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

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

A consortium of nine companies called Dansk Microvarme is carrying out a 6-year project to develop the necessary technology and deploy it in the village of Vestenskov. The island generates 50% more wind power than it uses. The problem is that pure wind energy cannot be stored. So, when the wind doesn’t blow, there is a lack of energy, and the village might be forced to resort to fossil fuels. That’s when the idea of hydrogen and fuel cells comes in. The project being developed in Lolland consists of using excess wind power to obtain hydrogen, which is then used in fuel cells to generate electricity and heat.

The fuel cells are part of micro combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. When the hydrogen goes through a chemical process to generate electricity, it also produces heat, which is used to heat homes in the village.

The local government wants to position Lolland as a model for large-scale hydrogen technology. In order to do so, it is progressively developing the technology and making it available for household consumption.

The project is divided into three main phases:

The first one goes from 2006 to 2007; during this period a test/demonstration plant was built to make hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis. Besides, fuel cells were produced, as well as equipment to connect them to the village’s energy supply grid. Basically, the whole thing works like this: there is a plant in which hydrogen is produced, then, hydrogen is sent through pipelines to homes, where the fuel cells are, and there, the electricity is generated.

The second phase starts in 2007 and includes this year. The main aim of this period has already been achieved, which sought to connect the first five households in Vestenskov to the hydrogen plant. Homes were equipped with micro-CHP units which produce electricity and heat. The units are the size of a refrigerator. As I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraph, hydrogen is directly distributed through underground pipes to the houses, from a large electrolysis plant in a field behind the village’s nursing home.

And the last phase, beginning this year, has as a central goal supplying 35-40 households with hydrogen based on the experiences from the test homes. Homes will get a fuel cell module the size of a small central heating unit. It is expected that all the houses in Vestenskov will be connected to the hydrogen system by 2012.

This project is a smart way of profiting from the excess wind power generated in the island. Besides, Lolland has taken what could have been considered a problem (not being able to store wind power) and transformed it into an opportunity; getting stronger in fuel cell technology to become a leader in the sector.

VIA: Sustainable Cities

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 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

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

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.

The company is also trying to increase its use of biofuels. The fuel it uses in its multiple operations, such as with its fleet of trucks, is increasingly being blended with ethanol.

On the whole, by using renewable energy, Walmart is expected to avoid producing more than 139,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

The company has a global aim of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions at its stores, operations, transportation, and distribution centers around the world by 20% by 2012, compared to 2005 levels. It is also looking to help suppliers, and consumers reduce their own emissions. How is it helping consumers? By offering more energy efficient products, and more sustainable disposal options.

One interesting project is being carried out in Phoenix, Arizona; 15 trucks are being adapted to run on waste cooking grease, which is collected from Walmart stores.

To achieve its aim of zero waste, Walmart is working on different projects. It is using a process dubbed “sandwich baling”, which consists of sandwiching loose plastic between layers of cardboard and putting it together making up bales that are sent to certified recyclers. Thanks to this process, 1100 tons of waste that would have been sent to landfills were recycled.

On the other hand, Walmart is trying to reduce its packaging, or to make it reusable or recyclable. It is also encouraging its suppliers to use less packaging. Less packaging means less waste, and less space. Less space means more products fitting in a shipping container, and that means less contamination generated by transportation.

Another strategy to help reduce waste are the different partnerships Walmart has established with different organizations, so as to make recycling easier for consumers. Among others, it has partnered with Samsung and Gazelle to enhance the recycling of electronic products.

Walmart is yet another example that succeeding in business can go hand in hand with being sustainable.

VIA: Walmart

A small ISP (Internet Service Provider) and hosting company in Illinois has become the first data center operator to be powered entirely by wind energy. The company is called Other World Computing (OWC) and is located in Woodstock, Illinois. It has installed a wind turbine on its premises, that supplies all of its energy needs.

