Posts Tagged ‘greenhouse gas emissions’

May

10th

Smog Eating Commercial Panels from Alcoa!


This just released: Alcoa scientists developed a proprietary process that leverages patented technology to apply a titanium dioxide cogreenbuilding-150x150ating, called EcoClean, to the pre-painted aluminum surface of Reynobond commercial building panels. The result is an aluminum panel that, when combined with sunlight, acts as a catalyst to break down organic pollutants on its surface and in the air around it, like smog, into harmless matter which is then washed away by rainwater.

Last year, 80 billion square feet of commercial building space consumed roughly 20 percent of all energy in the U.S. economy.  This new energy saving, sustainable building product will debut at the 2011 AIA conference in New Orleans on May 12.

Read more at http://www.4-traders.com/ALCOA-4813/news/ALCOA-Unveils-Revolutionary-Sustainable-Solution-for-Commercial-Buildings-13621110/

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Apr

2nd

USDA Promotes Wood for Green Building


SunriseatTurkeyPinePlantationThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) just announced a strategy to promote the use of domestic wood as a green building material.  US Forest Service studies show that wood compares favorably to competing materials, including yeilding fewer emissions to process (including greenhouse gases) and can require significantly less energy for manufacture.  This plan is part of a larger effort by the Obama administration to conserve and restore forests in order to create jobs, protect watersheds, and promote recreation.

The strategy has several parts:

  1. US Forest Service will preferentially select wood for new building projects while also maintaining its commitment to certified green building standards.
  2. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has asked US Forest Service to report to him news ways to enhance green building material research and development.
  3. US Forest Service will demonstrate innovative uses of wood as a green building material for new structures of 10,000 square feet or more through using recognized green building standards such as LEED, Green Globes or the National Green Building Standard.

To carry out this initiative, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell told his workers to use more locally milled timber in all new agency buildings. Vilsack told heads of other USDA agencies to do likewise.

“Our country has the resources, the work force and the innovative spirit to reintroduce wood products into all aspects of the next generation of buildings,” Tidwell said.

Photo courtesy of American Tree Farm System 2010 photo contest winners Henry and Mary Kay Hudson.

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Mar

27th

Dell: Earth Day and Refurb Ink


Earth Day is coming, and Dell has a wonderful program to plant trees to celebrate.  In partnership with Team Earth, Dell’s Facebook® fans will have the opportunity to donate one of 75,000 trees in a friend’s name. Become a fan and keep an eye out on our Facebook page for this special Earth Day event beginning mid-April.

Dell is also offering NextLife refurbished ink cartridges for many popular printer models that print up to 20% more pages than new, reduce waste in our landfills, and reduce resources used to produce new.  EPA estimates in 2003 said we dump 400 million cartridges into landfills each year.  If even 1% of that number was refurbished, it would be the equivalent in CO2 reduction of planting 15,000 trees.  That makes NextLife Ink cartridges a economically AND environmentally good choice!  Go to the Dell site and type in NextLife into the site search.

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Jan

17th

EPA:Stricter Smog Pollutants Limits


Excerpts from Washington Post article by Juliet Eilperin

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed stricter limits recently on the amount of pollution-forming ozone allowed in the air, significantly tightening rules the Bush administration had set for the nation’s most widespread air pollutant.

The new rules, which must undergo 60 days of public comment before becoming final, would help determine the quality of the air Americans will breathe for at least a decade. The change, which represents only the third time in nearly 40 years that the standards have been toughened, could cost industry billions, while preventing thousands of premature deaths a decade from now, the EPA maintains.

The stricter standards would limit ozone in the air to 60 to 70 parts per billion for any eight-hour period, down from 75 ppb. Although the percentage change sounds small, Thursday’s move ensures that state and local governments would face a much stricter air quality test in the years ahead.

The final target that the Obama administration adopts will have major implications for the regulations that state and local officials will have to set to meet the new federal requirements, which will become final between 2014 and 2031, depending on the region. Power plants and motor vehicles are significant emitters of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and other chemical compounds, which form ozone when exposed to sunlight, but sources as small as gas lawn mowers could face new restrictions depending on what EPA chooses as its ultimate goal.

Exposure to ground-level ozone, or smog, is linked to an array of heart and respiratory illnesses. Smog causes burning and inflammation in sensitive tissues and can harm wilderness areas and farm crops by stunting the growth of trees and plants.

“Smog in the air we breathe poses a very serious health threat, especially to children and individuals suffering from asthma and lung disease, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement. “Using the best science to strengthen these standards is a long overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier.”

