April 29, 2010 10:23 AM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
Despite Google's lobbying on clean-energy policy and investments in renewable energy, it was Cisco and Ericsson who received Greenpeace's top marks in its ranking of computing vendors' activity on climate change.
The environmental watchdog group released its annual Cool IT Leaderboard on Thursday, which judges large IT and consumer electronics companies on a range of criteria related to climate change, including efforts to lower their environmental footprints and commercial efforts in energy and efficiency.
This year, Greenpeace placed Cisco at the top of the list because of its move into building energy management and the smart grid, technologies that can boost renewable energy use and efficiency.
Ericsson and Fujitsu scored well for developing methods for measuring the environmental impact of IT and for setting credible carbon reduction estimates for its customers.
Google, meanwhile, was marked down for not reporting its internal greenhouse gas emissions, which most companies surveyed do. In response, a Google representative on Wednesday said that it doesn't disclose information on the size of its operations for competitive reasons.
Google's data centers run efficiency, consuming about half the power as typical data centers by optimizing the chip, power pack design, and building cooling. "We are...dedicated to minimizing our footprint; it makes business and environmental sense for us to do so," the representative said.
Overall, Greenpeace is pressuring IT and communications companies to get involved in energy policy, which is historically not been an activity of tech companies. As it did in last year's Cool IT Leaderboard, Greenpeace is also prodding IT companies to take advantage of the commercial possibilities in lowering greenhouse gas emissions, as does IBM's Smart Planet initiative. Greenpeace estimates that applying IT to transportation, buildings, and power generation can result in 15 percent emissions reduction over the next 10 years.
"The company bottom line coupled with the environmental bottom line, the need to curb a growing greenhouse gas emissions, should send the IT industry to the front lines in the battle for a clean energy economy," said Greenpeace campaigner Casey Harrell in a statement. "The sector needs to step up its policy advocacy now."
For Earth Day last week, Greenpeace organized a panel on IT and climate change which was hosted by Cisco and had representatives from Cisco, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Direct-drive turbines to propel offshore wind
April 30, 2010 7:00 AM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
With projected growth in offshore wind farms, turbine makers are adopting direct-drive generators, a technology that could help address concerns over cost and reliability of offshore wind.
Siemens Energy's first direct-drive turbine is now available for both onshore and offshore applications, the company said last week. Siemens has been testing a prototype since last year and the results have been good, according to the company.
Inside Siemens' 3-megawatt direct-drive turbine.
(Credit: Siemens Energy) Rated at 3 megawatts of capacity, the SWT-3.0-101 is a lower height and weight than Siemens' 2.3-megawatt machine and has half the number of parts. It's more compact than generators that use a gearbox and is efficient at low wind speeds.
In a traditional wind turbine, a gearbox and a rotor are connected to a generator to get a flow of current. The Siemens direct-drive technology has a permanent magnet attached to the rotor, which connects directly to a generator, eliminating the need for a gearbox.
Siemens has been working on the direct-drive turbines for over a decade and expects to commercialize it for large turbines in the coming years. (Offshore wind developer Cape Wind has a contract to use traditional GE turbines.)
General Electric, too, is pursuing direct-drive turbines specifically for offshore applications in Europe. GE last year purchased ScanWind, a Norwegian company that specializes in direct-drive generators for wind turbines.
Direct-drive turbines are already used in smaller turbines. Northern Power, for example, specializes in turbines with a capacity of 100 kilowatts, sized to power a school or office building. Later this year, though, it's planning on building a utility-scale turbine rated at 2.2 megawatts.
Another company entering the field is Boulder Wind Power, notes Technology Review. That company was founded by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratories who studied gearboxes and predicted that many will fail before their anticipated life.
Although there are technical advantages to direct-drive turbines, using permanent magnets rather than copper coils and gearboxes does pose a materials problem. Permanent magnets require rare earth metals, most of which are sourced in China, and there are growing concerns over the availability of supply.
by Martin LaMonica
With projected growth in offshore wind farms, turbine makers are adopting direct-drive generators, a technology that could help address concerns over cost and reliability of offshore wind.
Siemens Energy's first direct-drive turbine is now available for both onshore and offshore applications, the company said last week. Siemens has been testing a prototype since last year and the results have been good, according to the company.
Inside Siemens' 3-megawatt direct-drive turbine.
(Credit: Siemens Energy) Rated at 3 megawatts of capacity, the SWT-3.0-101 is a lower height and weight than Siemens' 2.3-megawatt machine and has half the number of parts. It's more compact than generators that use a gearbox and is efficient at low wind speeds.
In a traditional wind turbine, a gearbox and a rotor are connected to a generator to get a flow of current. The Siemens direct-drive technology has a permanent magnet attached to the rotor, which connects directly to a generator, eliminating the need for a gearbox.
Siemens has been working on the direct-drive turbines for over a decade and expects to commercialize it for large turbines in the coming years. (Offshore wind developer Cape Wind has a contract to use traditional GE turbines.)
General Electric, too, is pursuing direct-drive turbines specifically for offshore applications in Europe. GE last year purchased ScanWind, a Norwegian company that specializes in direct-drive generators for wind turbines.
Direct-drive turbines are already used in smaller turbines. Northern Power, for example, specializes in turbines with a capacity of 100 kilowatts, sized to power a school or office building. Later this year, though, it's planning on building a utility-scale turbine rated at 2.2 megawatts.
Another company entering the field is Boulder Wind Power, notes Technology Review. That company was founded by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratories who studied gearboxes and predicted that many will fail before their anticipated life.
Although there are technical advantages to direct-drive turbines, using permanent magnets rather than copper coils and gearboxes does pose a materials problem. Permanent magnets require rare earth metals, most of which are sourced in China, and there are growing concerns over the availability of supply.
Nissan Leaf projected to be in the black
April 30, 2010 5:44 AM PDT
by Reuters
Nissan Motor is on track to book 25,000 U.S. orders for its Leaf electric vehicle by year's end and will be making money on the green car, the carmaker said Thursday.
Nissan has taken 8,000 U.S. reservations for the hatchback, set to go on sale in the United States in December, since it started taking orders on April 20, Mark Perry, Nissan's North America director of product planning and strategy, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
"We are on a double-time march" for launch, Perry said. "We are on our way to have 25,000 firm orders by December."
2011 Nissan Leaf (photos)
Nissan's U.S. launch of the car will start in California, Arizona, Washington, Tennessee, and Oregon. The automaker also is launching the car in Japan and Europe in late 2010.
Production of the Leaf will start in Japan and later at plants in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Leaf sales will be capacity restrained in the first two years until the U.S. plant comes on line, Perry said.
The five-passenger car will be the first fully electric car launched by a major automaker. It is designed to provide a 100 mile range on a full charge and is priced at $32,780 not including federal tax credits or other incentives.
"We are making money at the price that we announced," Perry said. "We priced the car to be affordable. We priced it for mass adoption."
Nissan is counting on electric cars to help it close the gap on rivals led by Toyota Motor and its gasoline-electric Prius, the world's most popular hybrid.
Federal tax credits of $7,500 will cut the Leaf's retail price to $25,280--about 10 percent more than the $23,000 starting price for a Prius. Federal tax credits have been phased out for the Prius.
State incentives could cut the cost further. In California, the top U.S. alternative car market, credits could reduce the Leaf price to $20,280
by Reuters
Nissan Motor is on track to book 25,000 U.S. orders for its Leaf electric vehicle by year's end and will be making money on the green car, the carmaker said Thursday.
Nissan has taken 8,000 U.S. reservations for the hatchback, set to go on sale in the United States in December, since it started taking orders on April 20, Mark Perry, Nissan's North America director of product planning and strategy, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
"We are on a double-time march" for launch, Perry said. "We are on our way to have 25,000 firm orders by December."
2011 Nissan Leaf (photos)
Nissan's U.S. launch of the car will start in California, Arizona, Washington, Tennessee, and Oregon. The automaker also is launching the car in Japan and Europe in late 2010.
Production of the Leaf will start in Japan and later at plants in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Leaf sales will be capacity restrained in the first two years until the U.S. plant comes on line, Perry said.
The five-passenger car will be the first fully electric car launched by a major automaker. It is designed to provide a 100 mile range on a full charge and is priced at $32,780 not including federal tax credits or other incentives.
"We are making money at the price that we announced," Perry said. "We priced the car to be affordable. We priced it for mass adoption."
Nissan is counting on electric cars to help it close the gap on rivals led by Toyota Motor and its gasoline-electric Prius, the world's most popular hybrid.
Federal tax credits of $7,500 will cut the Leaf's retail price to $25,280--about 10 percent more than the $23,000 starting price for a Prius. Federal tax credits have been phased out for the Prius.
State incentives could cut the cost further. In California, the top U.S. alternative car market, credits could reduce the Leaf price to $20,280
Thursday, April 29, 2010
IBM: Office buildings waste energy, people's time
April 29, 2010 5:36 AM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
Office buildings are still in the Stone Age when it comes to efficiency, according to an IBM survey of U.S. office workers released Thursday.
Only about one-third of the people surveyed from 16 U.S. cities said their office building is "environmentally friendly" and conserves energy by automatically adjusting lights and temperature. About 65 percent of survey respondents favor redesigning their workspace to be more environmentally responsible.
Time is also being wasted in these office buildings, with one-quarter of almost 6,500 respondents saying that elevators are poorly coordinated. IBM estimates the cumulative time the U.S. office workers spent stuck in or waiting for elevators over the past 12 months is a mind-boggling 125 years.
The Genzyme headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., a platinum level green building, brings daylight into the building and has numerous other energy-saving features. .
The study shows that buildings face an "intelligence gap" compared with automobiles and the electricity grid, both of which are being modernized with technology, IBM's vice president of energy and environment, Rich Lechner, said in a statement. Buildings could be far more efficient by using sensors to detect light or temperature and utilizing management systems, according to IBM. Building modernization, by the way, is one area in which IBM is seeking to generate business.
In addition to lowering the operating costs, green building features, such as better use of daylight and good air quality, have shown to result in higher worker productivity, according to green building professionals.
Some of the traditional barriers to investment in green buildings are higher upfront costs of materials and general inertia in the building industry.
The IBM survey revealed that although technology could improve environmental performance of buildings, individuals are willing to conserve electricity and water at work. Seventy-five percent said they would conserve resources if they were rewarded.
Of the cities surveyed, Los Angeles got the top marks for building efficiency. Forty percent of respondents said their office buildings have sensors to adjust lighting and climate--compared with 27 percent on average across the U.S.--and it scored highest on the use of solar.
More than 40 percent of office workers in San Francisco and Seattle also rated their buildings as very environmentally friendly
by Martin LaMonica
Office buildings are still in the Stone Age when it comes to efficiency, according to an IBM survey of U.S. office workers released Thursday.
Only about one-third of the people surveyed from 16 U.S. cities said their office building is "environmentally friendly" and conserves energy by automatically adjusting lights and temperature. About 65 percent of survey respondents favor redesigning their workspace to be more environmentally responsible.
Time is also being wasted in these office buildings, with one-quarter of almost 6,500 respondents saying that elevators are poorly coordinated. IBM estimates the cumulative time the U.S. office workers spent stuck in or waiting for elevators over the past 12 months is a mind-boggling 125 years.
The Genzyme headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., a platinum level green building, brings daylight into the building and has numerous other energy-saving features. .
The study shows that buildings face an "intelligence gap" compared with automobiles and the electricity grid, both of which are being modernized with technology, IBM's vice president of energy and environment, Rich Lechner, said in a statement. Buildings could be far more efficient by using sensors to detect light or temperature and utilizing management systems, according to IBM. Building modernization, by the way, is one area in which IBM is seeking to generate business.
In addition to lowering the operating costs, green building features, such as better use of daylight and good air quality, have shown to result in higher worker productivity, according to green building professionals.
Some of the traditional barriers to investment in green buildings are higher upfront costs of materials and general inertia in the building industry.
The IBM survey revealed that although technology could improve environmental performance of buildings, individuals are willing to conserve electricity and water at work. Seventy-five percent said they would conserve resources if they were rewarded.
Of the cities surveyed, Los Angeles got the top marks for building efficiency. Forty percent of respondents said their office buildings have sensors to adjust lighting and climate--compared with 27 percent on average across the U.S.--and it scored highest on the use of solar.
More than 40 percent of office workers in San Francisco and Seattle also rated their buildings as very environmentally friendly
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Nation's first offshore wind farm approved for Nantucket Sound
Nation's first offshore wind farm approved for Nantucket Sound
By Wayne Drash, CNN
April 28, 2010 12:04 p.m. EDT
Opponents of the wind farm had argued Nantucket Sound should not be turned into an industrial park.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approves nation's first offshore wind farm
Battle over the 130 wind turbines has raged for nine years in Cape Cod
The wind farm will cover about 25 square miles of Nantucket Sound
(CNN) -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday approved the nation's first offshore wind farm, signing off on a project that has split Cape Cod over the last nine years.
The 130 turbines are to be located several miles from the Massachusetts shore in the iconic waters of Nantucket Sound.
"I am approving the Cape Wind project," Salazar told reporters in Boston. "This will be the first of many projects up and down the coast."
The location of the wind farm has stirred heated emotions over the years. Cape Wind, as the project is known, became one of the most heavily vetted energy projects in the world. Seventeen state and federal agencies weighed in, reviewing everything from its impact on shipping, aviation and fisheries.
Salazar visited the Cape earlier this year. At the time, he pledged to cut through the nine-years of regulatory red tape and make a final decision by the end of April.
The most notable opponent was the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, a champion of green energy who, to the dismay of environmentalists, fought against the wind farm. The Kennedy compound would have a view of the wind turbines.
See how the views on the Cape will change
Other opponents ranged from billionaire energy giant William Koch to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. American Indians in the region also objected, saying the wind farm would be located on sacred ancestral grounds and would disturb important sunrise ceremonies.
Cape Wind controversy
Interactive map: Video and info
Video: Cronkite's initial objection to turbines
Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and nearly every major environmental group in the nation supported the project, saying it's necessary in moving the nation forward. Six governors in the region also backed Cape Wind.
"Even though we enjoy overwhelming majority support, it's not a popularity contest," Cape Wind CEO Jim Gordon told CNN. "This decision needs to be made on the merits. And the record shows that it is in the public interest."
In an editorial today, the Boston Globe said simply: "Make clean energy a reality; approve Cape Wind now." The New York Times earlier this week also endorsed the project.
"Offshore wind farms are a common sight in Europe but not here," the Times wrote. "Cape Wind would be this country's first -- sending, finally, a signal to the world about America's resolve to fight global warming and reduce its dependence on foreign oil."
The wind farm would bring hundreds of jobs and provide up to 75 percent of the power needed by the Cape and islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, according to Cape Wind.
See the location of the wind farm
The 130 turbines, spaced a third- to a half-mile apart, will cover about 25 of the 500 square miles of Nantucket Sound. They will stand more than 40 stories tall, well over 10 times bigger than nearly every other structure around the Cape.
Cape Wind has said the project will not necessarily bring cheaper energy, but will bring cleaner electricity and become a model for offshore wind energy.
The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the project's chief nemesis, has vowed to file suit to continue to try to block it. The project already has withstood multiple court challenges.
Barbara Hill has long supported Cape Wind as the executive director of the grassroots organization Clean Power Now.
"We're going to be partying later on tonight," she said. "We applaud Secretary Salazar for his vision and leadership in making this landmark decision and look forward to the day when the wind farm in Nantucket Sound will be producing the majority of the electrical needs of the Cape and islands."
farm fight splits Cape Cod
Cape Wind's official site
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soundoff (86 Comments)
Show: Newest | Oldest | Most liked
Showing 25 of 86 comments
Sort by johnnyhouse
johnnyhouse Wind power is the oldest form of power and still the cheapest and cleanest unless it is being generated by a politician.
2 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
davandk
davandk Hot air power. If only we could harness THAT resource!
0 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
As a native of Massachusetts, a long time summer visitor to the Cape and most important, a recreational boater/sailor who adores using the pristine waters of Nantucket Sound, my heart is broken. This is one of the loveliest spots on earth and accessible to all. This will definitely be a navigational hazard to boats of all sizes, including passenger and cargo ferries, as well as aircraft that fly to the Islands in a variety of weather, including heavy fog. This is a very poor decision and I hope that it is appealed immediately! Surely there are better places to put a wind farm than in the middle of a body of water so often socked in by fog - making visibility almost impossible. less
6 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
Headly66
Headly66 I guess you made your comment before you read the article. The towers will be 5 miles offshore and in shallows where big ships and ferries can not go anyway.
0 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse LunkHead
LunkHead sour grapes, lame excuses
1 minute ago | Like | Report abuse
Guest
Guest the near future has reached the Cape... hopefully this project enhances the lives of many in the surrounding area...God knows that the economy in the US needs rebuilding and this is a positive step for the environment and the people who live there...
7 minutes ago | Like (2) | Report abuse
TheFaithful
TheFaithful It wouldn't be a problem if it was blocking the sunset, but it's blocking the sunrise! :D
6 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
PJinChicago
PJinChicago A hamster wheel for illegals to run on and power AZ would be cool.
8 minutes ago | Like (1) | Report abuse NotCreative2
NotCreative2 Everyone complains that oil is too expensive, but wait untill they build a windfarm near by and double your electric bill.
8 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
WeGetIt
WeGetIt Wow you put a lot of thought into the issue... And how much do you think oil will cost in 30 years? 40? 50? oops, all gone!
5 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
Ballz
Ballz With all the collective cash in that area, Im surprised that these rich folks did just pay the company to not build there. Cmon, excercice those dollars you rich greedy people.
9 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse Knightsounds
Knightsounds It's about time
9 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse LunkHead
LunkHead
let the belching deep water oil wells in the gulf and the blown off mountain top coal fields in Tn fuel us. Americans can't have the exponential economic growth and live the opulent lifestyles it wants and not accept a minor inconvenience like a supposed eye sore in the way of their sunset. We need ...more
let the belching deep water oil wells in the gulf and the blown off mountain top coal fields in Tn fuel us. Americans can't have the exponential economic growth and live the opulent lifestyles it wants and not accept a minor inconvenience like a supposed eye sore in the way of their sunset. We need to grow up and live in little homes like Europeans, Asians, south Americans and Africans (did I forget anyone) less
10 minutes ago | Like (4) | Report abuse bg222
bg222 The simple fact Europe uses wind farms means its socialist and we shouldn't adopt any of their ideas (whoops democracy started in ancient Greece). This is a dark road where are starting on, we should all be in fear.
