Green News

Battery being tested to store wind-generated energy

tim_barsness — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:27:00 GMT

Harnessing wind power is relatively easy (see: windmill). It’s storing that energy that’s the hard part.

Enter Xcel Energy’s “Wind-to-Battery” project.

Brought online last month, the experiment in southwest Minnesota is the first in the country to use a sodium-sulfur battery to try and store energy generated by wind farms, reports ABC news affiliate KAAL TV.

If successful, the technology could prove a windfall for the renewable energy sector. One of wind power’s greatest weaknesses has long been reliability because if the wind didn’t blow, no energy could be created.

“Energy storage is key to expanding the use of renewable energy,” said *** Kelly, Xcel Energy Chairman, President and CEO. “This technology has the potential to reduce the impact caused by the variability and limited predictability of wind energy generation.”

The project is being tested in Luverne, Minn., about 30 miles east of Sioux Falls, S.D., and uses an 80-ton battery that Xcel says could power 500 homes for more than 7 hours when fully charged.

"This, of course, is a small test by utility standards, but it should be able to provide us the seed information that would help us determine what the impact might be," said Xcel Energy spokesman Frank Novachek.

Opinion: 'A Bridge for the Carmakers'

tim_barsness — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:47:00 GMT

The U.S. government needs to bail out the “Big Three” U.S. automakers for the sake of the economy – and the environment, Jeffrey Sachs writes in Monday’s Washington Post.

Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the author of "Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet," argues three main points in his defense of a Detroit rescue package:

1. The car companies’ current crisis marks a major opportunity to transform a foundering industry while making the U.S. a world leader in producing better fuel-efficient vehicles; this is only possible through a public-private partnership.

2. The collapse of the car industry would put the U.S. economy further in the tank, possibly pushing the country from a recession to a depression.

3. Allowing the automakers to fail and be forced to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy simply isn’t an option; that would only drag down consumer demand for cars even more, and it would bankrupt many industry parts manufacturers.

“Some want to see the industry punished for its neglect of energy and environmental realities, but we should acknowledge that the SUV era reflected poor judgment across society,” Sachs says. “Yes, the industry ignored warnings about energy insecurity and climate, but so did the public and politicians.

“We face an unprecedented financial calamity, energy crisis and environmental threat,” he adds. “A vibrant, growing U.S. automobile industry should play an essential role in solving all three.”

UPDATE: Activists debut e-waste recycler certification program following 60 Minutes report

tim_barsness — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:37:00 GMT

Activist groups rolled out on Monday a new campaign aimed at recognizing responsible recyclers of electronic waste in North America, according to a news release from the Basel Action Network (BAN).

The certification program, known as the e-Stewards Initiative, is the result of a joint effort by BAN, the Electronics TakeBack Coalition and 32 electronics recycling companies in the United States and Canada.

As part of its ethical guidelines on e-waste processing, the e-Stewards program forbids the dumping of toxic e-waste in developing countries, local landfills and incinerators; the use of prison labor to process e-waste; and the unauthorized release of private data contained in discarded computers.

“Unfortunately today, most of those companies calling themselves electronics recyclers are scammers,” said Sarah Westervelt, e-Stewards project coordinator for BAN. “They simply load up containers of old computers and ship them off to China or Africa. By choosing an e-Steward recycler, consumers and large businesses are assured that their old computers and TVs will be safely managed and not simply tossed into a local landfill, processed unsafely by prison laborers, or exported to developing countries.”

The groups announced the new initiative the day after 60 Minutes aired a report highlighting problems in the e-waste recycling industry.

In related news, the company named in the 60 Minutes story has posted a response on its Web site. Here’s an excerpt:

Sadly, Executive Recycling appears now to be the victim of others who have obtained electronic and computer products from our company and then acted irresponsibly. These buyers apparently sought to hide their own misconduct by leaving the impression that their shipment was the responsibility of our company. We have discovered that forged documents (provided by the port authorities) were used to improperly shift blame to us when ER sold the tested working units to a Canadian wholesale buyer. We are currently seeking legal actions against this one wholesale buyer in regards to this report.

