03T19:16:00.005-04:00

Massachusetts has 3 million acres of underutilized forestland. They aim to utilize it to produce energy.

The state's Sustainable Forest Bioenergy Initiative seeks to burn wood to make electricity. Even if half the state's annual supply of woody biomass of 4 million tons was used for electricity, it would generate as much as 150 MW. That's enough to power about 75,000 homes.

The state has already invested $1 million in 4 wood-burning plants in the western Massachusetts towns of Russell, Greenfield, Springfield and Pittsfield.

At first, igniting wood seems a bad idea. Burning wood produces carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and other disagreeable discharges.

But modern wood-burning plants are different from your ancient residential wood stove, according to this report from the Bioenergy Initiative (pdf):

...with proper design, operation, maintenance and emission control devices, modern biomass energy systems can produce little or no visible smoke and low emissions.

Besides, wood combustion releases almost the same amount of CO₂ as that absorbed by the tree during its growth. Thus, the net addition of carbon to the environment is close to zero.

By contrast, the carbon in fossil fuels has been isolated from the atmosphere for millions of years. When fossil fuels are burned, they emit "new" CO₂ into the air, increasing the total amount of carbon in the environment.

Refrigerator Needs 100 Watt-Hours of Electricity a Day

2009-09-02T19:56:00.014-04:00

Chest refrigerator. Photo © Tom Chalko.

If you've ever wondered how all the ice cream and french fries in supermarket freezers remain frozen even though the freezers don't have lids, well, it's because cold air is heavy and settles at the bottom.

Tom Chalko, an Australian scientist and inventor, used this property of air and some electronic apparatus to lower the energy usage of a chest freezer to just 100 watt-hours a day (pdf).

Which is the same amount of electricity a 100-watt bulb burns in an hour.

As if that weren't enough, he used the freezer as a fridge, setting it at between 4° and 7° C (39° and 45° F). Freezers typically run at 0° to -25° C (32° to -13° F).

Here's how Chalko did it.

He bought a 239-liter (8.4-cubic-foot) Vestfrost SE255 chest freezer and a battery-powered thermostat that had a digital temperature display and an internal latching relay. He took the thermostat apart and rigged it up so he could hang it on the wall and still have it cut power to the compressor when the appliance reached a certain temperature.

And then he sat back and watched his new chest refrigerator exceed his expectations. In the first 24 hours, the fridge used up 103 Wh. The compressor worked for only 90 seconds an hour.

100 Wh a day is 36.5 kWh per year. A fridge of similar size sold in the U.S.A. typically consumes about 317 kWh per year. Which makes Chalko's fridge about 9 times more efficient than an average appliance-store fridge.

Sure, it's a chest fridge, which is somewhat inconvenient, what with all the bending to retrieve food from lower shelves. There's a good reason why no manufacturer makes chest refrigerators.

But if you were set on saving energy with a chest fridge, you could put in movable shelves. Or not use the lower part of the fridge at all.

If you were paying for just 100 Wh of power a day, you could afford to use only half your fridge!

Appliance Rebate Program Gives the Environment and Economy Another Boost

2009-08-31T09:10:00.009-04:00

After Cash for Clunkers, here comes Dollars for Dishwashers.

The U.S. Department of Energy has set aside $296 million to pay for rebates to consumers who buy qualified energy-efficient appliances. The money will be distributed to states according to a formula published in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. To see how much your state will receive, click here (pdf).

Appliances Covered by the Program
The DOE has recommended that states focus on 10 categories of appliances that qualify for the ENERGY STAR^® label. These are:

central air conditioners
heat pumps (air source and geothermal)
boilers
furnaces (oil and gas)
room air conditioners
clothes washers
dishwashers
freezers
refrigerators
water heaters

States can, however, pick whichever categories and models they want. They also have flexibility in setting rebate amounts.

Timing
The DOE has set a deadline of Oct. 15, 2009, for states to submit their final plans including the list of appliances they want to cover. The appliance rebate program will be mostly funded by Nov. 30, 2009. Shoppers can expect to receive their cash later this year or early next year.

No Trade-In
Consumers won't have to trade in their old appliances. They will simply receive a rebate when they buy a qualifying new one.

Manufacturers Want Uniformity
Manufacturers want uniform rules nationwide for models and rebates. I agree with them. A patchwork of different state directives will make it difficult to advertise and sell the appliance rebate program to consumers, and complicate administration.

Appliance retailing is split between national chains like Home Depot and Sears, and local independent stores. But local stores buy through regional or national purchasing co-ops, so most appliance ordering is done at a large scale.

Knowing rebate amounts on specific appliances will help the industry better predict demand. Manufacturers can then set production targets accordingly.

But whether the details are decided at the state or national level, I'm sure the appliance rebate program will be a success.

Appliance retailers are old hands at advertising rebates. Count on ads to start popping up on TV screens and newspapers.

Synthetic Tree Could Collect 90,000 Tons of Carbon a Year

2009-08-29T12:19:00.004-04:00

There's synthetic oil ... synthetic diamonds ... so why not synthetic trees?