10 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse nanika
nanika What's the point of saving the environment if we make it too ugly to enjoy. Why couldn't they find another spot along the coast that isn't as widely used or as pristine as this one?
11 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
Vratar
Vratar The closest point to land will be 5 miles; at that distance, the towers will appear 1/2 inch tall. From Nantucket, it will be 14 miles, and the towers will look like no more than specks on the horizon. Hardly an eyesore to most...
1 minute ago | Like | Report abuse PayNotaxes
PayNotaxes Because it was deemed the BEST and most Effiecient Spot.
8 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
civility1
civility1 Why cant we just turn our lights off at night ? Cape Wind (formerly called Cape Cod - but you know where the cod went...) will be filling up with boomer retirees soon and as a rule, they go to bed pretty early.
17 minutes ago | Like (1) | Report abuse BuckeyeBob
BuckeyeBob It's about freakin time!!! Go figure, big coal was against it!
18 minutes ago | Like (4) | Report abuse
davandk
davandk Fossil fuels are idiotic. Our get rich quick mentality to make it the most used by our society will go sown as one of the great blunders of the human race.
15 minutes ago | Like (2) | Report abuse
Guest
Guest What a bunch of hypocrites. The Kennedys and their ultra-rich friends and neighbors want to fly around in their private jets and tell the rest of us to make the planet a better place for them while they are willing to scrafice nothing. It's good that America can still function properly sometimes.
18 minutes ago | Like (10)
Now if we can get some of the other liberals to give a little more like Barbara Boxer to let them put the Solar Farm in California she blocked because of the poor desert turtle. We could actually start making some progress. Just saw the some of the new wind farms in Kansas and Wyoming. They look awesome. less
11 minutes ago | Like (2) | Report abuse
Omega1234
Omega1234 75% of the regions demand. I fail to see the issue here. The benefits far outweigh the negative impact.
19 minutes ago | Like (4) | Report abuse
PaddyReagan
PaddyReagan Actually, the phrase was "...up to 75%". We're all familiar with that phrase. We see it in the newspaper everyday. "Up to 75% off." That item is a lime green cowboy hat made of pony hair buried under pink t-shirts for men.
12 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
maverick73
To understand how far the US lags behind in clean energy development, remote Himalayan villages in northern Nepal have been using solar panels on their roofs to harness solar energy since the eighties. Enough talking after nine years; it's about time the US finally got round to harnessing their enormous potential in clean energy!!!
By Wayne Drash, CNN
April 28, 2010 12:04 p.m. EDT
Opponents of the wind farm had argued Nantucket Sound should not be turned into an industrial park.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approves nation's first offshore wind farm
Battle over the 130 wind turbines has raged for nine years in Cape Cod
The wind farm will cover about 25 square miles of Nantucket Sound
(CNN) -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday approved the nation's first offshore wind farm, signing off on a project that has split Cape Cod over the last nine years.
The 130 turbines are to be located several miles from the Massachusetts shore in the iconic waters of Nantucket Sound.
"I am approving the Cape Wind project," Salazar told reporters in Boston. "This will be the first of many projects up and down the coast."
The location of the wind farm has stirred heated emotions over the years. Cape Wind, as the project is known, became one of the most heavily vetted energy projects in the world. Seventeen state and federal agencies weighed in, reviewing everything from its impact on shipping, aviation and fisheries.
Salazar visited the Cape earlier this year. At the time, he pledged to cut through the nine-years of regulatory red tape and make a final decision by the end of April.
The most notable opponent was the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, a champion of green energy who, to the dismay of environmentalists, fought against the wind farm. The Kennedy compound would have a view of the wind turbines.
See how the views on the Cape will change
Other opponents ranged from billionaire energy giant William Koch to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. American Indians in the region also objected, saying the wind farm would be located on sacred ancestral grounds and would disturb important sunrise ceremonies.
Cape Wind controversy
Interactive map: Video and info
Video: Cronkite's initial objection to turbines
Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and nearly every major environmental group in the nation supported the project, saying it's necessary in moving the nation forward. Six governors in the region also backed Cape Wind.
"Even though we enjoy overwhelming majority support, it's not a popularity contest," Cape Wind CEO Jim Gordon told CNN. "This decision needs to be made on the merits. And the record shows that it is in the public interest."
In an editorial today, the Boston Globe said simply: "Make clean energy a reality; approve Cape Wind now." The New York Times earlier this week also endorsed the project.
"Offshore wind farms are a common sight in Europe but not here," the Times wrote. "Cape Wind would be this country's first -- sending, finally, a signal to the world about America's resolve to fight global warming and reduce its dependence on foreign oil."
The wind farm would bring hundreds of jobs and provide up to 75 percent of the power needed by the Cape and islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, according to Cape Wind.
See the location of the wind farm
The 130 turbines, spaced a third- to a half-mile apart, will cover about 25 of the 500 square miles of Nantucket Sound. They will stand more than 40 stories tall, well over 10 times bigger than nearly every other structure around the Cape.
Cape Wind has said the project will not necessarily bring cheaper energy, but will bring cleaner electricity and become a model for offshore wind energy.
The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the project's chief nemesis, has vowed to file suit to continue to try to block it. The project already has withstood multiple court challenges.
Barbara Hill has long supported Cape Wind as the executive director of the grassroots organization Clean Power Now.
"We're going to be partying later on tonight," she said. "We applaud Secretary Salazar for his vision and leadership in making this landmark decision and look forward to the day when the wind farm in Nantucket Sound will be producing the majority of the electrical needs of the Cape and islands."
farm fight splits Cape Cod
Cape Wind's official site
Obama energy plan Atlantic and Gulf drilling
More Tech
Can world's largest laser zap Earth's energy woes?
Prosecutors defend Gizmodo search in iPhone probe
Nation's first offshore wind farm approved for Nantucket Sound
Log in or sign up to comment
soundoff (86 Comments)
Show: Newest | Oldest | Most liked
Showing 25 of 86 comments
Sort by johnnyhouse
johnnyhouse Wind power is the oldest form of power and still the cheapest and cleanest unless it is being generated by a politician.
2 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
davandk
davandk Hot air power. If only we could harness THAT resource!
0 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
As a native of Massachusetts, a long time summer visitor to the Cape and most important, a recreational boater/sailor who adores using the pristine waters of Nantucket Sound, my heart is broken. This is one of the loveliest spots on earth and accessible to all. This will definitely be a navigational hazard to boats of all sizes, including passenger and cargo ferries, as well as aircraft that fly to the Islands in a variety of weather, including heavy fog. This is a very poor decision and I hope that it is appealed immediately! Surely there are better places to put a wind farm than in the middle of a body of water so often socked in by fog - making visibility almost impossible. less
6 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
Headly66
Headly66 I guess you made your comment before you read the article. The towers will be 5 miles offshore and in shallows where big ships and ferries can not go anyway.
0 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse LunkHead
LunkHead sour grapes, lame excuses
1 minute ago | Like | Report abuse
Guest
Guest the near future has reached the Cape... hopefully this project enhances the lives of many in the surrounding area...God knows that the economy in the US needs rebuilding and this is a positive step for the environment and the people who live there...
7 minutes ago | Like (2) | Report abuse
TheFaithful
TheFaithful It wouldn't be a problem if it was blocking the sunset, but it's blocking the sunrise! :D
6 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
PJinChicago
PJinChicago A hamster wheel for illegals to run on and power AZ would be cool.
8 minutes ago | Like (1) | Report abuse NotCreative2
NotCreative2 Everyone complains that oil is too expensive, but wait untill they build a windfarm near by and double your electric bill.
8 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
WeGetIt
WeGetIt Wow you put a lot of thought into the issue... And how much do you think oil will cost in 30 years? 40? 50? oops, all gone!
5 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
Ballz
Ballz With all the collective cash in that area, Im surprised that these rich folks did just pay the company to not build there. Cmon, excercice those dollars you rich greedy people.
9 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse Knightsounds
Knightsounds It's about time
9 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse LunkHead
LunkHead
let the belching deep water oil wells in the gulf and the blown off mountain top coal fields in Tn fuel us. Americans can't have the exponential economic growth and live the opulent lifestyles it wants and not accept a minor inconvenience like a supposed eye sore in the way of their sunset. We need ...more
let the belching deep water oil wells in the gulf and the blown off mountain top coal fields in Tn fuel us. Americans can't have the exponential economic growth and live the opulent lifestyles it wants and not accept a minor inconvenience like a supposed eye sore in the way of their sunset. We need to grow up and live in little homes like Europeans, Asians, south Americans and Africans (did I forget anyone) less
10 minutes ago | Like (4) | Report abuse bg222
bg222 The simple fact Europe uses wind farms means its socialist and we shouldn't adopt any of their ideas (whoops democracy started in ancient Greece). This is a dark road where are starting on, we should all be in fear.
10 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse nanika
nanika What's the point of saving the environment if we make it too ugly to enjoy. Why couldn't they find another spot along the coast that isn't as widely used or as pristine as this one?
11 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
Vratar
Vratar The closest point to land will be 5 miles; at that distance, the towers will appear 1/2 inch tall. From Nantucket, it will be 14 miles, and the towers will look like no more than specks on the horizon. Hardly an eyesore to most...
1 minute ago | Like | Report abuse PayNotaxes
PayNotaxes Because it was deemed the BEST and most Effiecient Spot.
8 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
civility1
civility1 Why cant we just turn our lights off at night ? Cape Wind (formerly called Cape Cod - but you know where the cod went...) will be filling up with boomer retirees soon and as a rule, they go to bed pretty early.
17 minutes ago | Like (1) | Report abuse BuckeyeBob
BuckeyeBob It's about freakin time!!! Go figure, big coal was against it!
18 minutes ago | Like (4) | Report abuse
davandk
davandk Fossil fuels are idiotic. Our get rich quick mentality to make it the most used by our society will go sown as one of the great blunders of the human race.
15 minutes ago | Like (2) | Report abuse
Guest
Guest What a bunch of hypocrites. The Kennedys and their ultra-rich friends and neighbors want to fly around in their private jets and tell the rest of us to make the planet a better place for them while they are willing to scrafice nothing. It's good that America can still function properly sometimes.
18 minutes ago | Like (10)
Now if we can get some of the other liberals to give a little more like Barbara Boxer to let them put the Solar Farm in California she blocked because of the poor desert turtle. We could actually start making some progress. Just saw the some of the new wind farms in Kansas and Wyoming. They look awesome. less
11 minutes ago | Like (2) | Report abuse
Omega1234
Omega1234 75% of the regions demand. I fail to see the issue here. The benefits far outweigh the negative impact.
19 minutes ago | Like (4) | Report abuse
PaddyReagan
PaddyReagan Actually, the phrase was "...up to 75%". We're all familiar with that phrase. We see it in the newspaper everyday. "Up to 75% off." That item is a lime green cowboy hat made of pony hair buried under pink t-shirts for men.
12 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
maverick73
To understand how far the US lags behind in clean energy development, remote Himalayan villages in northern Nepal have been using solar panels on their roofs to harness solar energy since the eighties. Enough talking after nine years; it's about time the US finally got round to harnessing their enormous potential in clean energy!!!
First Solar to acquire NextLight for $245 million
April 28, 2010 8:11 AM PDT
by Candace Lombardi
First Solar panels at a solar farm in Dimbach, Germany.
(Credit: First Solar) Solar-panel manufacturer First Solar announced Wednesday it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase solar-project developer NextLight Renewable Power for approximately $285 million.
Subject to acquisition closing adjustments, the deal is to be all-cash and completed in third quarter. NextLight has a total of 570 megawatts worth of solar projects under way, with an additional 530 megawatts in various development stages, according to First Solar.
But NextLight, which was formed by the private equity firm Energy Capital Partners in 2007, has been putting together utility-scale solar installation projects and has connections outside its obvious existing portfolio that could benefit a photovoltaic solar systems manufacturer like First Solar.
California utilities will be required to source a third of their power from renewable resources by 2020. First Solar already has a relationship with Southern California Edison. Buying NextLight will give it a relationship with one of the largest energy utilities in not only California, but the entire U.S.
In October, Pacific Gas & Electric signed an agreement with NextLight to purchase electricity through the 290-megawatt Yuma County, Ariz., solar farm Agua Caliente for the next 25 years. The Agua Caliente project under way has already been permitted and is approved to use either thermal solar or photovoltaic solar. PG&E also signed a deal to purchase electricity from the 230-megawatt solar farm AV Solar Ranch in Antelope Valley, Calif., which was also developed by NextLight.
NextLight's claim to fame is that it's also intimately involved and knowledgeable about one of the biggest obstacles in renewable energy: transmission.
A plethora of sun and available land has made the western U.S. an ideal spot for solar-energy projects. But the solar-farm sites can often be isolated from the electric grid. In addition to the regulatory hoops developers must jump through to get permission, the cost of building or connecting to transmission lines can make a project cost-prohibitive.
Owning a company with proven success over that hurdle would certainly help First Solar, who seems to be planning to offer "turn-key solar solutions" like those in the thermal solar sector have done.
"First Solar is uniquely positioned to deliver utility scale solar power plants including project development, module manufacturing, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), project finance expertise and operations and maintenance," First Solar CEO Rob Gillette said in a recent statement.
by Candace Lombardi
First Solar panels at a solar farm in Dimbach, Germany.
(Credit: First Solar) Solar-panel manufacturer First Solar announced Wednesday it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase solar-project developer NextLight Renewable Power for approximately $285 million.
Subject to acquisition closing adjustments, the deal is to be all-cash and completed in third quarter. NextLight has a total of 570 megawatts worth of solar projects under way, with an additional 530 megawatts in various development stages, according to First Solar.
But NextLight, which was formed by the private equity firm Energy Capital Partners in 2007, has been putting together utility-scale solar installation projects and has connections outside its obvious existing portfolio that could benefit a photovoltaic solar systems manufacturer like First Solar.
California utilities will be required to source a third of their power from renewable resources by 2020. First Solar already has a relationship with Southern California Edison. Buying NextLight will give it a relationship with one of the largest energy utilities in not only California, but the entire U.S.
In October, Pacific Gas & Electric signed an agreement with NextLight to purchase electricity through the 290-megawatt Yuma County, Ariz., solar farm Agua Caliente for the next 25 years. The Agua Caliente project under way has already been permitted and is approved to use either thermal solar or photovoltaic solar. PG&E also signed a deal to purchase electricity from the 230-megawatt solar farm AV Solar Ranch in Antelope Valley, Calif., which was also developed by NextLight.
NextLight's claim to fame is that it's also intimately involved and knowledgeable about one of the biggest obstacles in renewable energy: transmission.
A plethora of sun and available land has made the western U.S. an ideal spot for solar-energy projects. But the solar-farm sites can often be isolated from the electric grid. In addition to the regulatory hoops developers must jump through to get permission, the cost of building or connecting to transmission lines can make a project cost-prohibitive.
Owning a company with proven success over that hurdle would certainly help First Solar, who seems to be planning to offer "turn-key solar solutions" like those in the thermal solar sector have done.
"First Solar is uniquely positioned to deliver utility scale solar power plants including project development, module manufacturing, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), project finance expertise and operations and maintenance," First Solar CEO Rob Gillette said in a recent statement.
The CEO of Bloom Energy on a new way of powering the planet.
Paul Sakuma / AP
Bloom Energy CEO K.R. Sridhar displays a stack of his company's fuel cells at a news conference
By Fareed Zakaria | NEWSWEEK
Published Apr 23, 2010
From the magazine issue dated May 3, 2010
SPONSORED BY
K. R. Sridhar spent years building technologies for NASA that could sustain life on Mars. Now, as CEO of Bloom Energy, he's trying to perfect a device that could improve life on Earth. His company builds fuel cells—small power plants, essentially, that can power anything from a single home to a whole city. NEWSWEEK International editor Fareed Zakaria spoke with him about these "Bloom boxes," which convert gas, biomass, and other fuels into electricity. Excerpts:
Tell me about your transition from working on the Mars mission to this.
It became obvious to me that on Mars, if you give me a few molecules of oxygen, I can create everything else human beings need: fuel, heat, electricity, plastic, food, water. So I started looking for someplace where I can make an impact in a realistic time frame, as opposed to something far in the future. It dawned on me that if we don't solve the energy issue, we will have significant problems.
Silicon Valley's Future Superstars
Chances are the next technological revolution may be sparked by one of these digital pioneers.
Why is Bloom so important in terms of the future of energy?
Look at what distributive computing did to computing. We wouldn't have millions of software engineers if computing relied purely on mainframe computers hooked up to dumb terminals. Why? Too expensive. Access is limited to the privileged. Distributive power is real democracy.
So this is really a big bet on the power of decentralization?
Absolutely. If you go to Google or Microsoft or Amazon, they all have huge data centers. Inside, there are actually small servers ganged up in groups of hundreds and thousands. Our fuel cells are exactly the same thing. I can cluster our energy servers and build an energy farm. Or I can take the same technology to a little village and create a microgrid.
But you still need to get the fuel from a centralized source.
That is true today. But the same technology I am using today to turn chemical energy, like natural gas, into electrons, can be used with an intermittent source, like solar or wind.
But don't you need to then store the energy somewhere?
Think of it as being able to spin in two directions. In one direction, I take the solar energy during the day, and I break water up into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is stored locally in very low-pressure bladders. And at night, when the sun stops shining, you take this hydrogen, run it through the fuel cells, and produce electricity.
How can you ever be more efficient than a big power plant?
The question to ask is, in a traditional power plant, is there a Moore's law kind of learning that can happen? The answer is no. There are 100 years of history associated with that [technology]. Whereas we have shown in the last five years that, every year, we are able to improve upon the physics and the chemistry to get more value out of the same material that we put in.
And because you can distribute fuel cells everywhere, you don't lose much due to long transmission lines?
That is absolutely true. Also, in a fuel cell you are going from chemical energy directly to electrical energy, with no in-between steps. In the other forms of electricity generation, whether it is coal or gas, you burn the fuel first. And the laws of thermodynamics say that if you convert energy from one form to another, you will have losses.
Your capital cost is high, something like $7 or $8 per watt.
Right now we are only economical with subsidies.
Why do you think this will be viable without subsidies in the future?
If I build a large automobile plant, and I have just put out the 30th car, do you expect me to be profitable? Ask anybody in manufacturing: for every doubling in volume, you will see a 10 to 15 percent reduction in cost.
How long before you scale to the point where you can have a transformative effect?
