Most shortages are local and minor and easily addressed. But, in other cases, the shortages persist for days, weeks, or even years and involve millions of people. The reasons for these shortages vary incredibly: from forest fires to safety problems at power stations, from problems in electricity market liberalization to heat or cold waves. Or maybe as a consequence of an earthquake like it happened in Japan some days ago.

Our colleagues at Threehugger tackle the issue explaining how in 2002 the Tokyo Electric Power Company had to begin shutting down 17 nuclear power plants for emergency safety inspections. Manufacturers switched their production schedules to lower-demand periods, the company launched a conservation campaign and people trimmed their use. It didn’t hurt too much because Tokyo’s summer was cooler than expected. In fact, the critical month of July proved to be among the coolest in history. Electricity demand was far below expectations.

A later survey by the Center for Consumer Studies of Dentsu Inc. found that 80% of respondents claimed to have taken measures to reduce their electricity use during the shutdown, by dimming lights, raising the set point of air conditioners, and reducing air conditioning use. These savings were obtained after as little as three days after the conservation campaign began and they persisted for anywhere from a few hours to several months. Some programs continued to save electricity even after the crisis had ended. In most cases, the programs avoided significant blackouts entirely.

TEPCO estimated that it achieved roughly 1.4 GW savings through adjustments in its load contracts with industrial and other large customers and 1.3 GW in other conservation. The combined savings, 2.7 GW, represents about 4.5% of TEPCO’s peak demand (at 60 GW).

Now Japan faces similar challenges in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, with the loss of power from its nuclear facilities. And people is, again, undertaking measures for saving electricity in order to avoid a blackout.

Via: Threehugher | IEA

The Centre for Sustainable Energy has unveiled the energy efficiency details of more than 40,000 public buildings – including schools, hospitals and council offices – through a Freedom of Information Act request. By using this handy map users can find out how efficient – or inefficient – they are.

Following the European Union energy label, which defines a set of energy efficiency classes from A (best) to G (worst), one can see how in London, for example, the Hackney Service Centre gets a mere G, and the Homerton Hospital an E and a G. In fact there are fewer than 200 A-rated buildings among the whole list, and thousands of G-rated.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change cut its carbon footprint by 20%, compared with 2009, through a variety of measures including heating adjustments and making better use of office space. But the headquarters of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Westminster scores just an E.

Other key findings are:

• 40,146 public buildings are covered, including schools, government departments and council offices.

• 119 buildings get more than 50% of their electrical energy from renewable power – 0.3%.

• Only 568 buildings get 1% or more of their electrical energy from renewable energy sources – 1.4%.

• A leisure centre in Surrey uses the most electricity proportionally of any building on this list. The Spectrum Leisure complex in Guildford, uses 475 kw per hour per square metre.

• Manchester University has the highest carbon emissionson this list. It produced 51,601 tonnes of CO2 in 2008 – and, perhaps unsurprisingly, has an energy rating of E.

Check out the map and see how (in)efficient are public buildings in your district and then call people to action. Let’s save a some energy, it will be useful in the near future.

Via: The Guardian

"Taken together the Action Plans show that the EU-27 will meet 20.7 % of its 2020 energy consumption from renewables", said Justin Wilkes, Policy Director of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

The countries of the European Union are currently the global leaders in the development and application of renewable energy. Promoting the use of renewable energy sources is important both to the reduction of the EU’s dependence on foreign energy imports, and in meeting targets to combat global warming.

The National Action Plans show that one third (34%) of EU electricity demand will be supplied from renewables by 2020. Wind energy will generate 14% of Europe’s total electricity demand in 2020, more than any other renewable source, up from 4.2% in 2009. Ireland will be the country with the highest wind energy penetration level at 36.4% of its total electricity demand, followed by Denmark at 31%.

15 Member States plan to exceed their national target, led by Bulgaria at +2.8% above their target, Spain (+2.7%), Greece (+2.2%), Hungary (+1.7) and Germany (+1.6%). 10 Member States will meet their national target, and just two Member States, Luxembourg (-2.1%) and Italy (-0.9%), have informed the European Commission that they will not.

Source: EWEA analysis of the 27 NREAPs

Via: European Wind Energy Association

But this area in southern Sweden, best known as the home of Absolut vodka, has not generally substituted solar panels or wind turbines for the traditional fuels it has forsaken. Instead, as befits a region that is an epicenter of farming and food processing, it generates energy from a motley assortment of ingredients like potato peels, manure, used cooking oil, stale cookies and pig intestines.

A hulking 10-year-old plant on the outskirts of Kristianstad uses a biological process to transform the detritus into biogas, a form of methane. That gas is burned to create heat and electricity, or is refined as a fuel for cars.

Once the city fathers got into the habit of harnessing power locally, they saw fuel everywhere: Kristianstad also burns gas emanating from an old landfill and sewage ponds, as well as wood waste from flooring factories and tree prunings.

Over the last five years, many European countries have increased their reliance on renewable energy, from wind farms to hydroelectric dams, because fossil fuels are expensive on the Continent and their overuse is, effectively, taxed by the European Union’s emissions trading system.

But for many agricultural regions, a crucial component of the renewable energy mix has become gas extracted from biomass like farm and food waste. In Germany alone, about 5,000 biogas systems generate power, in many cases on individual farms.

Kristianstad has gone further, harnessing biogas for an across-the-board regional energy makeover that has halved its fossil fuel use and reduced the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by one-quarter in the last decade.

“It’s a much more secure energy supply — we didn’t want to buy oil anymore from the Middle East or Norway,” said Lennart Erfors, the engineer who is overseeing the transition in this colorful city of 18th-century row houses. “And it has created jobs in the energy sector.”

