DOE Report Shows Shift to Energy-Efficient Ligh...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:55:11 +0000

The new report updates a similar DOE model
. . . of the 2001 U.S. lighting market inventory.
During the intervening decade, 2 trends emerged.
. . . First, there is push toward energy-saving lighting.
. . . Second, there is a continued increase in the demand for lighting,
. . . with most of the growth occurring in the residential sector,
. . . primarily because of an increase in the number of households,
. . . which increased from under 107 million in 2001
. . . to more than 113 million in 2010.

The study shows that, in 2010,
. . . lighting used roughly 700 terawatt-hours (TWh),
. . . or almost 19% of electricity produced in the United States.
The commercial sector accounted for almost 1/2 of total energy used for lighting,
. . . even with 4 billion fewer light bulbs installed than the residential sector.

The average system efficacy of installed lighting increased from
. . . 45 lumens per watt in 2001 to
. . . 58 lumens per watt in 2010,
. . . due mainly to a move from incandescent to compact fluorescent lamps
. . . in the residential sector, and from
. . . T12 to more-efficient T8 and T5 fluorescent lamps
. . . in the commercial and industrial sectors.

Source: cleantechnica

Hexaformer transformer

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:01:07 +0000

Warner Power officially opened its Hollis, NH plant Tuesday,
. . . where employees will build Hexaformers, a new,
. . . highly efficient type of electrical transformer.
Hexaformer AB founder Magnus Palmstierna says
. . . it has the potential to revolutionize the power industry.

Typical transformers, which are ubiquitous in everything from
. . . . . . the nation’s power distribution network to
. . . . . . homes,
. . . . . . factories and more,
. . . have square cores containing hundreds of components.

Hexaformer cores are made of continuous coils of steel bands wiring
. . . in a hexagon form – hence the name – which leads to
. . . the greatly increased efficiency, Palmstierna said.

More efficient transformers means money is saved.
. . . Studies have shown that transformers lose as much as
. . . 5% of the electricity generated in the United States.

Warner Power says that a wide-scale use of Hexaformers could eliminate
. . . 1.5% of that loss, saving
. . . 60 terawatts of electricity annually.

Warner Power builds transformers for industrial use,
. . . but the technology applied to the wider distribution network
. . . could save as much as $2.2 billion in energy costs,
. . . according to the company.

“The long-term goal is distribution because that’s where the big volume is,”
. . . said Peter Amos, the company’s senior vice president.
. . . “That’s a big marketplace.”

Hexaformer AB, the Sweden-based owner of the technology,
. . . is more involved in that industry, Palmstierna said.
Warner Power buys a license from Hexaformer AB to make and
. . . sell the transformers here and sell them to their own customers.

Hexaformers patented technology enables the manufacturing of closed symmetrical delta shaped transformer cores. Hexaformer claims, that conventional transformers are manufactured through time consuming cutting and stacking of electric steel into an E-shaped form (with larger waste material). Hexaformers transformer core creates value add to the energy utilities by increasing cross-margins with more effective transformers which decrease energy losses by 10 - 15 % compared to conventional E-types as well as lowering CAPEX costs by 25 - 30 % with less usage of raw material (2/3 of user price for transformers is based on raw material). By decreasing electric steel and copper need in manufacturing, we talk also about the environmental impacts, said CFOMattias Klintemar last week on phone.

Source: hexaformer1 . . . hexaformer2

Central America’s Largest Wind Farm comes Online

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:05:05 +0000

Gamesa and Iberdrola Renewables have brought the
. . . 102-MW Cerro de Hula wind farm in Honduras online,
. . . will boost Honduran electricity generation capacity by 10%.

With a $200-million investment, it took just over one year to build,
. . . a total of 51 Gamesa G87 2-MW wind turbines are now up and running,
. . . Honduras’ state-owned grid operator Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica
. . . . . . will take up and distribute Cerro de Hula’s electricity output
. . . . . . under the terms of a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

Holland has a lot of windmills, both old and new.

