Mayor Bloomberg still touting congestion-pricing plan
BY FRANK LOMBARDI and ADAM LISBERG
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
Tuesday, October 9th 2007
Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that his congestion-pricing plan is a good thing for mass transit in the city - even though it would cost the MTA an extra $767 million to set up and $104 million a year to operate.
"We need mass transit in places that it's not currently existing, and we need mass transit that is faster and we need mass transit that is better and more pleasurable," Bloomberg said. Bloomberg's plan would charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to drive into Manhattan below 86th St. on weekdays. He claims it would keep 112,000 cars and trucks off the streets each day and generate $380 million a year for mass transit.
The federal government has awarded New York $354 million to set up a congestion-pricing system, but the MTA says in a new report that it needs far more money to accommodate all the people who would stop driving into Manhattan.
"Successful implementation of the city plan will require the MTA to provide a full complement of new and enhanced service," the report says. "Neither the operating nor capital costs associated with these improvements are provided for."
The MTA said it would need 309 new buses to serve additional riders, including 12 new express routes in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, and 46 new subway cars to run more frequently on the 1, E and F lines and to make C trains longer.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/09/2007-10-09_mayor_bloomberg_still_touting_congestion.html?print=1
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Cities Take the Lead on Climate Change
By KARL RITTER
VAXJO, Sweden (AP)
When this quiet city in southern Sweden decided in 1996 to wean itself off fossil fuels, most people doubted the ambitious goal would have any impact beyond the town limits. A few melting glaciers later, Vaxjo is attracting a green pilgrimage of politicians, scientists and business leaders from as far afield as the U.S. and North Korea seeking inspiration from a city program that has allowed it to cut CO2 emissions 30 percent since 1993.
Vaxjo is a pioneer in a growing movement in dozens of European cities, large and small, that aren't waiting for national or international measures to curb global warming. From London's congestion charge to Paris' city bike program and Barcelona's solar power campaign, initiatives taken at the local level are being introduced across the continent — often influencing national policies instead of the other way around.
"People used to ask: Isn't it better to do this at a national or international level?" said Henrik Johansson, environmental controller in Vaxjo, a city of 78,000 on the shores of Lake Helga, surrounded by thick pine forest in the heart of Smaland province. "We want to show everyone else that you can accomplish a lot at the local level."
The European Union, mindful that many member states are failing to meet mandated emissions cuts under the Kyoto climate treaty, has taken notice of the trend and is encouraging cities to adopt their own emissions targets. The bloc awarded one of its inaugural Sustainable Energy Europe awards this year to Vaxjo, which aims to have cut emissions by 50 percent by 2010 and 70 percent by 2025.
"We are convinced that the cities are a key element to change behavior and get results," said Pedro Ballesteros Torres, manager of the Sustainable Energy Europe campaign. "Climate change is a global problem but the origin of the problem is very local." So far only a handful of European capitals have set emissions targets, including Stockholm, Copenhagen and London. Torres said he hopes to convince about 30 European cities to commit to targets next year. While such goals are welcome, they may not always be the best way forward, said Simon Reddy, who manages the C40 project, a global network of major cities exchanging ideas on tackling climate change.
"At the moment a lot of cities don't know what they're emitting so it's very difficult to set targets," Reddy said. More important than emissions targets, he said, is that cities draft action plans, outlining specific goals needed to reduce emissions, like switching a certain percentage of the public transit system to alternative fuels.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone's Climate Action Plan calls for cutting the city's CO2 emissions by 60 percent in 2025, compared to 1990 levels. However, planners acknowledge the cuts are not realistic unless the government introduces a system of carbon pricing. Barcelona, Spain's second biggest city, has, since 2006, required all new and renovated buildings to install solar panels to supply at least 60 percent of the energy needed to heat water. The project has been emulated by dozens of Spanish cities and inspired national legislation with similar, though less stringent, requirements, said Angels Codina Relat of the Barcelona Energy Agency.
It's not only in Europe that cities are taking action on climate change. Several U.S. cities including Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle have launched programs to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Bogota, the capital of Colombia, has reduced emissions with the TransMilenio municipal bus system and an extensive network of bicycle paths.
In Vaxjo, (pronounced VECK-shur), the vast majority of emissions cuts have been achieved at the heating and power plant, which replaced oil with wood chips from local sawmills as its main source of fuel. Ashes from the furnace are returned to the forest as nutrients. "This is the best fir in Sweden," said plant manager Ulf Johnsson, scooping up a fistful of wood chips from a giant heap outside the factory.
He had just led Michael Wood, the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, on a guided tour of the facility, which is considered state of the art. Not only does it generate electricity, but the water that is warmed up in the process of cooling the plant is used to heat homes and offices in Vaxjo. Every week, foreign visitors arrive to see Vaxjo's environmental campaign. Last year, even a delegation of 10 energy officials from reclusive North Korea got a tour.
A similar but much larger system is in place in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, where waste heat from incineration and combined heat and power plants is pumped through a purpose-built 800-mile network of pipes to 97 percent of city. Copenhagen is often cited as a climate pioneer among European cities. It cut CO2 emissions by 187,600 tons annually in the late '90s by switching from coal to natural gas and biofuels at its energy plants. Its goal is to reduce emissions by 35 percent by 2010, compared to 1990 levels, even more ambitious than Denmark's national target of 21 percent cuts under the Kyoto accord.
In 1995, the city became one of the first European capitals to introduce a public bicycle service that lets people pick up and return bikes at dozens of stations citywide for a small fee. Similar initiatives have since taken root in Paris and several other European cities. Next, Copenhagen plans to spend about $38 million on various initiatives to get more residents to use bicycles instead of cars.
Transport is one of the hardest areas for local leaders to control since traffic is not confined to a single city. Without stronger national policies promoting biofuels over gasoline, Vaxjo, for one, will never reach its long-term target of becoming free of fossil fuels. But it's doing what it can locally. So-called "green cars" running on biofuels park for free anywhere in the city. About one-fifth of the city's own fleet runs on biogas produced at the local sewage treatment plant.
Using biofuels instead of gasoline in cars is generally considered to cut CO2 emissions, although some scientists say greenhouse gases released during the production of biofuel crops can offset those gains. Vaxjo has also invested in energy efficiency, from the light bulbs used in street lights to a new residential area with Europe's tallest all-wood apartment buildings. Wood requires less energy to produce than steel or concrete, and also less transportation since Vaxjo is in the middle of forests.
Although Vaxjo is tiny by comparison, the C40 group, including major metropolitan centers such as New York, Mexico City and Tokyo, has been impressed by the city's progress and uses it as an example of "best practices" around the world.
