News Around World: Green on top

Green on top, or face $100,000 fine, city propose

Toronto is poised to become the first city in North America to make green roofs mandatory on most new buildings and set standards for their construction.

A city committee yesterday considered a proposed bylaw that would require roofs on new buildings with an area of 5,000 square metres or greater to be 30% to 60% covered by vegetation. The bigger the building, the more planted space it would have to have--otherwise fines of up to $100,000 could be levied.

As drafted, the bylaw would cover mid-to high-rise condos, retail space and office towers, but exempt low-rise, large-scale industrial, nonprofit housing and public buildings such as schools.

But even as Toronto's powerful development industry was urging the city to slow down and keep green roofs strictly voluntary, local politicians were complaining the draft bylaw was too cautious for a metropolis vying to be the most environmentally minded on the continent.

Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, who helped bring the city's first power-generating windmill to the Exhibition grounds, said he was "disappointed" the first draft of the bylaw was so "tepid."

Mr. Pantalone asked city staff to come back in a month with a proposal that would include schools, low-rise buildings on "Main Street" and even private residences.

"Either we are the leading city in the world or we're the ones who looked in the mirror and got scared," he said.

BILD -- the Toronto and GTA Building Industry and Land Development Association -- was quick to urge city politicians to reconsider.

The association sent a letter to the city's chief planner expressing reservations and proposing a pilot project first instead of a full-scale bylaw.

"We have significant concerns with the city's proposal to require and govern the construction of green roofs. We continue to advocate that green roofs be implemented on a voluntary basis," it stated.

"If the home-building and development industry are provided with various incentives, this approach would assist the city with its objectives, while not forcing green roofs on those who may choose to use other forms of sustainable development for their projects."

Since his election in 2003, Toronto's hybrid-driving Mayor David Miller has put the environment front-and-centre on the municipal agenda, setting up a LiveGreen office to promote eco-friendly living, offering rebates for low-flush toilets, banning bottled water sales at city hall, taking on the coffee industry over the disposable cup and studying climate change within civic boundaries.

A new city report touts the environmental benefits of rooftops covered largely in plants and organic material as opposed to asphalt or metal.

These include "reducing the urban heat island effect and energy consumption, improving air quality and storm water management and creating opportunities for biodiversity and habitat creation and beautification of the city."

Steve Daniels, who sat on a green roof technical advisory committee representing BILD, said developers are interested in working with the city to create more green roofs. But he said they can add "hundreds of thousands of dollars ... if not more" to the cost of a project.

"The range can be anywhere on the lower end from $18 a square foot to around $28 a square foot. It's somewhere in that range that we're looking at for an added cost," Mr. Daniels said.

"It's always a concern. Compounded with development charges, compounded with application fees that go up, it's a cumulative effect. So this is just another added cost that has to be factored in at the end of the day."

On top of that, he said there is trepidation about how the new bylaw, which derives its authority from the City of Toronto Act, would mesh with the Ontario Building Code and other city zoning requirements, such as those that call for outdoor amenities for high-rise condos. Those amenities often end up on the rooftop.

Stephen Upton, vice-president development planning at building giant Tridel, pointed out that once installed, the rooftop shrubbery has to be left untouched for two years to allow it to take root.

More information is also required about the longevity of green roofs and how much should be budgeted in a condo corporation's building fund for future replacement.

"I think there's still quite a bit left to be understood, digested and refined," Mr. Upton said. "Toronto green standards, those are things that shouldn't be mandated but should be encouraged."

But while the developers were balking at the bylaw, environmental groups were urging Toronto to move further and faster.

Steven Peck, president of the 10-year-old Torontobased group Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, said the city's efforts could create jobs and be on the "leading edge" of the technology.

"We're very concerned that there's been a watering down of the requirements and we're concerned it will set a negative precedent for cities elsewhere in North America," Mr. Peck said, adding Toronto is "perched on the edge of really starting to get serious about implementing green roofs."

The issue will return to the planning and growth committee for further debate on May 6.

News Around World: Green on top

0 comments RSS Posted by Alluri Girish at 11:07 PM

US, Italy to cooperate on carbon capture and storage

greenhouse gas, from power plants in order to mitigate the plants’ contribution to global warming. Image sourced from STOCKXPERT.
The US and Italy yesterday signed a bilateral agreement to cooperate in advancing carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) or technologies in each country.

