Burn Wise
Posted on January 20, 2010
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Photo courtesy of Flickr.com
By Lauren Ellis
As the weather gets colder and the heating bills rise, fireplaces and wood burning stoves come into the foreground as timeless solutions and creature comforts. Biomass electricity may seem like a lower rung on the renewable energy ladder, but wood has been a major energy source for centuries, currently providing about 2% of the energy we use today.
Yet wood waste has been a major pinch point for renewable energy champions. Comprised of debris from suburban land clearing and rural forestry residuals, wood waste represents the largest percentage of the residential construction and demolition waste stream- approximately 40 to 50% of residential new construction materials, according to the National Association of Home Builders Research Center. Along with the waste, wood smoke has become a major red flag. The microscopic particles from smoke get into eyes and respiratory system, causing health problems such as burning eyes, runny nose, and bronchitis. Particle pollution can also necessitate chronic heart and lung disease. Log-burning fireplaces in new homes have even been banned in some regions, Berkeley, California for one, to help suppress the toxic pollutants and negative health impacts.
For those who still depend on wood as an important alternative fuel source, the EPA has recently launched its Burn Wise program to help educate homeowners on proper burning methods and practices. A key feature in the program is the Changeout campaign, which offers consumers financial incentives, or rebates, to replace older appliances with either non-wood burning equipment, pellet stoves, or EPA certified wood stoves. There are approximately 10 million wood stoves in the United States, with 70-80% operating under conventional standards. Converting to EPA-certified stoves will be a boon to both the consumer’s wallet and pollution levels- EPA stoves are designed with better insulation and improved air flow, so more particles are burned inside the stove. Less smoke, fewer emissions.
Along with the Changeout campaign, the Burn Wise program offers a wealth of information on best burning practices and installation and maintenance tips. Burning the right type of wood and making sure a home is burn safe are key pieces of the program. But the incentive to switch to a certified EPA wood stove is worth the second look- you could score a $1,500 rebate by signing on. Check out the FAQ to learn more.
Ford’s 62 MPG Cars - For European Eyes Only
Posted on December 11, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
The quintessential American automaker Ford Motors just rolled out two versions of its fuel economy friendly Fiesta ECOnetic model: one for American markets, the other for Europeans. The American version gets 30 mpg city, 40 mpg highway - a vehicle on track with American emissions standards. Compare that to the European version, which gets an astounding 62 mpg and emits only 99 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.
The big question on the American consumer’s mind is probably, “Why doesn’t Ford sell those cars here? It’s an American company! How is it that we don’t have access to better fuel-economy vehicles?”
Here’s the catch: the Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel. Widely used in the European Union, clean diesel is a fuel source with lower sulfur content that creates higher fuel content, increasing both engine efficiency and fuel economy. There are noticeable benefits to clean diesel: the United States could save 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, roughly the amount imported daily from Saudi Arabia. Amidst the dirty word connotations behind diesel, there really isn’t a market for the fuel in the United States. States have imposed a tax on diesel, making it much higher when compared to gasoline. That dip in market demand has resulted in a decrease in funding and infrastructure development.
Despite its mucky reputation, clean diesel, when properly used, turns out to be a much more efficient and effective fuel source than gasoline. Clean diesel fuel vehicles are 30% more fuel-efficient than those powered by gasoline, not to mention offer a much higher reduction in total green house gas emissions. So should we make the switch? It seems unlikely that consumers would choose the diesel powered Focus over the hybrid Prius at this stage, even though the Fiesta is greener and more efficient than the hybrids we all adore. Those who claim fuel efficiency technology “hasn’t arrived yet” are not paying attention: the technology is here. What’s left are the crucial public policy choices that government and the masses need to make. Clean diesel is certainly an oxymoron, but its presence can’t be ignored for much longer. With enough inertia, what was once thought of as an old-hat, industrial fuel might become the fuel of the future.
Green Building Programs Up 50%
Posted on December 2, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
According to the American Institute of Architects, the number of American cities with energy efficiency and sustainable building materials programs has jumped 50% from 2007.
From their newly published report, “Green Building Policy in a Changing Economic Environment, the AIA claims that poor building efficiency accounts for roughly 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the economic crisis, which usually halts construction projects, the green building business has received a wealth of support from Congress. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has reserved over $3.2 billion in energy efficiency block grants per locality, all sponsored by the US Department of Energy.
From the report, over 138 cities have green building programs, meaning that over 53,427,648 Americans now live in cities with green building programs. California leads the way with roughly 47 green programs. City leaders have been advancing municipal green building programs by making smarter policy choices that educate builders and the public on the benefits of green design. Some have created mandatory building standards- San Francisco has instituted a green building policy with some of the toughest standards in the country, requiring commercial construction over 25,000 square foot to be built to LEED Gold certification.