Within this decade we'll be a significant player in this field. That's a very short time frame, if you think about the market and how static it has been. We are not just creating a company—we are creating an ecosystem. There is no supply chain right now. This is brand new.
What do you think the world of energy will look like in 10 years?
Energy is the capacity to do work. We've got 2 billion starving people on this planet, and they want to climb the economic ladder. Without creating significantly more energy than we consume today, we'll face the threat of social and political unrest. But I'm an optimist; I see this as the biggest opportunity.
Bloom Energy CEO K.R. Sridhar displays a stack of his company's fuel cells at a news conference
By Fareed Zakaria | NEWSWEEK
Published Apr 23, 2010
From the magazine issue dated May 3, 2010
SPONSORED BY
K. R. Sridhar spent years building technologies for NASA that could sustain life on Mars. Now, as CEO of Bloom Energy, he's trying to perfect a device that could improve life on Earth. His company builds fuel cells—small power plants, essentially, that can power anything from a single home to a whole city. NEWSWEEK International editor Fareed Zakaria spoke with him about these "Bloom boxes," which convert gas, biomass, and other fuels into electricity. Excerpts:
Tell me about your transition from working on the Mars mission to this.
It became obvious to me that on Mars, if you give me a few molecules of oxygen, I can create everything else human beings need: fuel, heat, electricity, plastic, food, water. So I started looking for someplace where I can make an impact in a realistic time frame, as opposed to something far in the future. It dawned on me that if we don't solve the energy issue, we will have significant problems.
Silicon Valley's Future Superstars
Chances are the next technological revolution may be sparked by one of these digital pioneers.
Why is Bloom so important in terms of the future of energy?
Look at what distributive computing did to computing. We wouldn't have millions of software engineers if computing relied purely on mainframe computers hooked up to dumb terminals. Why? Too expensive. Access is limited to the privileged. Distributive power is real democracy.
So this is really a big bet on the power of decentralization?
Absolutely. If you go to Google or Microsoft or Amazon, they all have huge data centers. Inside, there are actually small servers ganged up in groups of hundreds and thousands. Our fuel cells are exactly the same thing. I can cluster our energy servers and build an energy farm. Or I can take the same technology to a little village and create a microgrid.
But you still need to get the fuel from a centralized source.
That is true today. But the same technology I am using today to turn chemical energy, like natural gas, into electrons, can be used with an intermittent source, like solar or wind.
But don't you need to then store the energy somewhere?
Think of it as being able to spin in two directions. In one direction, I take the solar energy during the day, and I break water up into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is stored locally in very low-pressure bladders. And at night, when the sun stops shining, you take this hydrogen, run it through the fuel cells, and produce electricity.
How can you ever be more efficient than a big power plant?
The question to ask is, in a traditional power plant, is there a Moore's law kind of learning that can happen? The answer is no. There are 100 years of history associated with that [technology]. Whereas we have shown in the last five years that, every year, we are able to improve upon the physics and the chemistry to get more value out of the same material that we put in.
And because you can distribute fuel cells everywhere, you don't lose much due to long transmission lines?
That is absolutely true. Also, in a fuel cell you are going from chemical energy directly to electrical energy, with no in-between steps. In the other forms of electricity generation, whether it is coal or gas, you burn the fuel first. And the laws of thermodynamics say that if you convert energy from one form to another, you will have losses.
Your capital cost is high, something like $7 or $8 per watt.
Right now we are only economical with subsidies.
Why do you think this will be viable without subsidies in the future?
If I build a large automobile plant, and I have just put out the 30th car, do you expect me to be profitable? Ask anybody in manufacturing: for every doubling in volume, you will see a 10 to 15 percent reduction in cost.
How long before you scale to the point where you can have a transformative effect?
Within this decade we'll be a significant player in this field. That's a very short time frame, if you think about the market and how static it has been. We are not just creating a company—we are creating an ecosystem. There is no supply chain right now. This is brand new.
What do you think the world of energy will look like in 10 years?
Energy is the capacity to do work. We've got 2 billion starving people on this planet, and they want to climb the economic ladder. Without creating significantly more energy than we consume today, we'll face the threat of social and political unrest. But I'm an optimist; I see this as the biggest opportunity.
First German wind farm at sea opens
Reuters
The Alpha Ventus wind farm sits in the North Sea, about 27 miles north of the island of Borkum, Germany.
updated 1:42 p.m. ET, Tues., April 27, 2010
BERLIN - Germany opened its first offshore wind farm Tuesday, inaugurating twelve windmills towering almost as high as the Washington Monument over the North Sea.
Experts said that the Alpha Ventus project is a late arrival for a country that deems itself in the vanguard of clean energy and announced plans for the farm almost a decade ago.
"There have been delays and things have been pushed back because the interest in big investments was not very strong," energy expert Claudia Kemfert of the DIW think tank told The Associated Press.
Great Britain and Denmark have already several hundred megawatts worth of offshore wind power on the grid. Kemfert said she thinks Europe's largest economy is going to catch up as 25 other German wind farms in the North and Baltic Seas consisting of some 1,650 more windmills have already been approved.
"I think Germany is highly competitive in this field," Kemfert said.
Alpha Ventus, which is only a test field, will produce some 60 megawatts, enough for some 50,000 households onshore.
Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen on Tuesday called the project a pioneer project "that will push wide open the gate to the age of renewable energies."
Ulf Gerder of the wind power lobbying group BWE said the project is further offshore — 45 kilometers (28 miles) — and in deeper water — 30 meters (100 feet) — than any other European wind farm.
There was no alternative to such difficult projects, he said, because almost all of the German coastline consists of national park land or sea bird refuges, he said.
"If one takes environmental concerns seriously, one cannot build windmills there," Gerder said.
In the long run, mastering extreme conditions might be an advantage, he said, because much of an estimated offshore potential of some 140,000 megawatts across the European Union will likely not be built near shore.
Completion of Alpha Ventus came only after the German government shored up its offshore wind power subsidies in the beginning of 2009, guaranteeing for 12 years 15 euro-cents (20.3 cents) for each kilowatt hour.
The government also promised some euro200 million in credit guarantees during the last year's recession.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government announced in November that it would throw out the decade-old plan to abandon nuclear power by the year 2021. She says nuclear power is needed to meet Germany's climate change prevention goals.
Former Environment Minister Juergen Trittin, now a prominent figure for the opposition Green Party, told the AP if offshore wind power is to have a future, nuclear power has to be phased out as quickly as possible.
"Those who want to invest look very closely if they have to compete with old nuclear plants producing very cheaply," Trittin said.
The Alpha Ventus wind farm sits in the North Sea, about 27 miles north of the island of Borkum, Germany.
updated 1:42 p.m. ET, Tues., April 27, 2010
BERLIN - Germany opened its first offshore wind farm Tuesday, inaugurating twelve windmills towering almost as high as the Washington Monument over the North Sea.
Experts said that the Alpha Ventus project is a late arrival for a country that deems itself in the vanguard of clean energy and announced plans for the farm almost a decade ago.
"There have been delays and things have been pushed back because the interest in big investments was not very strong," energy expert Claudia Kemfert of the DIW think tank told The Associated Press.
Great Britain and Denmark have already several hundred megawatts worth of offshore wind power on the grid. Kemfert said she thinks Europe's largest economy is going to catch up as 25 other German wind farms in the North and Baltic Seas consisting of some 1,650 more windmills have already been approved.
"I think Germany is highly competitive in this field," Kemfert said.
Alpha Ventus, which is only a test field, will produce some 60 megawatts, enough for some 50,000 households onshore.
Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen on Tuesday called the project a pioneer project "that will push wide open the gate to the age of renewable energies."
Ulf Gerder of the wind power lobbying group BWE said the project is further offshore — 45 kilometers (28 miles) — and in deeper water — 30 meters (100 feet) — than any other European wind farm.
There was no alternative to such difficult projects, he said, because almost all of the German coastline consists of national park land or sea bird refuges, he said.
"If one takes environmental concerns seriously, one cannot build windmills there," Gerder said.
In the long run, mastering extreme conditions might be an advantage, he said, because much of an estimated offshore potential of some 140,000 megawatts across the European Union will likely not be built near shore.
Completion of Alpha Ventus came only after the German government shored up its offshore wind power subsidies in the beginning of 2009, guaranteeing for 12 years 15 euro-cents (20.3 cents) for each kilowatt hour.
The government also promised some euro200 million in credit guarantees during the last year's recession.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government announced in November that it would throw out the decade-old plan to abandon nuclear power by the year 2021. She says nuclear power is needed to meet Germany's climate change prevention goals.
Former Environment Minister Juergen Trittin, now a prominent figure for the opposition Green Party, told the AP if offshore wind power is to have a future, nuclear power has to be phased out as quickly as possible.
"Those who want to invest look very closely if they have to compete with old nuclear plants producing very cheaply," Trittin said.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Homestead's new ordinance rewards water conservation
The City Council gave final approval to a state-mandated ordinance that would allow water-saving households to pay lower usage rates while raising rates for households that use large amounts of water.
BY LAURA MORALES
llmorales@MiamiHerald.com
As concerns about meeting the water needs of Florida's current and future populations grow, the state is ordering local governments to encourage water conservation.
Given that directive, Homestead's council agreed to change the city's water rates so that households will pay less for their first few thousand gallons but more if they use a lot.
According to Julio Brea, director of engineering and environmental services, city residents were paying a monthly flat rate of $1.11 per 1,000 gallons.
Under the new rate schedule, homes that stay at or below 3,000 gallons a month would see their rates drop to $.80 per thousand gallons. Households using between 3,000 and 9,000 gallons will keep the $1.11 rate.
If monthly consumption exceeds 9,000 gallons, the rate goes up to $1.30, and if a household's water use tops 14,000 gallons, the rate will jump to $1.75
City Manager Sergio Purriños told the meeting's audience that the city wants to encourage folks to save water while giving them a ``cushion to give the residents enough usage before they start having to spend more.''
Brea said that about 85 percent of households in the city would be paying the same or less with the new rate schedule.
The new tiered rate schedule is mandated by a December agreement between Homestead and the South Florida Water Management District. It requires the city to implement water-conservation measures and give residents incentives to reduce their consumption of water.
About two months ago, the council voted in favor of changing the city's building code to require low-water-volume plumbing fixtures in all future residential and commercial buildings.
Council members also voted to create a program offering residents financial incentives, such as rebates, to replace older, higher-consumption fixtures, such as showerheads and toilets, with new ones that use less water.
The ordinance went into effect as soon as it was passed. Brea said households that use less than 3,000 gallons of water a month would see savings ``immediately. As soon as we read the meter that reading would be applied that very month.''
Some residents were pleased with the measure.
Alice Clark pointed out the 40th anniversary of Earth Day as ``perfect timing to be thinking about water conservation.''
She suggested that the city begin to include the actual monthly number of gallons used, rather than a code, for the month on residents' water bills. ``It would be better in terms of education to let people know what their consumption is,'' she said.
Others weren't too keen on the new rate schedule.
``To me this all sounds like a big expansion with more rates somewhere down the road,'' said resident Sal Nicotra, adding that he feels it's a governmental intrusion into people's lives. ``This is a large expansion that we do not need,'' he said.
Purriños said the ordinance would not affect Homestead's commercial water customers.
Service charges levied by the city, which are based in part on water meter size, will not be affected either, for residential or commercial ratepayers.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/23/1595702/homesteads-new-ordinance-rewards.html#ixzz0mEEPZZND
BY LAURA MORALES
llmorales@MiamiHerald.com
As concerns about meeting the water needs of Florida's current and future populations grow, the state is ordering local governments to encourage water conservation.
Given that directive, Homestead's council agreed to change the city's water rates so that households will pay less for their first few thousand gallons but more if they use a lot.
According to Julio Brea, director of engineering and environmental services, city residents were paying a monthly flat rate of $1.11 per 1,000 gallons.
Under the new rate schedule, homes that stay at or below 3,000 gallons a month would see their rates drop to $.80 per thousand gallons. Households using between 3,000 and 9,000 gallons will keep the $1.11 rate.
If monthly consumption exceeds 9,000 gallons, the rate goes up to $1.30, and if a household's water use tops 14,000 gallons, the rate will jump to $1.75
City Manager Sergio Purriños told the meeting's audience that the city wants to encourage folks to save water while giving them a ``cushion to give the residents enough usage before they start having to spend more.''
Brea said that about 85 percent of households in the city would be paying the same or less with the new rate schedule.
The new tiered rate schedule is mandated by a December agreement between Homestead and the South Florida Water Management District. It requires the city to implement water-conservation measures and give residents incentives to reduce their consumption of water.
About two months ago, the council voted in favor of changing the city's building code to require low-water-volume plumbing fixtures in all future residential and commercial buildings.
Council members also voted to create a program offering residents financial incentives, such as rebates, to replace older, higher-consumption fixtures, such as showerheads and toilets, with new ones that use less water.
The ordinance went into effect as soon as it was passed. Brea said households that use less than 3,000 gallons of water a month would see savings ``immediately. As soon as we read the meter that reading would be applied that very month.''
Some residents were pleased with the measure.
Alice Clark pointed out the 40th anniversary of Earth Day as ``perfect timing to be thinking about water conservation.''
She suggested that the city begin to include the actual monthly number of gallons used, rather than a code, for the month on residents' water bills. ``It would be better in terms of education to let people know what their consumption is,'' she said.
Others weren't too keen on the new rate schedule.
``To me this all sounds like a big expansion with more rates somewhere down the road,'' said resident Sal Nicotra, adding that he feels it's a governmental intrusion into people's lives. ``This is a large expansion that we do not need,'' he said.
Purriños said the ordinance would not affect Homestead's commercial water customers.
Service charges levied by the city, which are based in part on water meter size, will not be affected either, for residential or commercial ratepayers.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/23/1595702/homesteads-new-ordinance-rewards.html#ixzz0mEEPZZND
GE, Nissan team on smart charging for electric cars
April 26, 2010 7:34 AM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
General Electric and Nissan plan to research "smart charging" technologies for electric vehicles to help consumers take advantage of cheaper electricity rates and keep the power grid stable.
The two companies on Monday announced a memorandum of understand to undertake research mainly at GE's Niskayuna, New York smart-grid lab for three years. The first phase of the work will focus on integrating electric car charging with homes and buildings. The second phase will work on integrating electric vehicles in the power grid, according to the companies.
GE's Matt Nielsen is the lead researcher for the smart charging work at GE's research lab in upstate New York.
(Credit: GE) "Together with Nissan, we will take a comprehensive look at what technologies will be needed in the car, on the grid and at home or work to make smart charging a reality," said Mark Little, the president and director of GE Global Research, in a statement.
Nissan last week began taking orders for the Nissan Leaf, an all-electric sedan that can go about 100 miles. It plans to start delivery of the car in the U.S. and Japan by the end of the year.
As these plug-in vehicles come to market, though, people in the auto and utility industries say there still are a few issues that need to be cleared up to make the transition smooth for car owners.
In a blog post, GE scientist Matt Nielsen, who is taking the lead on the smart charging research, said that GE and Nissan will seek to sort out which challenges are real and which are perceived by using computer simulations and gathering data.
Among the challenges he sees are equipping homes with the appropriate wiring for car charging, administering low-cost metering plans from utilities, and managing car cables so people don't trip over them.
In addition to providing convenience for drivers, smart charging software is considered a critical piece of infrastructure as more electric cars are plugged in. If a neighborhood has only a few electric vehicles charging at the same time, it could strain or take down a local circuit, according to utility executives.
"Initially the small numbers of electric vehicles will not strain the grid. However, I would argue that providing a good customer experience will be critical for these early adopters. In today's social-media connected environment, the communication of their perception may impact the overall adoption curve," Nielsen said.
To avoid taxing the grid, smart-charging equipment could monitor the rate that car batteries are charged or schedule charging for off-peak times. Consumers could also program their daily charging to take advantage of off-peak rates, if they are available. Or, there could be tools to check the charge status and estimate the charge needed for a planned driving route.
Ford and Microsoft earlier this month said Ford electric vehicle drivers will use car-charging tools in Microsoft's Hohm home energy-management Web application. The Pacific Northwest National Labs has developed a smart charger controller, a device that can get data on charge rates from the Internet while making sure a car is fully charged when needed.
Utility and electric vehicles company executives are also exploring ways for plug-in vehicle batteries to provide services for the power grid. A network of plugged-in vehicles electric cars could help stabilize the grid's frequency and reduce the need for power plants used for that purpose. Electric vehicles could also send their charge back into the grid, although that technology is considered more challenging.
Comment
Nissan is also working with Better Place to make electric vehicles and the infrastructure to recharge them.
by Martin LaMonica
General Electric and Nissan plan to research "smart charging" technologies for electric vehicles to help consumers take advantage of cheaper electricity rates and keep the power grid stable.
The two companies on Monday announced a memorandum of understand to undertake research mainly at GE's Niskayuna, New York smart-grid lab for three years. The first phase of the work will focus on integrating electric car charging with homes and buildings. The second phase will work on integrating electric vehicles in the power grid, according to the companies.
GE's Matt Nielsen is the lead researcher for the smart charging work at GE's research lab in upstate New York.
(Credit: GE) "Together with Nissan, we will take a comprehensive look at what technologies will be needed in the car, on the grid and at home or work to make smart charging a reality," said Mark Little, the president and director of GE Global Research, in a statement.
Nissan last week began taking orders for the Nissan Leaf, an all-electric sedan that can go about 100 miles. It plans to start delivery of the car in the U.S. and Japan by the end of the year.
As these plug-in vehicles come to market, though, people in the auto and utility industries say there still are a few issues that need to be cleared up to make the transition smooth for car owners.
In a blog post, GE scientist Matt Nielsen, who is taking the lead on the smart charging research, said that GE and Nissan will seek to sort out which challenges are real and which are perceived by using computer simulations and gathering data.
Among the challenges he sees are equipping homes with the appropriate wiring for car charging, administering low-cost metering plans from utilities, and managing car cables so people don't trip over them.
In addition to providing convenience for drivers, smart charging software is considered a critical piece of infrastructure as more electric cars are plugged in. If a neighborhood has only a few electric vehicles charging at the same time, it could strain or take down a local circuit, according to utility executives.
"Initially the small numbers of electric vehicles will not strain the grid. However, I would argue that providing a good customer experience will be critical for these early adopters. In today's social-media connected environment, the communication of their perception may impact the overall adoption curve," Nielsen said.