The agreement was signed during both countries’ attendance in the Group of Eight industrialized nations’ Energy Ministers Meeting hosted by Italy.

In their agreement, the US and Italy vowed to further the development of technologies needed to limit carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Several Italian universities and research centers have been identified for collaboration, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). The Energy department’s own National Energy Technology Laboratory will lead the US’s partnership efforts on CCS, also called clean coal.

CCS refers to the capture of carbon dioxide, the most potent greenhouse gas, from power plants in order to mitigate the plants’ contribution to global warming.

Under their clean coal partnership, Italy and the US will cooperate on the areas of power generation processes, advanced coal gasification technologies, power system simulations, and characterizing subsurface carbon sequestration potential.

The collaboration is expected to lead to the initiation of “experimental” technologies. Development of CCS technologies could reduce the cost and allow for faster implementation in heavily coal dependent nations, the DOE said.

“To prevent the worst effects of climate change, we must accelerate our efforts to capture and store carbon in a safe and cost-effective way. This agreement between the Department of Energy and Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development will play an important role in advancing the development and commercial deployment of CCS technologies in the years ahead,” Energy Sec. Steven Chu said.

The G8 Energy Ministers Meeting which began yesterday and ends today in Rome, tasks ministers to “define the rules and principles for a new world energy leadership” and make partnerships for the development of low-carbon energy systems.



US, Italy to cooperate on carbon capture and storage

0 comments RSS Posted by Krasugir & Co at 8:23 AM

Charging Ahead with Nanotechnology

With all of the technology that is being continuously introduced and used, it would only seem logical in our quest for a green world to apply some of the renewable energy efforts to this spectrum. That is exactly what some scientists are looking into with theirresearch on how nanotechnology can be used with lithium batteries.

According to Science News, a report that will be published in International Journal of Nanomanufacturing asserts that "carbon nanotubes can prevent such batteries from losing their charge capacity over time." The batteries they are speaking of are the lithium-based batteries that are found in commonly used devices such as MP3 players, laptop computers, and cell phones.

As any of us who partake of these various technologies are quite aware of, with continued use, the battery power just seems to lose its life. As the news story reports, elements such as hot and cold temperatures help this reduction process along even more. Scientists have been researching this degradation process for awhile, and have looked into silicon to replace the universally used lithium-ion batteries. However, due to the fast rate that silicon also degrades, they have had to search even further.

This is where nanotechnology comes into play. As Science News states, "Shengyang's Hui-Ming Cheng and colleagues have turned to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to help them use silicon (Si) as the battery anode but avoid the problem of large volume change during alloying and de-alloying." By introducing the carbon nanotubes to the silicon, they seem to be solving some of the problems that previously existed.

The whole process is quite amazing. "The researchers grew carbon nanotubes on the surface of tiny particles of silicon using a technique known as chemical vapor deposition in which a carbon-containing vapor decomposes and then condenses on the surface of the silicon particles forming the nanoscopic tubes. They then coated these particles with carbon released from sugar at a high temperature in a vacuum. A separate batch of silicon particles produced using sugar but without the CNTs was also prepared."

The scientists used these two diverse batches and compared them. What they found was remarkable - the batch using the carbon produced a discharge capacity twice that of the one which only contained the silicon particles.

There seems to be many reasons that have prompted research into better material used to create batteries. Reports of fires found to be ignited by lithium-ion batteries, although rare, seem to have caused much attention to be placed on safer materials. The general complaint many have regarding the increased reduction of device batteries after continued use is likely another reason that prompted the research. Whatever the likely combination was, this new research could be monumental in how users of technological devices power up their gadgets.

Nanotechnology is not the only material researchers are using in their quest for a better battery, but it does seem to be one of the options that show much promise.

Charging Ahead with Nanotechnology - Green Energy Online

0 comments RSS Posted by Krasugir & Co at 7:32 AM

Dell Continues to Go Green

The Round Rock, Texas headquarters of Dell has recently converted to 100 percent renewable energy. The 2.1 million square foot building completed its conversion and made the announcement on April 3rd. Dell's global headquarters campus has utilized thetechnology of wind power at the building, and 60 percent of its energy is now derived from this. The wind power is generated Energy Future Holding Corp's TXU Energy. The other 40 percent of Dell's green power is made possible via Waste Management's landfill gas to energy plant.