Klaus Lackner, a professor at Columbia University in New York City, is developing a synthetic tree that soaks up carbon dioxide about 1,000 times faster than an actual tree.

The synthetic tree's plastic leaves trap CO₂ in a chamber. The CO₂ is then liquefied and "could be used to create fuel for jet engines and cars," or to enhance vegetable production. You could get up to 90,000 tons of carbon per year from one of the trees.

Unlike their natural counterparts, synthetic trees don't need sunlight to snare CO₂. Also unlike their natural counterparts, each synthetic tree costs about as much as a car (no word on which car). But then, those are not fair comparisons. Synthetic trees don't look anything like their natural counterparts.

Solar Power From the Sahara -- Could Supply 15% of Europe's Needs

2009-08-25T08:26:00.008-04:00

More energy falls on the world's deserts than the entire world consumes in a year. Gather some of the energy falling onto the 9 million square kilometers (3.5 million square miles) of the Sahara, and you could power large chunks of the globe.

That's the thinking behind Desertec, a plan to build massive solar thermal plants in the Sahara desert to bring electricity to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. A dozen finance and industrial firms have lined up to support the plan, which is expected to be complete in 2050.

The benefits of Desretec are plenty. It would meet 15% of Europe's power needs with clean electricity. It would help European countries achieve their goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% of their 1990 level by 2050. It would bring electric power -- and jobs -- to resource-poor areas of northern Africa and the Middle East.

But Desertec has a few pitfalls too. It will use Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, which involves mirrors that focus the sun's rays onto tubes carrying water. The sun's heat boils the water, and the resulting steam drives turbines that generate electricity. It takes large amounts of water to keep the tubes filled and mirrors clean. And water is a resource the desert, by definition, doesn't have much of.

There's also the need for a great deal of cooperation between the governments of the countries included in Desertec's span. These Maghreb nations -- Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Western Sahara (which is claimed by Morocco) -- have their own laws about foreign investment and a record of missed opportunities to integrate their economies.

Policing such a monumental installation would present another challenge. And who knows whether in 40 years technology will have left CSP behind. With prices of photovoltaic cells falling, localized solar power may become the favored method of tapping the sun in the next few years.

And then of course, there's the cost. Desertec's price tag is projected to be $774 billion, or 400 billion euros.

Just 6 weeks ago, it was pegged at $555 billion.

Hmmm....

Tidal Power Projects Advance in Maine

2009-08-22T18:37:00.011-04:00

What better place to build a tidal power project than the Bay of Fundy?

The bay is home to the highest tides in the world, which generate fast, massive currents. Wolfville, Nova Scotia, located on an inlet near the apex of the bay, boasts tides of 52 feet (16 meters) every 12 hours 25 minutes! A 5-story house on the beach would be completely under water twice a day at high tide.

Tides in the U.S. portion of the Bay of Fundy aren't as dramatic, but they're not too shabby either. The swing from high to low tide at Passamaquoddy Bay, an inlet of the Bay of Fundy on the eastern tip of Maine along the U.S.-Canadian border, averages about 18 feet (5.5 meters).

That's more than enough to make the region extremely attractive to tidal power producers. Ocean Renewable Power, a Maine-based company that generates electricity from tidal power, holds a permit to produce electricity from Passamaquoddy Bay's tides.

The lure of plentiful tidal power has drawn several development projects to Maine. In addition to its high suitability for the waterways of the state, tidal power is clean, requires fewer turbines than wind to create the same amount of electricity, and poses no threats to boats.

Now, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the state of Maine have agreed to cooperate to bring more tidal power projects to the state. More turbines in the water will mean more opportunities to study their environmental impact, which could lead to faster regulatory decisions.

Maine is just about my favorite state to visit. And having enjoyed a couple of boat rides on the Passamaquoddy Bay many years ago, I can't think of a better body of water in which to place the tidal turbines.

Seattle Rejects 20-cent Disposable Bag Fee

2009-08-19T15:00:00.004-04:00

By a margin of 58% to 42%, with more than half the votes from Tuesday's election counted, Seattle voters rejected the 20-cent per grocery bag fee.

Environmentalists want to know: If not in Seattle, where?

Maybe a smaller fee -- 3 cents, 5 cents -- would have been accepted by the public.

Charging a Cell Phone Without Electricity

2009-08-18T17:03:00.006-04:00

Cell phone chargers suck electricity even in standby mode, adding to the "vampire energy" that goes to waste in so many households. Nokia, for one, is doing something about it.

It's doing away with chargers altogether.

A prototype charging system at the Nokia Research Centre in Cambridge, U.K., keeps cell phones juiced up with nothing more than the electromagnetic waves that envelop us constantly. All the stray waves from radios, cell phones, TVs and RFID chips that bounce around unseen -- they'll be put to good use by Nokia's charger.

Goodbye, electricity. Hello, electromagnetic waves.