There is evidence that wind energy was used to propel boats along the Nile as early as 5000BC.
The earliest known windmills were in Persia (Iran) and looked like large paddle wheels.
In 200BC people in China and the Middle East used windmills to pump water and grind grain
The largest wind turbine in the world is in Hawaii. It stands 20 storeys high and has rotors the length of a football field.
The UK is the windiest country in Europe.
Wind is the fastest growing energy source worldwide.
An average wind speed of 14mph is required to convert wind energy into electricity.

Source: cleantechnica

Small garden Ideas

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:10:12 +0000

Garden landscaping often comes out as a challenge,
. . . especially when you are planning to grow
. . . some exquisite flowers and plants in a limited gardening space.

A big gardening space works wonders for designing your garden more intricately,
. . . but having little space or no space
. . . should not act as a constraint to a passionate gardener.
If you plan it right, you can make an evergreen garden
. . . out of a super small yard space
. . . or even a narrow strip of sideways gravels.
From incredible container garden to beautiful patio garden,
. .. here are some scintillating garden design ideas
. . . to welcome some greenery in your house.

Source: designbuzz

GREEN APPLE

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:43:56 +0000

Apple’s efforts to make its data center as energy efficient as possible
. . . will go a long way in ensuring that power is conserved.
. . . The center has also earned LEED certification.
Apple is building in Maiden, North Carolina:
. . . 20MW solar installation situated on 100 acres of land
. . . . . . will be capable of supplying energy worth 42 million kilowatt hours annually.
. . . 5MW fuel cell installation to help power the data center.
When completed, the installation will run on 100 percent biogas as well as provide
. . . 40 million kilowatt hours of energy every year.
. . . A white cool roof to reflect sunlight,
. . . A chilled water storage system that will transfer 10,400 kWh of power
. . . . . . from peak hours to off peak hours daily.
. . . . . . Also it will funnel outside air at night and during cold weather.
. . . . . . The use of the water system and the funneled air,
. . . . . . will allow the chillers to be switched off for more than 75% of the time.
. . . LED lights are equipped with motion sensors and
. . . . . . they too help in cutting down on power use.

Source: ecofriend

Green Jobs in Germany

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:38:53 +0000

By 2021, Germany will have :
. . . 8,700 megawatts of offshore wind power capacity, producing
. . . 33,000 jobs in the offshore wind power sector, causing revenue to grow
. . . 16.5 billion euros a decade from now,
. . . 90% of the added value will come from small and midsize companies and
. . . that does not even include revenue from the sale of offshore wind power.”

Japanese researchers are developing a hybrid offshore generator platform to
. . . harvest ocean energy,
. . . wind turbines and
. . . solar arrays.

Wind Lens turbine has already been tested in the Chinese desert.
The 3.6 kilowatt turbines on an 18-meter floating, semi-submersible platform
. . . put into the water in the fall of 2011 in Hakata Bay
. . . to test their suitability in local wind and wave conditions.
. . . Furthermore, the researchers want to see how the turbines and
. . . the platform hold up in saltwater.

Stage 1: Shaped as a hexagon, the platforms can be locked into each other
. . . to provide a uniform single structure that can be expanded.
Stage 2: 60 meters across platform installed 2 kilometers off the coast,
. . . 100 kilowatt wind turbines installed on top.
Stage 3: 150 meters across platform 2-megawatt wind turbines.
. . . Part of the remaining space between the turbines atop the platform
. . . can then be used to harvest solar energy, making the hexagon a harvester of
. . . wind, ocean, and solar energy.

Source: Clean Technica . . . renewablesinternational

Why food manufacturers should take biodiversity...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:38:00 +0000

Without vibrant ecosystems, our food system will become less diverse and less resilient, says Andrew Kuyk.

