EPA vs. Industry

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Tara Holmes

In a victory for environmentalists, on Friday, a US federal court denied an appeal by industry groups to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions starting in early January, 2011. The Obama Administration supports the EPA’s regulation of GHGs, including carbon dioxide, from major industrial sources due to the inability for more comprehensive national climate legislation to pass through Congress this summer.

Beginning in January, the EPA will require big emitters such as power plants, refineries and cement manufacturers, to obtain permits for polluting greenhouse gases. Companies will also have to follow EPA guidelines regarding the best technologies to control emissions when expanding or building new plants or factories.

Critics of the regulations argue the EPA is not equipped to handle the task of controlling GHG emissions and that regulations would damage the US economy. David Baron of Earthjustice however stated, “We’re glad the court rejected these baseless attempts by polluters to stall progress toward cleaner cars and safer air.”

The Fate of Vermont Yankee

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Tara Holmes

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, located in the town of Vernon on the boarder of Massachusetts and Vermont, has been a topic of environmental concern and debate for many years. On Sunday, November 7th, the plant shut down due to a cooling water leak, but was back online to the New England grid early next Thursday morning.

Local residents and politicians, fearing the dated, aging plant could lead to potential nuclear disaster, have been pushing to permanently close the plant for years. In fact, the consensus in the Vermont Legislature is that Vermont Yankee should be closed when its 40-year license expires in March, 2012. Entergy, the Louisiana-based power company that owns the plant, has since put the reactor on the market as of last week given the continued resistance by the state of Vermont. Nonetheless, the fate of Vermont Yankee remains somewhat unclear.

The Brattleboro Reformer reported Thursday that in nearby Keene, NH, city officials are debating whether to sign a letter asking to be involved in decisions on how the reactor would be torn down. Clearly the push to close Vermont Yankee is significant, particularly when neighboring states express concern and take action. The question however remains: if Vermont Yankee shuts down, what alternative energy source will take its place? For now, the focus is the closure of an archaic power plant. What would ensue remains open for discussion and debate.

Increasing Solar Efficiency (and why its important)

Posted on June 21, 2010 by nikitaob

If there’s one clear cut hope for the future of energy, its that a completely clean and renewable source of energy, like the sun, could one day come to completely replace our current addiction to fossil fuels. Solar energy, if applied properly could provide the Earth with years of nearly endless power with virtually no environmental drawbacks. However, there are some major hurdles to clear before this dream of a sustainable future through solar energy could become a reality. Currently, the biggest drawback to solar panels is the low efficiency of these devices, even under constant sunlight. Most photovoltaics today only run at a top efficiency of 20%, making them mere complements to other energy sources, rather than complete replacements.

Despite these setbacks, new research from across the world has recently made some large leaps towards higher solar efficiency. A team working at the University of Michigan has recently begun testing the use of quantum dots made of selenide rather than silicon; their experimentation has shown that using selenide lowered the rate of heating in the semiconductor metals, thereby increasing the amount of total solar energy that is transferred into direct current. At the current rate, the team estimates that this new way of building solar panels could raise the overall efficiency up to 66% or higher. This is a very promising result,” said U of M graduate student William Tisdale. “We’ve shown that you can pull hot electrons out very quickly – before they lose their energy. This is exciting fundamental science.”

In addition to the work being done by U of M students, the Dutch government is currently planning to give out grants to prominent scientists for work in developing solar panels using nanorods, which can increase the maximum efficiency by more than 30%, and can be built in a cost-effective manner. “If the Netherlands wants to timely participate in a commercial exploitation of nanowire solar cells, there is a great urgency to get on board now.” says Jos Haverkort, one of the researchers receiving the grant. With continuing research, Haverkort hopes to be able to present a nanorod based cell with an efficiency of around 65%. If solar panels are to become a cost-effective solution to the energy crisis facing contemporary society, increasing their total electrical output will have to be a key priority. And with the rate of technological innovation moving forward at an astounding rate, the dream a renewable and sustainable energy may only be years away.

Replacing our Desktop Computer with a NAS

Posted on June 8, 2010 by BrendaPike

When we tested all our electronics with the Kill-a-Watt, we found out that the ten-year-old desktop was using a lot of energy, even when it wasn’t powered on. Since we were mostly just using the desktop for storing our music and pictures—we’re primarily laptop users now—we thought it would be a good idea to replace the poor old thing with network-attached storage (NAS for short).