The AIA champions the green building movement with their Walk the Walk program. The campaign boasts a goal of reaching a 60% carbon emission reduction by 2010 and carbon neutral buildings by 2030.
The GreenBuild Expo, hosted in Phoenix, Arizona on November 11-13, had over 1,800 exhibit booths displaying the latest green innovative products and services with over 24,000 attendees, including a Green Job Career Fair. Former Vice President Al Gore was a keynote speaker, following a line-up of industry specialists and experts on such issues as LEED education, rooftop innovation, and the politics of energy retrofitting.
According to Gore, the US market for green building products has grown from $7 billion in 2005 to $12 billion in 2007 to a projected $60 billion in 2010, not to mention supplying the US economy with at least 2.5 million new jobs, all by green building and retrofitting.
These are hard numbers to ignore. Investing in green design and sustainable construction are essential tweaks in the battle against our own carbon footprint. While green building may be touted as a trendy new movement in the energy sector, baseline retrofit and efficiency standards could potentially save millions and eliminate tons of emissions. Nothing could be more essential.
Crowd Farming
Posted on November 30, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
One human step can power two 60-watt light bulbs for barely a second. But 28,527 steps can generate enough electricity to power a moving train for one second. Capturing the collective energy of mindless human movement- shoppers in a mall or commuters in a subway for instance- is what crowd farming is all about.
That’s the idea behind the new technology engineered by two MIT students James Graham and Thaddeus Juscyzyk. Crowd farming harnesses the power of human energy into a convertible source of electricity. It can be used to power signage, doorways, sound, light, and machines- the possibilities are endless.
From Juscyzyk and Graham:
“A Crowd Farm in Boston’s South Station railway terminal would work like this: A responsive sub-flooring system made up of blocks that depress slightly under the force of human steps would be installed beneath the station’s main lobby. The slippage of the blocks against one another as people walked would generate power through the principle of the dynamo, a device that converts the energy of motion into that of an electric current.”
The key concept behind crowd farming is piezoelectricity, or the science of harnessing power from mechanical stress. The two inventors have also developed a prototype chair. Who knew that sitting could generate enough power to turn on four LED lights?!
When asked about the real life application of their new technology, Graham quipped, “We joke that we’re at the level of computers in the ‘60s when they were giants and clunky and took up entire rooms.”
While cost effectiveness and scale are the major barriers of this new technology, a market adaptation of the crowd farming concept is already in the works. Elizabeth Redmond, a finalist of the MIT Ignite Clean Energy Competition, has developed POWERleap, a new flooring system that utilizes piezoelectricity from pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The flooring system can be used in city sidewalks, dance clubs, airport terminals, gyms, and sports stadiums, and any other urban areas subject to high volumes of foot traffic.
So, until we travel everywhere via hover-technology (See: Back to the Future II), developing technology that yields power from the steps we take sounds like a brilliant plan.
Energy Efficient Flat Screens
Posted on November 20, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
Remember when Hummers were in vogue? The military Humvee turned civilian vehicle became a four-letter word in the mid 2000s with the rise of fuel economy values a la the Toyota Prius. Gone are the days when Americans would gladly pay $100 for a tank of gas, and rightfully so- the “I’ll buy it just because I can? consumptive era is on its way out.
The next target in the waste-not consumer ethos? Flat screen TVs.
Televisions are invisible cesspools of wasted energy. High definition, 58 inch screens are major suck-watts: getting that movie-theater quality takes a lot of energy, and let’s not forget that one TV per household is the exception, not the rule, in the average home.
It’s not just the expanding waistline of the screen. The myriad devices plugged in 24/7 to deliver the optimum viewing experience are guilty accomplices. From DVRs, TiVos, game consoles to DVD players, the entertainment system has become a standard creature comfort in nearly every household, bar, and coffee shop- they’ve even replaced the token Highlights and Parenthood magazines in doctor waiting rooms. According to the California Energy Commission, flat screen TVs consume 10% of a home’s electricity, and the LCD TVs, which account for about 90% of the 4 million TVs sold in CA annually, use 43% more energy. A 48-inch plasma TV can draw more power than a large refrigerator!
To mitigate excessive waste and still meet household energy demand, the California Energy Commission released the nation’s first energy efficiency standards for flat-screen TVs.
Working in concert with the federal Energy Star program, retailers are expected to sell TVs that meet standard guidelines. Regulation would be similar to the energy efficiency labeling we see on a whole suite of consumer products, such as washing machines, home heating systems, refrigerators.