Why should the number of other species on the planet be an issue for food manufacturers? After all, the fossil record tells us that there have been five previous waves of mass extinction, including the dinosaurs – and if it wasn’t for these wipe-outs, we might never have evolved! So why worry now, if a few birds and insects are going the same way…?

Because the habitats and resources around us are ultimately as vital to our survival as they are to that of many other species currently under threat. And because that threat is largely the result of our own actions. To some extent, we can use technology to insulate ourselves – and other life-forms – from the more immediate consequences of our behaviour. We can pollinate plants without the aid of insects, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without rainforests, and purify water without healthy soils…

But we won’t be able to stand in for all of these ‘ecosystem services’. They rely on the interaction of myriad plants, animals and micro-organisms: it’s not a one-man job. And without them, our food system will become less diverse and less resilient. As climate conditions change, it’s increasingly important that we have a biodiverse world: a sort of genetic reserve on which we will almost certainly need to draw to cope with the challenges ahead.

We have no way of knowing which species we can ‘afford’ to squander
The problem is that we have no way of knowing now which species we can ‘afford’ to squander, or what the unintended consequences might be of allowing small but vital parts of larger systems to be lost. In the words of Joni Mitchell, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”. Or, as John Beddington, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government, put it in the Foresight Report: “The implications of failing to act [to protect biodiversity] are grave and potentially irreversible, not least for the global food system”.

This is why food manufacturers should take the question of biodiversity seriously, and consider it integral to the food security debate. Cereal company Jordans is a great example of a business that has fully incorporated its commitment to biodiversity into its operations. For over 25 years, it has worked only with grain farmers who dedicate 10% of their land to wildlife habitats.

On a much smaller scale, Nestlé’s award-winning butterfly meadow at Fawden, Newcastle Upon Tyne, demonstrates how to raise awareness and engage employees. The meadow aims to encourage indigenous wildlife, including Large White and Red Admiral butterflies, to an area where there had been little focus on natural habitat.

However, translating awareness into wider action is a challenge. Not only do market mechanisms currently fail to capture the costs of environmental impacts: they often appear to incentivise habitat destruction, by rewarding an increase in cultivable land, or the overuse of chemicals to increase yields.

Buying from certified sustainable sources frequently involves a price premium, reflecting not only the more limited pool of supply, but also the additional costs of segregation and identity preservation. For many global commodities, the impacts will vary enormously according to where, when and how they are grown and what the alternative land uses might be.

It’s an issue the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) recently addressed in a workshop in collaboration with Forum for the Future, which looked at the practical implications for sourcing wheat. This followed another workshop withWWF, which set out the rationale for food manufacturers to act on supply chain and biodiversity issues.

The supply chain has been a key focus for FDF in the past year, following a review of our Five-fold Environmental Ambition, which has also been effective in cutting waste and reducing the emissions of UK food manufacturers.

Now, we are working on guidance for our members to ensure their environmental performance continues to improve, so that they can feed those seven billion, and counting…

Andrew Kuyk is Director of Sustainability and Competitiveness, Food and Drink Federation.

Solar Tea Cart

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:57:29 +0000

In cities throughout India,
. . . street vending is a way of life,

. . . with many street-food carts (called Thattukada's) that burn fossil fuels.

Christopher Gregory of Bent Harbor, Michigan, has a vision
. . . to reduce Thattukada's carbon footprint, using solar energy to heat water.

This concept design, is the addition of a low-tech hot water system to the carts.
. . . Composed of
. . . . . . copper water coil,
. . . . . . rubber gasket,
. . . . . . coated aluminum liner,
. . . . . . fiberglass insulation,
. . . . . . ABS plastic shell–protected by glass and
. . . . . . supported by a layer of corrugated sheet metal.

To produce hot water, the vendor simply
. . . . . . pumps in cold water and
. . . . . . adjusts the solar thermal system, via 4 attached cords,
. . . . .. .to pick up the best angle of the sun.
After the water has been heated,
. . . it is delivered to a stovetop set-up via black plastic tubing,
. . . where it can be used to keep hot foods hot, via a double broiler,
. . . or directly for hot beverages, such as tea.