"They're a small town," Reddy said. "Apply that to 7 million? It's doable but its going to take a lot longer."
On the Net:
City of Vaxjo: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.vaxjo.se&usg=AFQjCNHejfZTzBmrVkSyvQvDnVE4Fh_aZQ
C40 cities: http://www.c40cities.org/
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBGIgfbWCSCTLsKDJTXae26YRLowD8S8FGKG0
By KARL RITTER
VAXJO, Sweden (AP)
When this quiet city in southern Sweden decided in 1996 to wean itself off fossil fuels, most people doubted the ambitious goal would have any impact beyond the town limits. A few melting glaciers later, Vaxjo is attracting a green pilgrimage of politicians, scientists and business leaders from as far afield as the U.S. and North Korea seeking inspiration from a city program that has allowed it to cut CO2 emissions 30 percent since 1993.
Vaxjo is a pioneer in a growing movement in dozens of European cities, large and small, that aren't waiting for national or international measures to curb global warming. From London's congestion charge to Paris' city bike program and Barcelona's solar power campaign, initiatives taken at the local level are being introduced across the continent — often influencing national policies instead of the other way around.
"People used to ask: Isn't it better to do this at a national or international level?" said Henrik Johansson, environmental controller in Vaxjo, a city of 78,000 on the shores of Lake Helga, surrounded by thick pine forest in the heart of Smaland province. "We want to show everyone else that you can accomplish a lot at the local level."
The European Union, mindful that many member states are failing to meet mandated emissions cuts under the Kyoto climate treaty, has taken notice of the trend and is encouraging cities to adopt their own emissions targets. The bloc awarded one of its inaugural Sustainable Energy Europe awards this year to Vaxjo, which aims to have cut emissions by 50 percent by 2010 and 70 percent by 2025.
"We are convinced that the cities are a key element to change behavior and get results," said Pedro Ballesteros Torres, manager of the Sustainable Energy Europe campaign. "Climate change is a global problem but the origin of the problem is very local." So far only a handful of European capitals have set emissions targets, including Stockholm, Copenhagen and London. Torres said he hopes to convince about 30 European cities to commit to targets next year. While such goals are welcome, they may not always be the best way forward, said Simon Reddy, who manages the C40 project, a global network of major cities exchanging ideas on tackling climate change.
"At the moment a lot of cities don't know what they're emitting so it's very difficult to set targets," Reddy said. More important than emissions targets, he said, is that cities draft action plans, outlining specific goals needed to reduce emissions, like switching a certain percentage of the public transit system to alternative fuels.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone's Climate Action Plan calls for cutting the city's CO2 emissions by 60 percent in 2025, compared to 1990 levels. However, planners acknowledge the cuts are not realistic unless the government introduces a system of carbon pricing. Barcelona, Spain's second biggest city, has, since 2006, required all new and renovated buildings to install solar panels to supply at least 60 percent of the energy needed to heat water. The project has been emulated by dozens of Spanish cities and inspired national legislation with similar, though less stringent, requirements, said Angels Codina Relat of the Barcelona Energy Agency.
It's not only in Europe that cities are taking action on climate change. Several U.S. cities including Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle have launched programs to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Bogota, the capital of Colombia, has reduced emissions with the TransMilenio municipal bus system and an extensive network of bicycle paths.
In Vaxjo, (pronounced VECK-shur), the vast majority of emissions cuts have been achieved at the heating and power plant, which replaced oil with wood chips from local sawmills as its main source of fuel. Ashes from the furnace are returned to the forest as nutrients. "This is the best fir in Sweden," said plant manager Ulf Johnsson, scooping up a fistful of wood chips from a giant heap outside the factory.
He had just led Michael Wood, the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, on a guided tour of the facility, which is considered state of the art. Not only does it generate electricity, but the water that is warmed up in the process of cooling the plant is used to heat homes and offices in Vaxjo. Every week, foreign visitors arrive to see Vaxjo's environmental campaign. Last year, even a delegation of 10 energy officials from reclusive North Korea got a tour.
A similar but much larger system is in place in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, where waste heat from incineration and combined heat and power plants is pumped through a purpose-built 800-mile network of pipes to 97 percent of city. Copenhagen is often cited as a climate pioneer among European cities. It cut CO2 emissions by 187,600 tons annually in the late '90s by switching from coal to natural gas and biofuels at its energy plants. Its goal is to reduce emissions by 35 percent by 2010, compared to 1990 levels, even more ambitious than Denmark's national target of 21 percent cuts under the Kyoto accord.
In 1995, the city became one of the first European capitals to introduce a public bicycle service that lets people pick up and return bikes at dozens of stations citywide for a small fee. Similar initiatives have since taken root in Paris and several other European cities. Next, Copenhagen plans to spend about $38 million on various initiatives to get more residents to use bicycles instead of cars.
Transport is one of the hardest areas for local leaders to control since traffic is not confined to a single city. Without stronger national policies promoting biofuels over gasoline, Vaxjo, for one, will never reach its long-term target of becoming free of fossil fuels. But it's doing what it can locally. So-called "green cars" running on biofuels park for free anywhere in the city. About one-fifth of the city's own fleet runs on biogas produced at the local sewage treatment plant.
Using biofuels instead of gasoline in cars is generally considered to cut CO2 emissions, although some scientists say greenhouse gases released during the production of biofuel crops can offset those gains. Vaxjo has also invested in energy efficiency, from the light bulbs used in street lights to a new residential area with Europe's tallest all-wood apartment buildings. Wood requires less energy to produce than steel or concrete, and also less transportation since Vaxjo is in the middle of forests.
Although Vaxjo is tiny by comparison, the C40 group, including major metropolitan centers such as New York, Mexico City and Tokyo, has been impressed by the city's progress and uses it as an example of "best practices" around the world.
"They're a small town," Reddy said. "Apply that to 7 million? It's doable but its going to take a lot longer."
On the Net:
City of Vaxjo: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.vaxjo.se&usg=AFQjCNHejfZTzBmrVkSyvQvDnVE4Fh_aZQ
C40 cities: http://www.c40cities.org/
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBGIgfbWCSCTLsKDJTXae26YRLowD8S8FGKG0
The Poor Fly Under the Solar Water Heating Radar
Gail Jennings
CAPE TOWN, Oct 12 (IPS/IFEJ) -
Earlier this year, IPS reported that the South African coastal city of Cape Town was debating a "first of a kind" bylaw that would make solar water heating compulsory for relatively costly new buildings, and certain renovations. This got us thinking: what of solar water heating for less expensive structures -- especially homes being built under the country's extensive low cost housing programme...Are any initiatives on the drawing board in this regard?
