Green from the roots up, Sustainable from the top down
Incredible, shrinking US Chamber of Commerce goes from 3 million members to just 300,000 in one day! « Climate Progress
Superfreakonomics on climate, part 1 – Paul Krugman Blog – NYTimes.com
“OK, I’m working my way through the climate chapter — and the first five pages, by themselves, are enough to discredit the whole thing. Why? Because they grossly misrepresent other peoples’ research, in both climate science and economics.”
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Photo credit CanadaGood
I hate paper.
Always have. If there is a way to do something electronically, rather than on paper, I will always chose the electronic way.
Why? Well, as I said in a previous post:
- The pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of water used in industrial activities in OECD countries and is the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, after the chemical and steel industries (OECD Environmental Outlook, p. 218)
- Most of the world’s paper supply, about 71 percent, is not made from timber harvested at tree farms but from forest-harvested timber, from regions with ecologically valuable, biologically diverse habitat. (Toward a Sustainable Paper Cycle: An Independent Study on the Sustainability of the Pulp and Paper Industry, 1996) and
- Tree plantations host about 90 percent fewer species than the forests that preceded them. (Allen Hershkowitz, Bronx Ecology, p. 75, 2002)
Paper production is an enormous consumer of water, massive producer of greenhouse gases and it contributes significantly to loss of biodiversity.
Apart from that, if I have something in electronic format, I can back it up to the cloud, have it indexed and findable from anywhere with a mobile phone signal. Paper can be damaged in any number of ways or worse, lost.
It always infuriates me then that when I receive my bills for my landline, mobile phone, water, electricity, gas, etc. they are on paper. Why do none of these companies offer me the option of an electronic invoice?
I am reminded of this again because of a conversation I had with Ron Tetteroo of StreamServe yesterday. StreamServe are a company who streamline the billing process for large companies. One of the things things StreamServe can do for companies is help move their customers from paper to electronic billing.
What are the advantages for companies to moving from paper to e-billing? Well, apart from the positive environmental impacts, there is also the cost savings (it is far cheaper to email a bill than to send it in the post obviously). Furthermore, if your bills are delivered electronically, you can include very tailored marketing campaigns for either your own company or partner companies. If you use HTML, you could receive very detailed metrics on your campaign in realtime and even modify it in response to feedback, if necessary. You could, in effect turn the billing process into a line-of-business or revenue generator in its own right!
I asked Ron why then is e-billing not more prevalent.
It is becoming more common, he said but for companies who are not adopting e-billing the reasons can cultural, political or even financial. He gave the example of a company he mentioned e-billing to and they weren’t interested in it because their biggest customer was the post office!
Madness! Companies should be incentivising us to move to electronic billing.
I hung my head.
Still, I want my invoices delivered electronically. I am going to keep pestering the companies I do business with for electronic invoices. If enough of us ask for our bills to be delivered electronically, more companies will do it.
“The British oil trader Trafigura has offered to pay out in a historic damages claim from 31,000 Africans injured by the dumping of toxic waste in one of the worst pollution disasters in recent history, the Guardian can reveal.
The compensation deal for the victims of toxic oil waste dumping in west Africa – likely to be confirmed imminently – means the full extent of attempts to cover up what really happened can be spelled out for the first time.”
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | Dong withdraws from energy deal
“Plans to build a coal-fired power station in Ayrshire could still go ahead despite a decision by one of the main backers to pull out.
Danish energy firm Dong said it would now act as a design partner for the station at Hunterston, next to British Energy’s nuclear plant. “
London’s new drinking fountains a challenge to bottled water industry | Environment | The Observer
“London may soon follow in the footsteps of Bundanoon, the Australian town that last week banned bottled water and set up drinking fountains for thirsty locals.
The capital’s first water stations will be set up this month in a move that could have serious repercussions for the £1.5bn-a-year bottled water industry, with companies finding it increasingly difficult to justify their carbon footprint as the quality of tap water improves.”
‘Scary’ climate message from past
“A new historical record of carbon dioxide levels suggests current political targets on climate may be “playing with fire”, scientists say.
Researchers used ocean sediments to plot CO2 levels back 20 million years.