The Sun Thattukada provides street vendors with a sustainable alternative
. . . to heating their beverages, such as tea,

This project was the result of a year-long class with MBA students and
. . . a trip to India to refine the design:
. . . . . . which saves money for fuel,
. . . . . . is simple and convient to operated and maintain,
. . . . . . Multifunctional for cooking and keeping,
. . . . . . . . . both food and beverages hot, and
. . . . . . reduce's Thattukada's carbon footprints.

Source: Cart1 . . . Cart2

New Utility-Scale Solar PV Inverter Technology...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:44:35 +0000

“A new inverter technology
. . . allows inverters to act as phase-shift oscillators,
. . . thereby providing the grid with reactive power from solar plants even overnight
. . . and lowering the cost of grid expansion considerably in the process,”
. . . Heiko Schwarzburger and Craig Morris of Renewables International write.

This gives another boost to utility-scale solar
. . . as a key ingredient in the quick, reliable, and efficient switch
. . . to a 100%-renewable energy economy.

The German grid is broken up into 4 levels.
. . . Ultra high-voltage lines have at least 380 kilovolts and
. . . high-voltage lines at least 110, whereas
. . . medium-voltage lines that regionally distribute power have 20 kilovolts – and
. . . local distribution grids have 400 volts and 3 phases.

If too much energy is exported to the grid,
. . . the voltage increases along with frequency.
. . . Lines then began to overheat, and
. . . grid operators provide additional reactive power from central plants.
Unfortunately, Germany has less reactive power in the south
. . . now that so many nuclear plants have been shut off there.

“But utility-scale solar can do the job,” Beck says.
. . . “A solar farm with hundreds of megawatts
. . . can produce enough reactive power
. . . to offset the grid-stabilizing effect of a nuclear plant.”

The new inverter function with software from SMA
. . . can also be used in inverters for wind turbines.
But small inverters for rooftop arrays cannot perform this function
. . . because the equipment would be too expensive.

Germany has a growing share of solar power, wind power, and power from biomass.
But increasingly, reactive power – not real power
. . . is turning out to be the bottleneck when it comes to stabilizing the grid.
“If a large solar plant in Bavaria produces reactive power,
. . . ultra high-voltage lines to the North Sea
. . . might even be able to be utilized better,” Beck surmises.
“In our estimation, it would then only cost half as much to expand the grid”
. . . because local reactive power and high-temperature cables
. . . would mean that the amount of power on the grid
. . . could be tripled without having to build a single new pylon.

Phases of power shift when the 3 phases go out of sync.
. . . By pushing the 3 phases back into rhythm,
. . . the grid can take up much more power. As Beck explains,
“During the day, the solar array affects the phase shift via the energy it produces.
. . . At night or when the sky is cloudy,
. . . it then takes some of the real power off the grid and
. . . puts back a much larger phase shift with very low losses.”

Source: Clean Technica

Electric cars: Fully Charged 2012 announcement

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:08:31 +0000

Announcing the upcoming series of Fully Charged,
. . . looking at the future of energy and
. . . the amazing new electric cars coming onto the market this year.
http://www.youtube.c...w?feature=watch

So here, we go again, higher oil prices, good f...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Story from Associated Press.

Oil prices jumped to a nine-month high above $105 a barrel on Monday after Iran said it halted crude exports to Britain and France in an escalation of a dispute over the Middle Eastern country's nuclear program.

By Monday afternoon, benchmark March crude was up $2.02 to $105.26 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since May. The contract rose 93 cents to settle at $103.24 per barrel in New York on Friday.

Iran's announcement will likely have minimal impact on supplies, analysts said, because only about 3 percent of France's oil consumption is from Iranian sources. Britain had not imported oil from the Islamic republic in six months.