EPA also announced that as part of its new smog proposal it will also set a secondary, seasonal limit to protect plants and trees from prolonged exposure to ozone.

S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, said state and local officials are committed to tackling the nation’s smog problem despite the “daunting challenges” doing so poses. “Though the task of putting new, better standards into practice won’t be easy, it will most certainly be worth it,” he said.

But the administration’s plan could spark resistance among industries that will face new regulatory requirements, including utilities that have already cut their nitrogen oxide emissions in recent years.

Edison Electric Institute spokesman Dan Riedinger, whose group represents the majority of electricity generators in the United States, said “there’s huge uncertainty about what this and other regulatory requirements will entail for utilities and other sectors.”

Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to smog: Studies show that children who grow up in areas with high ozone concentrations never develop the same lung capacity as those who live in less polluted areas, and that they are more likely to develop asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

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Jan

2nd

New Climate Change Policy? Displacement.


The Copenhagen climate change meeting might actually turn out to be a success over time. China introduced their plan to limit green house gas emissions which was embraced by most of the world with the exception of Europe and the United States, although Barack Obama made some favorable comments about the Chinese plan.

So what is the Chinese plan? Basically it is one of energy displacement without any caps on emissions. They plan on radically increasing the amount of energy that they will produce from renewable resources (wind, solar, and even nuclear) but will not agree to any caps on carbon emissions. The idea is that renewable energy will always be used before a utility will turn to burning fossil fuel to generate electricity. The more renewable energy you build, the less fossil fuel you burn based on a given demand. If you can grow your renewable infrastructure to the point where you are increasing your renewable energy capacity faster than your electric demand then you will start reducing carbon emissions.

China currently receives only a tiny fraction of its electric power from renewable sources (other than hydroelectric). They will try to double their renewable energy production each year for the foreseeable future. It will take many years of doubling to reach an equilibrium point with an economy growing 10% per year. They talk about reducing the carbon output for each unit of production.

Why are the Chinese using this approach? Cap and trade just doesn’t work for them. They can’t put carbon limits on an economy that is growing 10% per year. If the caps really worked, their growth rate would decline substantially. They are not willing to give up the growth which provides jobs for the hundreds of millions of Chinese looking for work to move out of poverty.

To implement this policy of displacement, the Chinese government had decreed that power companies must buy all of the renewable energy produced even if the price of that energy is higher than the price of energy produced from fossil fuels. Note that the price renewable energy producers can charge is regulated by the government but is typically set at a price that provides a decent return for the company. China will also provide fast approval for renewable projects and will work to build out their electric grid to connect new power sources.

The First Solar deal with China to build 20 GigaWatts of solar collectors by the year 2020 is a good example of this policy at work. China guaranteed First Solar a rate tariff on the electricity produced that would make them a profit if they would build a factory in China to produce the panels. China will build the transmission lines to get the power to market for them. In 2020 China will have 20 GigaWatts for solar power which will mean they will product 20 GigaWatts less power from fossil fuels when the sun shines.

The displacement policy means Chinese wind and solar system producers are gearing up to increase production dramatically. This high consistent demand is allowing them to use scale to drive down manufacturing costs. One day renewable may become cost effective as a power source compared to fossil fuels and China won’t have to subsidize their production. In the mean time China creates whole new industries with tremendous export potential and thousands (millions?) of new jobs. They also don’t have to be heavy handed with energy consumers. Consumers will pay a slightly higher price for electricity as the utility companies pass through the higher prices they pay for renewable power.

Read more at Examiner.com:  http://tinyurl.com/y85gcks

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Dec

17th

On Buildings and Climate Change…


The importance of energy-efficient buildings in mitigating effects of climate change was highlighted Friday at the climate conference currently taking place in Copenhagen. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report Dec. 11 urging that buildings be considered as a major component of any strategy concerning emissions reduction.

UNEP’s report, “Buildings and Climate Change – Summary for Decision Makers,” emphasizes that buildings are an area of great potential to impact climate change. The report is a result of three years of study by the UNEP Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative (SBCI), a think tank and partnership between the United Nations and leading companies and organizations in the building sector.

Buildings account for more than 30 percent of worldwide energy use. Fortunately, buildings present vast opportunities to reduce energy consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, buildings generate the equivalent of 8.6 billion tons of CO2 a year, according to the report, and this amount is expected to nearly double over the next two decades. Population growth and urbanization are cited as the impetus for new construction growth.