Levels similar to those now commonly regarded as adequate to tackle climate change were associated with sea levels 25-40m (80-130 ft) higher than today. “
WWF – Saving forests five times better than carbon capture for climate action: WWF Sweden
“WWF Sweden is urging its government – holding the current EU Presidency – to get behind an effective international agreement on halting forest loss as a key and highly cost effective measure on climate change.
“Sweden should follow the examples set by its northern neighbors in developing systems to halt deforestation,” said WWF CEO General Lasse Gustavsson.. “One Swedish krona to stem deforestation results in the same emissions reductions as five kronor for the controversial carbon capture and storage technique,” “
“It would be “more than an embarrassment” to US President Barack Obama if the United States should fail to lead international climate negotiations to completion at a UN conference in Copenhagen in December, a senior European climate negotiator says”
Piano stairs – Rolighetsteorin.se – The fun theory
Here is one to cheer you up – fun can motivate people to do the right thing – who knew?
President Obama Declares October National Energy Awareness Month
“A more prosperous future for the US’s economy means making investments in energy efficiency and clean energy today. Well-funded energy research and development will not only help protect our environment and support our communities, but it will also address concerns of global competitiveness and national security.
Innovation in energy technology will decrease oil use, strengthen the economy, and reduce the dangerous pollution that causes climate change. “
RealClimate – Climate science from Climate scientists
A great blog on climate science from actual climate scientists!!!
“In order to meet the British commitments to cut carbon dioxide emissions, ”a step change in the pace of reduction is needed”, a government advisory group says in a new report”
From 2003 to 2007, British CO2 reductions averaged 0.6 percent a year. This needs to increase to two to three percent a year to meet the government’s carbon budgets, the British Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says in a new report Monday.
EDF nuclear waste stored in open air in Russia: report | Green Business | Reuters
“Waste from French power stations was being deposited in the open air in Russia, French newspaper Liberation said on Monday.
The paper said 13 percent of French radioactive waste produced by power group EDF could be found in the open air in a town in Siberia to which access is forbidden. The paper said it based its information on an investigation due to be broadcast on TV channel Arte on Tuesday.”
UK Greenpeace protesters scale roof of parliament | Green Business | Reuters
“Dozens of climate-change protesters climbed on to the roof of the Houses of Parliament on Sunday and unveiled banners, raising security concerns the day before legislators return from their summer break.”
New demands from the US – COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009
“A US demand that developing countries should set their entire emissions reducing actions under international scrutiny has been rejected as “non-negotiable” by the developing countries in Bangkok. “
Smart Grid: The Coming Smart Grid Data Surge
“the advancements of the Smart Grid are founded in information. Data is used to inform consumption, to make rates more dynamic, and to enable the next-generation power prosumer. In reading a recent piece on potentially mandated Smart Metering in the UK, the Telegraph raises the issue of data handling relative to today’s data management. In short strokes, 44 million homes were typically measured twice a year, making for 88 million entries for data. In the new system, every home is measured twice a day, meaning that those 88 million entries have now become over 32 billion.”
Smart Grid: The Smart Grid and Consumers: Unanswered Questions
In addition to the potential “prize” the Smart Grid might offer them, other consumer concerns must be addressed to gain their trust and comfort with the dramatic change the Smart Grid represents
Smart Grid: Google and Partner Offer Home Energy Management Without Smart Meters
“Google and Energy Inc. have partnered to provide a home power-measuring device that works with Google’s energy management software to give homeowners detailed information about their power consumption that can help them monitor and reduce energy consumption. “
“Cisco, together with utility, technology and local government partners, are developing some of the nation’s first projects to create a smarter electric grid. General Electric is also testing how smart appliances can help lower power demand in a pilot program at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.”
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Photo credit Kaptain Kobold
Alcatel-Lucent announced that it has signed an agreement with the German municipal utility Stadtwerke Pasewalk to implement smart meter operation services.
New European Union rules, which come into effect on January 1 2010, will require consumption dependent billing of gas, electricity and water and by utilities. The Alcatel-Lucent solution being used here is designed to address that legislation. Interestingly, according to the release, Stadtwerke Pasewalk customers will be given a home energy monitor which will enable them to see their energy consumption in real-time and optimise it accordingly. There are no details on whether there are plans to automate the in-home energy reductions, nor do they talk about whether the the meters can be updated remotely.