The turbine is 131 foot high and it can generate 500 kilowatts of power. Per year, it generates 1.2 million kW, more than twice what OWC needs. The surplus power will be sold to the local power provider. When the wind blows stronger, the wind turbine can produce in one week more energy than what OWC needs for a whole month. On the other hand, the company knows that the wind may not always blow; in those cases, energy is taken from the local provider.

When wind power is transformed into energy, the energy goes to the company’s metering device; OWC uses the amount it needs, and the rest is sold to the local provider.

Further, the company’s facility was rated LEED Platinum. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a rating system that provides a set of standards for environmental construction. Also, thanks to its different green initiatives, OWC was ranked N 9 on a list of green-IT vendors, by computerworld, in 2008.

The turbine was designed to function and produce energy at low speeds, given that the area’s average wind speed is of 10-15 mph. Even at 9 mph, the turbine can generate power.

The whole installation of the turbine cost $1.25 million, an investment that OWC expects to recover within 10-14 years. This period can be reduced considering the rising energy costs.

VIA: DataCenterKnowledge

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.

Besides, the city encourages the use of bicycles; it has more than 410 km of cycle ways, and in 2004 it was named Bicycle City of the year in Sweden. So far, one fourth of the city’s daily trips are made by bike!

Renewable sources of energy are being developed in Malmo. Among them, solar energy, specifically photovoltaic panels are being deployed all over the city. Malmo has the largest area of PV installations in Sweden, around 3400 m2. The city is investing a lot in solar energy. Also, the Swedish government funds PV technology, so the conditions are quite optimal. Other renewable sources of energy being developed in Malmo include wind energy, and bioenergy. About 25% of the heat energy comes from the city’s incinerator which transforms waste to energy. And 16% of the city’s heating comes from water warmed by the excess heat released from industrial plants in the area.

Attention is also being paid to energy efficiency. An interesting example is Sadelmakarbyn’s preschool, which is the municipality’s first low-energy preschool. Its walls are a half meter thick, to help insulate, and reduce the energy consumed for heating and cooling. Plus, in this preschool, lights are controlled by sensors. On the whole, since 2001, energy consumption has been reduced 20% in municipal properties.

Another interesting initiative is that schools will increasingly be offering healthier, greener food to its students. Nowadays, 50% of the food offered in schools is ecological, and the aim is to reach 100%.

Concerning recycling, 96% of household waste is collected. Whatever can be recycled, is in fact recycled. The rest is used to generate biogas, including food waste.

There are three main neighborhoods that are specifically being led to greater sustainability. These are Western Harbor, Sege Park, and Augustenborg.

Western Harbor runs exclusively on renewable energy, produced locally. Its main sources of energy are the sun, the wind, the water and organic waste. With the organic waste, biogas is produced, and with it some buses are powered.

Augustenborg is well-known for its green roofs. These reduce water runoff, help insulate buildings, and add vegetation to the area. The district also has photovoltaic panels, some of them used for shading. Besides, the world’s first emissions-free electric street trains were created there.

Way to go Malmo! A truly inspiring initiative.

VIA: HowStuffWorks (PDF)

Malmo

The project involves 20 lots located in a hill side. It is being directed by Jean Paul  Cazedessus, American born in California, but that has been living in Costa Rica for the past 20 years. Today, the construction of its first house called “Boomerang” has been finished (name due to its roof shape on an aerial view). This project not only suggests building sustainable homes, but also to build a sustainable society with the same goal: living in sustainability.

Taking advantage of the hill side, the lots have been strategically located in order to make the gathering of gray water easier and more efficient. This water will be properly treated in a water facility treatment plant that will be located in the base of the hill. All homes will have grass roofs. These roofs not only offer the advantage of great thermal isolation but also will give the urbanization a feeling of dissapearing effect while looking from the hilltop. 

Another thought for the future is to plan investments among residents aiming to seize natural resources to generate energy and harvest their own food. Besides solar panels that can be installed on the roofs, a common wind power turbine mill could be installed taking advantage of the excellent wind conditions of the region. The energy generated would supply all homes and the extra energy produced can be sold to the electrical power company that will help to recover the investment faster.

You can find more information in the next link: www.b-green.org