Nokia claims it can grab the energy from radio waves miles away. If they're really pulling this off, it's pretty amazing. Electromagnetic waves follow the inverse-square law, which means their power (or intensity) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance the waves have traveled from their source. By the time a radio wave has trekked a few miles, its strength has waned considerably (kind of like some humans).

5 milliwatts is all Nokia researchers have been able to draw from the air so far. But they're hopeful of raising that to 20 mW and eventually 50 mW. That would be enough to charge today's cell phones.

The charger-less phone may hit stores in about 3 years. It would be a welcome step toward conquering vampire energy.

Seattle Plastic Bag Fee to Be Decided by Voters

2009-08-16T19:36:00.006-04:00

Seattle's mayor and city council had last year approved a 20-cent-per-bag fee that shoppers would pay retailers. But the fee's opponents mounted a strong campaign against it and forced the issue to be put to a public vote.

Accordingly, on the August 18 primary ballot, Seattle citizens will be asked to approve or deny Referendum 1 on the city's grocery bag fee.

Seattleites use about 360 million plastic bags each year. If the grocery bag fee passes, it would earn the city about $3.5 million annually. The money would be spent on enforcement and education.

Other cities like San Francisco have simply banned plastic bags. Washington, D.C., is the only city that makes residents pay for grocery bags, but it imposes its 5-cent fee on plastic and paper bags. Seattle's fee applies to both kinds of bags as well.

It's not clear whether the referendum will be accepted or rejected. While 20 cents per bag sounds like a small amount, it can add up quickly. Residents emerging from their latest shopping trips and counting the bags in their carts may do some quick mental math and realize that under the new rule, that trip would have cost them another dollar or two.

Will they simply accept that as the price of environmental progress? We shall see.

Where to Site Power Lines for Renewable Energy in California

2009-08-15T08:36:00.007-04:00

California is going to need new power lines. The state is a leader in generating clean energy, with an ambitious goal of getting 33% of its electricity from renewable source by 2020. That's about 115 TW of clean energy, based on a University of California at Davis projection of baseline demand for electricity that year (pdf).

The existing infrastructure doesn't have the capacity to carry all that energy to consumers. New transmission lines will have to be built.

The problem is, just about everyone except utilities objects to new power lines. We've written about tensions between homeowners and power companies in the past -- in both Northern and Southern California. In fact, a proposed new 600-mile power line that would have carried renewable electricity to parts of central California was canceled last month.

Now a new report by the state's Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative, a group consisting of utilities, state agencies and other parties, points out places where new power lines are needed most and will cause the least environmental damage. It takes into account areas where large renewable power installations have been or will be proposed.

But it stops short of recommending actual routes for power lines.

It looks like a step in the right direction.

Chevrolet Volt to Get 230 Miles Per Gallon in City Driving, GM Says

2009-08-11T13:42:00.007-04:00

In a news release dated today, General Motors said it expects the Chevrolet Volt will achieve 230 miles per gallon in city driving.

The Volt is powered by a 16 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a small gasoline engine that takes over when the battery charge drops to a certain minimum. The engine generates electricity and also muscles the car -- with assistance from the battery -- through lead-foot acceleration or steep inclines.

GM expects the Volt to consume just 25 kWh per 100 miles in city driving. (That is the new EPA standard to measure the fuel efficiency of plug-in electric vehicles, by the way: the number of kWh used per 100 miles. We may as well get used to it.)

As a gauge of fuel efficiency, the 230-mpg number is largely conceptual, because:

80% of drivers commute less than 40 miles per day, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data cited by GM;
In development tests of prototypes, the Volt ran 40 miles on electricity alone, without gasoline, in EPA city and highway test cycles; and
GM CEO Fritz Henderson says many Volt drivers will be able to get through their day without using the gasoline engine at all.

So what the 230-mpg figure really tells us is: You know how you can find your way to your neighborhood gas station with your eyes shut? In a few years, you'll be visiting it so seldom you'll need directions.

New Building Energy Label Hopes to Nudge Industry Toward "Net Zero"

2009-08-11T08:56:00.006-04:00

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) will this fall introduce a new energy rating system that will rank buildings from A+ to F.

A+ will be reserved for buildings that are "net zero" -- those that produce as much energy onsite as they consume. At the other end of the scale, F will be applied to "unsatisfactory" facilities.

The system is called Building Energy Quotient, or Building EQ. According to ASHRAE, Building EQ will expand upon the information available from the EPA's Energy Star program. Energy Star gives buildings a single pass or fail rating.

Building EQ focuses more on energy than does the Green Building Council's LEED rating system, which looks at a building's entire environmental profile. This includes "energy savings, water efficiency, CO₂ emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts."

Building EQ will be voluntary. ASHRAE admits it is an aggressive standard, with the lofty goal of pushing the building industry toward net zero.

Cash for Clunkers -- What Cars Are Drivers Buying?

2009-08-09T20:15:00.000-04:00

What kinds of vehicles are Cash for Clunkers customers turning in, and what are they buying?