A NAS is a mini-server built specifically for storage. If you work in a corporate environment, there are probably more than a few hanging around on your network. Only in the past five years or so have they started to be sold into the home market. It’s basically a tiny computer built around a bay for hard drives. When I started looking, my basic criteria was: 1) something that chews up less electricity than the old Windows Vista desktop (not hard to do) and 2) something that we can access from the laptops and backup our data to.

After some comparison, I chose the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+. It’s a very sexy little silver box that slides right into my entertainment center. The old PC ran at 110W–121W (plus 18W for the monitor) and used 6W when it was off (plus 2W for the monitor). The NAS uses 29W–45W, and just 1W when it’s off. In comparison with other NASes on the market, it’s in the middle of the pack somewhere: not the lightest sipper of electricity but not a workhorse server either. One of the many reasons I chose it is that it has an array of possible energy-saving features, such as:

A variable-speed fan—it senses the temperature and adjusts how fast the fan spins automatically.
Automatic disk spin-down—most new computers spin down when they’re not in use, but NASes generally don’t.
Scheduled startup and shutdown—in case we forget to turn it off at night, although I try to turn it off when I’m not using it.

The electricity draw varies based on what sort of hard disks one puts into the box, so it’s important to look for low-power drives to go with your NAS. I picked the WD Caviar Green drives, but there’s a variety of equally good “green” hard drives on the market now. “Green” in this case indicates only that they spin at a slower speed and thus suck down less energy. This means that they’re a little slower, but you’ll probably never notice on a network-connected server.

Those pesky fluorocarbons

Posted on May 21, 2010 by JPierce

Once found in everything from whipped desert topping in a can to sore throat spray, CFCs were eventually found to react with protective layer of our atmosphere which blocks much of the sun’s harmful rays. They were eventually replaced with related compounds, HCFCs and HFCs. Although the substitutes were not harmful to the ozone layer, like the CFCs before them they have significant global warming potential.

Chemical	GWP	ODP	Life (yr)
CO₂	1	0	>10,000
R12 (CFC)	8100	1	100
R22 (HCFC)	1800	0.06	12
R134a (HCFC)	1300	0	14
H₂O	N/A	0	N/A

Two weeks ago Canada, Mexico and the United States put forth a proposal to include these ‘Class II’ ozone depleting substances in the Montreal Protocol and phase-out their use. The proposed replacements are hydrocarbons, but their flammability complicates their use as general purpose substitutes, though these problems are not insurmountable. The Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, an industry association of HCFC/HFC producers and users, has some interesting background on the trade-offs relating to refrigerant selection, although they clearly have a vested interest in the matter.

There is another surprising alternative to these refrigerants, without resorting to the toxic ammonia of yore. If you glanced at the table above, you likely believed that the last entry was included for comparison. It was, but it turns out that water can also be used a refrigerant. Two years ago The Barr Foundation and the Cambridge Energy Alliance put forth an innocentive for a more efficient air conditioner. The winning submission was for a water-based system. A diagram of the novel solution is available on the InnoCentive blog.

Can the solar power-assist prototype for buses be a sustainable solution?

Posted on March 31, 2010 by clothilde

The Californian Sunpods Inc manufacturing company produces innovative, modular and tested solar power stations. One of their latest projects, is to build the first solar power-assist for buses. This system will help Bauer Intelligent Transportation meet strict anti-pollution standards laid down by the State of California. Diesel vehicles are not allowed to remain idle for more than five minutes after the passage of the California Anti-Idling law in 2008. California joined 17 other states in passing anti-idling legislation.

Sunpods Inc ‘s solar power-assist system is made up of four solar panels which are fixed on the roof of the bus. They can charge an on-board battery bank to power the air-conditioning and wireless connectivity equipment when the bus is inactive. Tested on a Bauer Intelligent Transportation bus since January 2010, this solar power-assist system is already demonstarting success, respecting anti-idling standards without discomforting passengers.

China Leads U.S. in clean energy investment

Posted on March 30, 2010 by clothilde

The recent report of The Pew Charitable Trust shows that for the first time China is spending nearly doubled in clean energy investments compared to the United States. In 2009, China invested $34.6 billion in wind power, solar energy and other forms of renewable energy, whereas United States only invested $18.6 billion dollars. The United States lagged behind 10 G20 members in percentage of gross domestic products. The report explains that Spain invested five times more than the United States last year, and China and the United Kingdom three times more.