Since coming to power in 1994, the African National Congress government has spearheaded the building of low cost, subsidised houses to overcome the homelessness created by apartheid. However, many of these structures are what is termed "core houses", meaning they lack flooring, geysers and other amenities. Solar water heaters (SWHs) can be somewhat expensive to install; but this cost is normally recovered within a few years through energy savings that continue long after the units are paid for. The heaters can provide an environmentally friendly source of hot water for low income housing residents, and cut their household water heating bills in the long run -- good news all round, surely, especially if financial aid were provided to help people get a foot on the SWH ladder. Not necessarily, it seems. Low energy usage "Generally, people living in low income households don't spend enough money on energy for water heating," Andrew Janisch of Sustainable Energy Africa, a Cape Town-based consultancy, told IPS. "As a result, the saving from using solar energy for this purpose would not repay the upfront cost of the solar water heater, even with attractive financing options."
A solar water heater is made up of a hot water storage tank or geyser, and a roof-mounted panel (called a "collector") that absorbs the sun's energy and uses it to heat the tank water. The cost of SWHs ranges from about 500 dollars to 2,200 dollars, depending on factors such as the volume of the tank and the square meterage of the collector -- and whether a high pressure water flow from the tank is required for bathroom and kitchen equipment. "It's a tough issue," said a project manager at a Johannesburg-based company that is co-ordinating an initiative offering incentives for the installation of solar water heating systems in several houses for the middle and upper income brackets. "We used to look at government subsidised houses, but it was just too expensive in the greater scheme of things," the manager told IPS. "Add the cost of a geyser to the 49,000 rand (about 7,000 dollars) per house subsidy, and it would not fit the bill."
"We're still taking our lead from our previous minister of minerals and energy: she directed us not to force technologies onto low income housing," the manager added. "These things must go on the houses in Sandton to create the aspiration among low income households, was her message." (Sandton is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa's financial centre.) These observations are echoed by Peter Lukey of the chief directorate for air quality management and climate change in South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. "We must avoid the 'ghetto-ification' of renewable energy. Solar should never be seen as second class power," he told IPS. "In South Africa, we need to take into account our vulnerability to climate change, and focus on where we can make the biggest impact. It is not the poor who are polluting with their energy use -- it's middle and upper income households."
As a result, SWH initiatives remain focused on the relatively wealthy, and the downright rich. In the case of low earners, "Either the government must pay, and it's too expensive, or the individual must pay -- and it's too expensive," said Lukey. For its part, the state energy utility, Eskom, is largely focused on securing South Africa's energy supply. Demand for electricity is growing at a brisk 4.5 percent annually, and South Africa has a reserve margin of only some "7.5 percent, which is low by international standards," says Andrew Etzinger, Eskom's general manager for investment strategy. The company has little incentive to fund the provision of solar water heating to a sector of the population that is not among the country's big energy consumers. "
Eskom's primary business is not poverty alleviation, but securing energy supply to its market," noted the project manager at the firm involved with SWH incentives. Pilot projects Still, as concerns about global warming mount -- and the need grows for countries to use energy sources that don't contribute to greenhouse gas emissions -- even low cost housing will probably have to be brought in to the environmentally friendly fold. Where low cost developments have benefited from solar water heating, it has been largely under pilot projects designed to assist local authorities in reaching renewable energy targets, or because environmental impact assessments have stipulated energy efficient developments.
Cape Town, for example, has set a target of having 10 percent of all households in the city with solar water heaters by 2010 -- this in addition to the proposed bylaw. The Kuyasa Low Income Urban Housing Energy Upgrade Project in Khayelitsha, on the outskirts of Cape Town, is one step towards achieving this. This city funded project has fitted 10 houses with solar water heaters, insulated ceilings and compact fluorescent light bulbs, resulting in a 40 percent reduction in household energy costs. Cape Town has also secured an additional 4.35 million dollars from the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Western Cape provincial Department of Housing and Local Government to install solar water heaters at a further 2,300 low cost, subsidised houses. Carbon credits will cover about 15 percent of the expenses for this initiative.
The use of carbon credits occurs in terms of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which established various processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Under the CDM, industrialised nations can meet targets for greenhouse gas reductions through investing in initiatives that cut emissions in developing states; this enables the issuing of Certified Emission Reductions -- also referred to as carbon credits, which can be traded internationally. One credit is equivalent to a tonne of carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas.
Cosmo City, a new housing development in Johannesburg, has also taken steps towards SWH. The project includes 3,000 low cost homes, of which 170 have been fitted with solar water heaters at a cost to the city of some 290,000 dollars. Manda Mandavha, a project manager in Johannesburg's environmental management department, says the solar water heaters have also been used to raise awareness of climate change among residents. "We would like to install more, but we do not have the funding," he told IPS. Further use of carbon credits might, at first glance, seem an ideal way to pull in extra funding.
But this idea also stumbles on the fact that energy use by the poor is relatively low -- with investment in SWH schemes for low cost houses offering only small reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In short, other initiatives offer more bang for the carbon credit buck. Examples elsewhere Brazil may point the way for introducing solar water heating on a large scale for low cost housing. Earlier this year, the National Agency for Electrical Energy (Agencia Nacional de Energia Electria, ANEEL), the electricity sector regulator, stipulated that all electricity utilities in this Latin American state should contribute 0.5 percent of their after tax profits to a fund that ANEEL will use to provide solar water heating for low income families.
This has increased the number of households with solar water heaters almost ten-fold. Sustainable Energy Africa is working with three urban authorities in the northern province of Gauteng, South Africa's economic hub, to establish a similar fund. "Cities are currently facilitating and endorsing solar water heating rollout business plans for their middle and high income installation programmes," explained Janisch. "Our plan is that in order for companies to receive this endorsement, certain criteria will have to be met. One of these is that a contribution is made towards a pro-poor fund that will subsidise appropriate energy interventions in low income households."
The importance of such schemes notwithstanding, Robin Thomson of Cape Town-based solar water heating company SunPower believes the pool of people who can afford SWHs may be larger than is generally assumed. The cost of a low pressure 100-litre unit with a geyser can be as low as 29 dollars a month for 24 months -- the amount many people spend on mobile phone calls, furniture and the like. "There's a big difference between low income and no income," Thomson told IPS.
(* This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS -- Inter Press Service -- and IFEJ, the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.) (END/2007)
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=39639
Gail Jennings
CAPE TOWN, Oct 12 (IPS/IFEJ) -
Earlier this year, IPS reported that the South African coastal city of Cape Town was debating a "first of a kind" bylaw that would make solar water heating compulsory for relatively costly new buildings, and certain renovations. This got us thinking: what of solar water heating for less expensive structures -- especially homes being built under the country's extensive low cost housing programme...Are any initiatives on the drawing board in this regard?