To avoid taxing the grid, smart-charging equipment could monitor the rate that car batteries are charged or schedule charging for off-peak times. Consumers could also program their daily charging to take advantage of off-peak rates, if they are available. Or, there could be tools to check the charge status and estimate the charge needed for a planned driving route.
Ford and Microsoft earlier this month said Ford electric vehicle drivers will use car-charging tools in Microsoft's Hohm home energy-management Web application. The Pacific Northwest National Labs has developed a smart charger controller, a device that can get data on charge rates from the Internet while making sure a car is fully charged when needed.
Utility and electric vehicles company executives are also exploring ways for plug-in vehicle batteries to provide services for the power grid. A network of plugged-in vehicles electric cars could help stabilize the grid's frequency and reduce the need for power plants used for that purpose. Electric vehicles could also send their charge back into the grid, although that technology is considered more challenging.
Comment
Nissan is also working with Better Place to make electric vehicles and the infrastructure to recharge them.
China investing heavily in green auto tech
April 21, 2010 10:00 AM PDT
by Reuters
Chinese automakers, unscathed by a savage global downturn, are ramping up efforts to get more cleaner, low-emission vehicles on the roads, counting on the green drive to propel them into the top ranks of the global auto industry.
From leading Chinese auto group SAIC Motor to rising star Geely Automotive Holding, indigenous players will show off a host of new green vehicles at the Beijing auto show that starts this week, including some futuristic concept models.
"Green energy cars represent sort of gold mine on the horizon that all the companies hope to reach eventually," said Stephen Dyer, principal with A.T. Kearney China.
"Almost all the major Chinese manufacturers have on-going development programs. Some may be more politically motivated but clearly some are very serious pursuits that are backed by large investments and substantial research teams."
Big auto groups backed by government money, such as SAIC, are likely to emerge as winners, industry analysts say, while leading private-sector players, like Warren Buffet-backed BYD, will also be a front runner as it pushes into foreign markets.
But the road for low emission, alternative fuel vehicles in China is a long one. Sales of Toyota's Prius, the world's best-known green car, numbered just 300 in China last year, when it overtook the U.S. as the world's largest auto market.
"Frankly, it is still a little premature to say there is now or soon to be major customer demand for electric or hybrid cars in China or anywhere in the world," said A.T. Kearney's Dyer.
"In China, there may even been a higher bar to pass. This is because the majority of consumers are first time car buyers and they tend to be practical than the green energy car buyers in the U.S. who may have political or philosophical reasons."
Placing bets on the future
Still, many companies are betting heavily on an electric and alternative fuel future, and Chinese models are expected to snatch some significant share.
SAIC, which will showcase its self-developed electric car E1 and hybrid models at the auto show, is investing 6 billion yuan ($879 million) in green vehicles. Its hybrid Roewe 750 saloon is scheduled for mass production later this year, followed by a plug-in version of a smaller Roewe 550 and E1 in 2012.
Another state-backed heavyweight, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, unveiled its BE701 electric car in November and is building a 2.28 billion yuan production base on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, capable of making 50,000 electric vehicles and twice as many hybrids.
"There is still a technology gap between local and foreign (firms), but this is a relatively level playing field and the Chinese are not that far behind. They have a chance to catch up," said Mervin Guo, a senior analyst with J.D. Power.
Other industry observers cited Daimler's tie with BYD as a recognition of China's growing strength in this field.
"The Daimler-BYD tie is different from those in the early days when local automakers tended to rely heavily on their foreign partners for technologies. They are equal partners," said Chen Liang, an analyst with Huatai Securities.
Not without critics
Chinese automakers, however, are still newcomers with somewhat patchy reputations for quality, and are never short of critics.
"In China, they are going to develop some low cost EVs that won't have all the performance characteristics of cars we have in the Western world," said Kevin Wale, president and managing director for General Motors' China operations. "There is going to be quite a difference in the types of electric vehicles," Wale told Reuters.
The No.1 Detroit automaker will sell its much-touted Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid in China in 2011 following its North America debut later this year.
Foreign automakers are continuing to test the waters for hybrid or electric models in China, but many are moving cautiously, given the chilly reception of some pioneering hybrid models, including Toyota's Prius, GM's Buick Lacrosse and Honda Motor's gasoline-electric Civic.
A made-in-China Prius costs as much as $41,000, nearly matching the price tag of much bigger gasoline-powered Camry, making it a turn-off for Chinese buyers, who still have a penchant for big cars.
Annual sales of imported Civic hybrids are also a few hundred, according to a Honda official, who blamed the hefty price tag of nearly $40,000--roughly twice as much a China-made non-hybrid version--and lack of government incentives.
"Green cars like hybrids are expensive. Without government subsidies, the market just won't take off," said the Honda official, asked not to be identified.
Beijing pledged late last year to hand out rebates to private car buyers, expanding a pilot scheme targeting public transport operators, but no timetable has been set.
Wait and see
Some foreign automakers are also treading cautiously to see which technologies the government endorses before making any big investments.
Still, both GM and Nissan Motor are on track to import the Volt and Leaf next year, followed by BMW, which will bring its first hybrids for China--a gasoline-electric BMW X6 and BMW 7--later this year.
On top of a formidable price tag, a lack of industrial standardization and inadequate infrastructure network are also cited as major obstacles for plug-in vehicles.
The southern boom town of Shenzhen, where BYD rolled out its plug-in hybrid, F3DM, late last year, has just three charging stations.
Moreover, the facilities, built by a major Chinese state power grid, are off-limits to other entrants like Nissan's Leaf.
"You can't charge the Leaf at the facilities as the charger just won't fit in. We'll have to have our own facilities when we sell Leaf in Shenzhen," said Tsunehiko Nakagawa, vice president of Nissan China Investment.
"We are working with local governments and other Japanese carmakers right now. We want to make sure that new charging facilities to be built could be at least be shared by us all."
by Reuters
Chinese automakers, unscathed by a savage global downturn, are ramping up efforts to get more cleaner, low-emission vehicles on the roads, counting on the green drive to propel them into the top ranks of the global auto industry.
From leading Chinese auto group SAIC Motor to rising star Geely Automotive Holding, indigenous players will show off a host of new green vehicles at the Beijing auto show that starts this week, including some futuristic concept models.
"Green energy cars represent sort of gold mine on the horizon that all the companies hope to reach eventually," said Stephen Dyer, principal with A.T. Kearney China.
"Almost all the major Chinese manufacturers have on-going development programs. Some may be more politically motivated but clearly some are very serious pursuits that are backed by large investments and substantial research teams."
Big auto groups backed by government money, such as SAIC, are likely to emerge as winners, industry analysts say, while leading private-sector players, like Warren Buffet-backed BYD, will also be a front runner as it pushes into foreign markets.
But the road for low emission, alternative fuel vehicles in China is a long one. Sales of Toyota's Prius, the world's best-known green car, numbered just 300 in China last year, when it overtook the U.S. as the world's largest auto market.
"Frankly, it is still a little premature to say there is now or soon to be major customer demand for electric or hybrid cars in China or anywhere in the world," said A.T. Kearney's Dyer.
"In China, there may even been a higher bar to pass. This is because the majority of consumers are first time car buyers and they tend to be practical than the green energy car buyers in the U.S. who may have political or philosophical reasons."
Placing bets on the future
Still, many companies are betting heavily on an electric and alternative fuel future, and Chinese models are expected to snatch some significant share.
SAIC, which will showcase its self-developed electric car E1 and hybrid models at the auto show, is investing 6 billion yuan ($879 million) in green vehicles. Its hybrid Roewe 750 saloon is scheduled for mass production later this year, followed by a plug-in version of a smaller Roewe 550 and E1 in 2012.
Another state-backed heavyweight, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, unveiled its BE701 electric car in November and is building a 2.28 billion yuan production base on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, capable of making 50,000 electric vehicles and twice as many hybrids.
"There is still a technology gap between local and foreign (firms), but this is a relatively level playing field and the Chinese are not that far behind. They have a chance to catch up," said Mervin Guo, a senior analyst with J.D. Power.
Other industry observers cited Daimler's tie with BYD as a recognition of China's growing strength in this field.
"The Daimler-BYD tie is different from those in the early days when local automakers tended to rely heavily on their foreign partners for technologies. They are equal partners," said Chen Liang, an analyst with Huatai Securities.
Not without critics
Chinese automakers, however, are still newcomers with somewhat patchy reputations for quality, and are never short of critics.
"In China, they are going to develop some low cost EVs that won't have all the performance characteristics of cars we have in the Western world," said Kevin Wale, president and managing director for General Motors' China operations. "There is going to be quite a difference in the types of electric vehicles," Wale told Reuters.
The No.1 Detroit automaker will sell its much-touted Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid in China in 2011 following its North America debut later this year.
Foreign automakers are continuing to test the waters for hybrid or electric models in China, but many are moving cautiously, given the chilly reception of some pioneering hybrid models, including Toyota's Prius, GM's Buick Lacrosse and Honda Motor's gasoline-electric Civic.
A made-in-China Prius costs as much as $41,000, nearly matching the price tag of much bigger gasoline-powered Camry, making it a turn-off for Chinese buyers, who still have a penchant for big cars.
Annual sales of imported Civic hybrids are also a few hundred, according to a Honda official, who blamed the hefty price tag of nearly $40,000--roughly twice as much a China-made non-hybrid version--and lack of government incentives.
"Green cars like hybrids are expensive. Without government subsidies, the market just won't take off," said the Honda official, asked not to be identified.
Beijing pledged late last year to hand out rebates to private car buyers, expanding a pilot scheme targeting public transport operators, but no timetable has been set.
Wait and see
Some foreign automakers are also treading cautiously to see which technologies the government endorses before making any big investments.
Still, both GM and Nissan Motor are on track to import the Volt and Leaf next year, followed by BMW, which will bring its first hybrids for China--a gasoline-electric BMW X6 and BMW 7--later this year.
On top of a formidable price tag, a lack of industrial standardization and inadequate infrastructure network are also cited as major obstacles for plug-in vehicles.
The southern boom town of Shenzhen, where BYD rolled out its plug-in hybrid, F3DM, late last year, has just three charging stations.
Moreover, the facilities, built by a major Chinese state power grid, are off-limits to other entrants like Nissan's Leaf.
"You can't charge the Leaf at the facilities as the charger just won't fit in. We'll have to have our own facilities when we sell Leaf in Shenzhen," said Tsunehiko Nakagawa, vice president of Nissan China Investment.
"We are working with local governments and other Japanese carmakers right now. We want to make sure that new charging facilities to be built could be at least be shared by us all."
Better Place swaps electric taxi batteries in Tokyo
April 26, 2010 5:06 AM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
Electric car services company Better Place on Monday said it will install a battery switching station for electric taxis in Tokyo, part of a test to demonstrate the viability of swapping batteries, rather than rapid charging.
Three crossover taxis have been converted to run on an electric powertrain using batteries from A123 Systems. The 90-day test will have an automated battery-swapping station developed by Better Place and demonstrated last year in Yokohama, Japan.
A battery changing station developed by Better Place.
(Credit: Better Place) Vehicles drive up an elevated ramp and a machine removes a depleted battery and then slides in a fresh one in under five minutes. Better Place argues this method is better than rapid charging, which causes more wear and tear on batteries. Longer charge times, in the range of 20 or 30 minutes, are impractical for taxis, it said.
The Tokyo trial, first announced last August, will feature three cars rather than four as originally planned and is happening a few months later than anticipated. Better Place is working with taxi operator Nihon Kotsu, which will make the cars available to the public from special taxi line.
In a statement, the president of Better Place Japan, Kiyotake Fujii, said that other cities have expressed interest in electric taxis because they reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. He said Tokyo has about 60,000 taxis, representing a large potential market for electric vehicles
In January, Better Place raised $350 million and said that it expects its first project of charging stations and battery-swapping facilities will start operating in Israel and Denmark by the end of 2011
by Martin LaMonica
Electric car services company Better Place on Monday said it will install a battery switching station for electric taxis in Tokyo, part of a test to demonstrate the viability of swapping batteries, rather than rapid charging.
Three crossover taxis have been converted to run on an electric powertrain using batteries from A123 Systems. The 90-day test will have an automated battery-swapping station developed by Better Place and demonstrated last year in Yokohama, Japan.
A battery changing station developed by Better Place.
(Credit: Better Place) Vehicles drive up an elevated ramp and a machine removes a depleted battery and then slides in a fresh one in under five minutes. Better Place argues this method is better than rapid charging, which causes more wear and tear on batteries. Longer charge times, in the range of 20 or 30 minutes, are impractical for taxis, it said.
The Tokyo trial, first announced last August, will feature three cars rather than four as originally planned and is happening a few months later than anticipated. Better Place is working with taxi operator Nihon Kotsu, which will make the cars available to the public from special taxi line.
In a statement, the president of Better Place Japan, Kiyotake Fujii, said that other cities have expressed interest in electric taxis because they reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. He said Tokyo has about 60,000 taxis, representing a large potential market for electric vehicles
In January, Better Place raised $350 million and said that it expects its first project of charging stations and battery-swapping facilities will start operating in Israel and Denmark by the end of 2011
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Towns shaping future thinking
In Novato, Calif., the Buck Institute for Age Research (pictured) studies how to delay the aging process and cure diseases. Its current research indicates that exercise reverses the molecular fingerprint of aging.
In Bellevue, Wash., Intellectual Ventures is investing in an "invention economy," where ideas are currency. Its scientists work in a lab that recycles equipment. Projects include a photonic fence that eradicates mosquitoes and a Strato shield that would lower global temperatures by increasing the amount of sulfur-bearing aerosols into the stratosphere.
In Boulder, Colo., the Rocky Mountain Institute seeks solutions to climate change that are both radical and realistic. By working with companies such as Walmart to shrink corporate footprints, RMI is bringing the green movement into the mainstream
In Bellevue, Wash., Intellectual Ventures is investing in an "invention economy," where ideas are currency. Its scientists work in a lab that recycles equipment. Projects include a photonic fence that eradicates mosquitoes and a Strato shield that would lower global temperatures by increasing the amount of sulfur-bearing aerosols into the stratosphere.
In Boulder, Colo., the Rocky Mountain Institute seeks solutions to climate change that are both radical and realistic. By working with companies such as Walmart to shrink corporate footprints, RMI is bringing the green movement into the mainstream
Olympia, Wash.: Model college
Evergreen State College is like a model eco-conscious town: All of the Olympia-based college’s electricity comes from 100% renewable energy sources; it has LEED-certified buildings with features such as living roofs and solar panels; its landscaping is herbicide-free; and a dining room serves produce harvested from the school’s organic farm.
And that’s just the tip of it.
Since September 2008, the college has reduced its landfill waste by more than 97,000 pounds by expanding its composting efforts. And by the time they graduate, more than 70% of Evergreen students will have done community service and volunteer work to help the poor, feed the hungry or improve the environment.
And that’s just the tip of it.
Since September 2008, the college has reduced its landfill waste by more than 97,000 pounds by expanding its composting efforts. And by the time they graduate, more than 70% of Evergreen students will have done community service and volunteer work to help the poor, feed the hungry or improve the environment.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Our cars are 85 percent recyclable, Ford says
April 22, 2010 10:42 AM PDT
by Candace Lombardi
Ford Motor announced Wednesday that 85 percent (by weight) of each Ford vehicle made now is recyclable.
Apparently, CEO Bill Ford's misspent youth carousing with "known and suspected environmentalists" back in the day has paid off. And it seems to be the little things that count, according to Ford Motor.
(Credit: Ford Motor) In addition to the usual car parts that have been recycled for years, Ford has also been adding sustainable raw materials or recycled materials for components in select cars.
Ford's use of components like splash shields and engine covers made from post-consumer recycled plastics has prevented an estimated 25 million to 30 million pounds of plastic from going into landfills, according to company statistics.
The 2010 Ford Taurus, for example, will be the 11th Ford vehicle to have seat cushions, seatbacks, and headrests made from soy and biomass-based foam. Ford-produced vehicles that already have this include: the Ford Mustang, F-150, Focus, Flex, Escape, Expedition, Econoline, Mercury Mariner, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln Navigator.
The company is also using seat fabrics made from recycled yarn in the Ford Escape and Escape Hybrid, and in the 2010 Ford Flex the storage bins are made from wheat straw-reinforced plastic. lts goal is to eventually make cars where none of the plastic components are made from petroleum, but from things that are completely compostable.
"Natural fiber-reinforced plastics and plant-based polymer resins help reduce CO2 emissions by being entirely compostable, and in some cases reduce weight, which helps improve fuel economy," Debbie Mielewski, technical leader of Ford Plastics Research, said in a statement.
So, why is Ford suddenly spinning all this oh-we-forgot-to-mention-we've-always-been-environmentalists info now? In addition to it being Earth Day, it could be that Ford is as flabbergasted as the rest of us that the 2010 World Green Car of the Year award went to a green branding program instead of an actual car. Volkswagen won the prestigious car award for its BlueMotion versions of the Golf, Passat, and Polo. BlueMotion is their brand name for the versions of the cars that include extra efficiency technology.
Perhaps Ford is taking it one step further and planning to add sustainable materials into its own green branding of cars.
by Candace Lombardi
Ford Motor announced Wednesday that 85 percent (by weight) of each Ford vehicle made now is recyclable.
Apparently, CEO Bill Ford's misspent youth carousing with "known and suspected environmentalists" back in the day has paid off. And it seems to be the little things that count, according to Ford Motor.
(Credit: Ford Motor) In addition to the usual car parts that have been recycled for years, Ford has also been adding sustainable raw materials or recycled materials for components in select cars.
Ford's use of components like splash shields and engine covers made from post-consumer recycled plastics has prevented an estimated 25 million to 30 million pounds of plastic from going into landfills, according to company statistics.
The 2010 Ford Taurus, for example, will be the 11th Ford vehicle to have seat cushions, seatbacks, and headrests made from soy and biomass-based foam. Ford-produced vehicles that already have this include: the Ford Mustang, F-150, Focus, Flex, Escape, Expedition, Econoline, Mercury Mariner, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln Navigator.
The company is also using seat fabrics made from recycled yarn in the Ford Escape and Escape Hybrid, and in the 2010 Ford Flex the storage bins are made from wheat straw-reinforced plastic. lts goal is to eventually make cars where none of the plastic components are made from petroleum, but from things that are completely compostable.
"Natural fiber-reinforced plastics and plant-based polymer resins help reduce CO2 emissions by being entirely compostable, and in some cases reduce weight, which helps improve fuel economy," Debbie Mielewski, technical leader of Ford Plastics Research, said in a statement.