For example, new construction in China over the next ten years will be so prolific that it will equal the size of all existing buildings in the United States, the report says. Investment in new buildings is also expected in South Africa. UNEP warns booms like these will likely double the amount of pollution associated with energy use in buildings.

Along with the report, the climate summit served as the debut of SBCI’s global Common Carbon Metric for Buildings to measure energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions of buildings. The new metrics were created in conjunction with the International Energy Agency, International Standardization organization, World Green Building Council, International Initiative for the Sustainable Built Environment and Sustainable Buildings Alliance as well as private sector companies and associations.

This information adapted from greenandsave.com News

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Oct

27th

AISD #1 Green Powered Schools Says EPA


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership has ranked the Austin Independent School District No. 1 in its list of the top 20 Green Powered Schools.

Round Rock Independent School District was a close second on the list.

The EPA looked at primary and secondary schools nationwide that use the most power from renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and low-impact hydropower.

The EPA said that together these top schools are buying nearly 113 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions from generating electricity for 11,000 American homes for one year.

“Our green-powered schools are giving kids a brighter future in more ways than one. They’re leading the way in protecting our health and environment, and moving the country into the clean energy economy of the 21st century,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said. “This is a great lesson on how we reduce harmful pollution in our skies and get America running on clean energy.”

The top five schools using the greenest power are:

• 1 — Austin Independent School District

• 2 — Round Rock Independent School District

• 3 — Rochester City School District, Rochester, N.Y.

• 4 — Bullis School, Potomac, Md.

• 5 — The Dalton School, New York, N.Y.

Info from Austin Business Journal.  Thanks, ABJ!

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Oct

8th

Study:Net Zero Homes Save $$


An Environment Texas Research and Policy Center study released last week found that if 10 percent more “net-zero” houses were built each year for the next decade, and all new homes were built that way by 2020, Texans could save more than $5 billion in utility bills.

In Austin, a 40-house net-zero development is under construction about two miles from downtown. The homes are designed to be about 45 percent more energy efficient, with solar energy bringing the net use to zero. Construction of these homes costs about 15 percent more than building a traditional house, but the savings eventually make up for it.

The study estimates homes would save an average of $500 a year in energy bills, and the reduced annual emissions would be equivalent to cutting the pollution of more than three million cars in the nation’s leading greenhouse-gas producing state by 2030.

The report calls on state and federal officials to do more to make the upgrades affordable. State agencies this fall will consider increasing efficiency standards and requiring utilities to provide incentives. A bill passed in the 2009 legislative session authorizes cities to offer incentives.

Associated Press article

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Aug

7th

China’s Aggressive Renewables Policy


url-2China’s energy administration is drawing up plans to increase power generation from renewable sources to 15 percent of the nation’s total by 2020. To do so, the country will rely more on solar, wind and biomass energy with the goal of deriving more than 200 million emissions-free kilowatts.

While 15 percent might not seem like a lot in California where the mandate is 33 percent of the state’s total by 2020, the figure is pretty ambitious for a country with such a massive population and higher technological hurdles. In fact, 15 percent would be 13 times China’s current amount of energy generated by renewables (about 15 million kilowatts, according to VentureWire). The proposal would significantly revise a current target of 60 million kilowatts by 2020.

China surpassed the United States as the largest producer of greenhouse gases several years ago. Together the countries account for 40 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the world, according to the New York Times.

China’s goal — similar to many countries, including the U.S. — is to come up with a comprehensive and ambitious plan to present at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cophenhagen in December, where the global community will attempt to reach a consensus similar to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Heavily criticized for its pollution problems and unsustainable development policies, China is hoping to improve its profile at the meeting, where it says it will pitch a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for the whole world by 2020.

Read the rest here- Green Beat

http://tinyurl.com/kqbbx9

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Jul

5th

House Passes Sweeping Energy and Climate Bill


The bill could for the first time usher in widespread government restrictions on greenhouse gases and help renewable energy become cost competitive with fossil fuels.

The central part of the legislation limits the amount of carbon dioxide, the main gas behind global warming, that companies like electric utilities, gasoline refiners, chemical firms and other large users of energy can put into the atmosphere. There were previously no restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions. 

The bill aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 80% by 2050, in-line with what scientists say is needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming.   

Meeting those targets is expected to cost the average household $175 a year by 2020, according to a recent analysts by the Congressional Budget Office.

Read the rest of this excellent article from CNN Money here:  http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/26/news/economy/cap_and_trade/index.htm  

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