Since coming to power in 1994, the African National Congress government has spearheaded the building of low cost, subsidised houses to overcome the homelessness created by apartheid. However, many of these structures are what is termed "core houses", meaning they lack flooring, geysers and other amenities. Solar water heaters (SWHs) can be somewhat expensive to install; but this cost is normally recovered within a few years through energy savings that continue long after the units are paid for. The heaters can provide an environmentally friendly source of hot water for low income housing residents, and cut their household water heating bills in the long run -- good news all round, surely, especially if financial aid were provided to help people get a foot on the SWH ladder. Not necessarily, it seems. Low energy usage "Generally, people living in low income households don't spend enough money on energy for water heating," Andrew Janisch of Sustainable Energy Africa, a Cape Town-based consultancy, told IPS. "As a result, the saving from using solar energy for this purpose would not repay the upfront cost of the solar water heater, even with attractive financing options."
A solar water heater is made up of a hot water storage tank or geyser, and a roof-mounted panel (called a "collector") that absorbs the sun's energy and uses it to heat the tank water. The cost of SWHs ranges from about 500 dollars to 2,200 dollars, depending on factors such as the volume of the tank and the square meterage of the collector -- and whether a high pressure water flow from the tank is required for bathroom and kitchen equipment. "It's a tough issue," said a project manager at a Johannesburg-based company that is co-ordinating an initiative offering incentives for the installation of solar water heating systems in several houses for the middle and upper income brackets. "We used to look at government subsidised houses, but it was just too expensive in the greater scheme of things," the manager told IPS. "Add the cost of a geyser to the 49,000 rand (about 7,000 dollars) per house subsidy, and it would not fit the bill."
"We're still taking our lead from our previous minister of minerals and energy: she directed us not to force technologies onto low income housing," the manager added. "These things must go on the houses in Sandton to create the aspiration among low income households, was her message." (Sandton is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa's financial centre.) These observations are echoed by Peter Lukey of the chief directorate for air quality management and climate change in South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. "We must avoid the 'ghetto-ification' of renewable energy. Solar should never be seen as second class power," he told IPS. "In South Africa, we need to take into account our vulnerability to climate change, and focus on where we can make the biggest impact. It is not the poor who are polluting with their energy use -- it's middle and upper income households."
As a result, SWH initiatives remain focused on the relatively wealthy, and the downright rich. In the case of low earners, "Either the government must pay, and it's too expensive, or the individual must pay -- and it's too expensive," said Lukey. For its part, the state energy utility, Eskom, is largely focused on securing South Africa's energy supply. Demand for electricity is growing at a brisk 4.5 percent annually, and South Africa has a reserve margin of only some "7.5 percent, which is low by international standards," says Andrew Etzinger, Eskom's general manager for investment strategy. The company has little incentive to fund the provision of solar water heating to a sector of the population that is not among the country's big energy consumers. "
Eskom's primary business is not poverty alleviation, but securing energy supply to its market," noted the project manager at the firm involved with SWH incentives. Pilot projects Still, as concerns about global warming mount -- and the need grows for countries to use energy sources that don't contribute to greenhouse gas emissions -- even low cost housing will probably have to be brought in to the environmentally friendly fold. Where low cost developments have benefited from solar water heating, it has been largely under pilot projects designed to assist local authorities in reaching renewable energy targets, or because environmental impact assessments have stipulated energy efficient developments.
Cape Town, for example, has set a target of having 10 percent of all households in the city with solar water heaters by 2010 -- this in addition to the proposed bylaw. The Kuyasa Low Income Urban Housing Energy Upgrade Project in Khayelitsha, on the outskirts of Cape Town, is one step towards achieving this. This city funded project has fitted 10 houses with solar water heaters, insulated ceilings and compact fluorescent light bulbs, resulting in a 40 percent reduction in household energy costs. Cape Town has also secured an additional 4.35 million dollars from the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Western Cape provincial Department of Housing and Local Government to install solar water heaters at a further 2,300 low cost, subsidised houses. Carbon credits will cover about 15 percent of the expenses for this initiative.
The use of carbon credits occurs in terms of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which established various processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Under the CDM, industrialised nations can meet targets for greenhouse gas reductions through investing in initiatives that cut emissions in developing states; this enables the issuing of Certified Emission Reductions -- also referred to as carbon credits, which can be traded internationally. One credit is equivalent to a tonne of carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas.
Cosmo City, a new housing development in Johannesburg, has also taken steps towards SWH. The project includes 3,000 low cost homes, of which 170 have been fitted with solar water heaters at a cost to the city of some 290,000 dollars. Manda Mandavha, a project manager in Johannesburg's environmental management department, says the solar water heaters have also been used to raise awareness of climate change among residents. "We would like to install more, but we do not have the funding," he told IPS. Further use of carbon credits might, at first glance, seem an ideal way to pull in extra funding.
But this idea also stumbles on the fact that energy use by the poor is relatively low -- with investment in SWH schemes for low cost houses offering only small reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In short, other initiatives offer more bang for the carbon credit buck. Examples elsewhere Brazil may point the way for introducing solar water heating on a large scale for low cost housing. Earlier this year, the National Agency for Electrical Energy (Agencia Nacional de Energia Electria, ANEEL), the electricity sector regulator, stipulated that all electricity utilities in this Latin American state should contribute 0.5 percent of their after tax profits to a fund that ANEEL will use to provide solar water heating for low income families.
This has increased the number of households with solar water heaters almost ten-fold. Sustainable Energy Africa is working with three urban authorities in the northern province of Gauteng, South Africa's economic hub, to establish a similar fund. "Cities are currently facilitating and endorsing solar water heating rollout business plans for their middle and high income installation programmes," explained Janisch. "Our plan is that in order for companies to receive this endorsement, certain criteria will have to be met. One of these is that a contribution is made towards a pro-poor fund that will subsidise appropriate energy interventions in low income households."
The importance of such schemes notwithstanding, Robin Thomson of Cape Town-based solar water heating company SunPower believes the pool of people who can afford SWHs may be larger than is generally assumed. The cost of a low pressure 100-litre unit with a geyser can be as low as 29 dollars a month for 24 months -- the amount many people spend on mobile phone calls, furniture and the like. "There's a big difference between low income and no income," Thomson told IPS.
(* This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS -- Inter Press Service -- and IFEJ, the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.) (END/2007)
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=39639
Hot World? Blame Cities.