Alcatel Lucent have partnered with Vodafone Germany, DIEHL Energy Solutions and SIV AG for this project. Alcatel Lucent will operate the central meter data management system to monitor and control the smart meters, Vodafone will provide communications, DIEHL Energy Solutions will deliver the smart meter systems while SIV will provide the backend ERP system to handle the data. The SIV ERP system (kVASy) is based on an Oracle database.
Stadtwerke Pasewalk is one of nearly 900 utility companies in Germany (!) and is quite small with only 12,000 meters so this is akin to a trial-sized project.
The involvement of so many partners, in even this modest rollout, is a clear indicator of just how complex smart grids can be to implement. Partnerships (and interoperability) amongst smart grid solution vendors will be critical to the success of these ventures.
The skills learnt here will benefit not just Stadtwerke Pasewalk and its customers, but all of the companies involved as they move onto future larger smart grid projects.
U.S. companies may look abroad to fight global warming — latimes.com
“U.S. companies could save tens of billions of dollars by investing in efforts to combat deforestation in developing nations instead of cleaning up their own domestic carbon dioxide emissions, according to a report released Wednesday.”
“Man-made greenhouse gas emissions will drop 3% in 2009 largely because of the worldwide financial crisis, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today.
Three-quarters of the reduction has been the result of less industrial activity, with the rest coming from countries turning to renewable energy and nuclear power.”
Obama Orders Agencies to Set 2020 Emissions Goals
“U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order Monday ordering federal agencies to set goals within 90 days for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. “
constructireland.ie – Ireland ranked fourth in the world for wind power
“Ireland now ranks fourth in the world for the contribution of wind energy to electricity use, according to the International Energy Agency’s 2008 Wind Energy Annual Report.
Ireland, which supplies 8.7% of electricity demand from wind, is only behind Denmark (19.3%), Spain (11.7%) and Portugal (11.3%).”
Hidden Costs – the destruction of the future
“For a scientist it is hard to observe how each day we fail to twist development towards a low-carbon society, and how the damage to the planet become more severe. Our messages to policy makers are explicit, but the gap between the need for action and the climate policy the world leaders put in place is steadily increasing.”
Redd in Africa: ‘how we can earn money from air by harvesting carbon’
“UN plan to preserve the world’s forests by allowing owners to trade the carbon stored in endangered forests on condition the trees are not felled. The plan aims to slash the 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions that come from deforestation and is one of the few aspects of a global deal to fight climate change that looks on track to be settled”
IEA – CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion: Highlights
“In the lead-up to the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen, the latest information on the level and growth of CO2 emissions, their source and geographic distribution will be essential to lay the foundation for a global agreement. To provide input to and support for the UN process the IEA is making available — both earlier and for free download — the Highlights version of CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion. “
“The costs of a vigorous, immediate effort to rebuild the world economy around carbon-free technologies are in the range of one to three percent of global GDP per year, a new study says.”
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
constructireland.ie – Ireland ranked fourth in the world for wind power
“Ireland now ranks fourth in the world for the contribution of wind energy to electricity use, according to the International Energy Agency’s 2008 Wind Energy Annual Report.
Ireland, which supplies 8.7% of electricity demand from wind, is only behind Denmark (19.3%), Spain (11.7%) and Portugal (11.3%).”
“Microsoft recently updated itscomputer purchasing standards to make sure that all the PCs we buy for our employees meet the latest energy efficiency standards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Microsoft now requires that all PCs purchased through our standard MS IT channels will meet EPA Energy Star 5.0 requirements.”
News – Emissions from tar sands seriously underestimated – The Ecologist
“Governments and companies making no effort to quantify the real climate impacts
Greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands operations are being significantly under-reported according to new research by Global Forest Watch Canada.”
Newfoundland Town of 800 People Told to Get Tested for Dangerously High Levels of Mining Toxins
“An entire town of 800 people in Newfoundland has been urged by health authorities to get blood tests for lead poisoning from a now-closed lead and zinc mine.