E-waste recycling's dirty little secret

tim_barsness — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:57:00 GMT

In Sunday’s 60 Minutes, the TV news magazine uncovered first-hand the human cost of the booming black market in electronic waste recycling.

Correspondent Scott Pelley and his film crew took viewers to Guiyu, China, a hub in the developing world for dismantling e-waste, such as old televisions and computers.

There, workers make $8 a day breaking down discarded electronic products under dangerous conditions with no protection measures for either health or personal safety.

The villagers must use highly corrosive chemicals to burn away the products’ plastic parts to harvest their valuable components, including gold, and in the process are exposed to toxins released into the surrounding environment.

Ground water is no longer safe to drink in Guiyu, and scientists have discovered that the city has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world.

“This is smuggling. This is illegal," said Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network (BAN), a group working to stop the dumping of toxic materials in poorer countries by richer nations, such as the United States. "A lot of people are turning a blind eye here. And if somebody makes enough noise, they're afraid this is all going to dry up."

In 2002, BAN released a report on the exportation of e-waste: Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia; followed by another in 2005: The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-Use and Abuse to Africa.

For more, read:

"Recycling That Harms the Environment and People ." - New York Times

"High-Tech Trash." - National Geographic

Naturally capturing carbon – for cheap

tim_barsness — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:52:00 GMT

Scientists at Columbia University say they’ve found a cheap way to use rock found in the Middle East to capture massive amounts of the climate-changing gas carbon dioxide (CO2), according to a university news release.

A study of their findings is published in last week’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Known as peridotite, the rock reacts naturally with CO2, forming solid minerals similar to limestone or marble when exposed to the gas, sucking it up and permanently trapping it.

But peridotite absorbs much more CO2 than previously thought, the researchers claim. They estimate a Massachusetts-sized field they discovered in the Omani desert naturally captures 10,000-100,000 tons of carbon a year.

The process can be sped up 100,000 times or more, they argue, by drilling down and injecting pressurized CO2 contained in heated water, creating a self-sustaining chain reaction capable of absorbing roughly 4 billion tons of carbon per year.

Currently, humans release about 30 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.

“This method would afford a low-cost, safe and permanent method to capture and store atmospheric CO2,” said geologist Peter Kelemen, the study’s lead author and Columbia University professor.

But, he adds: “We see this as just one of a whole suite of methods to trap carbon. It’s a big mistake to think that we should be searching for one thing that will take care of it all."

Cub Foods debuts “green” grocery store

tim_barsness — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:30:00 GMT

Cub Foods opened its first “green” grocery store Friday in Minnesota.

Stocked with various energy-saving designs and technologies, the Midwest-based supermarket chain is hoping its newest addition will be one of the first stores in the nation approved for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification.

The grocery, located in St. Paul’s Phalen neighborhood, is already the first ever to garner gold-level certification under the Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership for its eco-friendly refrigeration technology.

The 62,900 square-foot building also boasts 44 skylights, which combined with a GPS system to track and redirect sunlight should brighten 75 percent of the store while shaving 35 percent off lighting costs. Cub expects to generate another 50 percent in energy savings by using only LED (light-emitting diode) lights to illuminate its parking lot.

The property installed a landscape irrigation system to cut water usage in half, and 75 percent of the waste from constructing the building will be recycled.

“The store that Cub Foods is opening on St. Paul’s East Side shows that smart investments can be good for neighborhoods, good for the environment and good for a company’s bottom line,” said St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. “Environmental stewardship, living-wage jobs and urban revitalization are not mutually exclusive goals.”

Before leaving, Bush fast-tracks environmental policy changes

tim_barsness — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:31:00 GMT

In the 77 days between the election and the next U.S. President’s inauguration, the Bush administration is hoping to push through several key environmental policy changes before leaving office, Reuters’ Deborah Zabarenko reports.

