Green Building & Manufacturing
How to motivate people to make homes energy-efficient
When parents buy a house, some aspects of their children's future weigh heavily in their decision. For example, many parents will sacrifice to get a house in a good school district, even if it means buying a house that barely meets their space needs or involves a commute to work that is hugely inconvenient.
But another aspect of their children's future, the environment that the kids will inherit one day, can also be affected by the parent's housing choices, and this aspect generally gets short shrift.
In the United States, buildings are the largest source of the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. More than half of those buildings are houses. Homeowners produce emissions as they consume fossil fuels for home heating, cooking and water heating. Those emissions make up about 28 percent of the household's total, according to the EIA. The other 72 percent is generated off-site at the plant that produces the household's electricity, which most likely runs on coal or natural gas.
Read More...
National Geo: Google Searches For Key To Energy Savings
Deep in the dark of the Minnesota night, some appliance was kicking on to rob Ed Kohler of hard-earned cash. He'd look later and see nighttime energy spikes reported by PowerMeter, Google software that monitors home electrical use.
"All the lights were out, but something's cycling," said the 36-year-old Kohler, marketing manager at a Minneapolis web-development firm. "So I think about it and, aha, figure out it's the refrigerator."
A 19-year-old refrigerator, a real energy hog by today's standards. It was easy to calculate that a new, energy-efficient model would pay for itself.
Kohler's revelation is typical of "Aha!" moments that consumers enjoy when they can monitor their energy use, say Google executives. PowerMeter is an early hint at how new technology can give home dwellers more control over their energy use. It was developed by the search giant's charitable arm, Google.org, which has made energy one of its prime areas of focus. And PowerMeter is free, easy to use and available to anyone worldwide to install.
Read More...
Why Does Google Care About Your Power Bill?
Like most people, I don't have much information readily available about my power use. A bill containing information on my energy use during the previous month arrives via email every month, and I pay what it says I owe the utility. I have no idea what appliances suck the most power in my house, or how I could best reduce my overall consumption. But now Google wants to make sure everyone has more and better information about how much energy we use.
Google has already released a prototype PowerMeter, a web-based energy monitoring tool that provides real-time information about home usage. The company is also eyeing the market for other tech innovations that could help cut consumer energy use. But in order to work, their system and most others require smart grid technology like meters that can connect homes with their utilities. They also require information from power providers that would make it possible to use these meters.
Read More...
Nuclear Missing Link Created at Last: Superheavy Element 117
ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2010) - An international team of scientists from Russia and the United States, including two Department of Energy national laboratories and two universities, has created the newest superheavy element, element 117. The lifetime of element 117, which has now been created in the lab for the first time, confirms that superheavy elements lie in an island of stability on the periodic table.
The team included scientists from the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (Dubna, Russia), the Research Institute for Advanced Reactors (Dimitrovgrad), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"The discovery of element 117 is the culmination of a decade-long journey to expand the periodic table and write the next chapter in heavy element research," said Academician Yuri Oganessian, scientific leader of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at JINR and spokesperson for the collaboration.
Read More...
Inexpensive Highly Efficient Solar Cells Possible
ScienceDaily (Apr. 12, 2010) - Thanks to two technologies developed by Professor Benoît Marsan and his team at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) Chemistry Department, the scientific and commercial future of solar cells could be totally transformed. Professor Marsan has come up with solutions for two problems that, for the last twenty years, have been hampering the development of efficient and affordable solar cells.
His findings have been published in two scientific journals, the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) and Nature Chemistry.
The untapped potential of solar energy
The Earth receives more solar energy in one hour than the entire planet currently consumes in a year. Unfortunately, despite this enormous potential, solar energy is barely exploited. The electricity produced by conventional solar cells, composed of semiconductor materials like silicon, is 5 or 6 times more expensive than from traditional energy sources, such as fossil fuels or hydropower. Over the years, numerous research teams have attempted to develop a solar cell that would be both efficient in terms of energy and inexpensive to produce.
Read More...
China, India steal U.S. solar jobs
One of the more specious Republican claims about a carbon bill is that it will cost America jobs.
China and India are taking advantage of America's climate bill stalemate to build an industry in renewable energy sources that has already cost America jobs.
BP Solar halted production of solar cells at its plant in Frederick, Maryland, this month, according to Chemical & Engineering News, and will lay off 320 of the plant's 430 workers. The plant had already shed 140 jobs in prior cuts.
BP Solar's headquarters will remain in the U.S., and the firm will continue to sell solar panels here, but the panels will now be manufactured in Xi'an, China, and Bangalore, India.
Earlier this year China became the world leader in the manufacture of wind turbines and solar panels. China's manufacturing boom coincided with China's passage of a law last year requiring utilities to derive 15 percent of energy from renewable sources. The law requires utilities to buy renewable energy even at higher rates and to improve the nation's energy grid to make delivery more efficient.