According to the Commission, the regulations are expected to save consumers $30 on power costs, with $8.1 billion saved from California’s electricity bills over a 10-year period. The new standards will slice power use by 50% in 2013, reducing home energy use by 6,515 gigawatt hours per year, which is the equivalent wattage needed to power the CA cities of Anaheim, Burbank, Glendale, and Palo Alto combined for a year. There’s a GHG perk too- more efficient TVs will decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 3.1 million metric tons annually.
Then again, the best way to promote energy efficient television watching? Watch less TV.
For a breakdown of the California Energy Commission Hearing on TV Energy Regulation, click here.
Powering a Green Plant
Posted on November 4, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
Scientific American, one of the oldest and most popular science magazines has recently come out with an interactive rich media feature: A Plan to Power 100% of the Planet with Renewables. According to the two scientists spearheading this radical new plan, wind, water, and solar technologies have the power to provide 100% of the world’s energy in 20 years.
Here are some of the key concepts:
- Supplies of wind and solar energy on accessible land dwarf the energy consumed by people around the globe.
- The plan calls for 3.8 million large wind turbines, 90,000 solar plants, and numerous geothermal, tidal and rooftop photovoltaic installations worldwide
- The cost of generating and transmitting power would be less than the projected cost per kilowatt-hour for fossil fuel and nuclear power
- Shortages of a few specialty materials, along with lack of political will loom as the greatest obstacles.
The web feature is chock full of images, interactive text, video testimonies from the authors, as well as profiles of the major energy sources at our disposal, the average cost breakdown per energy source, and what a green future in 2030 would look like contrasted to powered only by fossil fuels.
Check out the web version here to learn more!
Download this Widget and Power Down
Posted on November 2, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
If you’re reading this post right now, it’s safe to assume that you own a computer and use it regularly. Laptop energy waste is out of sight and out of mind for most- especially college students who have more power strips and plugs than we know what to do with. I took a tour of all the rooms in my house and saw dozens of computers blinking idly, power strips plugged in over night, laptops left open. And it’s not just college students- the workforce contributes to as much phantom load if not more.
It’s an invisible epidemic that has such a simple solution- TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER. Powering down your laptop is an example of a small and cheap behavior tweak that offers huge energy saving benefits.
Here are some quick facts on the connection between laptop use and energy savings:
- A computer in idle mode uses 20 to 50 times the power of a computer in standby mode. Always enable the energy saving settings
- Disable screen savers to reduce energy use. Set printers to sleep mode
- Powers down all electronics when not in use- unplug power strips at the end of the day to eliminate phantom load.
HP recently launched its Power to Change campaign, encouraging laptop users all over the globe to turn off their computers. The downloadable widget tracks your computer’s cumulative energy savings, compares them with other participants, and averages a net percentage of how many times you powered down your computer. Over 24,000 people have downloaded the widget (including yours truly), and are tracking their energy savings right now.
HP estimates that if 100,000 users shut down their computers at the end of the day, energy savings could total more than 2,690 kilo-watt hours and result in a 3,500 pound reduction in CO2- that’s an equivalent of eliminating more than 105 cars from the road each day.
To do your part, download the widget and start tracking your laptop habits. Better yet, take a tour of your house and unplug all idle chargers and tell your co-workers to power down their laptops before leaving the office- make it an office or dorm resolution! The globe, and your laptop, will thank you for it!
The No Impact Experience
Posted on October 30, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
Tired of hearing that we’re destroying the environment with excessive consumption and pollution? Frustrated because you want to do something, but have no idea where to start?
If you’ve been looking for a way to impact the environment sans the actual impact, give the No Impact Experiment a try. The project challenges citizens to go on a one-week long carbon cleanse, a low-impact lifestyle that filters out all the excess waste, consumption patterns, and creature comforts with a step-by-step how to do guide. The challenge recognizes that certain high emitting actions, such as driving your car instead of taking public transit, using your computer for work, are unavoidable. The point of the challenge is to assess what you have and rid yourself of what you don’t actually need- all for the sake of living a healthier and happier life.
Created by Colin Beavan, aka No Impact Man, this experiment is an exercise in behavioral change. Beavan and his family unplugged from the electrical grid, produced no trash, traveled by foot or bike, bought nothing but food (only locally grown) – living a carbon free life for an entire year. Beavan chronicled his trials and tribulations in his blog, and has released a book, “No Impact Man or The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process? and a movie, now playing across the country. Beavan’s program is a carbon detox that promises to give you more time, more fun, a clearer conscience, and a healthier lifestyle.
