Green Building & Manufacturing Articles
An Old Nuclear Problem Creeps Back
The American nuclear industry, primed to begin new construction projects for the first time in 30 years, is about as eager for an operating problem at an old reactor as the oil industry was for a well blowout on the eve of opening the Atlantic coast to oil drilling.
Nonetheless, a nuclear reactor where a hidden leak caused near-catastrophic corrosion in 2002 has experienced a second bout of the same problem.
In 2002, the plant, Davis-Besse, in Oak Harbor, Ohio, developed leaks in parts on the vessel head, allowing cooling water from inside the vessel, at 2,200 pounds per square inch of pressure, to leak out.
The cooling water contains boric acid, which is used to control the speed of the nuclear reaction, and the acid ate away a chunk of the steel the size of a football, leaving nothing but a thin stainless-steel liner to maintain the reactor's integrity.
Nuclear experts characterized it as a startling near-miss. Plants around the country had experienced leaks in the vessel head, but none nearly this serious.
The plant was shut for 14 months. First Energy Nuclear Operating Company, which owns it, eventually brought in a replacement head of similar design from a reactor in Midland, Mich., that had been abandoned during construction.
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LEDs lead the charge of the lights brigade in L.A.
Many neighbors like the upgraded street lamps, which cast a better light for less money, but some say it's too bright an idea.
Most talk glowingly about their neighborhoods' new nighttime look. But some residents are taking a dim view of bright new street lights that are popping up across Los Angeles.
Energy-saving light-emitting diode fixtures are being placed on 140,000 of the city's roadside light poles in a retrofitting that engineers say will cut power usage by at least 40% and eventually save taxpayers an estimated $10 million a year.
Besides being cheaper to operate, the new LED lamps shine a whiter, wider and more even splash of light across residential streets.
The lights are being welcomed by most. Others grumble that the LEDs shine through their windows "like floodlights."
Some who live in the tightly packed Venice area where homes closely line narrow streets complain that the new streetlights are overkill.
"I thought Jesus was coming to my house on Saturday night … then I realized the city had replaced my streetlight with an LED laser beam!!!!!" one resident ranted on a community website. It's "like the police helicopter is just parked permanently over the house."
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Fungus Among Us Could Become Non-Food Source for Biodiesel Production
ScienceDaily (June 9, 2010) - In the quest for alternatives to soybeans, palm, and other edible oilseed plants as sources for biodiesel production, enter an unlikely new candidate: A fungus, or mold, that produces and socks away large amounts of oils that are suitable for low-cost, eco-friendly biodiesel.
That's the topic of a study in ACS' journal Energy & Fuels.
Victoriano Garre and colleagues point out that manufacturers usually produce biodiesel fuel from plant oils -- such as rapeseed, palm, and soy. However, expanded production from those sources could foster shortages that mean rising food prices. In addition, oilseeds require scare farmland, and costly fertilizers and pesticides. To meet growing demand for biodiesel fuel, scientists are looking for oil sources other than plants. Microorganisms such as fungi, which take little space to grow, are ideal candidates. But scientists first must find fungi that produce larger amounts of oil.
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Energy Outlook Offers Grim Fossil Fuel Forecast
The status quo guarantees future dominance of fossil fuels, according to an authoritative government projection.
As the U.S. Senate today debates whether to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases, it's worth considering what would happen if every country in the world failed to pass laws and policies curbing the use of fossil fuels.
The latest International Energy Outlook, an annual forecast by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, provides a cautionary "what if" for the global energy future if current policies remain unchanged. Driven by population and economic growth in developing countries, the world in 2035 would be more dependent on fossil fuels than ever, it finds. Countries overall would be consuming 49 percent more energy and spewing 43 percent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2035 than in 2007.
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Zero-E Adds Eco-Bling to Architectural Modeling
Woods Bagot and Buro Happold have invented a design program that helps architects and engineers create zero-emissions buildings.
These days, progressive architects and engineers wax philosophical about bio-mass digesters, photovoltaics, and water recycling systems. But what is their effect, really? Will they truly make a difference?