Read More...
At least 10% of new homes fail energy efficiency test
Official figures show a high number of new homes don't comply with legal standards to cut carbon emissions and utility bills
At least one in 10 new homes in Britain do not meet legal requirements for energy efficiency, condemning tens of thousands of householders to higher energy bills, and exacerbating climate change.
The government has identified improving households' energy efficiency as the best way to reduce carbon emissions at the same time as keeping a lid on rising utility bills.
Since April 2008, all new homes have had to meet tough standards on draught proofing, lighting and heating. All homes require an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) indicating how they rate. But at least 30,000 of the 300,000 homes built since then do not meet these legal standards, according to official figures just released.
Andrew Warren, director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, said: "Buying a home is the biggest single purchase people will make in their lives. With energy costs mounting – never mind the environmental issues – it's perfectly respectable to expect that buildings meet the minimum legal standards for energy efficiency."
Read More...
Lights out on Incandescent Bulb Production at Toshiba
Toshiba ended production of mass-market incandescent light bulbs on Wednesday, putting to a close a 120-year manufacturing history of the products.
The company, which is one of Japan's largest makers of lighting products, had planned to halt production next year but brought up the date by a year. It will now focus on more energy efficient products including LED (light-emitting diode) lights, which contain a handful of white LEDs and draw a fraction of the power of incandescent bulbs.
Incandescent bulbs are inefficient because the vast majority of the power consumed is converted and released as heat and not as light. LED lights are several times more efficient.
Toshiba traces its history in incandescent bulb production back to 1890 and the start of bulb production at Hakunetsu-sha, a company that would eventually merge into Toshiba and was Japan's first manufacturer of incandescent light bulbs.
Read More...
Congress Considers Bill to Fund Energy-Efficient Commercial Building Retrofits
A coalition of 80 contractor groups, unions, manufacturers, businesses, financial services companies and energy-efficiency advocates to advance the adoption of Building STAR, a proposal to makeover America's commercial and apartment building infrastructure with more energy-efficient technologies.
Introduced March 4 as S. 3079, Building STAR Energy Efficiency Rebate Act of 2010, the bill is a package of rebates and financing incentives for building owners to upgrade their property's energy efficiency, including interior and exterior lighting, energy management, HVAC, motors, and drives.
Read More...
DOE amends efficiency standards
The DOE has issued new efficiency standards for water heaters, direct heating equipment, and pool heaters.
The U.S. Dept of Energy (DOE) is amending the existing energy conservation standards for residential water heaters, gas-fired direct heating equipment, and gas-fired pool heaters. It has determined that the amended energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.
According to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, the new minimum standards for lower-volume gas storage units is a little lower than what was originally proposed, while the new minimum standards for higher volume electric and gas storage water heaters are appreciably higher than the original proposed level. In the case of higher-volume electric storage units, for example, the final rule sets a minimum efficiency level more than twice as high as what was originally proposed and will, de facto, require heat pump technology.
Read More...
Solar Power in Ontario Could Produce Almost as Much Power as All U.S. Nuclear Reactors, Studies Find
ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2010) - Solar power in southeastern Ontario has the potential to produce almost the same amount of power as all the nuclear reactors in the United States, according to two studies conducted by the Queen's University Applied Sustainability Research Group located in Kingston, Canada.
These studies, led by Queen's mechanical engineering professor Joshua Pearce, are the first to explore the region's solar energy potential. Professor Pearce was surprised by how many gigawatts could be produced.
"We came up with enormous numbers and we were being conservative. There about 95 gigawatts of potential power just in southeastern Ontario -- that shows there is massive potential," says Professor Pearce, who specializes in solar photovoltaic materials and applied sustainability.
Read More...
Dayton looking for ways to capture methane released from water treatment
DAYTON - The city of Dayton's waste water treatment process produces 600,000 cubic feet of methane gas per day and the city is looking to capture the gas and reduce waste.
Half of the methane is used to generate electricity for the city's Waste Water Treatment Plant on Guthrie Road and to heat water to run boilers and engines during the waste water treatment process. The other half is wasted, burned off into the environment widening the city's carbon footprint.
Lalit Gupta, the city's acting division manager of the waste water treatment plant, felt that wasn't acceptable. His goal is to recapture and use 100 percent of that methane and sell off any excess to a natural gas company as an alternative fuel.
A $1.7 million federal stimulus grant will make that happen by next year.
City officials say it's part of an Earth Day, every day, attitude.
Read More...
Growth year for solar energy creates 17,000 new jobs despite harsh recession - Sign the Solar Bill of Rights
Guest blogger Rhone Resch is President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
As Americans, we make decisions by finding a balance between personal values and pragmatism - is it the right thing to do and is an effective solution or improvement? This balance persuades us to order a salad instead of fries or to buy a hybrid car instead of a Hummer. Or, in my family's case, installing a solar photovoltaic system on my roof instead of relying on electricity from the nearest coal plant.