Both natural gas and biogas create emissions when burned, but far less than coal and oil do. And unlike natural gas, which is pumped from deep underground, biogas counts as a renewable energy source: it is made from biological waste that in many cases would otherwise decompose in farm fields or landfills and yield no benefit at all, releasing heat-trapping methane into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.

In Kristianstad, old fossil fuel technologies coexist awkwardly alongside their biomass replacements. The type of tanker truck that used to deliver heating oil now delivers wood pellets, the major heating fuel in the city’s more remote areas. Across from a bustling Statoil gas station is a modest new commercial biogas pumping station owned by the renewables company Eon Energy.

The start-up costs, covered by the city and through Swedish government grants, have been considerable: the centralized biomass heating system cost $144 million, including constructing a new incineration plant, laying networks of pipes, replacing furnaces and installing generators.

But officials say the payback has already been significant: Kristianstad now spends about $3.2 million each year to heat its municipal buildings rather than the $7 million it would spend if it still relied on oil and electricity. It fuels its municipal cars, buses and trucks with biogas fuel, avoiding the need to purchase nearly half a million gallons of diesel or gas each year.

The operations at the biogas and heating plants bring in cash, because farms and factories pay fees to dispose of their waste and the plants sell the heat, electricity and car fuel they generate.

A municipal fire inspector making a fuel stop. Kristianstad’s municipal cars, buses and trucks now run on biogas fuel.

Kristianstad’s energy makeover is rooted in oil price shocks of the 1980s, when the city could barely afford to heat its schools and hospitals. To save on fuel consumption, the city began laying heating pipes to form an underground heating grid — so-called district heating.

Such systems use one or more central furnaces to heat water or produce steam that is fed into the network. It is far more efficient to pump heat into a system that can warm an entire city than to heat buildings individually with boilers.

District heating systems can generate heat from any fuel source, and like New York City’s, Kristianstad’s initially relied on fossil fuel. But after Sweden became the first country to impose a tax on carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, in 1991, Kristianstad started looking for substitutes.

By 1993, it was taking in and burning local wood wastes, and in 1999, it began relying on heat generated from the new biogas plant. Some buildings that are too remote to be connected to the district heating system have been fitted with individual furnaces that use tiny pellets that are also made from wood waste.

Burning wood in this form is more efficient and produces less carbon dioxide than burning logs does; such heating has given birth to a booming pellet industry in northern Europe. Government subsidies underwrite purchases of pellet furnaces by homeowners and businesses; pellet-fueled heat costs half as much as oil, said Mr. Erfors, the engineer.

Having dispensed with fossil fuels for heating, Kristianstad is moving on to other challenges. City planners hope that by 2020 total local emissions will be 40 percent lower than they were in 1990, and that running the city will require no fossil fuel and produce no emissions at all.

Transportation now accounts for 60 percent of fossil fuel use, so city planners want drivers to use cars that run on local biogas, which municipal vehicles already do. That will require increasing production of the fuel.

Kristianstad is looking into building satellite biogas plants for outlying areas and expanding its network of underground biogas pipes to allow the construction of more filling stations. At the moment, this is something of a chicken-and-egg problem: even though biogas fuel costs about 20 percent less than gasoline, consumers are reluctant to spend $32,000 (about $4,000 more than for a conventional car) on a biogas or dual-fuel car until they are certain that the network will keep growing.

“A tank is enough to get you around the region for the day, but do you have to plan ahead,” Martin Risberg, a county engineer, said as he filled a biogas Volvo.

via: The New York Times

The nation’s major professional sports leagues are encouraging and endorsing the use of solar power and clean energy in arenas and stadiums throughout the United States in order to begin a battle against climate change.

For this purpose they have delivered a letter encouraging their teams and facilities to begin using solar power as they continue the effort to green North America’s professional sports. Jointly with the letter the leagues also distributed a solar development guide produced on their behalf by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF). The purpose of the guide is to outline the work necessary for each stadium to add on-site solar power generation to its energy mix.

“Our sport was born outdoors, in winter weather, and many of our players began skating on frozen lakes and ponds,” said Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the National Hockey League.”We are acutely aware that our League, as well as all sports leagues, need to be responsible stewards of our planet. Utilizing solar energy is an important and efficient environmental action that sends a broader signal to the culture. It not only conveys a critical message to all sports fans, it improves the efficiency of our facilities and protects the environment.”

The Staples Center in Los Angeles and US Airways Center data in Phoenix, are two of the leading arenas already taking advantage of solar panels. If all arenas and stadiums had solar installation equal to the Staples Center, they would reduce carbon emissions by approximately 39,281 tones/year, comparable to taking 8,340 cars off the road. Furthermore, they would create enough electricity to power roughly 4,812 American homes for a year and would save the equivalent of 33,970 barrels of crude oil per year.

Via: ENN | NRDC

What do IKEA and Paris’ Orly airport have in common? Both are worried about the rise of the earth temperature and at the same time they are taking advantage of that feature, I mean earth temperature. In fact they are planning to use geothermal energy to power their heating/cooling systems.

From one side, Orly Airport has recently announced that it plans to provide more than a third of its heating needs via geothermal energy, saving 7,000 tons of CO2 emissions (from the current level of 20,000 tons). The France’s second busiest airport aims to be the greenest in the country by launching of a vast program intended to increase its energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2020 and 40 percent by 2040.

The system is simple. By using two 1,700 meter deep shafts at the perimeter of the airport hot water (74ºC) will be drawn upward via natural pressure and will be directly used by the airport’s heating system. Once the hot water is used it will be cycled back into the earth.