Waste Management has an ongoing national effort to erect 60 new renewable energy facilities over the span of the next 5 years. The energy that Waste Management currently creates is enough to power 1 million homes. The hope is to double that number by 2020. Don Smith, the general manager of Waste Management Central Texas says, "Taking landfill gas and converting it to green power is a buried treasure for the community. We take a once-wasted commodity and turn it into a long-term, reliable source of renewable energy, which is a major environmental plus for the Austin community and one of its major employers, Dell."

For those who are interested in the mechanics, here is how the plan succeeds in acquiring the energy: A network of pipes and wells are drilled into the landscape. Then, a vacuum system pulls the gas (mostly methane) from the landfill. This is then sent to the power plant, fueling the engines that allow the generators to create the electricity. There are more than 100 of these vertical extraction wells and 2100 feet of horizontal wells.

Dell is a member of the Austin Energy Green Choice power program. This program has thrived in becoming the United State's most successful utility-sponsored green power program, providing electricity that comes from clean, renewal sources.

In addition to the green power that is being completely utilized at the Round Rock, Texas location, Dell has also increased, from 8 percent to 17 percent, its renewal energy at the Austin Parmer Campus. Its Twin Falls, Idaho call center is also at 100 percent green energy - 97 percent of this location drawn from wind and the other 3 percent coming from solar energy.

President Paul Bell has the following to say to other technology firms, "It's time for our industry to take a lead role in creating a clean energy future. Today, we are challenging every technology company to work with their suppliers and partners in integrating green power and energy-efficient strategies into their operations." For companies who are leery to convert to green energy, Bell asserts, "We're using green technology to drive operating expense down."

It would seem that Dell is coming closer and closer to its plan announced last fall to go carbon neutral in 2008. Other companies may realize by following in the footsteps of Dell that, not only would similar plans benefit communities and the overall health of the nation, it would have many financial advantages to the company itself.

Dell Continues to Go Green - Green Energy Online

0 comments RSS Posted by Krasugir & Co at 7:31 AM

Fuel Cells

Fuel cells are simple devices, containing no moving parts and only four functional component elements: cathode, electrolyte, anode and interconnect. Fuel cells are actually being used more widely than many people think.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices similar to batteries that directly convert chemical energy of a fuel into electrical energy and heat. They are different from batteries in that they consume reactant, which must be replenished, while batteries store electrical energy chemically in a closed system.

Fuel cells are very useful as power sources in remote locations, such as spacecraft, remote weather stations, large parks, rural locations, and in certain military applications where conventional power may be difficult to obtain.

Although fuel cells are usually classified by their operating temperature and the type of electrolyte they use, they are not constrained by the maximum Carnot cycle efficiency as combustion engines are, because they do not operate with a thermal cycle.

There are many benefits to fuel cells, first, they are not dependent on dwindling oil supplies, running instead on hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, and second, fuel cells are much less polluting and about twice as efficient as typical steam-turbine electricity production. They are an extremely clean source of power because they combine hydrogen and oxygen the two elements that make up water, the main byproduct.

Fuel cells are no longer tomorrow’s technology, the stuff of science fiction and space travel. They are used in many different applications that may not seem like a significant achievement, however the ways in which they can be used are growing every day.

Fuel cells are proof that there are smart, safe, and clean alternative power sources. It is proof that we can be self sustaining and that dependence on fossil fuels will one day soon be obsolete. Fuel cells have been referred to as continuous batteries when they are supplied with fuel as the can be sustained for a long periods of time.

Fuel cells are ideal for power generation, either connected to the electric grid to provide primary power, supplemental power or backup assurance for critical demand, or installed as a grid-independent generator for on-site power in areas that are inaccessible by power lines. They are being used in many different ways in the world today.

· Buses

· Boats

· Trains

· Planes

· Scooters

· Laptop computers

· Cell Phones

These are just a few of the things that can fuel cells can power. There are many more and still more are in development.

Fuel cells are used in many different commercial and industrial applications, and are being seriously scrutinized to become the key component of the nations plan to secure energy for the future.

Fuel Cells - Green Energy Online

0 comments RSS Posted by Krasugir & Co at 7:19 AM