"The price rise is more a reflection of concerns about the further escalation in tensions between Iran and the West," said commodity analyst Caroline Bain of the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Banning the tiny quantities of exports to the U.K. and France involves very little risk for Iran — indeed quite the opposite, it catches the headlines and leads to a higher global oil price, which is something Iran is very keen to encourage."

Markets in the United States are closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.

Iran's oil ministry said Sunday it stopped crude shipments to British and French companies in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union after the bloc-imposed sanctions on Iran's crucial fuel exports. They include a freeze of the country's central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July.

Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had warned earlier this month that Tehran could cut off oil exports to "hostile" European nations. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18 percent of Iran's oil exports.

Tehran also is considering extending the embargo to other European countries, a semiofficial Iranian news agency reported Monday.

The head of Iran's state oil company Ahmad Qalehbani was quoted by the Mehr agency as saying that the country would stop selling crude to nations who take action against Tehran.

The EU sanctions, along with other punitive measures imposed by the U.S., are part of Western efforts to derail Iran's disputed nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at developing atomic weapons. Iran denies the charges, and says its program is for peaceful purposes.

Oil prices also rose on hopes that Greece's new bailout deal will be approved on Monday as well as by China's decision to boost money supply bid to spur lending and economic growth. China's central bank said Saturday it will lower the ratio of funds that banks must hold as reserves, a move that frees tens of billions of dollars.

Oil has jumped from $96 earlier this month amid optimism the global economy may grow more this year than previously expected.

J.P. Morgan raised its Brent crude price forecast to as high as $135 from $120 — on Monday, the April Brent crude contract was up 79 cents at $120.37 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

"Building economic momentum has the potential to pull oil prices higher for the next 12 to 24 months," J.P. Morgan said in a report. In other energy trading in March contracts, heating oil gained 3 cents to $3.22 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 3.2 cents to $3.22 per gallon. Natural gas lost 7 cents to $2.62 per 1,000 cubic feet.

From E3 Wise
Considering all the products derived from oil, will we have a repeat of 2008’s economic crisis if oil continues to rise? What do You think.

Electric Bike design

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:34:57 +0000

This Electric vehicle's batteries can be charged from 3 sources:
. . . . . . Pedaling,
. . . . . . Solar cells on the roof,
. . . . . . charge it from the grid,
. . . it is self-balancing and
. . . can spin 360 degrees in it's own foot-print.

Water bottle brings light into the slums

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:04:05 +0000

A simple mix of water and chlorine is brightening homes in the Philippines.

‘Appropriate’ technologies such as the wind-up radio are all about clever devices that use less energy than their hi-tech equivalents, with the added benefits of being controlled by local people and easily replicable.

It’s incredibly rare to find examples of technologies that go further and negate the need for power altogether. But in the slums of Manila a device called the ‘Liter of Light’ [sic] is doing just that. The design – popularised by aYouTube video – is so brilliant in its simplicity it makes you gasp.

The Liter of Light uses discarded plastic drink bottles to bring light into dark slum homes, without the need for a single watt of electricity. The bottles are filled with water and a few spoonfuls of chlorine (to deter algae), and are cut into the corrugated iron roofs of shacks, where slum dwellers live in near darkness. It’s a highly appropriate technology for a country like the Philippines, where electricity supply is in many areas either unavailable, unreliable or prohibitively expensive.

The bottle doesn’t only let light in, but refracts it; on a sunny day, it provides as much light as a 50 watt bulb. At just £2, it takes an hour to install. The device was pioneered by the charity, MyShelter Foundation, which trains residents on how to make them, and the City of Manila government supported the scheme. The aim is to light up a million homes in the Philippines by 2012. – Charlotte Sankey

Siemens to increase power transmission capacity...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:46:50 +0000

The grid connection between Scotland and England,
. . .designed as a low-loss high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system,
. . . will have a rating of 2200 megawatts (MW).