From the other side, and thanks to a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a new Denver IKEA store will be the first IKEA store in the United States to be built with geothermal heating and cooling.

130 holes dug below the parking garage that will be just below the store, each 500 feet deep (where temperature remains about 55 degrees all year round), are expected to allow a 25 to 50 percent reduction of electricity consumption for heat pumping than conventional heating or cooling systems. The Environmental Protection Agency says that this reduction can reach up to 72 percent.

Geothermal heating systems are not new. In fact they are really ancient. They have been around since the times of the Roman Empire, when hot water streams were used to heat buildings and spas.

Despite it seems that geothermal power is always left behind compared to solar and wind power, in the American West this technology is gradually getting popular. In 2009 about 3,100 megawatts of capacity were built and another 6,400 megawatts are slated for construction in the coming months.

Via: Inhabitat 1 | Inhabitat 2

Located at Marble Bar, in the eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia, Horizon Power’s Pippunyah Solar Diesel Power Station has been set in motion officially. (Pippunyah being the name of the river that runs under the power station).

The 1350 solar panels have been designed to track the sun’s movement across the sky and produce 1160 kw of clean, renewable electric power. Altogether, this power station incorporates the largest single axis tracking solar farm in Australia, combined with the latest diesel technology and innovative energy storage system.

The energy generated by the plant is stored in flywheel “batteries”. Flywheels are an alternative to deep cycle batteries or molten salt for storing energy that can be transformed into electricity. Flywheel energy storage works by accelerating a rotor (flywheel) to incredibly high speeds and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational energy, which is converted back by slowing down the flywheel.

The hybrid solar power plant claims it will be able to provide up to 89% of the town’s electrical needs, especially during the peak summer seasons.

It is also estimated that this plant will prevent 1119 tons of Greenhouse Gas emissions from being released, and save between 35% to 40% diesel consumption per year (approximately 412 000 liters of fuel annually).

Another station using the same technology is currently under construction at Nullagine, 88km south of Marble Bar and Horizon Power is also planning to build solar diesel power stations in the remote Aboriginal towns of Kalumburu and Yungngora.

Via: Ecofriend

On one side, two countries have experimented a two point increase in the index, India and UK, due to Government’s injection (US$ 1 billion) in the green economy by the former, and the government plans to launch a £2 billion “green investment bank” fund by the latter. On the other side, “Greece, Spain and Portugal have all suffered negative score changes due to worsening capital markets and a downward revision of sovereign credit ratings by Standard and Poor (S&P)”, stresses the report.

The report shows that China is now tied with America as the most attractive location in which to invest in renewable energy projects. The report looks at the "Shift to green" and challenges for renewable support mechanisms.

The Country Attractiveness Indices track the relative attractiveness of 27 countries’ renewable energy markets across a selection of technologies each quarter. The Ernst & Young index tracks and scores investment in renewable energy, all renewables, long-term on or off-shore solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, biomass, geothermal and infrastructure. Since 2003, the Ernst & Young Energy and Environmental Infrastructure Advisory team has been releasing quarterly data that ranks national renewable energy markets, and their suitability for individual technologies.

Via: EY

But green groups might have a reason to be partially happier. The good news is that Environment Minister Jim Prentice said last Wednesday (23th of June) that Canada will phase out older coal-fired power plants to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. The not so good news is that the country will move to make natural-gas fired plants the new clean-power standard.

Canada will require electricity producers newer facilities to match the lower greenhouse gas emissions of more efficient natural-gas fired plants by establishing new standards which are expected to be firmed up by early 2011. The measure is expected to reduce emissions by 15 million metric tons, the equivalent of taking 3.2 million vehicles off the road.

Nowadays, 19 percent of the country’s electricity, and 13 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions, is being produced by 51 coal-fired units. However, 33 of those plants will reach the end of their economic lives by 2025. Unless the operators make substantial investments to cut emissions from the aging facilities, they’ll be required to shut down.

Along with the proposed regulations, Prentice also announced the government would contribute C$400 million (US$384 million) for its share of a fund set up under the Copenhagen accord to help impoverished countries cope with climate change.

Via: ENN | Reuters

Under the EU Renewable Energy Directive, established in 2009, the 27 members set the target of ensuring that 20% of its energy consumption will come from renewable sources by 2020. The directive also required nations to ensure that renewables accounted for 10% of the energy used in the transport sector. According to the EU, renewables include solid biomass, wind, solar energy and hydro power as well as biofuels.

In a statement realeased last June 10th, the European Commission declared that only biofuels that meet the EU’s sustainability requirements can count towards the targets in the Directive, to be fulfilled in 2020.

Production of biofuels is under debate since several studies have shown that some biofuels are more polluting that the fossil fuels they replace. For this reason Mr Oettinger, Comissioner responsible for Energy, stresses: “We have to ensure that the biofuels used are also sustainable. Our certification scheme is the most stringent in the world and will make sure that our biofuels meet the highest environmental standards. It will have positive effects also on other regions as it covers imported biofuels".

The package adopted last week, which consists of two Communications and a Decision, focus especially on the sustainability criteria for biofuels. It contains three measures:

Sustainable Biofuel Certificates: it encourages industry, governments and NGOs to set up "voluntary schemes" to certify biofuel sustainability. Independent auditors are required to check the whole production chain (from the farmer to the supplier).

Protecting untouched nature: biofuels should not be made from raw materials from tropical forests or recently deforested areas, drained peatland, wetland or highly biodiverse areas. The conversion of a forest to a palm oil plantation would not meet the sustainability requirements.