Woods Bagot, an Australia-based architecture mega-firm, and Buro Happold, a British giant in architectural engineering, have teamed up to produce Zero-E, a system for modeling building performance that might help architects understand the precise effects of all the eco-bling that they add to their buildings. While systems like this already exist for building systems such as LEED, Woods Bagot claims that this is the first time anyone has developed something that integrates such advanced technologies--and tests them against the supremely rigorous standard of zero emissions.
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ENERGY EFFICIENCY TAX CREDIT SET TO EXPIRE.
The folks at energy-efficient replacement window maker Renewal by Anderson have sent a reminder: The US government's Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit is set to expire at the end of the year. Better act fast. Time moves quickly.
The tax credit for the installation of new high efficiency water heaters, furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, central air conditioners, building Insulation, windows, doors, roofs, circulating fans used in a qualifying furnace, as well as some biomass stoves ends in a little over six months. But, realistically there's about half that time to take advantage of the credit.
Building projects always take longer than expected. The efficiency installations have to be completed and paid for before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. A Renewal by Anderson representative noted that early October would be a better deadline for getting its windows ordered and date set for installation. Other efficiency upgrades may differ in lead times, but waiting to the last moment may mean missing the deadline. November or December would be a bad time to start thinking about the credit. Think ASAP.
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Powering Up Green... Rooftop Solar Power Generation
Remember, It's A Three-Part, Sustainable Equation
You don't have to look too far to see that the shift to clean, green power is taking a firm hold. In fact, it's a change you simply can't ignore. Within the past five years, more and more owners of commercial, retail and industrial facilities have started viewing their large-scale flat roof surfaces as assets instead of liabilities, and are seeing the potential benefits and returns that can come from installing rooftop solar power generation systems. It's clearly a new direction for organizations that were previously dependent upon electricity generated from traditional sources such as coal and natural gas which are becoming increasingly subject to increased price volatility due to fuel price fluctuations and pending carbon legislation.
Significantly more advanced and much less costly than the solar power generation systems that emerged in mid to late 1970s after the Arab oil embargo, today's low-profile, highly efficient rooftop solar power generation systems are reinforcing the sustainability efforts of organizations large and small. Couple that environmentally responsible mindset with substantial government incentives that encourage the development of solar energy generation resources – and growing interest from both investors and business leaders – and you have the emergence of a new, green industry with the potential for long-term ROI that just can't be ignored.
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Singapore on track to 'green 80 percent' of buildings by 2030
Since the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development (IMCSD) announced its second Green Building Masterplan, which aims to green 80 percent of all buildings in Singapore by 2030, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has been hard at work changing the mindsets of the entire construction ecosystem.
The second Masterplan roadmap was launched after the introduction of the Green Mark scheme in January 2005, and together, these green initiatives have driven the industry toward more environmentally-friendly buildings, noted a BCA spokesperson.
"There are now about 450 green buildings in Singapore with a total floor area of 16 million square meters," he said. "This amounts to 8 percent of the nation's total gross floor area (GFA)."
By 2030, at least 80 percent of new and existing buildings will have attained the Building and Construction Authority's (BCA) Green Mark certified rating. That is if the target set by the Inter-Ministerial is achieved.
The IMCSD's second version of the Green Building Masterplan, announced in August last year, will result in annual savings of S$1.6 billion (US$1.1 billion) in terms of energy cost reductions when fully implemented, the press release stated then. Furthermore, as a spinoff, 18,000 "green collar" PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) will receive training in the development, design, construction, operation and maintenance of green buildings.
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Kyocera Begins Manufacturing Solar Modules in California
The new solar manufacturing line has an initial production target of 30 megawatts per year.
Kyocera announced on June 3 that it has begun manufacturing solar modules in San Diego, Calif., to serve the U.S. market's growing demand for clean, sustainable solar electric generating systems.
The U.S. module production line will support a new milestone for Kyocera's solar energy business -- global production volume targeting 1,000 megawatts (one "gigawatt") of solar cells per year by March 2013.
The new solar manufacturing line has an initial production target of 30 megawatts per year. Initial production includes solar modules ranging from 210 watts to the company's latest flagship 235-watt modules.
