President Obama’s State of the Union address yesterday night was, in my mind, expertly delivered. Like a good politician, Obama played to various interest groups and in no area did he do this more than in the energy sector.
He spoke of the ‘overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change’ and of the need to pass a ‘comprehensive energy and climate bill’. This received a standing ovation. However, so did his arguments that a ‘new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants’ was needed; that new offshore areas needed to be opened up for oil and gas exploration; and that continued investment in bio-fuels AND ‘clean-coal’ was necessary.
To his credit, his speech really centered on creating jobs, and clean energy jobs were a main component of that proposal. Arguably, for the US to put all its eggs in one, truly, ‘clean’ energy basket might not be the best strategy for its future. But haven’t we seen the effects of faulty nuclear power plants? Haven’t we been living with coal for long enough? However ‘clean’ coal may get, it will never beat wind or solar power in this regard. No matter how refined nuclear waste becomes it will never be as safe either. There are plans to try to ‘recycle’, which just means ‘re-use’, nuclear waste but we do not have efficient ways of doing that at the moment and even if we did the question about where to put the waste when we’re done is far from clear. Hiding it deep underground is the best example of sweeping garbage under the rug I have ever heard of.
As always, I was impressed by the President’s ability to deliver a speech, but this time his message only rang half as strong. New jobs in the clean energy sector could help pull the US out of its recession and put it on a path to a more sustainable future. But there was a lack of urgency in his tone and a hint of complacency, or appeasement, in his comments on oil, coal and nuclear power.
Compromise is often necessary, but let us hope it does not go too far.
VIA: Youtube
In February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed by the Congress, and signed into law by President Barack Obama. Its main goal is to spur economic activity and growth, creating and saving jobs. Recovery funds are around $787 billion. The Act also took into account the environment as a means of creating jobs and strengthening the economy.
Today we will analyze the case of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), which was awarded $16.8 billion for its programs and projects.
The funds are being allocated into either energy efficiency projects or renewable energy ones.
We’ll start with energy efficiency. There are several projects in this area.
1) Solid-state lighting
$37 million have been awarded to more than 15 projects. Some of them will research,
others will manufacture, and develop this type of lighting which includes LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes). This solid-state lighting system has the “potential to be 10 times more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent lighting”, according to the EERE. Besides, lighting consumes around 24% of the electricity generated in the US.
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It seems like a school project, or a game, too perfect to be real. Yet it does exist; Samso Island, in Denmark, uses nearly 100% renewable energy. In 1997, it won a competition launched by the Ministry of Energy of Denmark, in which participants had to design a plan to make a specific location energy independent, by using only renewable sources. Since then, the island has been investing and developing wind, biomass and solar energy.
The population being around 4,300, it is more feasible to achieve such a demanding goal there than in larger cities.
The main business sectors of the island are agriculture, followed by tourism. Thanks to the renewable energy projects, which brought about 57 million euros in investment, between 1998 and 2007, each year hundreds of jobs were created. In one year the equivalent to 20 years of employment.
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Restaurants and other commercial food entities generate more than 1/3 of the total waste of Illinois. That’s a lot. Luckily, in 2007 the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op was launched, by Dan Rosenthal, in partnership with Ina Pinkney, two well-known restaurant owners. The Co-op is trying to green Chicago restaurants.
What exactly does it do? It gathers information on suppliers of green products and services, making it available for interested restaurants. Thus, if a restaurant wants to be more sustainable it doesn’t have to go through so much trouble tracking down the right suppliers.
Besides, businesses that become members of the Co-op can buy green products in bulk, which helps lower costs. It is generally still more expensive that regular products, but at least, less expensive than buying green on your own.
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Grameen Shakti or Grameen Energy is part of the Grameen family of organizations, and its objective is to promote and develop renewable energies in rural areas of Bangladesh. It was born in 1996, and follows some of the guidelines of Grameen Bank.
Grameen Bank was born in the 80s, and has had enormous success in fostering small business initiatives among the poorest, thanks to microcredit (small loans) programs. The organization and its founder, Muhammad Yunus were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
In Bangladesh, the grid electricity is only available to 30% of the population. And in rural areas, the availability of power is even less. This greatly limits industrial and agricultural development.
That’s why Grameen Shakti considers access to electricity so important; it can help develop industry and agriculture, through increasing employment rates, more production, and more technology, among other advantages.
The microcredit system is used to lower costs for buyers and reach an economy of scale. There are different ways in which people can obtain accessible loans, recover their initial investment, and make their newly acquired technology productive.
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Haiti has not only lost more than 100,000 people, but its housing has crumbled down, its already weak energy infrastructure has been destroyed, there is a lack of water and food, as well as many wounded. International aid is being sent there, and with it sustainable tools are being deployed.
To start with, given that the power system has collapsed, there is obviously hardly any lighting. With this in mind, solar power is being used. Sol Inc., a Florida-based company, has donated $400,000 in solar lighting supplies, that are helping light up Haiti’s nights. This allows for aid workers and rescuers to work longer hours, and distribute food after sunset. Also, the lighting helps improve security, and permits hospitals to work at night.