Promote only biofuels with high greenhouse gas savings: only those biofuels with high greenhouse gas savings count for the national targets for renewable energy. Tus, biofuels must deliver greenhouse gas savings of at least 35% compared to fossil fuels, rising to 50% in 2017 and to 60%, for biofuels from new plants, in 2018.

In 2007, approximately 26% of biodiesel and 31% of bioethanol used in the EU was imported, mostly from Brazil and the US.

Via: Europa.eu | BBC

The prospect of fueling computing centers with cow manure may sound absurd, but according to a newly released study by Hewlett-Packard, it is not only feasible but in fact quite beneficial for all parties involved.

Data centers, housing information technology (IT) equipment in controlled environments, are becoming increasingly crucial to our modern, Internet and computer-dependent society. They require large amounts of energy to operate, a source of which may have been under their noses all along.

Data transfer technology has improved and quickened such that the physical location of large computing centers has become less contingent on proximity to cities and centers of commerce. In the search for cheaper land on which to build ever-bigger data centers, the trend among companies such as Google and Microsoft has been to relocate to rural areas of the U.S. In many cases they are the new neighbors of dairy farmers, who for their part are searching for ways to get rid of vast amounts of manure by selling it for the creation of biogas.

One cow can provide enough biogas per day to power a 100-watt light bulb and H.P. calculates that it would take 10,000 cows to power a one-megawatt computing center. This energy source could also be an economical way for companies to power their data centers in countries like India and China.

Another benefit of the arrangement is that it creates a synergetic relationship. The heat generated as a waste product by the IT equipment can be used in the production of the biogas, which in turn powers the data center. Tom Christian, principal research scientist at the H.P. Sustainable IT Ecosystem Lab explains that, "the idea of using animal waste to generate energy has been around for centuries, with manure being used every day in remote villages to generate heat for cooking. The new idea that we are presenting in this research is to create a symbiotic relationship between farms and the IT ecosystem that can benefit the farm, the data center and the environment."

Do you think that the environmental harm caused by cattle outweighs the positive results of providing renewable energy to data centers? Or, do you see it as a step in the right direction towards powering our technological future?

Via: The New York Times | TreeHugger

Harnessing the energy of ocean waves could be the next step in the search for viable renewable energy sources. New wave energy harnessing technology is now being tested in a research tank in Gosport, UK in the form of an 8-meter long rubber “snake” appropriately called Anaconda. A full-sized 200-meter working version could be functional in just five years, as Checkmate Seaenergy plans to commercialize the device. Estimates are that each full-sized Anaconda could produce enough electricity to power 1000 homes.

Anaconda is a rubber mechanism that floats at the water’s surface and is filled with fresh water – in order to keep ocean organisms from making it their home – then sealed at both ends. As waves move along the tube, which is tethered to the sea floor at one end, they create “bulge waves” by forcing the water inside to expand outward where there is less pressure. Each bulge moves along the inside of the tube just in front of the sea wave and as it reaches the end of Anaconda, it spins a turbine thus generating electricity.

Rod Rainey, of Atkins Global, and retired physicist Francis Farley began developing Anaconda in 2007. Now, the research team is working to improve the efficiency of the device and hopes to start testing the 200-meter long version in actual conditions in just three years. There are fewer construction and maintenance costs than are required by other wave farm mechanisms because Anaconda only needs to be anchored in one place and the turbine is the only moving part.

Anaconda was receiving media attention mainly in the UK, but according to Checkmate Seaenergy, interest is building in North America as well since they took part in the Economist Carbon Summit in Washington, DC at the end of last year. Shortly thereafter, the device was featured on the Bloomberg TV series Innovators in the Clean Energy Pioneers episode.

Anaconda is not the first wave energy harnessing technology. In 2008, world’s first commercial wave farm, designed by Pelamis Wave Power, began operations off the coast of Portugal. In that system, 140-meter long, semi-submerged devices are anchored to the sea floor. The snake-like contraptions have different sections that are driven up and down by the force of the waves, and hydraulic rams resist these movements. High-pressure fluid is pumped through hydraulic motors by this resistance, thereby engaging electric generators and the energy produced transmits to the mainland via underwater cables.

Will energy harvested from waves be a big part of the solution to our energy and climate problems? Will our renewable energy future in fact require turbulent seas?

Via: NewScientist, Inhabitat

How should new technologies be valued to analyze their feasibility? Global action should redefine cultural values of sustainability and its real cost. Local responsibilities should lead the change and create legal frameworks that enhance the internalization of the new paradigms from a financial point of view.

Current pollution problems, expected future shortage of fuel supply, and climate change lead us to search for sustainable solutions. How can these solutions be implemented? Will the effort be worth it? Or would time be wasted with technologies that would not turn out to be sustainable?

History shows that every bet on new technologies is a constant process of trial and error. Take a look at the Industrial Revolution. Man created machines based on fossil fuels with the purposes of improving efficiency in global production and increasing the standard of living (trial), and now comes the time when conscience of the unfavorable consequences arises: pollution problems and shortage of fuel supply (error). This shows the difficulty in measuring the impacts of changes made in a complex system.

The moral of centuries of trials and errors should be clear: when facing a problem it should not be enough to propose any solution without thinking of the externalities associated to neglecting its sustainability.

Which is the value of a technology?

Viability of projects in daily practice is analyzed almost exclusively from a financial point of view, whereas the cultural acceptance of a technology still remains unexplained in the hunch of a “good idea”. From a collective point of view, considering utility, social and environmental impact is a must.

But, is it reasonable for energy today in the world to cost what it costs? Does the world assign a right value to sustainability?