So, why is Ford suddenly spinning all this oh-we-forgot-to-mention-we've-always-been-environmentalists info now? In addition to it being Earth Day, it could be that Ford is as flabbergasted as the rest of us that the 2010 World Green Car of the Year award went to a green branding program instead of an actual car. Volkswagen won the prestigious car award for its BlueMotion versions of the Golf, Passat, and Polo. BlueMotion is their brand name for the versions of the cars that include extra efficiency technology.
Perhaps Ford is taking it one step further and planning to add sustainable materials into its own green branding of cars.
Microsoft joins Goodwill recycling program
April 22, 2010 9:03 AM PDT
by Candace Lombardi
(Credit: Reconnect Partnership) Microsoft announced Wednesday its joining Dell and Goodwill Industries International in their ongoing recycling program.
Goodwill, in addition to being a used clothing and furniture repository and store, is also a place where people can drop off their old electronics.
Through a program started in partnership with Dell in 2004 called Reconnect, participating Goodwill centers allow people to drop off their used computers and related peripherals to be recycled for free.
You can now add Microsoft products like Zunes and Xboxes to the list of electronic items Goodwill accepts.
The program is not completely convenient as there are many states in the U.S. that don't have participating Reconnect locations. (The closest one to me is more than 30 miles away.) But it does offer 1,900 Reconnect Goodwill drop-offs in the U.S. and in early April expanded to include drop-offs in Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
The electronics are evaluated by Goodwill employees. Viable electronics are resold, those in need of repair or beyond repair are sent out to be refurbished or broken down and recycled.
While the intentions are good and the program claims to have "diverted more than 96 million pounds of e-waste from landfills" since inception, it's dubious how successful it can be in motivating people to drop off their stuff.
A recent electronics recycling poll conducted by Pike Research found that the average consumer has 2.8 pieces of electronics junk stashed somewhere in their home, and that 35 percent of consumers believe there should be curbside pick-up service along with their regular trash.
Still, if you have a Reconnect Goodwill nearby, it may be one of the best e-waste recycling options available if your old e-waste product doesn't qualify for a rebate program like the online HP Consumer Buyback program. Staples offers free recycling of keyboards, mice, speakers, and Dell products, and $3 coupons in exchange for used ink cartridges. But it charges a $10 fee for "all other brands of computer monitors, desktop and laptop computers, printers, scanners, all-in-ones and fax machines." Office Depot offers all-you-can-fill recycling boxes that come in $5, $10, and $15 options. Dell also offers a free pick-up option through its Dell PRP Recycling Program in conjunction with FedEx.
As for Apple users looking to recycle, your options are free take-back when you buy your next Apple product, free recycling and drop-off options in select states, or a $30 fee for the mail-in program.
As always, all consumers should remember to wipe hard drives clean before unleashing their old tech to the world.
by Candace Lombardi
(Credit: Reconnect Partnership) Microsoft announced Wednesday its joining Dell and Goodwill Industries International in their ongoing recycling program.
Goodwill, in addition to being a used clothing and furniture repository and store, is also a place where people can drop off their old electronics.
Through a program started in partnership with Dell in 2004 called Reconnect, participating Goodwill centers allow people to drop off their used computers and related peripherals to be recycled for free.
You can now add Microsoft products like Zunes and Xboxes to the list of electronic items Goodwill accepts.
The program is not completely convenient as there are many states in the U.S. that don't have participating Reconnect locations. (The closest one to me is more than 30 miles away.) But it does offer 1,900 Reconnect Goodwill drop-offs in the U.S. and in early April expanded to include drop-offs in Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
The electronics are evaluated by Goodwill employees. Viable electronics are resold, those in need of repair or beyond repair are sent out to be refurbished or broken down and recycled.
While the intentions are good and the program claims to have "diverted more than 96 million pounds of e-waste from landfills" since inception, it's dubious how successful it can be in motivating people to drop off their stuff.
A recent electronics recycling poll conducted by Pike Research found that the average consumer has 2.8 pieces of electronics junk stashed somewhere in their home, and that 35 percent of consumers believe there should be curbside pick-up service along with their regular trash.
Still, if you have a Reconnect Goodwill nearby, it may be one of the best e-waste recycling options available if your old e-waste product doesn't qualify for a rebate program like the online HP Consumer Buyback program. Staples offers free recycling of keyboards, mice, speakers, and Dell products, and $3 coupons in exchange for used ink cartridges. But it charges a $10 fee for "all other brands of computer monitors, desktop and laptop computers, printers, scanners, all-in-ones and fax machines." Office Depot offers all-you-can-fill recycling boxes that come in $5, $10, and $15 options. Dell also offers a free pick-up option through its Dell PRP Recycling Program in conjunction with FedEx.
As for Apple users looking to recycle, your options are free take-back when you buy your next Apple product, free recycling and drop-off options in select states, or a $30 fee for the mail-in program.
As always, all consumers should remember to wipe hard drives clean before unleashing their old tech to the world.
California utility plows ahead with midsize solar
April 23, 2010 8:58 AM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
California utility Pacific Gas & Electric got approval for an initiative that seeks to ramp up solar-power production but sidestep the permitting hurdles of large-scale solar and the expense of rooftop panels.
The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved a five-year program where PG&E will install solar photovoltaic arrays between 1 megawatt and 20 megawatts in size. In all, the installations will have a capacity of 500 megawatts worth of solar, enough to power 150,000 homes, according to PG&E.
Amonix concentrating photovoltaic arrays are designed for utilities and distributed power generation.
(Credit: Amonix) The approach is to build midsize solar arrays and locate them near power substations, which means that no new transmissions lines will need to be built. Constructing smaller, distributed units also simplifies the environmental permitting process, another serious hurdle to building power plant-size solar projects.
"Smaller scale projects can avoid many of the pitfalls that have plagued larger renewable projects in California, including permitting and transmission challenges," CPUC president Michael Peevey said in a statement.
California has a renewable portfolio standard where utilities need to get 20 percent of their electricity by the end of this year. PG&E will own and operate about half of the installations and purchase power from independent developers, it said.
The technology used for these projects will be familiar solar photovoltaic panels, but the program could also see the use of concentrating photovoltaic arrays, where mirrors concentrate light to draw more electricity from high-end solar cells. Amonix, a company in that field, raised $129 million earlier this week to pursue the utility business.
by Martin LaMonica
California utility Pacific Gas & Electric got approval for an initiative that seeks to ramp up solar-power production but sidestep the permitting hurdles of large-scale solar and the expense of rooftop panels.
The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved a five-year program where PG&E will install solar photovoltaic arrays between 1 megawatt and 20 megawatts in size. In all, the installations will have a capacity of 500 megawatts worth of solar, enough to power 150,000 homes, according to PG&E.
Amonix concentrating photovoltaic arrays are designed for utilities and distributed power generation.
(Credit: Amonix) The approach is to build midsize solar arrays and locate them near power substations, which means that no new transmissions lines will need to be built. Constructing smaller, distributed units also simplifies the environmental permitting process, another serious hurdle to building power plant-size solar projects.
"Smaller scale projects can avoid many of the pitfalls that have plagued larger renewable projects in California, including permitting and transmission challenges," CPUC president Michael Peevey said in a statement.
California has a renewable portfolio standard where utilities need to get 20 percent of their electricity by the end of this year. PG&E will own and operate about half of the installations and purchase power from independent developers, it said.
The technology used for these projects will be familiar solar photovoltaic panels, but the program could also see the use of concentrating photovoltaic arrays, where mirrors concentrate light to draw more electricity from high-end solar cells. Amonix, a company in that field, raised $129 million earlier this week to pursue the utility business.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Do the Benefits of Recycling Outweigh the Costs?
Some Argue Recycling Uses More Energy than It Saves
From Earth Talk
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Dear EarthTalk: Some people argue that recycling uses more energy than it saves, and thus it is not worth the effort. Is this true? – Tigger Fox, Millinocket, Maine
Controversy over the benefits of recycling bubbled up in 1996 when columnist John Tierney posited in a New York Times Magazine article that “recycling is garbage.”
“Mandatory recycling programs,” he wrote, “…offer mainly short-term benefits to a few groups -- politicians, public relations consultants, environmental organizations and waste handling corporations -- while diverting money from genuine social and environmental problems. Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America…”
Cost of Recycling vs. Trash Collection
Environmental groups were quick to dispute Tierney on the benefits of recycling, especially on assertions that recycling was doubling energy consumption and pollution while costing taxpayers more money than disposing of plain old garbage.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense, two of the nation’s most influential environmental organizations, each issued reports detailing the benefits of recycling and showing how municipal recycling programs reduce pollution and the use of virgin resources while decreasing the sheer amount of garbage and the need for landfill space -- all for less, not more, than the cost of regular garbage pick-up and disposal.
Michael Shapiro, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste, also weighed in on the benefits of recycling:
“A well-run curbside recycling program can cost anywhere from $50 to more than $150 per ton…trash collection and disposal programs, on the other hand, cost anywhere from $70 to more than $200 per ton. This demonstrates that, while there’s still room for improvements, recycling can be cost-effective.”
But in 2002, New York City, an early municipal recycling pioneer, found that its much-lauded recycling program was losing money, so it eliminated glass and plastic recycling. According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the benefits of recycling plastic and glass were outweighed by the price -- recycling cost twice as much as disposal. Meanwhile, low demand for the materials meant that much of it was ending up in landfills anyway, despite best intentions.
Other major cities watched closely to see how New York was faring with its scaled back program (the city never discontinued paper recycling), ready to perhaps jump on the bandwagon.
But in the meantime, New York City closed its last landfill, and private out-of-state landfills raised prices due to the increased workload of hauling away and disposing of New York’s trash.
As a result, the benefits of recycling glass and plastic increased and glass and plastic recycling became economically viable for the city again. New York reinstated the recycling program accordingly, with a more efficient system and with more reputable service providers than it had used previously.
Benefits of Recycling Increase as Cities Gain Experience
According to Chicago Reader columnist Cecil Adams, the lessons learned by New York are applicable everywhere.
“Some early curbside recycling programs…waste resources due to bureaucratic overhead and duplicate trash pickups (for garbage and then again for recyclables). But the situation has improved as cities have gained experience.”
Adams also says that, if managed correctly, recycling programs should cost cities (and taxpayers) less than garbage disposal for any given equivalent amount of material.
Even though the benefits of recycling over disposal are manifold, individuals should keep in mind that it better serves the environment to “reduce and reuse” before recycling even becomes an option.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
EarthTalk is a regular feature of E/The Environmental Magazine. Selected EarthTalk columns are reprinted on About Environmental Issues by permission of the editors of E.
From Earth Talk
See More About:recycling costsrecycling benefitstrash and garbage disposalenvironmental laws and policiesSponsored Links
Energy Efficiency
Answers for Industry: Improve energy-efficiency. Learn more!
www.siemens.com/answers
Recycling Container
Your Wholesale Rubbermaid source, incredible prices, fast shipping!
www.RubbermaidWholesale.com
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Dear EarthTalk: Some people argue that recycling uses more energy than it saves, and thus it is not worth the effort. Is this true? – Tigger Fox, Millinocket, Maine
Controversy over the benefits of recycling bubbled up in 1996 when columnist John Tierney posited in a New York Times Magazine article that “recycling is garbage.”
“Mandatory recycling programs,” he wrote, “…offer mainly short-term benefits to a few groups -- politicians, public relations consultants, environmental organizations and waste handling corporations -- while diverting money from genuine social and environmental problems. Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America…”
Cost of Recycling vs. Trash Collection
Environmental groups were quick to dispute Tierney on the benefits of recycling, especially on assertions that recycling was doubling energy consumption and pollution while costing taxpayers more money than disposing of plain old garbage.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense, two of the nation’s most influential environmental organizations, each issued reports detailing the benefits of recycling and showing how municipal recycling programs reduce pollution and the use of virgin resources while decreasing the sheer amount of garbage and the need for landfill space -- all for less, not more, than the cost of regular garbage pick-up and disposal.
Michael Shapiro, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste, also weighed in on the benefits of recycling:
“A well-run curbside recycling program can cost anywhere from $50 to more than $150 per ton…trash collection and disposal programs, on the other hand, cost anywhere from $70 to more than $200 per ton. This demonstrates that, while there’s still room for improvements, recycling can be cost-effective.”
But in 2002, New York City, an early municipal recycling pioneer, found that its much-lauded recycling program was losing money, so it eliminated glass and plastic recycling. According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the benefits of recycling plastic and glass were outweighed by the price -- recycling cost twice as much as disposal. Meanwhile, low demand for the materials meant that much of it was ending up in landfills anyway, despite best intentions.
Other major cities watched closely to see how New York was faring with its scaled back program (the city never discontinued paper recycling), ready to perhaps jump on the bandwagon.
But in the meantime, New York City closed its last landfill, and private out-of-state landfills raised prices due to the increased workload of hauling away and disposing of New York’s trash.
As a result, the benefits of recycling glass and plastic increased and glass and plastic recycling became economically viable for the city again. New York reinstated the recycling program accordingly, with a more efficient system and with more reputable service providers than it had used previously.
Benefits of Recycling Increase as Cities Gain Experience
According to Chicago Reader columnist Cecil Adams, the lessons learned by New York are applicable everywhere.
“Some early curbside recycling programs…waste resources due to bureaucratic overhead and duplicate trash pickups (for garbage and then again for recyclables). But the situation has improved as cities have gained experience.”
Adams also says that, if managed correctly, recycling programs should cost cities (and taxpayers) less than garbage disposal for any given equivalent amount of material.
Even though the benefits of recycling over disposal are manifold, individuals should keep in mind that it better serves the environment to “reduce and reuse” before recycling even becomes an option.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
EarthTalk is a regular feature of E/The Environmental Magazine. Selected EarthTalk columns are reprinted on About Environmental Issues by permission of the editors of E.
Americans Recycling More, Discarding Less, EPA Says
U.S. Recycling Trends are Showing Dramatic Increases
By Larry West, About.com Guide
See More About:recycling
reducing waste
trash and garbage disposal
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Composting Tumbler
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compost-twin.com
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Your Wholesale Rubbermaid source, incredible prices, fast shipping!
www.RubbermaidWholesale.com
Recycling Containers
Manufacturing North America's largest product line for 23 years.
www.buschsystems.com
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Food Recycling Facts
Americans are recycling more and discarding less, according to a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that shows the United States recycled 32 percent of its waste in 2005.
Including composting, Americans recycled 79 million tons of waste in 2005— a two percent increase over 2004 and a big jump from the 16 percent of waste Americans recycled in 1990 and the 10 percent of waste Americans recycled in 1980.
Americans also generated less municipal solid waste in 2005, a little under 246 million tons, a decrease of nearly 2 million tons from 2004.
More Recycling, Less Waste Per Person
Those figures break down to about 4.5 pounds of individual waste per person per day—a decrease of 1.5 percent from 2004—and nearly 1.5 pounds of recycled waste per person per day.
EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson shared details of the report titled, Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2005 Facts and Figures [PDF], during his speech at the National Recycling Coalition Conference in Atlanta in October 2006.
Report Highlights
Other data in the report show many recycling trends are up while waste generation is decreasing:
Container and packaging recycling increased to 40 percent;
Nearly 62 percent of yard waste was composted;
About 42 million tons of paper were recycled—a 50 percent recycling rate; and
The number of U.S. landfills have been decreasing steadily—from 8,000 in 1988 to 1,654 in 2005—but the capacity has remained relatively constant because new landfills are much larger.
The EPA has been collecting and reporting on the generation and disposal of waste in the United States since 1960. The information is used to measure the success of municipal solid waste reduction and recycling programs nationwide, and to show where the nation needs to make improvements in municipal waste management.
By Larry West, About.com Guide
See More About:recycling
reducing waste
trash and garbage disposal
landfillsgreen living
Composting Tumbler
Recycle waste without the pile. One Year Money Back Guarantee.
compost-twin.com
Recycling Container
Your Wholesale Rubbermaid source, incredible prices, fast shipping!
www.RubbermaidWholesale.com
Recycling Containers
Manufacturing North America's largest product line for 23 years.
www.buschsystems.com
Environment Ads
Recycling
Recycling of Plastic
Waste and Recycling
Paper Recycling Bins
Food Recycling Facts
Americans are recycling more and discarding less, according to a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that shows the United States recycled 32 percent of its waste in 2005.
Including composting, Americans recycled 79 million tons of waste in 2005— a two percent increase over 2004 and a big jump from the 16 percent of waste Americans recycled in 1990 and the 10 percent of waste Americans recycled in 1980.
Americans also generated less municipal solid waste in 2005, a little under 246 million tons, a decrease of nearly 2 million tons from 2004.
More Recycling, Less Waste Per Person
Those figures break down to about 4.5 pounds of individual waste per person per day—a decrease of 1.5 percent from 2004—and nearly 1.5 pounds of recycled waste per person per day.
EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson shared details of the report titled, Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2005 Facts and Figures [PDF], during his speech at the National Recycling Coalition Conference in Atlanta in October 2006.
Report Highlights
Other data in the report show many recycling trends are up while waste generation is decreasing:
Container and packaging recycling increased to 40 percent;
Nearly 62 percent of yard waste was composted;
About 42 million tons of paper were recycled—a 50 percent recycling rate; and
The number of U.S. landfills have been decreasing steadily—from 8,000 in 1988 to 1,654 in 2005—but the capacity has remained relatively constant because new landfills are much larger.
The EPA has been collecting and reporting on the generation and disposal of waste in the United States since 1960. The information is used to measure the success of municipal solid waste reduction and recycling programs nationwide, and to show where the nation needs to make improvements in municipal waste management.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Recurve app speeds home energy efficiency audits
April 18, 2010 9:00 PM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
Recurve, which provides home energy-efficiency services, has been leading the double life as a software company.
The San-Francisco-based company on Monday announced Recurve Software, an application aimed at home energy-efficiency contractors. The first module of a planned suite, the program lets professionals generate a home-efficiency report with recommendations and a proposal for work, such as air sealing and insulation.
The Recurve software, which runs on a tablet PC, is designed to speed up the process of generating a home efficiency audit report and sales proposal.
(Credit: Recurve)
Recurve hopes the hosted application will automate some of the tasks for home performance contractors, many of which can be small shops, said Adam Winter, the senior vice president of building science. The application runs on tablet PCs, which can run Flash and Java, with most of the input done with a stylus, he said.
Longer term, the company plans to add more modules, such as project management, to the energy audit application, creating essentially an enterprise resource management for the home performance industry. The software will help scale the entire industry, which is typically localized and fragmented, Winter said.