The how-to-manual provides daily challenges, coupled with general ideas and resources. Day One challenges participants to decrease consumption, Day Two is dedicated to trash, Day Three promotes carbon-neutral forms of transportation, Day Four encourages conscious eating habits and grocery shopping, Day Five forces participants to assess their energy patterns, Day Six teaches you how to calculate your water footprint, Day Seven promotes community service, and Day Eight is an eco-Sabbath, where you can reflect on the week’s challenges and how the No Impact Experience has affected you.
The No Impact Experiment is more a way of life than a fad – and the how-to-manual is chock full of tips that can be easily integrated into any fast-paced, resource heavy lifestyle. The No-Impact Experiment is meant to educate and empower citizens on how best to lower their carbon footprint- no gimmicks, tricks, judgment, or excuses need apply.
Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle Your Oil?
Posted on October 26, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
America’s addiction to oil and the old adage “reduce, reuse, and recycle? are two of the greatest energy clichés. Recycling paper, glass, and aluminum goods have become knee-jerk home values, and even though we’re inching closer to that alternative energy dawn, oil will continue it’s reign as the world’s lifeblood.
But what if we merged the two into a brand new energy mash-up? Introducing recyclable oil: a product that reconciles our dependence on oil with the social impetus for conservation. According to the American Petroleum Institute, recycling two gallons of used oil can generate enough electricity to run the average household for almost 24 hours. That’s a surprisingly positive benefit from an energy source that’s has more strikes against it than, well, we’ve just lost count at this point.
Japanese environmental equipment manufacturer Fuji Energy has designed a device that converts used engine or waste oil into fuel, utilizing heating and filtering mechanisms to emulsify the waste oil into an alternative fuel. Fuji’s new process aims to reduce fuel expenses by 30%, costing roughly $8.70/month to operate.
Used motor oil can be refined into a base stock for lubricating oil. It can be burned for energy, funneled into power plants or cement kilns to be burned as added fuel, or can be used for space heating in small businesses. While this extra oil use may only feed the fire, think about all the systems and major infrastructure that currently run on oil (automobiles, anyone?) Reusing the resource, rather than eroding our environment or weakening our national security, is a much more sensible alternative.
Check out Earth911 for a service site or recycling coordinator near you. The website also offers information on how and where to recycle other materials- such as batteries, electronics, and aluminum wares.
Solar Painting
Posted on October 23, 2009
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By Lauren Ellis
Here at SmartPower, we believe that solar panels are the renewable energy market’s most veritable marketing tool, an instant billboard. Yet system-wide integration of solar panels and homeowner installation has been slow to get over the initial barriers. High manufacturing and installation costs dissuade the average homeowner from jumping on the new (and necessary) technology, even with government subsidies and tax incentives from the Department of Energy and EnergyStar.
But what if you could bypass the cost and still reap the rewards of increased energy efficiency? Welcome to the new world of solar painting.
Innovalight, a venture capital solar production firm based in Silicon Valley, is currently developing solar ink, which fuses the material efficiency of silicon with the cost effectiveness of a liquid base. Their solution can be printed onto any surface with an off-the shelf industrial printer, resulting in highly efficient, ultra-thin solar cells with 18% conversion results. The emerging technology has been confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and has exciting prospects for the lagging solar market.
Corus Colours, a steel manufacturing firm, has been working on their own take on solar paint. The paint is applied to steel sheets, and when the light hits the dye-sensitized solar cells, the molecules act as light absorbers, releasing an electron, which then acts as a circuit, generating solar electricity. The new solar cells can absorb light across the visible spectrum; they can capture light during cloudy days, making them more efficient than conventional solar cells. These cells could achieve a power conversion efficiency of 11%- all from a simple coat.
When released in the marketplace, this new technology opens the floodgates for homeowner do-it-yourself projects, significantly lowering the high costs of solar panels and encouraging ground-up, decentralized home energy systems. Homeowners could take an active stance in mitigating their carbon footprint, since the product will be sold for roughly $1 per watt, a substantial decrease in average solar prices.
How satisfying would it be to drive to your local Home Depot and pick up a bucket of solar paint? This technique would be a boon to our nation’s infrastructural efficiency. If this paint reaches the market, it could be painted on everything from buildings, bridges, street lights- the sky’s the limit. The technology still has a long way to go before it’s that simple, but fusing solar technology with our steel and manufacturing industry presents an exciting opportunity to transform our homes into solar communities- and it’s about time.
Recently
- Burn Wise
- Ford’s 62 MPG Cars - For European Eyes Only
- Green Building Programs Up 50%
- Crowd Farming
- Energy Efficient Flat Screens
- Powering a Green Plant
- Download this Widget and Power Down
- The No Impact Experience
- Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle Your Oil?
- Solar Painting
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