Could it be the case that we are living in a reality where energy is artificially cheap at the expense of a non-sustainable future?

Anyway, the important thing is that being used to this artificiality does not keep us from seeing the real externalities.

The planet is being reorganized in a global action to build awareness in the quest for sustainability. Globalization and modern information technologies are the media that make this possible. From the creation of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) to world organizations in renewable energy and incentive systems by means of carbon credits and feed-in-tarifs, signs of a global willingness to a cultural change are becoming visible. However, the collective willingness by itself is not enough for leading into a practical change.

Beyond a global vision, a local initiative should exist in each part of the planet, aligned to the global action. Therefore, responsibilities are local:

• to create local conscience, internalizing the externalities in every social sphere before they become visible;

• to create favorable and strategic regulatory frameworks for a sustainable development.

How should a change of paradigms be generated in society? From the top (congress) and downwards (community)? From the bottom and upwards? In all directions? Problems arise at the bottom and flow upwards. But changes and solutions have to be implemented at the top and downwards, and then in all directions.

A short conclusion

As problems described affect the whole of humanity, motivation towards change will not come from each individual, but instead from a collective conscience.

Sustainability should not be negotiable. The effort to deploy sustainable development should be a universal value, with the purpose of maintaining and improving the quality of life of every living being on Earth.

Construction began in 2006, and it will be finished later this year. The architecture firm behind this 71-story high building is Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The skyscraper will be home to the China National Tobacco Corporation.

Let’s see, this building will include solar panels, wind turbines, greywater recycling, efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning, among other features.

The Pearl River Tower will have motorized louvers that open or close according to the position of the sun, and the interior and exterior temperatures. These help keep the building cool, and provide ventilation.

As for the wind turbines, they will generate 4% of the tower’s power. Together with the solar panels, the turbines will power the HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning).

On the whole, the building will be 58% more energy efficient than conventional skyscrapers.

VIA: Inhabitat / Fortune

The team is from Tianjin University, and their house has been called “Sunflower”, and it also uses solar energy, thanks to which it doesn’t need to be connected to the grid.

This year’s Solar Decathlon will be held in Spain, in June.

Among the Sunflower’s sustainable features are its energy efficient kitchen and its recycling toilet system. Part of its exterior is covered in solar panels. I’ll be posting more details when they become available.

VIA: Ecofriend

Now, there are scientists and people around the world who are already studying and exploring waste as an energy source. Among them is the University of Zaragoza, in Spain, where researchers have analyzed “the energy and economic potential of urban solid waste, sludge from water treatment plants and livestock slurry for generating electricity in Spain”. It turns out waste could generate up to 7% of electricity in Spain. Huh…

Researchers of the University of Zaragoza published a study in which they show that waste in Spain has the potential of generating between 8.13 and 20.95 TWh (terawatt hours). And this represents 7.2% of electricity demand in 2008.

The researchers studied and tried out different methods, in different areas of the country to weigh the potential and cost of electricity generation. In municipal areas, they used solid urban waste and sludge from water treatment plants, and in regional areas, livestock slurry. They discovered that the centre and south of Spain, plus the Balearic and Canary Islands tend to prefer developing solid urban waste. On the other hand, coastal areas and parts of the south and centre were interested in using sludge from water treatment plants. Regarding livestock slurry as a power source, potentially effective areas include parts of Aragon, Galicia and Andalucía.

The research is related to the European Union’s goal of replacing 20% of the energy consumed in Spain for renewable energy, to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% compared to 1990 levels, to increase the usage of biofuels in transport by 10% and to reduce energy usage in 20%.

The study also states that the least expensive electricity generation technologies are waste incineration and degasification of landfill sites. When turning waste into energy, we can either burn it, using the resulting heat to boil water with which to power steam generators. Otherwise, we can produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuel.

VIA: ScienceDaily

The PlanetSolar is a catamaran with three hulls, which has 500 m2 of photovoltaic panels. They generate 103.4 kw of power. The good news is that the engine only needs 20 kw to achieve an average speed of eight knots.

The week before last, the ship was first shown in Kiel, Germany.

The PlanetSolar has two engines, it is 31 meters long by 15 wide and is capable of carrying 50 people. The approximate cost was 18 million euro.

SunPower provided some 38,000 photovoltaic cells with an efficiency of at least 22%.

Next year, Domjan will go around the world with d’Aboville, who is the first person to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean rowing. On their journey, they will stop in Hamburg, London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

To promote the project, before the ship arrives at each port, there will be a "PlanetSolar village" to be installed in each city. The village will have three areas, each representing one of the pillars of sustainable development: ecology, economy and society.

It is a tactic to build anticipation and make sure the press will be covering the project. Besides, the goal is to locate certain items on the media agendas.

The village will only use renewable energy. Sustainable development issues will be discussed, and there will be educational projects, lectures, exhibitions and films.

With this project, Domjan wants to show the world that solar power is efficient and works. Let’s hope he succeeds.

VIA: PlanetSolar

The project to build 2,000 wind turbines is intended to add 10 terawatt hours (TWh) a year. One terawatt is one trillion watts.

"This would be the highest share in the world," Olofsson said. No other country has such a high share of renewable energies. Actually, Sweden is already one of the most advanced countries in terms of usage of renewable energy. “Renewable energy makes up 40 percent of our energy consumption”.

Oil accounts for one third of Sweden’s energy system. In the 70s, oil represented more than 70% of the total energy supply. Thanks to diversification of fuels and an increasingly efficient use of energy, this percentage keeps going down.