"Our goal is to enable our competitors--one hundred percent," he said. "We see a massive influx of awareness (among consumers) and contractors coming to market. Our operations are more research and development and a proving ground."
The first module has been beta tested with six contractors in different regions in the U.S. On Monday, Recurve will open it up to more contractors and release the final version later this year.
Efficiency or weatherization professionals perform an audit in people's home, using a blower door test and inspection of the entire building and then give recommendations on how to cut energy. There are utility-sponsored services, which can give homeowners more efficient lighting and recommend more insulation. More comprehensive jobs including plugging air leaks in ducts and walls to installation of heating, cooling, and ventilation systems.
The Recurve software can figure in rebates and incentives as part of the recommendation and sales proposal. But federal incentives are poised to give the overall industry a jolt, as early as later this year, with the Home Star program, sometimes referred to as cash for caulkers. That system will provide home owners tax credits of a few thousand dollars for making investments in home efficiency, such as buying more efficient appliances or contracting work.
There is even some concern that there aren't enough skilled people to meet the demand if that program is passed into law. "There are a lot of mom-and-pop shops that can be successful in home performance because the owner is also running the retrofit themselves but that makes it hard for (the industry) to scale," Winter said.
by Martin LaMonica
Recurve, which provides home energy-efficiency services, has been leading the double life as a software company.
The San-Francisco-based company on Monday announced Recurve Software, an application aimed at home energy-efficiency contractors. The first module of a planned suite, the program lets professionals generate a home-efficiency report with recommendations and a proposal for work, such as air sealing and insulation.
The Recurve software, which runs on a tablet PC, is designed to speed up the process of generating a home efficiency audit report and sales proposal.
(Credit: Recurve)
Recurve hopes the hosted application will automate some of the tasks for home performance contractors, many of which can be small shops, said Adam Winter, the senior vice president of building science. The application runs on tablet PCs, which can run Flash and Java, with most of the input done with a stylus, he said.
Longer term, the company plans to add more modules, such as project management, to the energy audit application, creating essentially an enterprise resource management for the home performance industry. The software will help scale the entire industry, which is typically localized and fragmented, Winter said.
"Our goal is to enable our competitors--one hundred percent," he said. "We see a massive influx of awareness (among consumers) and contractors coming to market. Our operations are more research and development and a proving ground."
The first module has been beta tested with six contractors in different regions in the U.S. On Monday, Recurve will open it up to more contractors and release the final version later this year.
Efficiency or weatherization professionals perform an audit in people's home, using a blower door test and inspection of the entire building and then give recommendations on how to cut energy. There are utility-sponsored services, which can give homeowners more efficient lighting and recommend more insulation. More comprehensive jobs including plugging air leaks in ducts and walls to installation of heating, cooling, and ventilation systems.
The Recurve software can figure in rebates and incentives as part of the recommendation and sales proposal. But federal incentives are poised to give the overall industry a jolt, as early as later this year, with the Home Star program, sometimes referred to as cash for caulkers. That system will provide home owners tax credits of a few thousand dollars for making investments in home efficiency, such as buying more efficient appliances or contracting work.
There is even some concern that there aren't enough skilled people to meet the demand if that program is passed into law. "There are a lot of mom-and-pop shops that can be successful in home performance because the owner is also running the retrofit themselves but that makes it hard for (the industry) to scale," Winter said.
Can green tech save the Earth? It won't be easy
April 21, 2010 4:00 AM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
Amid all the buzz around green tech, here are some names you won't likely hear again: Biofuel Box, Imara, E3 Biofuels, GreenFuel Technologies. Once considered promising green-tech start-ups, each of those companies has closed down or gone bankrupt.
Failed businesses are a normal part of technology investing, so their demise doesn't mean clean-energy innovation is dying on the vine--far from it. But if you expected an army of well-intentioned entrepreneurs to upend the mammoth energy industry and find a quick path to profitability, think again.
Those start-up failures hint at some of the challenges that U.S. tech entrepreneurs face when trying to make green--as in, money--by being green. Unlike IT, the energy business requires lots of money to scale up, there's resistance to new technologies, and there are many non-technology risks, such as fluctuating energy prices and fickle government policies.
Still, technology clearly has a big role to play when it comes to lightening our load on the Earth. So for Earth Day, let's take stock of where green-technology innovation is, weighing the progress and the challenges.
Technology
The good news: There's a lot going on. From universities to giant corporations to garage start-ups, innovation around sustainable energy and materials is high on the agenda. Ten years ago, solar and wind dominated the discussion of alternative energy, but the field is far broader now. At the ARPA-E Summit in March, for example, scientists showed off algae harvesting systems, more efficient internal combustion engines, solid-state batteries, and efficient LED lighting. (See video here.) Many people (although not enough) from IT or biotech are migrating toward clean energy because they see it as the next wave of innovation in the economy.
Cool ways tech is helping the Earth (images)
The not-so-good news: Making energy cheap and clean is a tough nut to crack. People have known how to coax an electrical current from a photovoltaic cell in the sun for decades, but burning fossil fuels to generate electricity is still cheaper.
Although the size of energy markets is huge, breaking into them is very hard. Consider the massive investment of the oil and gas industry--pipelines, refineries, wells, gas stations--and the deep pockets of entrenched providers. When an algae biofuel entrepreneur, for example, develops a replacement product, there's a sizable barrier to entry purely on a business level. Often, these products are commodities--electrons flowing through a wall socket, fuel at the pump, concrete, or plastics--and it's difficult to get a premium just because it's a "green product."
Investment
The good news: Around the world, money is flowing into clean energy-related technologies from the private sector and governments seeking to develop new industries. One of the most dramatic changes over the past two years has been the emergence of China as a huge consumer and supplier of wind and solar power. In the U.S., federal programs put tens of billions of dollars toward research and development and deploying existing technologies, such as solar, wind, or manufacturing batteries for plug-in vehicles.
When it comes to funding start-ups through venture capital or private equity, the U.S. outpaces other countries, according to New Energy Finance. And after a downward slide in 2009, venture capital investment in green tech picked up in the first quarter of 2010, rising to $1.9 billion globally, according to the Cleantech Group. Many venture investors are hoping that U.S.-based tech companies, including Tesla Motors, Codexis, Solyndra, and Amyris Biotechnologies, will have great success going public this year.
The not-so-good news: The general trend in funding is up, based on investors' and governments' bet on green technologies as an engine of economic growth. But scratch beneath the surface a bit and there are some troubling signs.
The first-quarter venture capital numbers show more activity--180 deals more than previous quarters--but the amount of money going to companies is going down from a high mark in 2008. That's a reflection of how many companies are struggling to find financing, said Sheeraz Haji, the president of the Cleantech Group. Meanwhile, venture investors are looking to get a return on their start-ups, which is why the performance of green-tech IPOs is so important. But in many cases, the financial "exit" for young green companies will be through an acquisition, and there have only been a few of those in recent years. The lack of "viable exit strategies" is one of the threats to green-tech expansion, said Ron Pernick, the managing director of Clean Edge, in an annual report. He suggests that there need to be different financing models, based on private and public capital, to overcome the lack of financing options, particularly for scaling up these technologies.
Policy
The good news: Many state and federal politicians are convinced that investing in clean energy-related industries, through tax breaks or subsidies, is a good idea. The Obama administration has put a number of measures in place to jump-start nascent industries, such as battery manufacturing or the smart grid. It also adjusted the subsidy for solar and wind project finance to address the credit squeeze, although it's set to expire at the end of this year. Federally funded research has also gotten a real shot in the arm, with the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) catching the attention of many tech entrepreneurs and scientists. In all, there's been a heightened focus on the role government plays in energy.
The not-so-good news: The meltdown of the capital markets has done a number on the traditional methods to pay for large-scale renewable energy projects, particularly tax-equity funds and project finance. To some degree, governments around the world, with China and South Korea often cited as aggressive investors, have played the role of banker by providing incentives for businesses to invest. But U.S. Department of Energy loans, first authorized in 2007, have been slow in coming, according to some.
An energy and climate bill has been working its way through Congress, with a Senate proposal expected next week. But there are big questions around whether a climate and energy bill that effectively promotes low-carbon technologies can pass given the resistance from incumbent energy providers.
Green tech and consumers
So on balance, the wave of green-tech innovation from start-ups we've seen in the U.S. over the past six or seven years has had successes--to a point. The next big challenge is scaling up their technologies and converting what were once upstart companies into global players. Government policies aimed at, for example, revitalizing U.S. manufacturing or accounting for carbon emissions in the economy, can help pave the way for green innovators. But they still need to create competitive companies with compelling products that deliver a good return to investors.
Meanwhile, there's the hype that Bloom Energy or some other green-tech outfit is the next Google. Certainly, a high-profile success story--a "Netscape moment," as investor John Doerr calls it--will raise awareness for the potential of green-tech innovation. But a lot of clean-energy technologies will never touch consumers--a Bloom Energy box or efficient LED lighting system, for example, is more likely to be adopted by businesses until the up-front costs go down.
That said, consumers are getting in on the act. The smart grid should help us better manage our electricity, electric vehicles can decrease oil imports, and efficient appliances lower our energy usage. But green technologies are just an enabler for people to use energy and other natural resources more efficiently. So it goes for the planet as a whole: tech can help protect the environment but in many ways, it's the consumer that's in charge
by Martin LaMonica
Amid all the buzz around green tech, here are some names you won't likely hear again: Biofuel Box, Imara, E3 Biofuels, GreenFuel Technologies. Once considered promising green-tech start-ups, each of those companies has closed down or gone bankrupt.
Failed businesses are a normal part of technology investing, so their demise doesn't mean clean-energy innovation is dying on the vine--far from it. But if you expected an army of well-intentioned entrepreneurs to upend the mammoth energy industry and find a quick path to profitability, think again.
Those start-up failures hint at some of the challenges that U.S. tech entrepreneurs face when trying to make green--as in, money--by being green. Unlike IT, the energy business requires lots of money to scale up, there's resistance to new technologies, and there are many non-technology risks, such as fluctuating energy prices and fickle government policies.
Still, technology clearly has a big role to play when it comes to lightening our load on the Earth. So for Earth Day, let's take stock of where green-technology innovation is, weighing the progress and the challenges.
Technology
The good news: There's a lot going on. From universities to giant corporations to garage start-ups, innovation around sustainable energy and materials is high on the agenda. Ten years ago, solar and wind dominated the discussion of alternative energy, but the field is far broader now. At the ARPA-E Summit in March, for example, scientists showed off algae harvesting systems, more efficient internal combustion engines, solid-state batteries, and efficient LED lighting. (See video here.) Many people (although not enough) from IT or biotech are migrating toward clean energy because they see it as the next wave of innovation in the economy.
Cool ways tech is helping the Earth (images)
The not-so-good news: Making energy cheap and clean is a tough nut to crack. People have known how to coax an electrical current from a photovoltaic cell in the sun for decades, but burning fossil fuels to generate electricity is still cheaper.
Although the size of energy markets is huge, breaking into them is very hard. Consider the massive investment of the oil and gas industry--pipelines, refineries, wells, gas stations--and the deep pockets of entrenched providers. When an algae biofuel entrepreneur, for example, develops a replacement product, there's a sizable barrier to entry purely on a business level. Often, these products are commodities--electrons flowing through a wall socket, fuel at the pump, concrete, or plastics--and it's difficult to get a premium just because it's a "green product."
Investment
The good news: Around the world, money is flowing into clean energy-related technologies from the private sector and governments seeking to develop new industries. One of the most dramatic changes over the past two years has been the emergence of China as a huge consumer and supplier of wind and solar power. In the U.S., federal programs put tens of billions of dollars toward research and development and deploying existing technologies, such as solar, wind, or manufacturing batteries for plug-in vehicles.
When it comes to funding start-ups through venture capital or private equity, the U.S. outpaces other countries, according to New Energy Finance. And after a downward slide in 2009, venture capital investment in green tech picked up in the first quarter of 2010, rising to $1.9 billion globally, according to the Cleantech Group. Many venture investors are hoping that U.S.-based tech companies, including Tesla Motors, Codexis, Solyndra, and Amyris Biotechnologies, will have great success going public this year.
The not-so-good news: The general trend in funding is up, based on investors' and governments' bet on green technologies as an engine of economic growth. But scratch beneath the surface a bit and there are some troubling signs.
The first-quarter venture capital numbers show more activity--180 deals more than previous quarters--but the amount of money going to companies is going down from a high mark in 2008. That's a reflection of how many companies are struggling to find financing, said Sheeraz Haji, the president of the Cleantech Group. Meanwhile, venture investors are looking to get a return on their start-ups, which is why the performance of green-tech IPOs is so important. But in many cases, the financial "exit" for young green companies will be through an acquisition, and there have only been a few of those in recent years. The lack of "viable exit strategies" is one of the threats to green-tech expansion, said Ron Pernick, the managing director of Clean Edge, in an annual report. He suggests that there need to be different financing models, based on private and public capital, to overcome the lack of financing options, particularly for scaling up these technologies.
Policy
The good news: Many state and federal politicians are convinced that investing in clean energy-related industries, through tax breaks or subsidies, is a good idea. The Obama administration has put a number of measures in place to jump-start nascent industries, such as battery manufacturing or the smart grid. It also adjusted the subsidy for solar and wind project finance to address the credit squeeze, although it's set to expire at the end of this year. Federally funded research has also gotten a real shot in the arm, with the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) catching the attention of many tech entrepreneurs and scientists. In all, there's been a heightened focus on the role government plays in energy.
The not-so-good news: The meltdown of the capital markets has done a number on the traditional methods to pay for large-scale renewable energy projects, particularly tax-equity funds and project finance. To some degree, governments around the world, with China and South Korea often cited as aggressive investors, have played the role of banker by providing incentives for businesses to invest. But U.S. Department of Energy loans, first authorized in 2007, have been slow in coming, according to some.
An energy and climate bill has been working its way through Congress, with a Senate proposal expected next week. But there are big questions around whether a climate and energy bill that effectively promotes low-carbon technologies can pass given the resistance from incumbent energy providers.
Green tech and consumers
So on balance, the wave of green-tech innovation from start-ups we've seen in the U.S. over the past six or seven years has had successes--to a point. The next big challenge is scaling up their technologies and converting what were once upstart companies into global players. Government policies aimed at, for example, revitalizing U.S. manufacturing or accounting for carbon emissions in the economy, can help pave the way for green innovators. But they still need to create competitive companies with compelling products that deliver a good return to investors.
Meanwhile, there's the hype that Bloom Energy or some other green-tech outfit is the next Google. Certainly, a high-profile success story--a "Netscape moment," as investor John Doerr calls it--will raise awareness for the potential of green-tech innovation. But a lot of clean-energy technologies will never touch consumers--a Bloom Energy box or efficient LED lighting system, for example, is more likely to be adopted by businesses until the up-front costs go down.
That said, consumers are getting in on the act. The smart grid should help us better manage our electricity, electric vehicles can decrease oil imports, and efficient appliances lower our energy usage. But green technologies are just an enabler for people to use energy and other natural resources more efficiently. So it goes for the planet as a whole: tech can help protect the environment but in many ways, it's the consumer that's in charge
China investing heavily in green auto tech
April 21, 2010 10:00 AM PDT
by Reuters
Chinese automakers, unscathed by a savage global downturn, are ramping up efforts to get more cleaner, low-emission vehicles on the roads, counting on the green drive to propel them into the top ranks of the global auto industry.
From leading Chinese auto group SAIC Motor to rising star Geely Automotive Holding, indigenous players will show off a host of new green vehicles at the Beijing auto show that starts this week, including some futuristic concept models.
"Green energy cars represent sort of gold mine on the horizon that all the companies hope to reach eventually," said Stephen Dyer, principal with A.T. Kearney China.
"Almost all the major Chinese manufacturers have on-going development programs. Some may be more politically motivated but clearly some are very serious pursuits that are backed by large investments and substantial research teams."
Big auto groups backed by government money, such as SAIC, are likely to emerge as winners, industry analysts say, while leading private-sector players, like Warren Buffet-backed BYD, will also be a front runner as it pushes into foreign markets.
But the road for low emission, alternative fuel vehicles in China is a long one. Sales of Toyota's Prius, the world's best-known green car, numbered just 300 in China last year, when it overtook the U.S. as the world's largest auto market.
"Frankly, it is still a little premature to say there is now or soon to be major customer demand for electric or hybrid cars in China or anywhere in the world," said A.T. Kearney's Dyer.
"In China, there may even been a higher bar to pass. This is because the majority of consumers are first time car buyers and they tend to be practical than the green energy car buyers in the U.S. who may have political or philosophical reasons."
Placing bets on the future
Still, many companies are betting heavily on an electric and alternative fuel future, and Chinese models are expected to snatch some significant share.
SAIC, which will showcase its self-developed electric car E1 and hybrid models at the auto show, is investing 6 billion yuan ($879 million) in green vehicles. Its hybrid Roewe 750 saloon is scheduled for mass production later this year, followed by a plug-in version of a smaller Roewe 550 and E1 in 2012.
Another state-backed heavyweight, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, unveiled its BE701 electric car in November and is building a 2.28 billion yuan production base on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, capable of making 50,000 electric vehicles and twice as many hybrids.
"There is still a technology gap between local and foreign (firms), but this is a relatively level playing field and the Chinese are not that far behind. They have a chance to catch up," said Mervin Guo, a senior analyst with J.D. Power.
Other industry observers cited Daimler's tie with BYD as a recognition of China's growing strength in this field.
"The Daimler-BYD tie is different from those in the early days when local automakers tended to rely heavily on their foreign partners for technologies. They are equal partners," said Chen Liang, an analyst with Huatai Securities.
Not without critics
Chinese automakers, however, are still newcomers with somewhat patchy reputations for quality, and are never short of critics.
"In China, they are going to develop some low cost EVs that won't have all the performance characteristics of cars we have in the Western world," said Kevin Wale, president and managing director for General Motors' China operations. "There is going to be quite a difference in the types of electric vehicles," Wale told Reuters.
The No.1 Detroit automaker will sell its much-touted Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid in China in 2011 following its North America debut later this year.
Foreign automakers are continuing to test the waters for hybrid or electric models in China, but many are moving cautiously, given the chilly reception of some pioneering hybrid models, including Toyota's Prius, GM's Buick Lacrosse and Honda Motor's gasoline-electric Civic.
A made-in-China Prius costs as much as $41,000, nearly matching the price tag of much bigger gasoline-powered Camry, making it a turn-off for Chinese buyers, who still have a penchant for big cars.