Among the proposed plans:

-   Removing wolves from the Endangered Species List.
-   Allowing power plants to operate near national parks.
-   Weakening regulations governing factory farm waste.
-   Easing restrictions on mountaintop coal-mining outfits.

Not included: mandatory cuts to greenhouse-gas emissions, due to lack of time.

Several environmental and watchdog groups oppose most of the late-term rule changes, arguing most Americans don't support the measures, which they say benefit business at the environment’s expense.

“Whether it's the electricity industry or the mining industry or the agriculture industry, this is going to remove government restrictions on their activity and in turn they're going to be allowed to pollute more and that ends up harming the public,” said Matt Madia of OMB Watch, a nonprofit group that monitors the White House Office of Management and Budget, through which the proposed regulations must pass.

Air-powered car may soon land in U.S.

tim_barsness — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:54:00 GMT

A car that runs on air – yes, air – could soon be breezing down American roadways, Kiplinger’s Jeff Ostroff reports.

France-based automaker Motor Development International said it plans by 2011 to have factories in the U.S. able to produce its nearly emission-free vehicle, which uses compressed air to propel the car’s traditional engine pistons (regular cars burn gas to create similar air bursts).

According to MDI, the air car can travel up to 60 miles at 35 mph on a tank of compressed air. Add a small amount of fuel and the auto can go nearly 800 miles before a fill-up. The car can run on gas, diesel, biodiesel, ethanol or vegetable oil.

It’s cheap, too, by alternatively powered auto standards, with an estimated sticker price under $20,000. Due out around the same time, the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid able to drive about 40 miles gas-free, is expected to cost between $30,000 and $40,000.

Skepticism abounds about MDI’s claims, however, as pointed out in this recent New York Times article.

An earlier report by the Times’ Richard Chang also raised questions.

Before being approved for sale in the U.S., MDI’s air car would have to first pass federal crash tests.

Smaller scale wind turbines are on their way

tim_barsness — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:14:00 GMT

At the forefront of the race for more renewable energy, wind power is whipping up a flurry of attention these days.

Now, the focus is on giant wind farms growing crops of hulking turbines. Next: a turbine made for your home?

They’re already here.

The Swift wind turbine – the latest addition to the home turbines sector – hit the U.S. market Monday, CNET’s Martin LaMonica reports.

Designed by Scotland-based Renewable Devices, the company has so far sold more than 250 turbines in its home country. Its U.S. partner, Cascade Engineering, out of Grand Rapids, Mich., has already installed 9 Swift turbines, with 25 more on order.

The Swift is not the first small-scale wind turbine (see more here), but it claims to operate quieter and more smoothly than other brands.

Swift stats:
-   Cost: $10,000
-   Size: 7-foot diameter
-   Power: 2,000 kilowatt-hours per year (typical U.S. home uses 6,500 – 10,000 kwh per year)
-   Design: five blades circled by outer ring

Hyundai steers toward fuel-cell car production

tim_barsness — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:26:00 GMT

Hyundai announced Tuesday it plans to begin commercially manufacturing its first hydrogen fuel-cell car by 2012, reports Cleantech.

The news comes after the South Korean automaker said earlier this year that it will start mass-producing its first gas-electric hybrid vehicle, the Avante, in 2009, and it intends to introduce a lithium ion battery-powered hybrid to the U.S. market in 2010.

Hyundai expects the fuel-cell car initially to run anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million, but costs should come down with government discounts and production economies of scale savings.

Climate change costlier than credit crisis, expert says

tim_barsness — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:31:00 GMT

Speaking at a climate/carbon conference Monday, an esteemed development economist said left unchecked, global warming costs would dwarf the economic morass of the current worldwide financial crisis, reports James Pomfret of Reuters.

“The risk consequences of ignoring climate change will be very much bigger than the consequences of ignoring risks in the financial system,” said Nicholas Stern, a former British Treasury economist. “That's a very important lesson, tackle risk early.”

As governments everywhere ratchet up spending to stabilize fluctuating markets and prop up sagging economies, Stern said to take that money and invest heavily in eco-friendly infrastructure: mass transit, renewable energy, green technology.