By Joel Kotkin and Ali Modarres
Sunday, October 14, 2007; B01
It's all the suburbs' fault. You know, everything -- traffic congestion, overweight kids, social alienation. Oh, and lest we forget, global warming and rising energy costs, too.
That latest knock against the burbs has caught on widely. With their multiplying McMansions and exploding Explorers, the burbs are the reason we're paying so much for gas and heating oil and spewing all those emissions that are heating up the atmosphere -- or so a host of urban proponents tells us. It's time to ditch the burbs and go back to the city. New York, Boston, Chicago -- these densely packed metropolises are "models of environmentalism," declares John Norquist, the former Milwaukee mayor who now heads the Congress for a New Urbanism.
But before you sell your ranch house in Loudoun County and plunk down big bucks for that cozy condo in the District, take a closer look at the claims of big cities' environmental superiority. Here's one point that's generally relegated to academic journals and scientific magazines: Highly concentrated urban areas can contribute to overall warming that extends beyond their physical boundaries.
Studies in cities around the world -- Beijing, Rome, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles and more -- have found that packed concentrations of concrete, asphalt, steel and glass can contribute to a phenomenon known as "heat islands" far more than typically low-density, tree-shaded suburban landscapes. As an October 2006 article in the New Scientist highlighted, "cities can be a couple of degrees warmer during the day and up to 6¿ C [11 degrees Fahrenheit] warmer at night." Recent studies out of Australia and Greece, as well as studies on U.S. cities, have also documented this difference in warming between highly concentrated central cities and their surrounding areas.
This is critical as we deal with what may well be a period of prolonged warming. Urban heat islands may not explain global warming, but they do bear profound environmental, social, economic and health consequences that reach beyond city boundaries. A study of Athens that appeared this year in the journal Climatic Change suggested that the ecological footprint of the urban heat island is 1 1/2 to two times larger than the city's political borders.
Further, urban heat islands increase the need for air conditioning, which has alarming consequences for energy consumption in our cities. Since air conditioning systems themselves generate heat, this produces a vicious cycle. Some estimate that the annual cost of the energy consumption caused by the urban heat island could exceed $1 billion.
This is not to say that big buildings can't be made more energy efficient by using new techniques, such as high-tech skin designs, special construction materials to reduce energy consumption, green roofs and passive cooling. But one big problem is that making large buildings green also makes them much more expensive, so that they're less and less affordable for middle-class and working-class families.
Low-density areas, on the other hand, lend themselves to much less expensive and more environmentally friendly ways of reducing heat. It often takes nothing more than double-paned windows to reduce the energy consumption of a two- or three-story house. Shade can bring it down even further: A nice maple can cool a two-story house, but it can't quite do the same for a 10-story apartment building.
Focusing on the suburbs has the added virtue of bringing change to where the action is. Over the past 40 years, the percentage of people opting to live in cities has held steady at 10 to 15 percent. And since 2000, more than 90 percent of all metropolitan growth -- even in a legendary new planners' paradise such as Portland, Ore. -- has taken place in the suburbs.
So we shouldn't be trying to wipe out suburbs. Even with changes in government policy, it would be hard to slow their growth. Europe has strict zoning and highly subsidized mass transit -- policies that are supposed to promote denser development -- but even so, their cities are suburbanizing much like American ones. "Sprawl cities," notes Shlomo Angel, an urban planning expert at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, also are becoming ever more common throughout much of Asia and the developing world.
Here's an Earth-to-greens message: Instead of demonizing the suburbs, why not build better, greener ones and green the ones we already have?
One approach might be to embrace what one writer, Wally Siembab, has dubbed "smart sprawl." Encouraging this sort of development will require a series of steps: reducing commuters' gas consumption with more fuel-efficient cars, dispersing work to centers close to where workers live and promoting continued growth in home-based work. We'll also have to protect open spaces by monitoring development and establishing land conservation based on public and private funding, the latter coming from developers who wish to work in suburbs.
Building what we call "an archipelago of villages" seems far more reasonable than returning to industrial-age cities and mass transit systems. For the most part, the automobile has left an indelible imprint on our cities, and in our ever-more-dispersed economy, it has become a necessity.
This is not to say that transit of some kind -- perhaps more cost-efficient and flexible dedicated busways, or local shuttles -- can't play a role in serving those who can't or would rather not drive. But short of a crippling fuel shortage or some other catastrophic event, it's highly unlikely that we'll ever see the widespread success of heavily promoted strategies such as dense, transit-oriented developments or the wholesale abandonment of the suburbs.
We can accommodate our need for space and still leave ample room for a flourishing natural environment, as well as for agriculture. By preserving open space and growing in an environmentally friendly manner, we can provide a break from the monotony of concrete and glass and create ideal landscapes for wildlife preservation.
Such notions -- developed before the term "green" existed -- go back to a host of visionaries such as Ebenezer Howard, James Rouse, Frederick Law Olmsted, Frank Lloyd Wright and Victor Gruen. And they have already been put into practice. Starting in the 1960s in his development of Valencia, north of Los Angeles, Gruen envisioned a "suburbia redeemed" that mixed elements of the urban and the rural.
Valencia's elaborate network of 28 miles of car-free paseos -- paths designed for pedestrians and bicyclists -- helped make the natural environment accessible to residents. Gruen also recognized the commercial appeal of such an environment. A 1992 ad for the development featured a smiling girl saying: "I can be in my classroom one minute and riding my horse the next. I don't know whether I'm a city or country girl."
Similarly, The Woodlands, a sprawling development 27 miles from downtown Houston, is a model for a greener suburbia in a region not much celebrated for its environmental values. The Woodlands name, said its former president, Roger Galatas, was seen not as "just real estate hype" but as part of a plan to allow development without destroying forest lands and natural drainage.
In the Washington area, Reston and Columbia, the latter the brainchild of legendary Maryland developer James Rouse, have become far more than mere bedroom communities; they have become places, or villages, in themselves.
All these places evoke a more environmentally friendly suburbanism, which also can be promoted in areas that did not benefit from the foresight of a Gruen or a Rouse. Town centers, revived older shopping districts, even re-engineered malls can all be part of a greener, more energy-efficient future in a large number of communities. And this process is already well underway.
Dragooning Americans into a dense urban lifestyle that's attractive to only a relatively small minority isn't the best way to address concerns about energy and resource depletion or global warming. Instead, we need to take gradual, sensible, realistic steps to improve the increasingly dispersed places where most of us choose to live and work.