83% of the vehicles traded in so far have been SUVs and pickups, and 60% of the ones purchased have been passenger cars, says CNN, quoting Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

The top 10 cars bought under the Cash for Clunkers program, according to data compiled by CNN from a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration report, are:

Ford Focus
Toyota Corolla
Honda Civic
Toyota Prius
Toyota Camry
Ford Escape
Hyundai Elantra
Dodge Caliber
Honda Fit
Chevy Cobalt

CNN also gave fuel-economy numbers for the cars, concluding:

The average combined city and highway fuel economy of the 10 cars ranges from at 27 to 33 miles per gallon, depending on which versions people choose [i.e., conventional or hybrid].

Critics of Cash for Clunkers who said the program was designed to aid Detroit, not the environment, should take a look at the cars listed above. Detroit's cars occupy only the Nos. 1, 6, 8 and 10 spots.

Whom the plan really helped were consumers, car dealers, the environment, auto transport companies, banks, salvage companies, advertising agencies, media outlets, and yes, manufacturers. And probably others that I'm forgetting.

Butterfly Populations Declining As Human Development Encroaches

2009-08-07T12:36:00.007-04:00

A caterpillar may make you go "Ugh," but butterflies make everyone swoon. Who hasn't stopped and stared, mesmerized by a butterfly flitting among flowers on a summer afternoon? What child hasn't chased them?

If you remember doing any of that, you probably also remember thinking, "Hmm, there don't seem to be as many butterflies around as there used to be."

You're right. There aren't.

According to this news report from the Associated Press, some scientists believe that butterfly populations are declining. A 2006 report by the National Academy of Sciences found populations of some pollinator species of butterfly were trending downward.

The reason for the drop is, as you may have guessed, the deteriorating environment for butterflies. Humans are paving paradise and taking away the butterflies' playgrounds.

Actually, they're more workplaces than playgrounds. Butterflies perform a vital function in Nature's food chain by fertilizing plants.

Of the more than 550 species of butterfly in the U.S. and Canada, dozens are on the endangered list, the AP report says.

But some butterfly aficionados scoff at the numbers. The president of the North American Butterfly Association says only a handful of species are on the list. "There is still plenty of habitat," he says.

Maybe he's right, and maybe all the butterflies are fluttering and dancing somewhere far away. In my yard, I haven't seen any in years.

Wringing Water out of Desert Air

2009-08-04T08:44:00.013-04:00

The desert, by definition, has little no moisture. You would expect desert air to be as dry as... well, desert air. Why bother trying to squeeze water from it?

Turns out, desert air isn't that arid after all. Israel's Negev desert, for example, is humid enough to hold 11.5 milliliters (ml) of water in every cubic meter of air. Granted, 11.5 ml is a little more than 2 teaspoons, and 2 teaspoons of water don't go far toward slaking a thirst or boiling an egg.

But think of all the cubic meters of air piled above the 17.4 billion-square-meter (6,700 square miles) area of the Negev. The amount of water trapped in the air within 1 meter of the ground alone shoots to 17.4 billion times 11.5 ml, or 200 million liters, or about 53 million gallons.

Got your attention, did I?

Now, the point: Two German organizations have found a way to extract the moisture from desert air and convert it to potable water using only renewable energy.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart and at Logos Innovationen developed the process.

In their method, hygroscopic brine runs down a tower-shaped unit, where it absorbs moisture from the surroundings. This diluted brine is then sucked into a tank by a vacuuming process. Solar collectors heat the tank.

Because the brine is in a vacuum, it boils at a temperature considerably lower than 100 degrees C. Thus the solar collector doesn't need to work as hard as it would have under normal atmospheric pressure.

The heat from the solar collector boils the water. The evaporated water -- minus the brine -- is condensed and poured down a tube, ready for human use. The weight of the water column helps create the vacuum in the tank, negating the need for a powered vacuum pump.

The leftover brine, freed of the atmospheric water it had absorbed, runs down the tower again, gathering more moisture from the air.

Any electrical power needed by the system is supplied by photovoltaic cells. Which, like the solar collectors, get their power from sunlight.

Which, by definition, is something else the desert has an abundance of.

The scientists have tested prototypes of this system in the lab. Next step: a live demonstration.

U.S. Energy Use Dropped Over 2% in 2008; 57.5% of Energy "Rejected"

2009-07-29T19:12:00.009-04:00

Americans used 99.2 quadrillion BTUs (known as “quads”) of energy in 2008, according to a report from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In 2007, we used 101.5 quads, which means our 2008 use fell by about 2.3%.

(A BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement of energy, and is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one Fahrenheit degree. Click here for a longer definition.)

We consumed more energy derived from natural gas and renewable sources in 2008 than in 2007, while use of energy from coal and petroleum fell. Energy used for industrial and transportation purposes fell, which the Laboratory attributes to the rise in oil prices in 2008. Both these sectors depend heavily on petroleum.