At a community meeting, three provincial cabinet ministers told the shocked residents of Buchans preliminary soil samples show “dangerously high” levels of lead in and around the five-square mile mine site, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Wednesday.”
Kingsnorth power station plans shelved by energy group E.ON | Environment | guardian.co.uk
“Environmental campaigners were celebrating tonight after controversial plans for a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent were shelved, as the company behind the scheme postponed the project and blamed the recession.”
Daily Kos: Oceans Turn Acidic & Hypoxic in Fertile Zones from Arctic to Antarctica: DK Greenroots
“Unexpectedly rapid increases in the acidity of the Arctic Ocean, affecting the Arctic food chain, reported Sunday are part of a larger problem of acidification in the most fertile regions in the global oceans. Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning have raised atmospheric CO2 levels, increasing the acidity of the oceans because CO2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid.
Approximately 1/3 of all CO2 emissions to date have been taken up by the oceans, raising the acidity of the water. Because cold water takes up more CO2 than warm water, cold nutrient rich polar regions and tropical and temperate upwelling regions that support most of the ocean’s biological activity are acidifying fastest. Cold, acidic waters, will dissolve the shells of sensitive marine organisms, breaking the food chain, in the most fertile, oxygen generating, areas of the oceans”
Apple deletes the US Chamber | On Sustainability | ZDNet.com
“Back in May I wrote about how the US Chamber was losing friends fast with its ‘head in sand’ position on climate change. Since then things have seriously started to descend into farce. In fact, its now almost a PR badge of honour for members to publicly upbraid the hapless Chamber and its CEO John Donohue on climate change.”
Cisco Launches German Smart Grid Project – News – eWeekEurope.co.uk
“Cisco is partnering with a German electric company, Yello Strom, in a smart grid project designed to create a system that will help businesses and residents measure and control the energy consumption of their appliances”
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
I have been creating a series of little videos on the energy efficiency of various items you might find around the home or office (computers, mobile phone chargers, games consoles, printers, and a microwave oven for example). The video of the computer was particularly revealing because even when the computer was shut down (note completely shut down, not put to sleep, not hibernating) it was still drawing 3W of electricity.
However, Fujitsu sent me a PC to try out. The computer they sent me was one of their Esprimo P Series (model 7935) which is supposed to draw 0 Watts of powere on shutdown. They also sent me one of their P-Line Displays which is also, according to them 0 Watt rated.
I was unconvinced but decided to try it out.
As you can see in the video, the computer consumes a hefty 86W when in operation. This is not that unusual for a desktop but compared to my laptop, which only consumes 32W for example, it is quite high. When it is put to sleep, it consumes 1.7W which is quite good for a desktop in sleep mode. However, when I shut it down, the power draw from both the computert and monitor went completely to 0W. If you check out the mobile phone charger videos I posted, you can see that the sensitivity of the power meter I used was 0.1W
I have to admit to being really impressed by this. Still, just how likely is this to fly commercially?
The other computer I tested drew 3W when shut down. It is easy to say 3W but what direct impact does that have on people or businesses?
Well, the ESB in Ireland charge €0.16 (incl. VAT) per unit of electricity (where 1 unit = 1kWh = 1,000W for 1 hour)
So 3W for 1 hour = 3Wh
3W for 1 week = 168 hours x 3W = 504Wh
3W for 1 year = 504Wh x 52 = 26208Wh or 26.208kWh
26.208 units x €0.16 = €4.19 per annum
So if my maths are correct, a 3W trickle of electricity costs around €4.20 a year.
I don’t have any pricing information on the 0 Watt PC but I don’t imagine €4 per annum will swing a purchasing decision either way, even if it is a purchasing decision for several thousand devices. Where it may make a difference is if companies are interested in reducing their carbon emissions.
In the short term, this is a nifty way of reducing energy draw when computers are not in use. Longer term this problem will be resolved by offerings like Cisco’s Energywise whereby sockets can be powered off remotely, on a schedule or when an office is vacated, obviating the need for 0 Watt PCs.
On a larger scale the real problems with regard to energy production and heightened greenhouse gas emissions occur during the working day when computers are typically turned on. Reduce the amount of electricity a computer requires to run, as well as the amount of power it draws when shut down for the real win.