On the other hand, being water a scarce yet vital need in post-quake Haiti, solar energy is being applied to get drinkable water. Water Missions International has sent 10 water filtration systems to Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. These systems can either be powered with diesel or solar energy. They can purify lake, well and stream-water, and can generate around 10 gallons of water a minute, which is enough for 5,000 people a day.
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Microgeneration is the generation of zero or low carbon heat and power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own needs. It includes small scale wind turbines, hydroelectric plants, photovoltaic solar systems and ground source heat pumps. It is very common to find photovoltaic systems and wind turbines together. While the first one doesn’t produce at night, the second one does. These two systems complement each other.
Compared to the traditional system of huge power plants connected to the consumption points by long power lines, these microgenerators can generate power at the same place of consumption. This avoids losses in transport and transformation points.
The fact that microgeneration is a recent development means that there are few specialists that know how to install the technology required.
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Many tend to relate the Middle East with crude. Some may consider that Middle Eastern countries owe their wealth to exporting crude to Western states. But some countries there have started to worry about sustainability and the need to search for new business. Among them is the United Arab Emirates (UAE), made up of seven emirates, the largest one of them being Abu Dhabi.
The Masdar Initiative has set the ground-breaking goal of building a zero waste, carbon neutral, 100% renewable energy dependent city. Not bad! This initiative is being driven by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company.
Regarding the first aim; generating zero waste, the plan is that 50% of waste will be recycled, 33% will be converted to energy, and 17% will be composted. This is expected to be achieved 10 years after the completion of the final phase of the city’s construction. On the other hand, people living in the city will be encouraged to reduce their waste 30%, through policies, regulations and behavioral change.
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California is one of the most progressive states in terms of environmental action and policy. This particular case is yet another proof of it. Starting on 2011, California will demand new buildings to comply with a number of green regulations. These will be included in the first mandatory state-wide green building code in the US; dubbed Calgreen.
The set of rules was passed unanimously by the California Building Standards Commission. Starting January 1st 2011, buildings will have to meet these new green requirements.
California has set the ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by 2020. Calgreen is expected to help accomplish this target.
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Being Walmart “the largest private employer and the largest grocery retailer in the US”, its impact on the environment is huge. It operates in several countries besides the US, such as Mexico, the UK, Japan, and India. It was founded in 1962, and it started to work on its environmental impact a few years ago.
Walmart has three main, very demanding goals. These are to be supplied 100% by renewable energy, to eliminate waste and to sell more sustainable products.
Regarding its first goal; using solely renewable energy, Walmart has been investing in both wind and solar power. The company has made a four-year purchase agreement with Duke Energy, a wind farm in Notrees, Texas. Since April 2009, Duke Energy is providing approximately 15% of Walmart’s total energy load in around 350 Texas stores and some other facilities.
Walmart is also looking to solar power to green its ways. Between 2009 and 2010 solar panels will be installed on 10 to 20 of its stores. 18 solar arrays are already in place. When all of the new panels are installed, solar power will provide between 20 and 30% of each location’s total energy needs.
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Cambridge University is extremely well-known for the outstanding education it provides. However, concerning its environmental performance, it isn’t nearly as successful. Thanks to the North West Cambridge development, this will most likely change.
Construction of North West Cambridge begins in 2012, and it will be the “greenest development of its size and scope in the UK”. It will be built in the 120-hectare site owned by the university and will lodge Cambridge’s expansion in the next 25 years. Estimates are the amount of students and staff will rise about 8,000.
Construction has not been approved yet. But what is sure is that housing in North West will initially seek to achieve level 5 on the Code for Sustainable Homes; and level 6, which means being zero carbon, by 2016. Commercial, academic and public buildings will aim to obtain an ‘excellent’ on the BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method) rating.
North West will have 2,500 student beds, a center for academic and commercial research, a local centre with a supermarket and shops, a primary school, a hotel, a nursery and new homes which will be for sale.
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‘Do you have your own bag?’, the ‘Giant’ supermarket attendant asked me the other day.
Starting January 1st, 2010, businesses in Washington D.C. selling food or alcohol have to charge 5 cents for every disposable paper or plastic carryout bag. Now, that might not seem like a lot but getting charged for plastic bags makes us consider costs we sometimes forget about. Plastic takes so long to degrade naturally that it can have a strong negative impact on the environment. By charging the customer, supermarkets such as Giant force us to consider these costs.
Save one or two, most of the customer’s I’ve seen while shopping seem to respond favourably. I heard one man say, ‘I can’t believe they’re charging us…but I guess it’s for a good reason.” The response was even better while the 250,000 reusable bags that were handed out free were still available. Now most people just accept that they will have to get used to the change and slowly but surely they are.
The charge has a double purpose as most of it is also used to fund the Anacostia River Protection Fund which is administered by the District Department of the Environment (DDOE). The rest is given to the businesses that offer a rebate when customers bring their own bag.
This is a small practical step but a strong and positive psychological one. Let’s hope it is one of many.
Source: Green DC
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