Did that "rejected energy" mentioned in the headline pique your curiosity? A.J. Simon, an energy systems analyst at the Laboratory, explains the concept below. Simon creates the annual flowchart that shows the amount of energy generated by various sources and its distribution to different sectors.

Energy services, he says, refers to "the energy that makes your car move and that comes out of your light bulb.” That's "good" energy.

The remainder is rejected energy. “For example, some rejected energy shows up as waste heat from power plants,” Simon says.

The ratio of energy services to total energy is the country's energy efficiency. Ours stands at 42.48%. Put another way, we reject more than 57.5% of the energy we use.

Another reason to improve our collective energy efficiency.

Update on 7/30/2009:
Anne Stark, Public Information Officer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, provided a flowchart summarizing the 2007 estimated energy use in the U.S. It shows that last year, we rejected 58.47 quads or 57.6% of the energy used.

Which tells us that the nation's energy-efficiency improvement from 2007 to 2008 was less than 0.1 percentage point.

It's small, but we'll take what we can get.

Smart Grid Interoperability Standards

2009-07-28T09:51:00.005-04:00

You can download smart grid interoperability standards documents from the ansidotorg blog, here.

I'm not going to pretend I know what any of these are, but doubtless there are armies of people out there who do. Here is a list of the documents you'll be able to download:

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and Smart Grid end-to-end security
Revenue metering information model
Building automation
DNP3 Substation and feeder device automation
Distributed Network Protocol
Inter-control center communications
Substation automation and protection
Application level energy management system interfaces
Information security for power system control operations
Phasor measurement unit (PMU) communications
Physical and electrical interconnections between utility and distributed generation (DG)
Security for intelligent electronic devices (IEDs)
NERC CIP 002-009 Cyber security standards for the bulk power system
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Standards
Cyber security standards and guidelines for federal information systems, including those for the bulk power system
Price responsive and reliability DR event information
Home Area Network device communication, measurement, and control
Home Area Network (HAN) Device Communications and Information Model
Plus additional standards and organizations related to Smart Grid.

The link to the ansidotorg blog is courtesy GlobalSpec.

Compressed-Air-Powered Car Coming in 2011

2009-07-26T09:33:00.010-04:00

If powering a car by compressed air sounds a little strange to you, consider this: Every vehicle with an internal combustion engine runs on compressed air. An internal combustion engine operates by drawing air into its chamber, then compressing and exploding the air with the help of gasoline. The power of the explosion turns the wheels of the car.

But what if the air entering the engine were already compressed? You wouldn't need an explosion, which means you wouldn't need the fuel to create the explosion.

Motor Development International, a French company that has licensed air-powered engine technology to some carmakers, figured out a way to get compressed air into a car. An on-board compressor that plugs into a wall outlet sucks in air from the surroundings and compresses it to 4,500 pounds per square inch. The air is stored in tanks under the car and slowly released to provide automotive force.

Watch a video on MDI's technology and air cars here.

One of the companies that has licensed the technology from MDI is Zero Pollution Motors, based in New Paltz, N.Y. The start-up expects to start selling its air car in the U.S. by 2011. The air car carries MDI's compressed-air engine and a small conventional engine. It travels about 20 miles on air alone, after which the engine takes over.

The engine also works the compressor, so the conventional-fuel-to-air-power cycle keeps repeating itself, enabling the car to travel hundreds of miles before needing its compressed-air supply replenished.

Detractors of the technology point out two main drawbacks: compressors release only about 25% to 30% of the energy required to compress the air, and it takes too much electricity to fully load the air car's compressor.

Undaunted, ZPM is forging ahead. Says its CEO: "We've got a lot of people who wanted the car yesterday."

Worst Man-Made Environmental Disasters

2009-07-22T21:57:00.006-04:00

Newsweek has published a slideshow of 11 of the worst environmental disasters wrought by humans. Many of these are so famous that simply saying the names of the locations tells their stories: Chernobyl, Bhopal, Love Canal.

The other 8 worst man-made environmental disasters:

Eroding coastlines and melting ice caps
Coal spills at power plants
Rainforest destruction
Industrial mining
Overfishing
Oil spills
Ocean pollution and a trash-filled gyre larger than Texas
Diverting waterways (with an arresting image of camels near a ship sitting on grassy land that used to be the bed of the Aral Sea).

Fuel Cells Create Electricity From Onion Waste

2009-07-20T14:00:00.013-04:00

What do you do with 150 tons of onion waste per day?

If you're Gills Onions, the U.S.'s largest producer of fresh onions, you buy two fuel cell power plants and make electricity, that's what.

Last Friday, the Oxnard, Calif., company unveiled a waste-to-power fuel cell generation plant that will annually cut $700,000 from its electricity bill and $400,000 in onion peel and shavings disposal costs.

Here's how the system works: The onion waste is pressed into juice and animal feed. The juice is then digested by bacteria, or fermented, a process that releases methane gas. The methane, instead of being burned, goes into two fuel cell power plants that produce a combined 600 kW of electricity -- enough to meet half the company's power needs.