Phyllis Cuttino, who directs the Pew Environment Group’s Global Warming Campaign explained that, “Having built a strong manufacturing base and export markets, China is working now to meet domestic demand by installing substantial new clean energy-generating capacity to meet ambitious renewable energy targets”. For Cuttino “Our nation has a critical choice to make: pass the federal policies necessary to position us as the world leader in the large and growing global clean energy market or continue to watch China and other countries race ahead”. Only time will tell if the United States President Barack Obama substantiates his past promises to propel a clean energy economy throughout the nation.

Oceanic hydro-power digest

Posted on February 24, 2010 by JPierce

Oregon is set to test another buoy-based power generation system after the previous system sank two years ago.

Closer to home, plans to deploy a more traditional turbine-based system known as SeaGen in the Bay of Fundy were announced last year. An earlier Irish SeaGen installation has been operational for more than 1,000 hours since it was installed in 2008.

Both systems use “run-of-the-river” technologies which should minimize disruption of the surroundings, unlike the Annapolis basin installation also in the Bay of Fundy which operates more like a conventional hydroelectric dam.

Also of note, a relatively recent announcement about more cheap renewable energy in the future from north of the border into “Boston” which seems to have received little attention.

Discussing “Our Energy Policy”

Posted on January 4, 2010 by jrogers

OurEnergyPolicy.org is a relatively new and really neat website. The purpose of this website is to establish an open dialogue between all energy experts, including policy-makers, businessmen, and academics, on our country’s most pressing energy issues.

The website sets up a series of straw-man arguments that all registered experts are free to comment on. The really cool part about this website is that it provides a wide array of commentary, on a wide array of issues, from lots of different experts. From quickly perusing the website, I found comments from Professor Daniel Kammen from UC Berkeley, David Goldstein, President of the Electric Vehicle Association, and Gal Luft, Executive Director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, on issues ranging from electricity transmission planning to nuclear energy policy.

With time, and additional comments from an increasing number of experts, this website could prove to be a valuable information resource, and is definitely worth checking out.

iPhone Carbon Watch: Apple Leads Electronics Industry Again

Posted on October 13, 2009 by LGlick

My iPhone is a pretty much constant presence in my life, from checking my email first thing in the morning to watching my nephews play with the DoodleBuddy app. But until last week, I never seriously considered its impact on the environment.

That changed when Apple published greenhouse gas emissions from its operations and products for the first time. The report, available at www.apple.com/environment, goes farther than other consumer tech companies have by accounting for product usage.

Apple iPhone emissions

It turns out that my iPhone produces greenhouse gases equivalent to about 55kg of carbon dioxide over the full course of its lifecycle, from sourcing to recycling. My use of my iPhone produces about 27kg of carbon dioxide.

To put that in perspective, 55kg of CO2 is equivalent to burning 22 gallons of gasoline in a car or 8 propane cylinders on a backyard grill. If I planted 5 tree seedlings in my backyard tomorrow, it would take them 10 years to sequester the amount of carbon my iPhone produces.

OK, so what? Twenty-two gallons of gas and 10 trees ain’t such a bad trade given that the iPhone is… well… downright awesome.

Truly. The iPhone is one of the most successful consumer tech products in history. Apple has sold 21M iPhone units since Q3 2007, shattering sales records.

All those iPhones have produced a lot of carbon emissions, equivalent to 1.16b kg to be exact, or roughly the same amount as a coal-fired power plant in one year of operation.

NY Times rising consumption

Source: New York Times

Bottom line: there isn’t enough land enough in the world to offset America’s greenhouse gas emissions from electronics by planting trees.

To halt our rising carbon emissions, America needs more than offsets. We need renewable energy alternatives at scale and stringent energy efficiency standards, especially for our electronics, “which now represent 15% of household power demand, and that is expected to triple over the next decade,” according to the New York Times and International Energy Agency.

Many are working hard to accomplish this goal. California recently proposed to ban the sale of high energy televisions. Flat-screen TVs and video game consoles can use more energy than refrigerators in some American homes today, due to a lack of mandatory efficiency standards. Massachusetts has followed suit by hearing testimony on TV efficiency.

Apple, in the same report cited above, announced that all of their desktop and laptop products now come with EnergyStar certification, an industry first. Going further, Apple also boldly withdrew from the US Chamber of Commerce, stating “Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the Chamber at odds with us in this effort.”

That’s a proactive step forward and a first for a major consumer brand. Other electronics manufacturers should follow Apple’s leadership.

Alex Patriquin is Founder and CEO of Digital Verdure, a digital media and sustainability company based in Cambridge, MA. Read more at his blog, DigitalVerdure.com.

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