It will be the first submarine interconnector ever
. . . using a DC voltage level of 600 kilovolts (kV).
. . . The highest voltage level used to date was 500 kV.

The Western HVDC Link project will provide much needed additional power
. . . transmission capacity on Britain’s transmission system
. . . as the UK heads toward a low carbon economy.
The power link will help to balance supply and demand within the grid sections
. . . in light of the continued growth of remote and fluctuating renewables.

Raising the voltage level in the cable by 20%
. . . also enhances its transmission capacity by 1/5th.
. . . The transmission losses in the cable are simultaneously reduced by 1/3rd,”
. . says Udo Niehage, CEO of the Power Transmission Division of Siemens Energy.

Higher voltage levels in the cables allow higher power transmission capacity
. . . with the same diameter of copper in the cable and
. . . thus reduce the cost of material used.
. . . They also mean lower transmission losses.
The total power loss in the link, caused by the 2 conversions
. . . from AC to DC and back to AC
. . . as well as by the ohmic resistance of the cables
. . . will be less than 3%.

Source: 86wind

National Lab 'Flips Switch' on East Coa...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 02:33:00 +0000

The Energy Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory
. . . “flipped the switch” on the largest solar photovoltaic array
. . . in the eastern United States.
The 164,312 solar panels hosted at the Lab in New York State
. . . one of the largest solar farms built on federal property in the nation
. . . will produce enough energy to power up to 4,500 homes.
It boasts the smallest carbon footprint of any solar array with its amount of output.

Source: energy.gov

The next generation MUV(multipurpose utility ve...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:27:43 +0000

Tata to launch the new model of tata nano(pixel) in 2012.

Source: Pixel

Is a 'nudge' in the right direction all...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:22:43 +0000

"Nudging" is a way of influencing behavior without using force or incentives.

The whole idea is that we don't force anyone to do anything
. . . it's about helping people make the right choices to reach their own objectives.

. . . "Click" on source below, to see more "Green Nudging."

Source: cnn

Redesign Health Care

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:01:21 +0000

How cost savings and greater efficiency could be achieved through clever design.
1) Nothing touches the floor (Efficient Cleaning)
2) Privacy in every space, for every patient
3) Cheap doesn't mean poor quality
4) Speed (Improve patient turnaround)
5) Better Information Systems to reassure patient and families
6) Reduce the amount of work for people in the system
7) Smarter, more multifunctional use of space
8) At home in Hospital (Self-funding entertainment)
9) Can't they just be nicer to look at (aesthetics in the therapeutic environment)

Source: The-Health-Manifesto2.pdf

heat exchanger 40 times more efficient than the...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:38:05 +0000

Used in large-scale commercial settings such as
. . . . . . refrigeration systems,
. . . . . .power plants and
. . . . . .petroleum refineries,
. . . heat exchangers are massive machines
. . . that transfer heat from one medium to another
. . . in order to regulate the temperature of industrial processes.

Because of the massive scale,
. . . this heat transfer results in enormous energy demands and
. . . huge drains on environmental resources.

With the collaboration of PhD student and doctoral fellow Mohammed Fayed,
. . . Vatistas realized that swirling flow could dramatically increase heat transfer exchange
. . . and reengineered heat exchangers to produce a prototype that is
. . . 40 times more efficient than the traditional model.
This represents enormous energy savings, lower operating costs and
. . . far-reaching industrial implications.

Source: eurekalert

European carmakers: Too many cars, Too few buyers

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:57:30 +0000

Europe’s volume (non-premium—carmakers) are in trouble.
. . . France’s Peugeot-Citroën,
. . . Italy’s Fiat and Opel-Vauxhall
. . . . . . (the European arm of GM, America’s biggest carmaker)
. . . have all seen their European sales fall.

To sell their cars,
. . . they have to offer discounts up to 20%-30% off the list price. Britain’s car market also shrank, by more than 4%.

Source: economist