Gills had bought the fuel cells in August 2006 from FuelCell Energy, a company that manufactures stationary fuel cell power plants and is based in my home state of Connecticut.

The entire system cost $9.5 million. Southern California Gas and the state government provided credits of more than $3 million. Gills expects the plant will pay for itself in under 6 years. After that, the savings drop straight to the bottom line.

By converting farm waste to energy, Gills Onions will eliminate about 30,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide-equivalent gases from the air. It will also conserve land and water that would otherwise have been used in disposing and composting the waste.

(Photo of the two fuel cell power plants © Deaton & Associates LLC.)

Raise Gasoline Taxes, Says U.S. Chamber of Commerce

2009-07-17T19:49:00.004-04:00

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will try to get lawmakers in Washington D.C. to raise the federal gasoline tax from 18.4 cents per gallon to about 28.4 cents per gallon.

The Chamber says the revenue from the gasoline tax increase would help pay for repairs to our nation's infrastructure. Pending legislation in the House of Representatives calls for spending $500 billion on transportation projects over the next 6 years. Congress isn't sure where to get the money from.

Why is the Chamber pushing a gasoline tax increase in the middle of a recession? Because repairing roads, bridges and rail systems brings jobs and increases mobility. According to the Alliance for American Manufacturing, 18,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion in new infrastructure spending.

While a federal gasoline tax increase will create infrastructure jobs, it will also have other effects on our finances and the environment.

Operating costs for businesses and households will rise. Those of us who miss the fuel surcharges that airlines and package delivery companies imposed in 2008 will welcome their return.

But higher gasoline prices in 2008 had a net beneficial effect on the environment. We bought more fuel-efficient cars. We drove fewer miles and took public transportation more often, resulting in a lower greenhouse gas emissions. The number of vehicle crashes declined. We learned the pleasures of living in downtown areas close to our workplaces. And our collective actions brought down the price of oil.

So if the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's push succeeds, it may bring benefits on several fronts.

600-Mile California Renewable Energy Transmission Line Canceled

2009-07-16T08:16:00.004-04:00

The Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC) has dropped plans to build a 600-mile transmission line from northern California to the Sacramento area. Three of the largest utilities backing the project had pulled out earlier this month, causing TANC to cancel all development plans.

The line would have carried energy from renewable sources like solar, wind and geothermal systems.

As we reported earlier, several communities along the transmission corridor had opposed the line's installation.

Environmental Change Progression -- Dramatic Videos of Images from Space

2009-07-15T20:02:00.007-04:00

In 1959, the world's population was 3 billion. By October 12, 1999, it had doubled (pdf). And by the end of 2012, we will be more than 7 billion strong.

Accommodating these growing numbers has required continuous alteration of our environment. A river dammed here, a forest razed there... each little change seemed minor when it was viewed in isolation.

But Wired magazine's time-lapse videos of our impact on the landscape bring the scope of our actions into sudden perspective.

Take a look at the videos. Watch the Aral Sea shrink before your eyes. Watch Lake Powell all but disappear. And on the flip side, watch wetlands regrow in Mesopotamia.

For more satellite images of environmental change wrought by humans, visit the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthshots website.

Air-Fueled Battery Stores 10 Times the Energy of Batteries Available Today

2009-07-14T15:19:00.006-04:00

More news from the battery front. Researchers at St. Andrews University in Scotland are developing a new type of battery that draws oxygen from the air as its fuel. It has the potential to carry up to 10 times the energy of today's rechargeable batteries.

The oxygen replaces a chemical component used in most batteries, reducing size and weight. The battery costs less too, because it replaces expensive lithium cobalt oxide with the far more economical porous carbon. The interaction of carbon and air can be repeated, thus setting up a charge and discharge cycle.

All of which makes the new air-fueled battery a perfect find for electric car makers, which have long struggled to reduce the bulk and weight of conventional rechargeable batteries.

Known as the STAIR (St. Andrews Air) cell, the battery could be ready to go to market in about 5 years.

Cleaning Up the Air at Seaports

2009-07-10T22:08:00.002-04:00

Imagine you're standing on the sea shore, gazing at the horizon. The sun washes over you from a cloudless sky, warming your skin. An occasional seagull caws overhead. You lean into the wind, take a deep breath.

Ahh, smell the salt air, clean and pure.

And the diesel fumes with their particulate matter.

Hold it, hold it. Diesel fumes? Particulate matter?

Yes. Because you're standing in a busy U.S. seaport, surrounded by large ships spewing exhaust smoke into the air.

According to this news report by the Voice of America, air pollution from large ships is expected to grow rapidly as port traffic increases. The EPA is therefore proposing stricter engine and fuel standards for U.S. ships that would significantly improve air quality throughout the U.S.

Thousands of miles of U.S. and Canadian coastline would be named an Emissions Control Area. The standards would apply to all ships operating within 200 nautical miles of the coasts.