Joel Kotkin is a fellow at Chapman University and author of "The City:
A Global History." Ali Modarres is associate director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University at Los Angeles.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101201884_pf.html
By Joel Kotkin and Ali Modarres
Sunday, October 14, 2007; B01
It's all the suburbs' fault. You know, everything -- traffic congestion, overweight kids, social alienation. Oh, and lest we forget, global warming and rising energy costs, too.
That latest knock against the burbs has caught on widely. With their multiplying McMansions and exploding Explorers, the burbs are the reason we're paying so much for gas and heating oil and spewing all those emissions that are heating up the atmosphere -- or so a host of urban proponents tells us. It's time to ditch the burbs and go back to the city. New York, Boston, Chicago -- these densely packed metropolises are "models of environmentalism," declares John Norquist, the former Milwaukee mayor who now heads the Congress for a New Urbanism.
But before you sell your ranch house in Loudoun County and plunk down big bucks for that cozy condo in the District, take a closer look at the claims of big cities' environmental superiority. Here's one point that's generally relegated to academic journals and scientific magazines: Highly concentrated urban areas can contribute to overall warming that extends beyond their physical boundaries.
Studies in cities around the world -- Beijing, Rome, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles and more -- have found that packed concentrations of concrete, asphalt, steel and glass can contribute to a phenomenon known as "heat islands" far more than typically low-density, tree-shaded suburban landscapes. As an October 2006 article in the New Scientist highlighted, "cities can be a couple of degrees warmer during the day and up to 6¿ C [11 degrees Fahrenheit] warmer at night." Recent studies out of Australia and Greece, as well as studies on U.S. cities, have also documented this difference in warming between highly concentrated central cities and their surrounding areas.
This is critical as we deal with what may well be a period of prolonged warming. Urban heat islands may not explain global warming, but they do bear profound environmental, social, economic and health consequences that reach beyond city boundaries. A study of Athens that appeared this year in the journal Climatic Change suggested that the ecological footprint of the urban heat island is 1 1/2 to two times larger than the city's political borders.
Further, urban heat islands increase the need for air conditioning, which has alarming consequences for energy consumption in our cities. Since air conditioning systems themselves generate heat, this produces a vicious cycle. Some estimate that the annual cost of the energy consumption caused by the urban heat island could exceed $1 billion.
This is not to say that big buildings can't be made more energy efficient by using new techniques, such as high-tech skin designs, special construction materials to reduce energy consumption, green roofs and passive cooling. But one big problem is that making large buildings green also makes them much more expensive, so that they're less and less affordable for middle-class and working-class families.
Low-density areas, on the other hand, lend themselves to much less expensive and more environmentally friendly ways of reducing heat. It often takes nothing more than double-paned windows to reduce the energy consumption of a two- or three-story house. Shade can bring it down even further: A nice maple can cool a two-story house, but it can't quite do the same for a 10-story apartment building.
Focusing on the suburbs has the added virtue of bringing change to where the action is. Over the past 40 years, the percentage of people opting to live in cities has held steady at 10 to 15 percent. And since 2000, more than 90 percent of all metropolitan growth -- even in a legendary new planners' paradise such as Portland, Ore. -- has taken place in the suburbs.
So we shouldn't be trying to wipe out suburbs. Even with changes in government policy, it would be hard to slow their growth. Europe has strict zoning and highly subsidized mass transit -- policies that are supposed to promote denser development -- but even so, their cities are suburbanizing much like American ones. "Sprawl cities," notes Shlomo Angel, an urban planning expert at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, also are becoming ever more common throughout much of Asia and the developing world.
Here's an Earth-to-greens message: Instead of demonizing the suburbs, why not build better, greener ones and green the ones we already have?
One approach might be to embrace what one writer, Wally Siembab, has dubbed "smart sprawl." Encouraging this sort of development will require a series of steps: reducing commuters' gas consumption with more fuel-efficient cars, dispersing work to centers close to where workers live and promoting continued growth in home-based work. We'll also have to protect open spaces by monitoring development and establishing land conservation based on public and private funding, the latter coming from developers who wish to work in suburbs.
Building what we call "an archipelago of villages" seems far more reasonable than returning to industrial-age cities and mass transit systems. For the most part, the automobile has left an indelible imprint on our cities, and in our ever-more-dispersed economy, it has become a necessity.
This is not to say that transit of some kind -- perhaps more cost-efficient and flexible dedicated busways, or local shuttles -- can't play a role in serving those who can't or would rather not drive. But short of a crippling fuel shortage or some other catastrophic event, it's highly unlikely that we'll ever see the widespread success of heavily promoted strategies such as dense, transit-oriented developments or the wholesale abandonment of the suburbs.
We can accommodate our need for space and still leave ample room for a flourishing natural environment, as well as for agriculture. By preserving open space and growing in an environmentally friendly manner, we can provide a break from the monotony of concrete and glass and create ideal landscapes for wildlife preservation.
Such notions -- developed before the term "green" existed -- go back to a host of visionaries such as Ebenezer Howard, James Rouse, Frederick Law Olmsted, Frank Lloyd Wright and Victor Gruen. And they have already been put into practice. Starting in the 1960s in his development of Valencia, north of Los Angeles, Gruen envisioned a "suburbia redeemed" that mixed elements of the urban and the rural.
Valencia's elaborate network of 28 miles of car-free paseos -- paths designed for pedestrians and bicyclists -- helped make the natural environment accessible to residents. Gruen also recognized the commercial appeal of such an environment. A 1992 ad for the development featured a smiling girl saying: "I can be in my classroom one minute and riding my horse the next. I don't know whether I'm a city or country girl."
Similarly, The Woodlands, a sprawling development 27 miles from downtown Houston, is a model for a greener suburbia in a region not much celebrated for its environmental values. The Woodlands name, said its former president, Roger Galatas, was seen not as "just real estate hype" but as part of a plan to allow development without destroying forest lands and natural drainage.
In the Washington area, Reston and Columbia, the latter the brainchild of legendary Maryland developer James Rouse, have become far more than mere bedroom communities; they have become places, or villages, in themselves.
All these places evoke a more environmentally friendly suburbanism, which also can be promoted in areas that did not benefit from the foresight of a Gruen or a Rouse. Town centers, revived older shopping districts, even re-engineered malls can all be part of a greener, more energy-efficient future in a large number of communities. And this process is already well underway.
Dragooning Americans into a dense urban lifestyle that's attractive to only a relatively small minority isn't the best way to address concerns about energy and resource depletion or global warming. Instead, we need to take gradual, sensible, realistic steps to improve the increasingly dispersed places where most of us choose to live and work.