Nowadays, around half of the electricity comes from hydropower, and nuclear power also plays an important role.

Among the renewable energies that have been growing in Sweden are biomass and wind energy. Biomass is very much used for heating. In fact, bio-energy has been growing very much in the last decades. In the 80s, it accounted for around 10% of the total energy supply; in 2004 that share had risen to 16% or 100 TWh. Some of the biofuels used include wood fuels, black liquors and tall oil pitches, and ethanol.

An interesting tool which is used by the Swedish government is the green electricity certificate system. Energy suppliers need to have a quota of renewable energy. The goal of this Renewable electricity with green certificates Bill is to foster the development of renewable electricity production. There are established targets of renewable energy growth rates which help determine quotas. Renewable energy producers are given certificates for every MWh of electricity produced, which can be bought by electricity suppliers, who need to complete their quota obligation.

VIA: Treehugger

Sweden Energy Policy

Let’s look at what Seattle has done so far.

In 2005, the city’s mayor, Greg Nickels, launched Seattle’s Climate Protection Initiative. This helped maintain the city’s already existent environmental programs. By 2008, greenhouse gas emissions were 7% below 1990 levels, meeting Kyoto’s targets. This stands out even more when we consider that Seattle has grown 16% since 1990.

Environmental actions are organized in different fronts.

The most challenging area is transportation which accounts for around 40% of Seattle’s GHG emissions. So what is being done? The car as a means of transport is intended to be increasingly replaced by alternative methods. Walking and biking are encouraged. Last year, Seattle adopted the Pedestrian Master Plan, which works specifically on fostering walking and improving conditions, such as better sidewalks. Regarding biking, there are now 201 miles of bike lanes. “The Bicycle Master Plan calls for Seattle’s bike system to more than double in size, stretching 450 miles.” Hopefully, biking as a means of transport will continue to grow; between 2007 and 2009, it grew 15%.

The city is also working to get itself ready for electric vehicles. It will receive about $20 million of investment to develop EV infrastructure, with around 2,500 charging stations. Seattle has also made an agreement with Nissan so as to make Nissan LEAFs available for purchase.

There is also an interesting project that consists in turning waste-grease into biofuel. A company called General Biodiesel collects waste-grease from restaurants and grocery stores and transforms it into about 3,000 gallons of biodiesel a month. Waste-grease biodiesel produces 80% less emissions than petroleum diesel.

Efforts are also being destined to reduce waste.

In 2003, the city’s recycling rate was 40%. Last year, it was 50%, which allowed to reduce the amount of garbage being sent to a landfill in Oregon by 36 metric tons. The next goal is to reach 60% by 2012. Some methods being used are expanding solid waste services, making recycling for small businesses free, forbidding dumping recyclables and making recycling easier by allowing glass and plastics to be collected together.

Regarding renewable energy deployment, Seattle City Light has an interesting program called Green up, through which customers can pay a slightly higher bill and include a portion of renewable energy in their total consumption. That money is used to pay for “Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) equal to the amount of customer demand.”

The city is trying to engage the community in environmental matters, considering the importance of individual actions. Citizens are given access to a carbon footprint calculator, connected to a customized action plan. Further, volunteers are offered the possibility of being trained as “Carbon Coaches”. They are given information and tools, which they can later pass on to the community.

Seattle is also looking to green its buildings. The City of Seattle’s Green Building Program offers incentives and technical assistance to help individuals or businesses who want to have greener constructions. The city currently has 38 projects targeted for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. 16 projects are already LEED certified, among which is Seattle’s City Hall, which is Gold on LEED.

Let’s hope politicians find the carbon neutrality by 2030 goal feasible and continue to work to achieve it.

VIA: WorldChanging

City of Seattle’s website

Meanwhile ‘Operation Free’ is also working across the nation, its mission: to ‘Secure America with Clean Energy’. This coalition is made up of US army veterans and national security groups that promote the link between dependence on foreign energy and national security. They argue that by becoming more energy independent they will reduce dangerous involvement abroad.

Now, you might not like Hip-Hop and not everyone is a fan of the US Army but the point is that the message cuts across traditional demographics. On an international level the US is not leading the move towards clean energy but the fact that Americans themselves are trying to get organized across the board to push for this shift is a positive sign.

The CIRS building will generate all the electricity it needs; and all the water it needs will be collected on-site, from rainwater. Stormwater and grey waters will also be treated. As a result, there will be no waste water. Among the many energy sources considered are fuel cells, solar photovoltaic, solar hot water heaters, and biomass (all of them renewable). The building will be completed in spring/summer 2011.

The UBC has already developed an interesting and successful project called ecotrek, which allowed the campus to reduce its energy use over 20%, and water use by 30%. Yearly electricity and water savings are around $2.6 million. Further, greenhouse gas emissions were reduced 15%. Through the ecotrek project, 300 of UBC’s buildings were upgraded and retrofitted.

Going back to the CIRS, the goal is that the building will be a center of research, and also an object of investigation in itself. It is being constructed in ways that will eventually be relatively easy to replicate in other places. This is another reason to make the building as smart as possible, and to look for cost-effective solutions.

In charge of the design is Busby Perkins + Will.

The CIRS is expected to not emit greenhouse gases, and it will produce more energy than it needs. This extra power will eventually be sold.

Great importance is being paid to the health of the people that will use the building. Daylight will be used as the main lighting source. Materials used will be non-toxic. Besides, there will be regular evaluations of the correct functioning of the building, and of people’s comfort and opinions.

VIA: Ecogeek

More: CIRS

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.