From the news report:

By 2030, the domestic and international strategy is expected to reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxides from large marine diesel engines by about 1.09 million metric tons and particulate matter emissions by about 130,000 metric tons. When fully implemented, the coordinated effort would reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 percent and particulate matter emissions by 85 percent compared with current emissions.

And then the salt air you inhale really will be clean and pure.

Green Fireworks Coming

2009-07-09T20:22:00.006-04:00

Did you enjoy the Fourth of July fireworks? Good. Because you might be interested to know, the next generation of fireworks lighting up your sky will be green.

Today's fireworks spew perchlorates and heavy metals and other toxic chemicals into the air. The glorious reds and blues and yellows that make us go "Oooh" owe their brilliance to elements like strontium and copper and rubidium.

In fact, there's nothing like a fireworks display to make one think of the periodic table.

But a new crop of fireworks is being developed that won't be made of harmful chemicals. Based mostly on nitrogen (remember, air is 78% nitrogen), these fireworks will be as lustrous as their toxic-chemicals-laden forebears. Plus, they won't release as much smoke.

Still, chances are you won't be seeing the green fireworks in your local park anytime soon. Their higher costs are expected to hamper their widespread usage.

DuPont and Dept. of Energy Collaborate on Thin-Film Solar Cells

2009-07-06T22:05:00.005-04:00

Moisture degrades the performance of thin-film solar cells over time. Now DuPont has partnered with the Department of Energy in a $9-million effort to bring to market an ultra-thin film that will protect solar cells.

The protective film will be about 3,000 times thinner than a human hair. It will initially cover flexible, thin-film solar cells made from copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), and will later be used on other types of solar cells as well.

Thin-film solar cells can be made from plastic. They can be twisted and rolled, unlike glass, and can be used in a greater variety of applications than rigid solar panels made of glass and polysilicon.

The thin-film segment of the solar cell industry is projected to expand significantly in the next few years, according to a study by British research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. Thin-film solar cells have low manufacturing costs, don't rely on silicon and have relatively high energy conversion rates. Improvements in technology, such as the one promised by the DuPont-DOE collaboration, will solidify thin-film CIGS solar cells' potential to be the world's dominant form of clean energy in the future.

DuPont is contributing $6 million to the program and the DOE will foot the remaining $3 million.

Any improvement in solar cell technology is good news. Unless costs come down and efficiencies go up, solar photovoltaic power will remain a niche source of clean energy.

Plants Save Water by Telling Farmers When to Irrigate

2009-07-03T16:28:00.004-04:00

Ever receive a cell phone call from a plant? Next year, some people may.

AgriHouse, an agri-biotechnology company in Colorado, will start marketing sensors that attach to leaves, measure their turgidity, figure out how much moisture they hold and place cellular calls to farmers when the leaves need water.

The sensors bring scientific precision to bear on answering the age-old questions: Is it time to water the crops? And how much should I douse them with?

Farmers tend to water their fields on a set schedule that they arrive at through measurement and experience. Lacking exact moisture readings at the leaf level, they end up over-watering the soil rather than risk letting the plants dry up.

AgriHouse's sensors tell them when and how much to irrigate. About 129 billion liters (34 million gallons) of fresh water are used daily in commercial agriculture the United States, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A savings of just 10% would be dramatic, says the president of AgriHouse.

And it's not only water that's saved, but also the energy used to pump the water.

We know that talking to plants can be good for them. It turns out that plants can talk back -- and what they say can be good for us and the environment.

EPA Lists 44 Sites With High Coal Ash Hazard

2009-07-01T17:58:00.005-04:00

The EPA calls it Coal Combustion Residues (CCR), but laypeople call it coal ash - the residue from coal-fired power plants that is kept in slurry form in containment ponds. CCRs consist of more than just ash, however, and include coal slag and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) residue. They also contain low concentrations of metals like arsenic, selenium, cadmium, lead and mercury.

The EPA recently released a list of 427 coal ash containment sites throughout the country. Of these, it rated 44 as having a "high hazard potential."

According to the EPA, "A high hazard potential rating indicates that a failure will probably cause loss of human life."

The 44 sites are in 26 facilities in 10 states, mostly in the Midwest, South and West. The EPA has conducted on-site assessments at 11 of these facilities, and the rest have had state inspections within the past 12 months. All these assessments and inspections will be reviewed by the EPA, which will issue a public report on the results.

New Jersey Ranks 2nd Among States With Solar Power

2009-06-29T15:56:00.010-04:00

Here's one for the "Who'd a thunk it?" category: New Jersey ranks 2nd among states with grid-connected solar power. Right after California.

That's right, New Jersey. Not Nevada, not Arizona, not New Mexico. Not the Sunshine State, which doesn't even rank in the top 10.

But tiny, cloudy New Jersey, up here in the gray Northeast. It generates 9% of the nation's grid-connected solar power. Some 4,000 photovoltaic installations are pumping out more than 85 MW of electricity.

How did the state do it?