Joel Kotkin is a fellow at Chapman University and author of "The City:
A Global History." Ali Modarres is associate director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University at Los Angeles.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101201884_pf.html
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Businesses seize green initiative
State companies see big gains ahead tackling greenhouse gases
By THOMAS CONTENT
Oct. 6, 2007
Sixth part in an occasional series
What's good for the planet, it turns out, could be great for Wisconsin's largest company.
Global Warming and Wisconsin
Energy experts with Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc. are busy crafting their first proposal aimed at winning a piece of an ambitious $5 billion plan to reduce global warming by retrofitting energy-wasting buildings in 16 of the world's largest cities. Step one: Houston, one of the country's most polluted cities, where more than 270 buildings could see upgrades.
Meeting in Milwaukee last week, managers and experts from Johnson Controls offices around the country scoured slides of aging boilers and control systems in buildings they had toured in Houston, including fire stations, libraries and the downtown convention center, where the city once housed 5,000 people who fled New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Johnson Controls plans to show how energy use in the buildings can be cut 30% to 50%. The cities participating in the Clinton Climate Initiative will invite Johnson Controls, Trane - a leading employer in western Wisconsin - and several other competitors to bid on their energy-efficiency overhauls. Upgrades will be financed by multinational banks that have pledged $1 billion each.
"We have a real responsibility and a real opportunity," said Clay Nesler, global vice president of energy and sustainability at Johnson Controls.
The initiative, spearheaded by former President Bill Clinton's foundation, seeks to accomplish with energy-efficiency upgrades what the foundation did, with pharmaceutical companies, to cut the cost of AIDS drugs and boost their use in the developing world. It aims to double the world market for highly efficient building systems. It's also a striking example of how an issue linked with peril, with forecasts of rising sea levels, devastating storms and droughts, can open up markets and create jobs in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Steve Roell, chief executive of Johnson Controls, said helping governments and corporations comply with mandates to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions will be a potent growth driver for the company. Roell said the company is poised to increase sales by 10% a year and hit $50 billion in four years. Milwaukee will see investment, and likely more white-collar jobs, he said, because it is home to the "thought leaders" for Johnson Control's worldwide efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce global warming emissions.
Johnson Controls, which also is working to develop more-efficient batteries for hybrid cars, isn't the only Wisconsin company addressing global warming. Modine Manufacturing Co. in Racine is helping design fuel cell systems that can power and heat homes or supply electricity to a business. That work could produce $200 million in sales within five years, said Mark Baffa, director of Modine's fuel cell group.
In a former pots-and-pans factory in Manitowoc, Orion Energy Systems is making high-efficiency lighting used in warehouses, schools and gymnasiums. After Bemis Manufacturing Co. replaced all of its lights with Orion's bulbs, the company got a call from the local utility, wondering what had happened - the factory's lighting switch had cut power use in the city of Sheboygan Falls by 8%. Last summer, Orion announced plans to raise $100 million in a public offering.
A start-up company hatched by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Virent Energy Systems Inc., is creating "green" gasoline - using sugar as the feedstock. Investors have noticed: Virent recently enjoyed one of the most successful rounds of venture capital financing ever, pulling in $21 million.
Riding a wave of investor enthusiasm about the promise of clean technology, Virent and Orion together now employ more than 238 people in Wisconsin, up from a few dozen five years ago.
Clean tech is the hottest area in venture investment, and the Milwaukee 7 economic development initiative this year targeted "clean and green" as a key growth opportunity for the region. While some businesses worry that regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will drive energy prices higher as utilities build costly nuclear or next-generation coal plants, other businesses see an opportunity.
"The message to businesses about global warming is 'Jump in, the water's fine.' This is not something anyone has to be afraid of," said Terry Tamminen, former climate adviser to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "When it comes to global warming, what we're asking people to do is to put money in their pockets - to pick $100 bills up off the ground."
Energy efficiency and renewable energy are creating jobs for entrepreneurs who have left other work to become home energy-efficiency consultants and solar panel installers. Two years ago, Andrew Bangert of H&H Electric Co. in Madison was an electrician who dabbled in solar power. Now, interest in solar power has increased so much that Bangert spends 95% of his time on solar, and he's hired two other electricians to install panels. It's still a small piece of the revenue pie at H&H, but the solar business has doubled in the past year, with projects installed at the Urban Ecology Center and a wastewater treatment plant in Milwaukee.
Still, the most high-profile and high-stakes attempt by the private sector to tackle global warming through energy efficiency is ramping up at Johnson Controls and its rivals.
Within two weeks, Johnson Controls and other companies must submit detailed proposals on how they would improve energy efficiency in the Houston buildings, including every police and fire station, every library, City Hall and five convention and entertainment centers. The scale of the project is daunting. But so is the $5 billion in up-front financing pledged by the banks, which would be paid back over time from the saving generated by the energy-efficient buildings.
"That's a big enough number to be interesting to everybody and can have a significant impact, certainly, on climate change," Nesler said. That will translate into jobs, both for companies such as Johnson Controls and for contractors, electricians and others who would do the work in each city.
In the past, in any given city, "we might have been doing work, onesy-twosy, a couple schools here, a couple office buildings there," Nesler said. "The value proposition here is let's combine a lot of these into a single large project and allow those buildings to be greened."
Since Clinton announced the project in May, Johnson Controls has put teams in place in all 16 cities that are signed on to participate, he said. The push for businesses to do more is coming not from the federal government but from corporate America and local governments. Efforts are arising from California, the world's seventh-largest economy, to Milwaukee, Madison and hundreds of other cities that have vowed to cut greenhouse emissions.
"We see it top-down, from Fortune 100 companies," Nesler said. "We also see it bottom-up, from a school district in Illinois with three schools saying, 'How can I make an impact?' " To gear up for more business, Johnson Controls this year created a renewable-energy team as another way to help clients reduce emissions. The company sold a geothermal heat pump system for a Silicon Valley green office building unveiled Friday as "one of the first net-zero energy, zero carbon emission commercial office buildings in the nation."
Beyond buildings, Johnson Controls sees markets opening for greener and more fuel-efficient products in its auto-parts businesses. That includes development of next-generation batteries for hybrid vehicles and the use of renewable soy foam as a material in car seats. A joint venture with Saft, a French company, won a contract to build lithium-ion car batteries for Mercedes sedans that will be built next year. This fall, plug-in hybrid Dodge Sprinters outfitted with its batteries are being tested on the road in New York and California.
Experts say a massive infusion of hybrids that plug into the power grid could, by 2050, have the effect of taking 83 million cars off the road. But plug-ins are years from hitting dealerships, and the attention they get has masked the emissions that could be prevented if automakers sold more conventional hybrids.