For us, national energy policy works the same way. Environmental conservation and the free market shape our decisions for better or for worse. This week's release of the 2009 US Solar Industry Year in Review report shows, thankfully, that Americans are beginning to make the right choice. Statistics show that despite a harsh recession, the solar industry added new solar electric installations totaling 441 megawatts, pulled in $1.4 billion in new venture capital investments, created 17,000 new jobs and grew by 36 percent in annual revenue.
Read More...
1,775 people have signed on to the Solar Bill of Rights.
By signing the Solar Bill of Rights, you can join thousands of other Americans in urging lawmakers in Washington to give the U.S. solar industry a fair competitive environment. Solar energy is a clean, reliable energy source that is creating tens of thousands of American jobs that can't be exported. The solar industry is ready to power America now, but we need the right policies in place to deploy more solar, sooner. The eight rights below outline what our nation needs to create a policy environment that allows solar to compete on a level playing field with fossil fuel sources.
Read More...
Partnership Formed to Promote Natural Gas Hybrid-Electric Vehicles.
The American Public Gas Association (APGA), NGVAmerica, and Hybrid Kinetic Motors Corporation (HK Motors) has announced the formation of a strategic collaboration to promote the mass production and sales of natural gas-powered hybrid passenger vehicles.
HK Motors plans to begin producing a family of light-duty natural gas hybrid-electric passenger vehicles at its plant in Alabama beginning in 2013. Natural gas hybrids will use similar electric-drive technology to gasoline-powered hybrid vehicles available today, only natural gas will be the power source rather than gasoline.
Natural gas offers significant greenhouse gas advantages. Compared to gasoline vehicles, NGVs produce 29 percent less greenhouse gases. When vehicle power-trains are designed specifically to use natural gas and combined with hybrid technologies, greenhouse gas levels can be reduced by half while providing fuel efficiency to meet or exceed the new federal standards.
Read More...
Blue chips rapped over green boasts
A DAMNING report has slammed the green credentials of some of Britain's biggest firms, accusing them of paying little more than lip service to environmental responsibilities.
Almost 80% of Britain's biggest listed companies fail to back up the claims they make about the size of their carbon footprint and other green credentials, the report reveals.
Only 75 of the companies in the FTSE 350 provide a so-called "assurance statement" to verify their environmental statistics.
Many of these statements are not checked by the company's auditors or any other independent expert, but simply signed off by the board or another internal body.
Royal Dutch Shell, the oil giant, and Legal & General, the insurer, are among the firms criticised in the report. Morgan Crucible, the building materials group, is also attacked.
Read More...
Pollution rules meant for big companies
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa P. Jackson dismissed state concerns Sunday that new federal climate rules will hamstring South Carolina's small business community with red tape and expensive requirements.
In an exclusive interview with The State newspaper, Jackson said her agency will focus the nation's first greenhouse gas regulations on large industries that produce about 80 percent of the pollution linked to global warming. She labeled as unfounded reports in South Carolina that the rules would apply to businesses like restaurants and apartment complexes.
"Not while I'm head of the EPA," Jackson said before an environmental justice conference in Columbia. "I don't know where that comes from, except that people are rightly afraid of stuff they don't understand."
But Jackson said "it doesn't make sense" that the EPA would place the burden on small businesses.
"You go after the big folks. You don't start with the little ones," she said. "It wouldn't be in anybody's interests."
Jackson was responding to criticism last month from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and regulators from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Both favor a new law passed by Congress to control greenhouse gases, instead of looming EPA regulations.
Read More...
New 'Green' Technologies Make Die Castings Stronger
ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2010) - Conventional die castings can be made stronger using new, more environmentally friendly technologies developed by CSIRO
The two new technologies -- a dynamic gating system and the 'ATM runner system' -- produce high-integrity castings with fine-grained microstructure and low porosity by improving the feed of molten metal into the casting. Both systems are suitable for use with aluminium and magnesium alloys.
"This is accomplished by influencing the flow behaviour of the molten metal, the fill pattern of the die, and subsequent solidification," says the leader of CSIRO's research team of metallurgists and casting engineers, Dr Rob O'Donnell.
Read More...
Professor sees red over 'green building' claims
Don't get Dan Harvey started on Toronto's eco-friendly initiatives. Renewable energy? Wind turbines? "A joke," the University of Toronto environmental studies professor says – at least, until we can start reducing our energy footprint in a significant way.
A lot has been made of the city's attempts to green its buildings, which suck up the lion's share of Toronto's energy consumption. But they don't go nearly far enough, he insists. And the problem isn't the city's huge supply of old, crumbling towers: It's the shiny new buildings going up we should be worried about.
To a degree, Toronto's hands are tied when it comes to messing with Ontario's building code. But the key to greener buildings, Prof. Harvey insists, is bringing in laws with teeth.
Read More...