As this article explains, by a combination of goal-setting, smart policies and investment. Here's a summary of what New Jersey did:

1. Set up new standards for 2-way metering and interconnections between meters and the grid.

2. Did away with rebates funded by the state and instead introduced free-market-based Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC). Utilities that didn't want to invest in solar power generation could buy SRECs from installers and operators of solar facilities.

3. Invested $3 million to set up the 1st SREC tracking and trading system in the country.

4. Added Master Plan goals to reduce energy use 20% by 2020 and generate 30% of all electricity from renewable sources by 2020, including 2.12% (about 3.1 GW) from solar power.

5. Invested $260 million between 2002 and 2008 to stimulate the solar power industry.

They learned from their experiences and fine-tuned their programs over the years, and now solar installations are growing like bamboo shoots all over New Jersey.

ACES Passed By House of Representatives

2009-06-27T12:23:00.002-04:00

It was a close vote, 219-212, but the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) yesterday. If you'd like to see how your Representative voted, click here.

The Associated Press has an excellent roundup of quotes on the ACES bill from members of Congress and other leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Atrazine -- and TNT -- Cleaned Up by Native Grasses

2009-06-21T20:23:00.008-04:00

Native grasses like switchgrass and gammagrass have been known to break up the herbicide atrazine, converting it into carbon dioxide.

Atrazine is a popular weed killer used to treat corn and myriad other crops. Unfortunately, because of its extensive usage, it is a common contaminant in the nation's surface water. Degrading it through natural means like grasses is an appealing, inexpensive and environmentally sound solution.

The scientists who had first studied the effects of the grasses on atrazine recently extended their research to include other soil-bound substances with structures similar to atrazine.

They looked into how the grasses interacted with TNT and RDX. TNT is a suspected carcinogen and leads to immune disorders, allergic reactions and birth defects. RDX can cause seizures if inhaled or eaten in large quantities (pdf).

According to the Department of Defense, the two explosives have contaminated 538 sites in the U.S. between them. Twenty of these are Superfund sites.

In lab tests, the grasses rendered the explosives harmless. All that was left of them was carbon dioxide and water.

The next step is to test the grasses outdoors in actual contaminated sites. Sometimes Nature provides the best solutions.

(Photo of native grasses by Chung-Ho Lin, assistant professor of forestry, University of Missouri.)

Fuel Cell Cars Will Come to Market on Schedule, Say Carmakers

2009-06-19T21:36:00.004-04:00

The Obama Administration has cut $100 million from its hydrogen funding budget, but that hasn't led carmakers to put the brakes on their fuel cell programs.

A number of auto manufacturers have said they will maintain or speed up their fuel-cell commercialization schedules. In June 2009, executives connected with the auto industry briefed Congress on the strategic value of hydrogen technologies and the importance of investing in them.

Among the marketing and production announcements by car companies were the following:

Daimler will begin producing its Mercedes-Benz B-class F-CELL car this summer. During 2015-2017, it will increase production to tens of thousands of vehicles.
In 2010, ten Daimler fuel cell buses will be operating in Hamburg, along with 20 F-CELLs. Shell is adding hydrogen pumps to four gas stations to support the vehicles.
The 72-mpg Honda FCX Clarity is being leased in small numbers in Southern California and Japan.
Toyota will commercialize its FCH-adv in 2015, and may even move the schedule up to 2014.
110 fuel cell vehicles sporting the General Motors badge are running on U.S. roads.
Volkswagen said it is committed to building fuel cells.

Aerogels Super-Efficient at Absorbing Oil

2009-06-17T23:04:00.005-04:00

Every year, Americans pour 200 million gallons of used oil down sewers, streams and backyards, according to a story in Science Daily. This results in wastewater contaminated with oil that is hard to remove.

The same story reports that scientists in Arizona and New Jersey have found that minuscule beads of hydrophobic silica aerogel make excellent oil sponges. Aerogels are a porous, super-lightweight solid sometimes called "frozen smoke." They are 99.8% air.

In an experiment, a column of aerogel beads placed in flowing water that contained soybean oil absorbed seven times its weight. It extracted the oil from the water at a "high efficiency."

Expected uses for the aerogel beads: to pluck out oil from wastewater and clean up oil spills in the environment.

(Photo of aerogel in hand, courtesy NASA.)

Floating Power Plants Coming From Russia and Germany

2009-06-16T20:52:00.005-04:00

Trouble siting a power plant? Just put it on a barge and tug it to wherever electricity is needed most. Problem solved.

A Russian company has declared it will launch the world's first floating nuclear power plant in 2010. It will be 450 feet long and will churn out 70 MW of electricity. Waterside towns in the north Russian Federation will draw power from the plant.

Meanwhile, a German power generation firm has announced it will pilot-test a floating combined-cycle gas turbine power plant. The plant will be built on a 328-foot-long barge and will deliver power to countries along the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, possibly by 2010.

Energy from the floating plants would be distributed to consumers via the local utility grid.

(Photo: That's just a barge, not a floating power station.)