The Solar Decathlon is a competition organized yearly by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, since 2002. Teams of college and university students can participate by designing and building solar powered houses. The goal is to help reduce the cost of such homes and advance solar technology.
The winner team of the 2009 version of the competition was the Technische Universitat Damstadt of Germany, which designed a two-story house almost entirely covered in solar PV panels. It generates twice the energy it needs. Construction costs were more than $650,000. The team got the highest score possible, 150, on the net metering contest, which evaluated the constructions’ ability to generate all the energy needed and more.
The houses were exhibited in October last year, on the National Mall in Washington DC.
Last week, here in Sustentator, we summarized what the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act is doing to improve energy efficiency on a national scale. Today, we’ll look at the funds being destined to renewable energy research, development and deployment programs.
1) Community Renewable Energy Deployment
This project will on the whole receive $20.5 million. It includes five projects that will work to deploy renewable energy in different communities. To allow this, clean energy infrastructures will be developed, which will in turn create jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save consumers money. Among them is the project of the city of Montpelier, Vermont, where a cogeneration plant will be installed, and the University of California at Davis, that will develop a system to convert waste to energy.
2) Biomass
Through two main projects; Advanced biofuels research and fueling infrastructure and advanced biorefinery, the aim is to enhance the development of a clean and sustainable transportation sector. Among other things, selected projects will research algae-based and advanced biofuels. In so doing, dependence on foreign oil will decrease, while job creation will increase. Another important task which will be addressed is the development of compatible infrastructure. Further, biorefinery projects are expected to help foster a national biomass industry. The are of biomass energy will receive $644 million.
Read Post
Some cities wait for legislation to be passed before starting to evolve to a more sustainable way of functioning. And some others lead the way, and I dare say they will even be an inspiration for those future laws I keenly await for.
One of the latter is Malmo, a city located in the south of Sweden, with a population of about 280,000 people. Malmo has set itself the target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25% between 2008 and 2012. By 2030, the city plans to run entirely on renewable energies. To achieve this, different measures are being applied.
To start with, sustainable transport is being promoted. Public transportation is being fostered, as well as car-pooling, a more eco-friendly way of driving, and more sustainable cars and buses. Regarding buses, these are connected to traffic lights, so as to get green lights faster than cars, and they have separate lanes. 42% of them run on biogas created from the city’s waste.
Eco-driving is taught to municipal employees; it is also offered in several driving schools, and it has been spread to some of the largest truck companies.
Read Post
A neighborhood of 12 net-zero energy homes (which consume as much energy as they generate) is being built in the north of Boulder, Colorado. They are designed to meet green building standards, specifically LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification, the most demanding ones around. The so-called SpringLeaf Boulder project wants to make green homes available to a larger amount of people. That’s why costs are trying to be lowered.
The houses were designed by architect George Watt, and are now being built by Silver Lining Builders.
Electricity will come from the photovoltaic panels that will be installed in each house, on the roof. The system will be linked to the grid, via a net-metering system. So, when the panels aren’t working, (at night or on cloudy days), homes can use energy coming from the grid. However, the homes are designed to generate enough electricity to be self-sustaining.
Read Post
Loading...