Annual sales of imported Civic hybrids are also a few hundred, according to a Honda official, who blamed the hefty price tag of nearly $40,000--roughly twice as much a China-made non-hybrid version--and lack of government incentives.
"Green cars like hybrids are expensive. Without government subsidies, the market just won't take off," said the Honda official, asked not to be identified.
Beijing pledged late last year to hand out rebates to private car buyers, expanding a pilot scheme targeting public transport operators, but no timetable has been set.
Wait and see
Some foreign automakers are also treading cautiously to see which technologies the government endorses before making any big investments.
Still, both GM and Nissan Motor are on track to import the Volt and Leaf next year, followed by BMW, which will bring its first hybrids for China--a gasoline-electric BMW X6 and BMW 7--later this year.
On top of a formidable price tag, a lack of industrial standardization and inadequate infrastructure network are also cited as major obstacles for plug-in vehicles.
The southern boom town of Shenzhen, where BYD rolled out its plug-in hybrid, F3DM, late last year, has just three charging stations.
Moreover, the facilities, built by a major Chinese state power grid, are off-limits to other entrants like Nissan's Leaf.
"You can't charge the Leaf at the facilities as the charger just won't fit in. We'll have to have our own facilities when we sell Leaf in Shenzhen," said Tsunehiko Nakagawa, vice president of Nissan China Investment.
"We are working with local governments and other Japanese carmakers right now. We want to make sure that new charging facilities to be built could be at least be shared by us all."
Comment
I suppose the reason behind a hybrid costing so much there is tariffs on foreign-made vehicles. Toyota and Honda need Chinese factories.
by Reuters
Chinese automakers, unscathed by a savage global downturn, are ramping up efforts to get more cleaner, low-emission vehicles on the roads, counting on the green drive to propel them into the top ranks of the global auto industry.
From leading Chinese auto group SAIC Motor to rising star Geely Automotive Holding, indigenous players will show off a host of new green vehicles at the Beijing auto show that starts this week, including some futuristic concept models.
"Green energy cars represent sort of gold mine on the horizon that all the companies hope to reach eventually," said Stephen Dyer, principal with A.T. Kearney China.
"Almost all the major Chinese manufacturers have on-going development programs. Some may be more politically motivated but clearly some are very serious pursuits that are backed by large investments and substantial research teams."
Big auto groups backed by government money, such as SAIC, are likely to emerge as winners, industry analysts say, while leading private-sector players, like Warren Buffet-backed BYD, will also be a front runner as it pushes into foreign markets.
But the road for low emission, alternative fuel vehicles in China is a long one. Sales of Toyota's Prius, the world's best-known green car, numbered just 300 in China last year, when it overtook the U.S. as the world's largest auto market.
"Frankly, it is still a little premature to say there is now or soon to be major customer demand for electric or hybrid cars in China or anywhere in the world," said A.T. Kearney's Dyer.
"In China, there may even been a higher bar to pass. This is because the majority of consumers are first time car buyers and they tend to be practical than the green energy car buyers in the U.S. who may have political or philosophical reasons."
Placing bets on the future
Still, many companies are betting heavily on an electric and alternative fuel future, and Chinese models are expected to snatch some significant share.
SAIC, which will showcase its self-developed electric car E1 and hybrid models at the auto show, is investing 6 billion yuan ($879 million) in green vehicles. Its hybrid Roewe 750 saloon is scheduled for mass production later this year, followed by a plug-in version of a smaller Roewe 550 and E1 in 2012.
Another state-backed heavyweight, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, unveiled its BE701 electric car in November and is building a 2.28 billion yuan production base on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, capable of making 50,000 electric vehicles and twice as many hybrids.
"There is still a technology gap between local and foreign (firms), but this is a relatively level playing field and the Chinese are not that far behind. They have a chance to catch up," said Mervin Guo, a senior analyst with J.D. Power.
Other industry observers cited Daimler's tie with BYD as a recognition of China's growing strength in this field.
"The Daimler-BYD tie is different from those in the early days when local automakers tended to rely heavily on their foreign partners for technologies. They are equal partners," said Chen Liang, an analyst with Huatai Securities.
Not without critics
Chinese automakers, however, are still newcomers with somewhat patchy reputations for quality, and are never short of critics.
"In China, they are going to develop some low cost EVs that won't have all the performance characteristics of cars we have in the Western world," said Kevin Wale, president and managing director for General Motors' China operations. "There is going to be quite a difference in the types of electric vehicles," Wale told Reuters.
The No.1 Detroit automaker will sell its much-touted Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid in China in 2011 following its North America debut later this year.
Foreign automakers are continuing to test the waters for hybrid or electric models in China, but many are moving cautiously, given the chilly reception of some pioneering hybrid models, including Toyota's Prius, GM's Buick Lacrosse and Honda Motor's gasoline-electric Civic.
A made-in-China Prius costs as much as $41,000, nearly matching the price tag of much bigger gasoline-powered Camry, making it a turn-off for Chinese buyers, who still have a penchant for big cars.
Annual sales of imported Civic hybrids are also a few hundred, according to a Honda official, who blamed the hefty price tag of nearly $40,000--roughly twice as much a China-made non-hybrid version--and lack of government incentives.
"Green cars like hybrids are expensive. Without government subsidies, the market just won't take off," said the Honda official, asked not to be identified.
Beijing pledged late last year to hand out rebates to private car buyers, expanding a pilot scheme targeting public transport operators, but no timetable has been set.
Wait and see
Some foreign automakers are also treading cautiously to see which technologies the government endorses before making any big investments.
Still, both GM and Nissan Motor are on track to import the Volt and Leaf next year, followed by BMW, which will bring its first hybrids for China--a gasoline-electric BMW X6 and BMW 7--later this year.
On top of a formidable price tag, a lack of industrial standardization and inadequate infrastructure network are also cited as major obstacles for plug-in vehicles.
The southern boom town of Shenzhen, where BYD rolled out its plug-in hybrid, F3DM, late last year, has just three charging stations.
Moreover, the facilities, built by a major Chinese state power grid, are off-limits to other entrants like Nissan's Leaf.
"You can't charge the Leaf at the facilities as the charger just won't fit in. We'll have to have our own facilities when we sell Leaf in Shenzhen," said Tsunehiko Nakagawa, vice president of Nissan China Investment.
"We are working with local governments and other Japanese carmakers right now. We want to make sure that new charging facilities to be built could be at least be shared by us all."
Comment
I suppose the reason behind a hybrid costing so much there is tariffs on foreign-made vehicles. Toyota and Honda need Chinese factories.
Hotel to guests: Pedal for electricity, get a voucher
April 21, 2010 5:00 AM PDT
by Juniper Foo
Ready to pedal? It will knock down your vacation tab.
(Credit: Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers) Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Those who happen to be stranded in Copenhagen by the ash clouds from Iceland's spewing volcano can check out the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers--if there are still available rooms, that is.
The 366-room Danish hotel, located five minutes from Copenhagen International Airport, is offering a radically cool eco initiative--possibly the first in the world--by letting guests pedal away on exercise bikes for a free meal. This not only provides a good workout, it helps reduce hotel guests' carbon footprint.
Two stationary bicycles are hooked up to generators, with an iPhone attached to the handlebar to display the wattage. Guests willing to sweat it out to deliver 10 watt hours of power score a meal worth about 240 Danish crowns ($44) in the hotel's restaurant or lobby bar. Not half bad for doing your part for the environment.
The "Cycle for Your Supper" program, which kicked off Monday for hotel guests only, will run for a year, and word is that if it's successful, we could see the eco initiative rolled out across the U.K. and possibly even internationally.
One does wonder, though, whether the deal will get suspended when teams of superfit cyclers descend on Copenhagen for the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup 2010 come May.
by Juniper Foo
Ready to pedal? It will knock down your vacation tab.
(Credit: Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers) Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Those who happen to be stranded in Copenhagen by the ash clouds from Iceland's spewing volcano can check out the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers--if there are still available rooms, that is.
The 366-room Danish hotel, located five minutes from Copenhagen International Airport, is offering a radically cool eco initiative--possibly the first in the world--by letting guests pedal away on exercise bikes for a free meal. This not only provides a good workout, it helps reduce hotel guests' carbon footprint.
Two stationary bicycles are hooked up to generators, with an iPhone attached to the handlebar to display the wattage. Guests willing to sweat it out to deliver 10 watt hours of power score a meal worth about 240 Danish crowns ($44) in the hotel's restaurant or lobby bar. Not half bad for doing your part for the environment.
The "Cycle for Your Supper" program, which kicked off Monday for hotel guests only, will run for a year, and word is that if it's successful, we could see the eco initiative rolled out across the U.K. and possibly even internationally.
One does wonder, though, whether the deal will get suspended when teams of superfit cyclers descend on Copenhagen for the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup 2010 come May.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sugar-to-diesel maker Amyris files for IPO
by Martin LaMonica
Biofuel company Amyris Biotechnologies said it plans to raise $100 million through an initial public offering, one of a number of energy start-ups now seeking to tap the stock market for capital.
The Emeryville, Calif., company on Friday filed its S-1 document with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in which it laid out its plans to tap sugar cane from Brazil, now used for producing ethanol, to make different chemical products, including diesel fuel.
A source for diesel or jet fuel--Brazilian sugar cane.
(Credit: Amyris Biotechnologies) The S-1 also spelled out the many risks that the Amyris faces, including the high costs of building biorefineries and the potential backlash against using genetically modified organisms to make its products.
Amyris manipulates micro-organisms, primarily yeasts, so that they consume sugar and produce a desired product, which could be diesel, jet fuel, or other chemical products. The company founders had originally received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to use its process for an antimalaria drug. Then, funded by venture capital companies including Khosla Ventures and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, they set out to also make liquid fuels using the same basic process.
The major advantage of making common hydrocarbons from sugar is that they can replace existing fuels and fit into the existing fuels infrastructure.
Amyris' strategy is to build biorefineries in partnership with Brazilian sugar cane processors and ethanol manufacturers. It set up a joint venture with Grupo Sao Martinho to start producing fuel next year at a facility that will cost between $80 million and $100 million, according to the prospectus. Working in Brazil gives the company access to a good source of sugar in sugar cane in a country with a highly developed ethanol industry. It also decreases the capital required to build facilities, Amyris said in its S-1.
Although Amyris has compelling technology, the S-1 document reminds potential investors of the numerous commercial hurdles that the company--like many other energy upstarts--face in bringing a product to market in fuels business. The company has test facilities but a limited operating record and is not yet cash-flow positive, having earned $64 million in revenue on expenses of nearly double that.
There are a number of green-tech IPOs planned globally this year, with the majority in wind and solar, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Among those IPO hopefuls are companies based in Silicon Valley, including Tesla Motors, solar company Solyndra, and biofuel company Codexis.
Comment
This could wind up like corn-based ethanol. When corn is udes, it drives up the prices of corn that is used for other things. This could also drive up the prices for sugar.
by Knightro2 April 19, 2010 6:48 AM PDT
Friendly typo alert. Something isn't right about this sentence: "The company founders were originally received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to use its process for an anti-malaria drug." (Drop the WERE).
Like this Reply to this comment by mike_ekim April 19, 2010 6:54 AM PDT
1) It's sad that this compny is chasing the money instead of fighting malaria. But then again, I'm not fighting malaria either...
2) Sugar is very expensive.
3) The increased demand for sugar will encourage more slash-and-burn deforestation. And a field of sugar does NOT sequester as much carbon as a field of large old-growth trees.
Like this Reply to this comment by mlamonica April 19, 2010 7:13 AM PDT
To be clear, the work on the anti-malaria drug artemisinin is still going on.
http://www.amyrisbiotech.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=256
http://www.artemisininproject.org/Project/index.htm
Like this by SactoGuy018 April 19, 2010 7:13 AM PDT
In the end, biofuels will come from one major source: oil-laden algae.
Unlike plant-based biomass, algae-based biomass won't interfere with food production, since oil-laden algae can grow even in seawater, which eliminates the expensive need to convert seawater to fresh water to "grow" millions of tons of algae.
Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
by solitare_pax April 19, 2010 7:41 AM PDT
You have a valid point: using crops suitable for food will only shift this from an energy crisis to a food crisis.
And considering algae-based biomass could be grown anywhere there is sun in a more controlled setting, it seems like a safer bet
Biofuel company Amyris Biotechnologies said it plans to raise $100 million through an initial public offering, one of a number of energy start-ups now seeking to tap the stock market for capital.
The Emeryville, Calif., company on Friday filed its S-1 document with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in which it laid out its plans to tap sugar cane from Brazil, now used for producing ethanol, to make different chemical products, including diesel fuel.
A source for diesel or jet fuel--Brazilian sugar cane.
(Credit: Amyris Biotechnologies) The S-1 also spelled out the many risks that the Amyris faces, including the high costs of building biorefineries and the potential backlash against using genetically modified organisms to make its products.
Amyris manipulates micro-organisms, primarily yeasts, so that they consume sugar and produce a desired product, which could be diesel, jet fuel, or other chemical products. The company founders had originally received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to use its process for an antimalaria drug. Then, funded by venture capital companies including Khosla Ventures and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, they set out to also make liquid fuels using the same basic process.
The major advantage of making common hydrocarbons from sugar is that they can replace existing fuels and fit into the existing fuels infrastructure.
Amyris' strategy is to build biorefineries in partnership with Brazilian sugar cane processors and ethanol manufacturers. It set up a joint venture with Grupo Sao Martinho to start producing fuel next year at a facility that will cost between $80 million and $100 million, according to the prospectus. Working in Brazil gives the company access to a good source of sugar in sugar cane in a country with a highly developed ethanol industry. It also decreases the capital required to build facilities, Amyris said in its S-1.
Although Amyris has compelling technology, the S-1 document reminds potential investors of the numerous commercial hurdles that the company--like many other energy upstarts--face in bringing a product to market in fuels business. The company has test facilities but a limited operating record and is not yet cash-flow positive, having earned $64 million in revenue on expenses of nearly double that.
There are a number of green-tech IPOs planned globally this year, with the majority in wind and solar, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Among those IPO hopefuls are companies based in Silicon Valley, including Tesla Motors, solar company Solyndra, and biofuel company Codexis.
Comment
This could wind up like corn-based ethanol. When corn is udes, it drives up the prices of corn that is used for other things. This could also drive up the prices for sugar.
by Knightro2 April 19, 2010 6:48 AM PDT
Friendly typo alert. Something isn't right about this sentence: "The company founders were originally received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to use its process for an anti-malaria drug." (Drop the WERE).
Like this Reply to this comment by mike_ekim April 19, 2010 6:54 AM PDT
1) It's sad that this compny is chasing the money instead of fighting malaria. But then again, I'm not fighting malaria either...
2) Sugar is very expensive.
3) The increased demand for sugar will encourage more slash-and-burn deforestation. And a field of sugar does NOT sequester as much carbon as a field of large old-growth trees.
Like this Reply to this comment by mlamonica April 19, 2010 7:13 AM PDT
To be clear, the work on the anti-malaria drug artemisinin is still going on.
http://www.amyrisbiotech.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=256
http://www.artemisininproject.org/Project/index.htm
Like this by SactoGuy018 April 19, 2010 7:13 AM PDT
In the end, biofuels will come from one major source: oil-laden algae.
Unlike plant-based biomass, algae-based biomass won't interfere with food production, since oil-laden algae can grow even in seawater, which eliminates the expensive need to convert seawater to fresh water to "grow" millions of tons of algae.
Like this Reply to this comment 2 people like this comment
by solitare_pax April 19, 2010 7:41 AM PDT
You have a valid point: using crops suitable for food will only shift this from an energy crisis to a food crisis.
And considering algae-based biomass could be grown anywhere there is sun in a more controlled setting, it seems like a safer bet
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tech helps fuel green businesses
April 16, 2010 8:48 AM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
It can be tempting to dismiss talk of sustainability in business as greenwash. But after spending a few days moving among the green-business elite, I feel like people are proving that concern for the planet is a source of innovation every day.
I spent the earlier part of the week at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference in Laguna Niguel, Calif., where representatives from leading-edge companies shared stories of how they profit from green technologies or products. This group is hardly representative of the business world as a whole and people well-versed in corporate sustainability probably didn't walk away with radical new ideas.
But for someone who follows green-technology business developments every day, it reminded me of how deep the potential is for tech and business innovation. And in many cases, the Web and IT play a significant role, particularly for us consumers. Here are some of the ideas that were floating around.
The recession has boosted the case for "going green."
The leaner economic times have increased focus on lowering costs. That makes investments in energy efficiency an easier sell because they typically have a relatively quick payback--on the order or months or a few years--and the technology is readily available.
Companies should "go green" to save money, not to improve their images, said Lee Scott, former CEO and current chairman of Wal-Mart.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica) Power consumption from electronics--think giant data centers--is one of the fastest growing consumers of electricity. At Dell's headquarters, IT is about one third of its electricity bill, with the rest split between lighting, and heating and cooling. By adopting virtualization in its data center, the company saved $50 million in energy, space, and labor over 18 months, according to Dell Chief Information Officer Robin Johnson. PCs are automatically shut down at night by software to save energy.
But energy is just one natural resource that corporations need to use wisely. Coca Cola, for example, has invested in water treatment facilities in some countries it operates in, a move that benefits the community and the company since it needs water and a healthy local economy to operate. Scarcity of natural resources and doing more with less is the premise behind IBM's Smarter Planet campaign which seeks to apply tech to transportation, urbanization, water, and energy efficiency.
"Whether you are a climate denier or not...there is a universal acceptance of the growing contention for resources," said Rich Lechner, vice president for energy and environment at IBM, told me. There's a strong economic component, too. "At the public sector, there's a real interest in sustainable economic development," he said.
Tech helps bridge gap between economy, ecology.
Pick your area and you'll find that technology can make Earth-friendly choices easier to make. Green buildings have historically been trophy homes or corporate headquarters designed to make a statement about a company's commitment to the environment. That's still the case, but the gap, if there is one at all, between paying a premium for green goods is narrowing for products, such as efficient lighting or materials made from recycled content.
Everyone knows we can lower the cost of clean energy and clean transportation, but there's a lot of innovation that can happen in materials and waste reduction. The first sustainability initiative at Wal-Mart was when one executive reduced packaging for a toy, which eliminated the need to ship 215 containers from China. Now, Wal-Mart is driving those reductions--and cost savings--through its supply chain of partners.