3) Geothermal

The US has “vast geothermal energy resources, which hold enormous potential to heat our homes and power our economy”, according to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. About $388 million will go to more than 100 projects that will develop new geothermal fields and research advanced geothermal technologies. All these investments will help lower the cost of capturing geothermal energy. Besides, some other projects will focus on developing geothermal heating pumps, so as to advance commercial deployment of the renewable heating and cooling systems.

4) Fuel cells

This sector will receive $41.9 million, with the goal of deploying fuel cells, by improving their potential to provide power in stationary, portable and specialty vehicle applications. Thanks to the Recovery Act funding, around 1,000 fuel cell systems will be deployed for emergency backup power and material handling applications. These two are becoming important early markets, in which fuel cells can even compete with traditional power. Fuel cell manufacturers will get funding, and increased manufacture will help lower costs. One particular project will replace batteries with fuel cell systems in one of FedEx’s fleets of electric lift trucks in a service center in Springfield, Missouri.

5) Solar energy

Solar energy will receive $65 million in funding. Projects will work to investigate the impact of photovoltaics on the electrical grid, so as to ensure reliability. Others will focus on training solar workers to be able to install and maintain solar systems. Further, more than 10 cities will study the obstacles to urban deployment of solar energy. And other groups will work to further develop photovoltaic energy and concentrating solar power (CSP). One of the main goals is to “achieve cost-competitive solar electricity by 2015”.

6) Water power

Seven hydropower projects will receive $30.6 million to modernize hydropower infrastructure. They will increase efficiency and reduce environmental impacts, by implementing fish-friendly turbines, for example.

7) Wind energy

Wind energy will receive $118 million to improve turbine technology, making it more durable, and of a higher performance. Other aims include reducing costs, and speeding deployment of wind energy technology.

In one of the numerous speeches he gave to announce all of the funding, Chu said: “we are laying the foundation for a green energy economy”. And I think they are at least, starting to do so. By showing the industry and even society that energy efficiency and renewable energies are considered important enough as to receive all this funding, the government is making a statement; that it is slowly getting ready to evolve to a greener system. Let’s hope funding continues, and that it grows, and goes to the sources of energy with the most potential.

More: US Department of Energy – Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

The building I just mentioned is the Kroon Hall, home of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. It consumes 81% less water and 58% less energy than other similar buildings.

The Kroon Hall also uses renewable energy; it has solar panels on its roofs that provide it with 25% of its electricity needs. Solar power is also being used for heating around 50% of water, with solar water heaters.

As regards recycling, the Kroon has a system to reuse water. Storm water is collected, as well as grey waters. These are filtrated using native aquatic plants. Grey waters and storm water are used for flushing toilets and for irrigation. On the other hand, plumbing includes low-flow mechanisms, and so do irrigation fixtures, which greatly lowers the demand for water.

Other initiatives include profiting from natural light, and controlling artificial lights with sensors that turn them off when there is no one around. Construction materials include FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) wood, 16% recycled materials, 34% of all materials came from regional sources, a special type of concrete that helps insulate, and low-impact paint. Now that the building has been completed, all appliances and equipment are Energy Star TM rated.

All of these strategies got the Kroon 59 points on the LEED certification, more than enough for obtaining Platinum.

Concerning its pledges to reduce GHG emissions, for now, Yale has achieved a 7% decrease, even though the campus grew 3.2% in size.

Some of its projects include working on energy efficiency on the whole campus, and increasing the dependence on renewable energies. Yale not only uses solar power, but also co-generation in one of its two main power plants, biofuel, and hydrogen cells. There is also a project to implement wind power.

Further, green purchasing is encouraged as a means of making consumption greener and showing the institution’s commitment to environmental actions.

The whole of the campus works to increase recycling levels. And this isn’t new for them, given that Yale’s recycling efforts began in 1970. Students have participated in the recycling competition we’ve told you about in Sustentator called RecycleMania and came out fourth. Plus, last year the university recycled and donated more than 1,400 tons of trash.

The last initiative I’m telling you about (there’s really so much) is the Yale Sustainable Food Project, which has developed and manages an organic farm on campus. It also works to make the food sold on campus more sustainable, considering and spreading the idea that food has an important environmental impact.

It is very encouraging to see young people learning to care for our planet, and actually making things happen.

VIA: Courant

For more: Yale Sustainability

For most of us, switching on a light is the most natural thing. But not for 95% of the people in many African countries, who don’t have access to electricity. Those of them who can, burn kerosene lamps to get light, which is neither healthy nor cheap. A group of four Harvard students came up with a witty innovation to address this problem. They have designed and developed a soccer ball, called Soccket, that when kicked generates and stores energy.

It all started in an engineering sciences class, where students had to design solutions to different problems. The group of Jessica Lin, Jessica Matthews, Julia Silverman and Hemali Thakkar (yes, four girls) shared an interest for the developing world and health issues. They thought of soccer, a game people play so often, and how to profit from that. They also got inspiration from dance floors that generate energy thanks to the people that dance on it.

According to the World Bank, inhaling the gases released from kerosene combustion is equal to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Besides, each year, kerosene lamps emit 190 million tons of carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming. And kerosene lamps are not only used in Africa; around the world more than 1 billion people rely on them to light up their homes during the night.

Soccket could reduce the need for kerosene. For each 15 minutes of play, the ball generates and stores the energy needed to power a small LED light for three hours.

The innovation has been received with great enthusiasm; the group has been given several grants already, among them help from the Clinton Global Initiative University.

The ball weighs 21 ounces, 4 ounces more than regular soccer balls. The group behind the project is working to minimize this difference, making the Soccket lighter. With this in mind, they are investigating different lightweight materials. Another interesting idea they’ve had is that materials could be manufactured in Africa, which could be excellent for local industry, generating new jobs.