Echelon and Eaton to Extend the Smart Grid Into the Home
Echelon today announced that Eaton has become a value-added reseller of Echelon’s Networked Energy Services (NES) System and that Eaton will incorporate its home automation product line for energy management, enhanced comfort and safety with the NES System.
The agreement will focus on utilities and electricity providers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The announcement was made today at the Metering Europe event in Barcelona, Spain. “
Smart Grid: Smart Grid Investment to Quintuple in Next Two Decades
“The amount of money invested in the Smart Grid is expected to grow fivefold over the next 20 years.”
Smart Electricity Meters Now Easier to Design – Technology For Change
“Freescale’s ColdFire microcontroller instills smarts into electricity meters, enabling consumers and businesses to keep track of electricity usage and its cost.”
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Photo of Thomas Edison and Henry ford courtesy of Ford Motor Company
Recently I spoke with Greg Frenette, the manager of Ford’s Electric Vehicle program and he filled me in on just how long Ford have been working on electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technologies. Although not as long as may be indicated in the photo above, Ford’s Advanced Engineering Research group have been working on concepts with respect to plug-in hybrids since 2005.
Ford’s initial utility partners in their plug-in hybrid program were Southern California Edison but they soon expanded the program to include the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as well as a grouping of 10 utilities and research organisations across North America.
This quarter Ford will complete the build-out and deployment to the partner organisations of their fleet of 20 plug-in hybrid Escape’s. These vehicles are demo’ing real world vehicle-to-grid interconnectivity. According to Greg they have
a prototype communication control system on the vehicle which works with a Smart Meter, through the use of wireless Zigbee technology, to give the vehicle owner control and direction in how they access the charge
Part of this limited roll-out is to look closely at the bigger infrastructure issues – what does it mean to introduce EVs onto the grid? What standards will be adopted? What upgrades will be necessary in technology & infrastructure to connect these vehicles both at home and in public to the grid?
Speaking about the integration of the vehicles onto the grid, Greg said:
We can envision how the car will be integrated into the smart home of the future and how the home-owner would have the ability to make trade-offs and decisions that involve the vehicle as well as the energy budget for the rest of the household
It is spectacular to hear that (at least one of) the car manufacturers is thinking about the implications of the rollout of smart grids, realtime pricing tariffs and integrating electric vehicles onto the grid. As I have said before, if a country has a large fleet of electric vehicles, they have the capacity to act as a distributed battery for energy storage at even greater than utility scales. In fact, the Rocky Mountain Institute goes further when they say:
Utilities sell a disproportional amount of their power on hot summer afternoons. At night, business plummets. For the utility, that means their expensive generation and transmission equipment stands idle. “Night-charging” vehicles, therefore, could be a lucrative twist on the business of selling electrons.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently estimated that if half the nation’s light vehicles were ordinary plug-in hybrids they would represent a night-charging market of 230 gigawatts. That’s good news for the U.S. wind industry. In many areas, wind tends to blow harder at night, creating more energy when the vehicles would be charging.
With full vehicle to grid integration those same vehicles could sell back some of their energy to the grid on those hot summer afternoons, when electricity is expensive and potentially prevent the firing up of more expensive and dirty generation.
Even better was that Greg brought up something most others shy away from discussing – the old data ownership question! According to Greg Ford believes that:
The consumer is a key stakeholder when it comes to the data. The communications control capability has to be part of the total value equation to the automotive consumer as well as the energy consumer. Ford is looking for win-win solutions between utility industry, between the auto industry that ultimately provide increased value to both of our customers
Ford wants an open architecture communication solution which has to have “direct consumer applicability, marketability and value to be worthwhile”.
If Ford succeed in rolling out that vision, I’ll be first in line!
Ford are introducing the first fully electric cars to the market in 2010 – 2011 while their first plug-in hybrids will come to market in 2012.
Ford are also looking beyond electric vehicles. They have had a fleet of 30 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on-road with customers since 2005 with over 1,000,000 miles on them. Ford see electric as a medium term solution to sustainable transport but hydrogen as the longer term goal.
Personally, I’m not convinced about the viability of hydrogen as a solution – especially if IBM can crack the lithium air battery they are working on.