Dell developed packaging for a Netbook that is made of bamboo, sourced sustainably from China. The cost is the same as other packaging materials, and Dell expects it can be compostable. It also gives the company options if prices fluctuate for different packaging materials, according to Oliver Campbell, senior manager for global packaging engineering at Dell.
Dell developed bamboo packaging for its line of Netbooks, one area where the company is developing eco-friendly products.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET) The key is for employees to reconsider the environmental footprint of their jobs, people said. Chemistry companies, for example, can seek to make products from plants rather than fossil fuels or make more environmentally benign chemicals.
"We're looking at things in different ways. We're looking through the lens of sustainability and developing new technologies to address really big problems," said Scott Elrod, vice president and director of hardware systems Laboratory at the Palo Alto Research Center, which is developing technologies for cheaper water treatment or techniques to convert carbon dioxide from power plants into a liquid fuel.
It starts at the top.
Sustainability in business is different from corporate social-responsibility programs, which monitor the social and environmental impact of corporations, because sustainability can touch so many parts of a company, said Roger Ballentine, president of Green Strategies. But my impression is that this doesn't happen unless somebody high up in the organization makes a very visible commitment.
Bill Ford was considered a renegade when he began pushing Ford Motor to build fuel-efficient vehicles 10 years ago, including hybrids. He was also personally involved in the development of the Rouge River plant in Michigan, which took a number of steps to reduce its environmental impact. Those moves then, which may have seemed risky, have helped the company's position now, say employees.
"We wouldn't have the hybrid Escape if it weren't for Bill Ford. I was at Chrysler at the time and wondered, 'What are they doing?'" said Susan Cischke, group vice president for sustainability, environment, and safety engineering at Ford. Since then, the momentum has picked up and spread to different areas. "It used to be that sustainability was a side thing and you put out a report once a year. Now it's integrated into the core of the company," said Cischke.
IT is key ingredient to eco-products and services.
Car-sharing service Zipcar wouldn't be in business if it weren't for the Web and RFID technology. People reserve cars over the Web, using a PC or wireless device, and then access the cars with a card.
Arguably, it's a green business because it lets people in cities use cars occasionally, which eases congestion and promotes use of public transportation. The company estimates that each car it rents equates to 20 cars being taken off the road and a reduction of vehicle miles overall, said Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith.
Tech tools also help consumers manage their personal environment footprint, such as software to manage electric-car charging or to improve home energy efficiency with energy monitors. Another example: Ford on Friday released an application for its in-car software to help consumers find the most energy-efficient driving route.
Perhaps the bigger impact comes from using tech and the Web to inform consumers. The Sustainability Consortium, originally formed by Wal-Mart in 2008, is a group of companies and academics that are trying to create labels to convey the environmental attributes of goods, much the way nutritional labels work for food. It's incredibly complex, given that most of a product's environmental footprint stems from the supply chain of partners so this sort of system is unlikely to happen fast or be perfect.
"We are hoping to develop a tool to allow consumers to make better decisions and be better informed so they're making purchase decisions based on more than just price. That's the vision," said Matt Kistler, senior vice president of sustainability at Wal-Mart stores.
Information is a key part of recycling goods at the end of life, too. Furniture maker Herman Miller is a pioneer in designing products so that they can be recycled and made into new products. But until consumers know that old goods can be recycled, all green-oriented businesses will struggle to scale up their efforts, said Michael Volkeman, the company's former CEO.
For all the positive reinforcement around the prospects for green business, there wasn't a whole lot of optimism regarding policies to adequately address climate change in the U.S. That why businesses and consumers have a big role in shaping the future, said Yvon Chouinard, an icon in the world of business and sustainability. "The new generation, they vote with their dollars," he said. "If companies don't get this, they will be left behind."
by Martin LaMonica
It can be tempting to dismiss talk of sustainability in business as greenwash. But after spending a few days moving among the green-business elite, I feel like people are proving that concern for the planet is a source of innovation every day.
I spent the earlier part of the week at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference in Laguna Niguel, Calif., where representatives from leading-edge companies shared stories of how they profit from green technologies or products. This group is hardly representative of the business world as a whole and people well-versed in corporate sustainability probably didn't walk away with radical new ideas.
But for someone who follows green-technology business developments every day, it reminded me of how deep the potential is for tech and business innovation. And in many cases, the Web and IT play a significant role, particularly for us consumers. Here are some of the ideas that were floating around.
The recession has boosted the case for "going green."
The leaner economic times have increased focus on lowering costs. That makes investments in energy efficiency an easier sell because they typically have a relatively quick payback--on the order or months or a few years--and the technology is readily available.
Companies should "go green" to save money, not to improve their images, said Lee Scott, former CEO and current chairman of Wal-Mart.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica) Power consumption from electronics--think giant data centers--is one of the fastest growing consumers of electricity. At Dell's headquarters, IT is about one third of its electricity bill, with the rest split between lighting, and heating and cooling. By adopting virtualization in its data center, the company saved $50 million in energy, space, and labor over 18 months, according to Dell Chief Information Officer Robin Johnson. PCs are automatically shut down at night by software to save energy.
But energy is just one natural resource that corporations need to use wisely. Coca Cola, for example, has invested in water treatment facilities in some countries it operates in, a move that benefits the community and the company since it needs water and a healthy local economy to operate. Scarcity of natural resources and doing more with less is the premise behind IBM's Smarter Planet campaign which seeks to apply tech to transportation, urbanization, water, and energy efficiency.
"Whether you are a climate denier or not...there is a universal acceptance of the growing contention for resources," said Rich Lechner, vice president for energy and environment at IBM, told me. There's a strong economic component, too. "At the public sector, there's a real interest in sustainable economic development," he said.
Tech helps bridge gap between economy, ecology.
Pick your area and you'll find that technology can make Earth-friendly choices easier to make. Green buildings have historically been trophy homes or corporate headquarters designed to make a statement about a company's commitment to the environment. That's still the case, but the gap, if there is one at all, between paying a premium for green goods is narrowing for products, such as efficient lighting or materials made from recycled content.
Everyone knows we can lower the cost of clean energy and clean transportation, but there's a lot of innovation that can happen in materials and waste reduction. The first sustainability initiative at Wal-Mart was when one executive reduced packaging for a toy, which eliminated the need to ship 215 containers from China. Now, Wal-Mart is driving those reductions--and cost savings--through its supply chain of partners.
Dell developed packaging for a Netbook that is made of bamboo, sourced sustainably from China. The cost is the same as other packaging materials, and Dell expects it can be compostable. It also gives the company options if prices fluctuate for different packaging materials, according to Oliver Campbell, senior manager for global packaging engineering at Dell.
Dell developed bamboo packaging for its line of Netbooks, one area where the company is developing eco-friendly products.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET) The key is for employees to reconsider the environmental footprint of their jobs, people said. Chemistry companies, for example, can seek to make products from plants rather than fossil fuels or make more environmentally benign chemicals.
"We're looking at things in different ways. We're looking through the lens of sustainability and developing new technologies to address really big problems," said Scott Elrod, vice president and director of hardware systems Laboratory at the Palo Alto Research Center, which is developing technologies for cheaper water treatment or techniques to convert carbon dioxide from power plants into a liquid fuel.
It starts at the top.
Sustainability in business is different from corporate social-responsibility programs, which monitor the social and environmental impact of corporations, because sustainability can touch so many parts of a company, said Roger Ballentine, president of Green Strategies. But my impression is that this doesn't happen unless somebody high up in the organization makes a very visible commitment.
Bill Ford was considered a renegade when he began pushing Ford Motor to build fuel-efficient vehicles 10 years ago, including hybrids. He was also personally involved in the development of the Rouge River plant in Michigan, which took a number of steps to reduce its environmental impact. Those moves then, which may have seemed risky, have helped the company's position now, say employees.
"We wouldn't have the hybrid Escape if it weren't for Bill Ford. I was at Chrysler at the time and wondered, 'What are they doing?'" said Susan Cischke, group vice president for sustainability, environment, and safety engineering at Ford. Since then, the momentum has picked up and spread to different areas. "It used to be that sustainability was a side thing and you put out a report once a year. Now it's integrated into the core of the company," said Cischke.
IT is key ingredient to eco-products and services.
Car-sharing service Zipcar wouldn't be in business if it weren't for the Web and RFID technology. People reserve cars over the Web, using a PC or wireless device, and then access the cars with a card.
Arguably, it's a green business because it lets people in cities use cars occasionally, which eases congestion and promotes use of public transportation. The company estimates that each car it rents equates to 20 cars being taken off the road and a reduction of vehicle miles overall, said Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith.
Tech tools also help consumers manage their personal environment footprint, such as software to manage electric-car charging or to improve home energy efficiency with energy monitors. Another example: Ford on Friday released an application for its in-car software to help consumers find the most energy-efficient driving route.
Perhaps the bigger impact comes from using tech and the Web to inform consumers. The Sustainability Consortium, originally formed by Wal-Mart in 2008, is a group of companies and academics that are trying to create labels to convey the environmental attributes of goods, much the way nutritional labels work for food. It's incredibly complex, given that most of a product's environmental footprint stems from the supply chain of partners so this sort of system is unlikely to happen fast or be perfect.
"We are hoping to develop a tool to allow consumers to make better decisions and be better informed so they're making purchase decisions based on more than just price. That's the vision," said Matt Kistler, senior vice president of sustainability at Wal-Mart stores.
Information is a key part of recycling goods at the end of life, too. Furniture maker Herman Miller is a pioneer in designing products so that they can be recycled and made into new products. But until consumers know that old goods can be recycled, all green-oriented businesses will struggle to scale up their efforts, said Michael Volkeman, the company's former CEO.
For all the positive reinforcement around the prospects for green business, there wasn't a whole lot of optimism regarding policies to adequately address climate change in the U.S. That why businesses and consumers have a big role in shaping the future, said Yvon Chouinard, an icon in the world of business and sustainability. "The new generation, they vote with their dollars," he said. "If companies don't get this, they will be left behind."
Nuclear power: Friend or foe to renewable energy?
April 13, 2010 12:59 PM PDT
by Martin LaMonica
The nuclear power question: Sierra Club President Michael Brune (second from right) says that nuclear power is expensive and not safe, while others argue that the technology is mature and disposal issues can be dealt with. From left: David Crane, CEO of utility NRG Energy, environmentalist Stewart Brand, Brune, and James Connaugton of Constellation Energy.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET )
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.--As renewable energy gains steam, environmentalists are increasingly being asked whether to support their longtime enemy: nuclear power.
At the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference here, nuclear power has frequently entered the discussion over the future of clean energy. Prompted by government policies, utilities are investing in wind and solar power but there are limits to what renewable power can do, say people in the industry.
When environmentalists say that clean energy can supply all electricity needs in the near future, they're being idealistic, said David Crane, the CEO of utility NRG Energy, which has invested in solar and wind, but is seeking to build a nuclear power plant in Texas. Compared to carbon capture and underground storage at coal plants, nuclear is more mature, he said.
"For people who want to deal with realism, ask yourself what does a utility CEO do when the lights go out and the governor of the state calls you yelling and screaming," he said during a panel on Tuesday. "I'm not against renewable but you got to keep all of this in proportion. We need low-carbon or no-carbon baseload generation in this country."
Wind and solar power are intermittent, which means that they do not provide electricity continuously. Nuclear power plants can work round the clock and don't have carbon emissions during operation, which is the primary reason that environmentalist Stewart Brand now backs nuclear.
There is also the issue of cost. Nuclear, wind, and solar are all more expensive than generating electricity with natural gas at its current prices, said Crane. But if government policies do not include support for nuclear power, such as loan guarantees, then utilities will move to natural gas because it is less polluting than coal. But a spike in demand will drive up prices from $4 per million BTUs, which is where it is now, panelists said.
"Renewables could get to 20 or 30 percent of generation (from about 2 percent now) and we can get there affordably. But if you take nuclear out of the equation, the choice is not 50 percent renewable, the choice is taking natural gas to 40 or 50 percent," said James Connaughton, executive vice president for corporate affairs, public affairs, and environmental policy at utility Constellation Energy.
In the U.S. there are 26 proposals to build new power plants to meet growing electricity demand and three are in the running for government loan guarantees, said Connaughton. He projects a "symbiosis" between nuclear, natural gas, and renewable in the decades ahead where scaling up each power source will lower costs.
Environmental group the Sierra Club "enthusiastically" opposes nuclear power for a number of reasons, including its high cost, risks of handling nuclear waste, and risk of proliferation of weapons, said Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club.
"I can understand why we are having this conversation," he said. "But the only reason to invest in nuclear power is because we tried it before, because we know it can work. That's not a compelling reason, we need to rise to a challenge as a species, as a country."
By contrast, representatives from other environmental groups, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council, said on Monday that they were not totally opposed to additional government incentives for nuclear power.
Those groups expected that an energy and climate bill--now being crafted by the Senate--would include support for nuclear but not a huge expansion because of the costs, waste disposal, and proliferation risks of nuclear, said Frances Beineke, the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Nuclear, which now accounts for about 20 percent of power generation in the U.S., cannot get to 50 percent, as coal does now, because of cost, she said.
Solar, wind cheaper than nukes?
Policy questions aside, there is still an ongoing question over what the impact of technology improvements can have on the adoption rate of solar and wind, compared to other potential sources.
Bill Gross, the CEO of solar thermal company eSolar, is optimistic that solar can generate 20 percent of electricity in the U.S. by 2020, but it will only happen with lower costs. eSolar makes equipment for solar power plants using computer-controlled mirrors which create heat that makes steam to run an electricity turbine
"We're focused on price and to be competitive with solar thermal you need to focus on higher capacity factor (of how often a solar system can generate electricity). It's very hard to store electrons. It's easy to store heat so we can get a capacity factor of 60 to 65 percent," he said.
Oil giant BP has diversified into alternative energy because it sees a growing demand for energy across the world in the next 20 years. It has decided to focus its efforts on biofuels, solar, wind, and carbon, capture, and storage.
"We believe that onshore wind and solar PV (photovoltaics) can compete and are much more cost-competitive with nuclear or perhaps carbon capture and storage at this time given its newness," said Katrina Landis, the CEO of BP's Alternative Energy division.
Which one will scale up quickest? "It depends on government support. Governments need to be very clear on the rules and the rules need to be lasting," she said
by Martin LaMonica
The nuclear power question: Sierra Club President Michael Brune (second from right) says that nuclear power is expensive and not safe, while others argue that the technology is mature and disposal issues can be dealt with. From left: David Crane, CEO of utility NRG Energy, environmentalist Stewart Brand, Brune, and James Connaugton of Constellation Energy.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET )
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.--As renewable energy gains steam, environmentalists are increasingly being asked whether to support their longtime enemy: nuclear power.
At the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference here, nuclear power has frequently entered the discussion over the future of clean energy. Prompted by government policies, utilities are investing in wind and solar power but there are limits to what renewable power can do, say people in the industry.
When environmentalists say that clean energy can supply all electricity needs in the near future, they're being idealistic, said David Crane, the CEO of utility NRG Energy, which has invested in solar and wind, but is seeking to build a nuclear power plant in Texas. Compared to carbon capture and underground storage at coal plants, nuclear is more mature, he said.
"For people who want to deal with realism, ask yourself what does a utility CEO do when the lights go out and the governor of the state calls you yelling and screaming," he said during a panel on Tuesday. "I'm not against renewable but you got to keep all of this in proportion. We need low-carbon or no-carbon baseload generation in this country."
Wind and solar power are intermittent, which means that they do not provide electricity continuously. Nuclear power plants can work round the clock and don't have carbon emissions during operation, which is the primary reason that environmentalist Stewart Brand now backs nuclear.
There is also the issue of cost. Nuclear, wind, and solar are all more expensive than generating electricity with natural gas at its current prices, said Crane. But if government policies do not include support for nuclear power, such as loan guarantees, then utilities will move to natural gas because it is less polluting than coal. But a spike in demand will drive up prices from $4 per million BTUs, which is where it is now, panelists said.
"Renewables could get to 20 or 30 percent of generation (from about 2 percent now) and we can get there affordably. But if you take nuclear out of the equation, the choice is not 50 percent renewable, the choice is taking natural gas to 40 or 50 percent," said James Connaughton, executive vice president for corporate affairs, public affairs, and environmental policy at utility Constellation Energy.
In the U.S. there are 26 proposals to build new power plants to meet growing electricity demand and three are in the running for government loan guarantees, said Connaughton. He projects a "symbiosis" between nuclear, natural gas, and renewable in the decades ahead where scaling up each power source will lower costs.
Environmental group the Sierra Club "enthusiastically" opposes nuclear power for a number of reasons, including its high cost, risks of handling nuclear waste, and risk of proliferation of weapons, said Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club.
"I can understand why we are having this conversation," he said. "But the only reason to invest in nuclear power is because we tried it before, because we know it can work. That's not a compelling reason, we need to rise to a challenge as a species, as a country."
By contrast, representatives from other environmental groups, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council, said on Monday that they were not totally opposed to additional government incentives for nuclear power.
Those groups expected that an energy and climate bill--now being crafted by the Senate--would include support for nuclear but not a huge expansion because of the costs, waste disposal, and proliferation risks of nuclear, said Frances Beineke, the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Nuclear, which now accounts for about 20 percent of power generation in the U.S., cannot get to 50 percent, as coal does now, because of cost, she said.
Solar, wind cheaper than nukes?
Policy questions aside, there is still an ongoing question over what the impact of technology improvements can have on the adoption rate of solar and wind, compared to other potential sources.
Bill Gross, the CEO of solar thermal company eSolar, is optimistic that solar can generate 20 percent of electricity in the U.S. by 2020, but it will only happen with lower costs. eSolar makes equipment for solar power plants using computer-controlled mirrors which create heat that makes steam to run an electricity turbine
"We're focused on price and to be competitive with solar thermal you need to focus on higher capacity factor (of how often a solar system can generate electricity). It's very hard to store electrons. It's easy to store heat so we can get a capacity factor of 60 to 65 percent," he said.
Oil giant BP has diversified into alternative energy because it sees a growing demand for energy across the world in the next 20 years. It has decided to focus its efforts on biofuels, solar, wind, and carbon, capture, and storage.
"We believe that onshore wind and solar PV (photovoltaics) can compete and are much more cost-competitive with nuclear or perhaps carbon capture and storage at this time given its newness," said Katrina Landis, the CEO of BP's Alternative Energy division.
Which one will scale up quickest? "It depends on government support. Governments need to be very clear on the rules and the rules need to be lasting," she said
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