The group has already taken the ball to South Africa, to test it with the kids, and it was very successful. Now, the team is dedicated to finding ways of making the ball cheaper, and they plan to have a completed version of it by the end of this year, ready to be distributed.

VIA: Green Inc

Planet Green

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

BBC

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.

Denmark is among the leading countries when it comes to renewable energies and sustainability. After the 1973 oil crisis, Danes reacted and didn’t forget the consequences of Yom Kippur. 90% of their energy used to come almost entirely from imported petroleum. That’s why they started to manage energy differently, by promoting its conservation and efficient use. Now the country gets around 19% of its electricity from the wind, and Danish companies control 1/3 of the global wind market.

Further, compared to 1990 levels, greenhouse gas emissions have decreased more than 13%. Denmark proves that economic growth and sustainability can peacefully coexist. Its next target is to meet its Kyoto pledges; reducing CO2 emissions 21% by 2012 compared to 1990 levels.

In this context, Samso is the most extreme case of sustainable management of energy in Denmark.

In the island, most power comes from the wind: there are turbines on land, and offshore. Whereas heating comes either from biomass, specifically from burning straw to boil water and send it to the heating pipes, or from solar thermal panels. In 1997, 25% of the energy needed for heating was renewable. In 2005, 65% came from renewable sources.

There are a few cases of collective ownership of both turbines and solar panels, which help to further deploy renewable energy technologies and to involve people in the process of change. The wind turbines belong to a windmill cooperative and to individual owners. There are eleven of them, each generating 1 MW.

A number of houses do not reach the district heating system. They can ask for a report that suggests how to green their power consumption, either by adopting renewable energy technology, insulating their buildings, conserving energy, among other things.

Regarding transportation, it still has not switched to renewable power. Apparently, there has been investigation, but most solutions are expensive and still not feasible. So this sector still emits GHG, which are compensated by the offshore wind turbines.

The island produces more energy than what it consumes, which allows it to export 80 million kilowatt-hours each year.

VIA: Time

Scientific American

More on Samso: Samso Energy Academy

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.

One of the most successful programs is the one dedicated to solar energy. Since 2007, Grameen Shakti (GS) has installed more than 100,000 solar house systems in rural areas.

Initially GS has had to face many obstacles, such as the lack of information on renewable energy, the lack of funding, and the absence of trained people. But all these have been turned into opportunities. People are being increasingly made aware of the benefits of renewables, they are being trained (many to become engineers and technicians), they are learning how to borrow money, and manage it… The people who are trained can also find jobs more easily.

So far, the total beneficiaries are around 3 million, employees are more than 5,000, and all 64 districts are covered. The installed power capacity is of 15 MW.

Solar power brings about lighting during the night, mobile phones, computers, internet connection. Lighting improves security conditions, it allows people to work after dusk, it broadens job opportunities, and other unthought-of advantages.

One very interesting tool used by GS is the micro-utility model, which helps consumers that cannot afford to purchase their own complete solar home system. A person can install the system at his place, and share power with his neighbors, charging them a certain fee. Thus, the owner can cover payments, and power reaches even more people.

As regards the solar program, the plan is to install one million solar house systems by 2015. Further, to decentralize and increase production, marketing and maintenance services.

Other Grameen Shakti programs focus on wind power, biogas, distributing organic fertilizers, and on teaching people how to use technology.

Grameen Shakti is on its way to becoming as successful as Grameen Bank. Hopefully it will continue to improve people’s quality of life by giving them access to electricity.

VIA: Grameen Shakti

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.

Other benefits of Microgeneration are that it can be used in isolated places with no electrical supply. It can reduce 30% energy consumption by using the residual heat of power generation for the production of hot water and/or heating and refrigeration of buildings. It also has less visual impact, lower costs, greater efficiency and more sustainability.

The United Kingdom two years ago launched its Microgeneration strategy, so that by 2050 between 30-40% of the country demand is covered with microgeneration systems. In the United States, according to the American Wind Association (AWEA) the wind micro turbines recorded an annual growth of 14-25%.

Microgeneration should be in governments’ agenda and also taught at schools. The world needs the generation of zero or low carbon heat.

Can Microgeneration ensure environmental sustainability?

VIA: BIS

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.

The city was designed by Foster & Partners, and it will occupy 6 km2. During construction, no waste is expected to be generated. Also, compared to usual construction processes, CO2 emissions will be reduced 50%.

As we’ve mentioned, all the electricity will come from renewable sources. Where will all this renewable energy come from? In numbers, 42% from photovoltaic panels, 8% from waste to energy, 15% from solar thermal power, and 15% from concentrated solar power.

As regards transportation, the city will power 100% of the vehicles within the city with renewable sources. Whereas, transportation coming in and out of the city will be powered 75% by renewable energy. These two objectives are expected to be met within 10 years after the city is built on its whole. Transportation within the city will be articulated thanks to a multi-modal system, that carries people, goods, supplies, and that also collects solid waste. It will connect the subway, the intercity rail, and the bus.

So far, not much has been built, just a portion of the Masdar Institute.

Concerning water, in this still imagined city, its consumption will be reduced, as well as its leakage. Besides, water will be recycled and reused more, and rainwater will be caught and reused. Another proposal consists of desalinating water using solar power.

It is estimated that 40.000 people will live in Masdar, while 50.000 will commute there. Companies working there will be around 1500.

Hopefully, Masdar city will be built and will be able to accomplish all of its remarkable goals.

VIA: Masdar City

Cleantech