In 2006, Stern authored an influential 700-page report that said failure to curb future greenhouse-gas emissions could cause a global economic downturn similar to the Great Depression.

Several prominent economists have publicly criticized Stern’s findings. Others agreed with him.

His most recent remarks follow a meeting last week between Asian and European leaders over a proposed international climate change pact seeking to cut carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

Government grants lands for geothermal exploration

tim_barsness — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:20:00 GMT

The U.S. government announced plans Wednesday to open up more than 190 million acres of federal land to tap geothermal energy resources capable of powering potentially millions of American homes.

“Geothermal energy will play a key role in powering America’s energy future,” said Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, “and 90 percent of our nation’s geothermal resources are found on Federal lands. Facilitating their leasing and development under environmentally sound regulations is crucial to supplying the secure, clean energy American homes and businesses need.”

The plan calls for digging up underground heat sources throughout 12 western states and is estimated to produce up to 12,000 Megawatts of electric generation capacity – enough to power more than 12 million homes.

Revenues generated from geothermal power will be split, with 50 percent going to the state where the land is, 25 percent going to the individual county and another 25 percent going into a federal fund to facilitate future geothermal energy development.

How to be the BEST in business sustainability

tim_barsness — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:34:00 GMT

Corporate giant British Telecommunications plc (aka BT Group) recently launched a free online service to help small businesses grow by going greener, according to the company’s Web site.

It’s called the Business Environmental Self-assessment Tool, or BEST, and it helps companies simultaneously cut costs and carbon output by identifying their environmental impact areas and proposing eco-friendly solutions in areas such as travel, IT use and building design.

“Sustainability is no longer a luxury for any business, regardless of its size,” said Bill Murphy, managing director of BT Business. “Improving your processes and tackling your carbon footprint isn’t just good for the planet – it also makes great business sense.”

In an increasingly tough business climate filled with soaring energy prices, resources that help keep down overall operating costs become all the more critical, according to BT.

“(BT BEST) levels the playing field for smaller businesses that may not be aware of how sustainable business practices in many cases carry financial benefits too,” Murphy said.

Businesses with up to 250 employees can access the assessment tool for free at: www.bt.com/btbest.

University announces first-ever sustainability Ph.D.

tim_barsness — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:17:00 GMT

With the Earth suffering from a bad case of climate change, one east-coast college is training doctors now to one day provide the proper prescription for the problem.

New York state has approved the Rochester Institute of Technology’s proposal to offer the first-ever doctoral degree in sustainability, school officials announced Monday.

The new program, offered through the university’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability, will teach sustainable production and help fuel progress for research and education in alternative energies, green design, industrial ecology and pollution prevention.

“The sustainability Ph.D. program will enhance RIT’s continued efforts to create cutting edge academic research and innovation that has real world impact,” said RIT President Bill Destler. “In addition, the combined training and education initiatives provided by the Golisano Institute will prepare our next generation of scientists and engineers to meet the sustainability challenges of the 21st century.”

Dumps cash in on carbon credits

tim_barsness — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:08:00 GMT

New rules letting landfills sell “carbon credits” for capturing methane have profits piling up, while questions mount over whether the plan really helps cut greenhouse-gas emissions, reports Jeffrey Ball of the Wall Street Journal.

The system works primarily through the Chicago Climate Exchange, an experiment in the “cap and trade” approach to reducing overall pollution. It allows companies and individuals unable or unwilling to decrease their own emissions to offset them by buying extra credits off those who do.

The idea is to create financial incentives to promote reductions that wouldn’t happen otherwise. The system isn’t helping the environment; however, if it is only giving extra profit to companies pursuing such projects anyway.

The dumps are double dipping. For years, many made money collecting methane and converting it into fuel to sell. Long before they got carbon credit kickbacks for it.

"It seemed a little suspicious that we could get money for doing nothing," said the executive director of one methane-capturing landfill, which since last February has sold more than $400,000 in credits.