"High-quality, high-efficiency solar modules from Kyocera's San Diego plant fulfill the 'Buy American' provisions enacted by the U.S. government, while meeting the rising demand for renewable energy that has accompanied the current administration's 'Green New Deal' measures," stated Tatsumi Maeda, vice president and general manager of Kyocera Corporation's Solar Energy Group.
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Pumping Up the Heat for a Climate-Friendly Future
ScienceDaily (June 14, 2010) - Making ground-source heat a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels has long been a dream for countries that depend on energy imports and need to cut their carbon dioxide emissions. A team of businesses and researchers in Slovenia and Serbia set out to develop the heat pump technology that would make this dream a reality.
The chaos caused by a volcanic eruption in Iceland April 2010 and the dispersal of its ash cloud across European airspace was a reminder of the tremendous forces of nature that exist below the ground. Not all subterranean heat sources have such sinister power, however. Across Europe, there are plentiful sources of geothermal energy: heat stored in the ground which can be tapped to provide a renewable and inexhaustible energy supply. Using the right technology to access this power at varying depths and temperatures, we can use this heat to reduce our dependence on imported and climate-damaging fossil fuels.
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New Properties of Graphene, World's Thinnest Material, Discovered
ScienceDaily (June 14, 2010) - Graphene oxide, a single-atomic-layered material made by reacting graphite powders with strong oxidizing agents, has attracted a lot of interest from scientists because of its ability to easily convert to graphene -- a hotly studied material that scientists believe could be used to produce low-cost carbon-based transparent and flexible electronics.
But to Jiaxing Huang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, and his research group at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University, graphene oxide itself is even more interesting. Huang and his group have studied the material for years and have discovered how to assemble these soft sheets like floating water lilies pads. They also used a camera flash to turn them into graphene, and invented a fluorescence quenching technique to make them visible under microscopes.
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Green machine: Recycled batteries boost electric cars
It's a common complaint: we'd like to be greener, but the cost is exorbitant. When it comes to plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars, it's an argument that has some justification – largely because of the cost of the powerful lithium-ion batteries they run on. So how can we reduce the cost of batteries without curtailing their performance?
Let's rule out just waiting: battery costs are expected to fall, but not fast enough to bring electric cars into the mainstream. But there may be a way for batteries to offset their cost by earning some money for their owners.
Some electricity utility companies and car makers are investigating the possibility of using electric cars to store power for the grid when they are in the garage, with some form of financial incentive for the car owner. But all the additional discharging and charging would shorten the life of the battery – and if you've just paid out $40,000 on an electric car, that may not appeal.
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Europe's New Wind Power Rivals Gas
The amount of power generated by new wind turbines in the European Union this year will be about the same as the amount from new gas plants, according to the European Wind Energy Association, an industry group.
"It is too early to say whether, for a third year running, there will be more wind energy capacity installed than any other electricity generating technology, but it is clear that wind energy will be competing for the top spot with new gas power plants," Christian Kjaer, the chief executive of the wind association, said on Monday.
Gas installations far outpaced wind installations four years ago in Europe, with nearly 20 gigawatts of new capacity compared with 9 gigawatts of wind, according to figures from the association. But the gap narrowed sharply the following year and, by 2008, wind had overtaken gas for the first time. Last year there were 10 gigawatts of new wind capacity compared with 7 for new gas.
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Towards Nanowire Solar Cells With a 65-Percent Efficiency
ScienceDaily (June 17, 2010) - Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/) researchers want to develop solar cells with an efficiency of over 65 percent by means of nanotechnology. In Southern Europe and North Africa these new solar cells can generate a substantial portion of the European demand for electricity. The Dutch government reserves EUR 1.2 million for the research.
The current thin-film solar cells (type III/V) have an efficiency that lies around 40 percent, but they are very expensive and can only be applied as solar panels on satellites. By using mirror systems that focus one thousand times they can now also be deployed on earth in a cost-effective manner. The TU/ researchers expect that in ten years their nano-structured solar cells can attain an efficiency of more than 65 percent. Jos Haverkort: "If the Netherlands wants to timely participate in a commercial exploitation of nanowire solar cells, there is a great urgency to get on board now." The research is conducted together with Philips MiPlaza.
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