"In the next 23 years, if we put mild hybrids in 25% of the general fleet, that would be equivalent to taking 64 million vehicles off the highway today," said Mary Ann Wright, who heads the Johnson Controls hybrid business. Other area manufacturers are working to make cars more fuel-efficient and comply with tough regulations in Europe.
Actuant Corp. of Butler expects by 2010 to double sales - to $100 million - of systems that would reduce emissions of another greenhouse gas, nitrogen oxide, from diesel truck engines, said Karen Bauer, director of investor relations. Modine, which makes heating and cooling systems for cars and off-road equipment, has developed a way to use carbon dioxide as a refrigerant in vehicle air conditioners.
Anthony de Vuono, vice president and chief technology officer at Modine, said using carbon dioxide will phase out a different greenhouse gas, a hydrofluorocarbon that is 1,300 times more harmful to the atmosphere. "It's going to be a very, very big market, and you just don't want to get left behind," he said.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=671757
State companies see big gains ahead tackling greenhouse gases
By THOMAS CONTENT
Oct. 6, 2007
Sixth part in an occasional series
What's good for the planet, it turns out, could be great for Wisconsin's largest company.
Global Warming and Wisconsin
Energy experts with Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc. are busy crafting their first proposal aimed at winning a piece of an ambitious $5 billion plan to reduce global warming by retrofitting energy-wasting buildings in 16 of the world's largest cities. Step one: Houston, one of the country's most polluted cities, where more than 270 buildings could see upgrades.
Meeting in Milwaukee last week, managers and experts from Johnson Controls offices around the country scoured slides of aging boilers and control systems in buildings they had toured in Houston, including fire stations, libraries and the downtown convention center, where the city once housed 5,000 people who fled New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Johnson Controls plans to show how energy use in the buildings can be cut 30% to 50%. The cities participating in the Clinton Climate Initiative will invite Johnson Controls, Trane - a leading employer in western Wisconsin - and several other competitors to bid on their energy-efficiency overhauls. Upgrades will be financed by multinational banks that have pledged $1 billion each.
"We have a real responsibility and a real opportunity," said Clay Nesler, global vice president of energy and sustainability at Johnson Controls.
The initiative, spearheaded by former President Bill Clinton's foundation, seeks to accomplish with energy-efficiency upgrades what the foundation did, with pharmaceutical companies, to cut the cost of AIDS drugs and boost their use in the developing world. It aims to double the world market for highly efficient building systems. It's also a striking example of how an issue linked with peril, with forecasts of rising sea levels, devastating storms and droughts, can open up markets and create jobs in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Steve Roell, chief executive of Johnson Controls, said helping governments and corporations comply with mandates to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions will be a potent growth driver for the company. Roell said the company is poised to increase sales by 10% a year and hit $50 billion in four years. Milwaukee will see investment, and likely more white-collar jobs, he said, because it is home to the "thought leaders" for Johnson Control's worldwide efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce global warming emissions.
Johnson Controls, which also is working to develop more-efficient batteries for hybrid cars, isn't the only Wisconsin company addressing global warming. Modine Manufacturing Co. in Racine is helping design fuel cell systems that can power and heat homes or supply electricity to a business. That work could produce $200 million in sales within five years, said Mark Baffa, director of Modine's fuel cell group.
In a former pots-and-pans factory in Manitowoc, Orion Energy Systems is making high-efficiency lighting used in warehouses, schools and gymnasiums. After Bemis Manufacturing Co. replaced all of its lights with Orion's bulbs, the company got a call from the local utility, wondering what had happened - the factory's lighting switch had cut power use in the city of Sheboygan Falls by 8%. Last summer, Orion announced plans to raise $100 million in a public offering.
A start-up company hatched by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Virent Energy Systems Inc., is creating "green" gasoline - using sugar as the feedstock. Investors have noticed: Virent recently enjoyed one of the most successful rounds of venture capital financing ever, pulling in $21 million.
Riding a wave of investor enthusiasm about the promise of clean technology, Virent and Orion together now employ more than 238 people in Wisconsin, up from a few dozen five years ago.
Clean tech is the hottest area in venture investment, and the Milwaukee 7 economic development initiative this year targeted "clean and green" as a key growth opportunity for the region. While some businesses worry that regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will drive energy prices higher as utilities build costly nuclear or next-generation coal plants, other businesses see an opportunity.
"The message to businesses about global warming is 'Jump in, the water's fine.' This is not something anyone has to be afraid of," said Terry Tamminen, former climate adviser to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "When it comes to global warming, what we're asking people to do is to put money in their pockets - to pick $100 bills up off the ground."
Energy efficiency and renewable energy are creating jobs for entrepreneurs who have left other work to become home energy-efficiency consultants and solar panel installers. Two years ago, Andrew Bangert of H&H Electric Co. in Madison was an electrician who dabbled in solar power. Now, interest in solar power has increased so much that Bangert spends 95% of his time on solar, and he's hired two other electricians to install panels. It's still a small piece of the revenue pie at H&H, but the solar business has doubled in the past year, with projects installed at the Urban Ecology Center and a wastewater treatment plant in Milwaukee.
Still, the most high-profile and high-stakes attempt by the private sector to tackle global warming through energy efficiency is ramping up at Johnson Controls and its rivals.
Within two weeks, Johnson Controls and other companies must submit detailed proposals on how they would improve energy efficiency in the Houston buildings, including every police and fire station, every library, City Hall and five convention and entertainment centers. The scale of the project is daunting. But so is the $5 billion in up-front financing pledged by the banks, which would be paid back over time from the saving generated by the energy-efficient buildings.
"That's a big enough number to be interesting to everybody and can have a significant impact, certainly, on climate change," Nesler said. That will translate into jobs, both for companies such as Johnson Controls and for contractors, electricians and others who would do the work in each city.
In the past, in any given city, "we might have been doing work, onesy-twosy, a couple schools here, a couple office buildings there," Nesler said. "The value proposition here is let's combine a lot of these into a single large project and allow those buildings to be greened."
Since Clinton announced the project in May, Johnson Controls has put teams in place in all 16 cities that are signed on to participate, he said. The push for businesses to do more is coming not from the federal government but from corporate America and local governments. Efforts are arising from California, the world's seventh-largest economy, to Milwaukee, Madison and hundreds of other cities that have vowed to cut greenhouse emissions.
"We see it top-down, from Fortune 100 companies," Nesler said. "We also see it bottom-up, from a school district in Illinois with three schools saying, 'How can I make an impact?' " To gear up for more business, Johnson Controls this year created a renewable-energy team as another way to help clients reduce emissions. The company sold a geothermal heat pump system for a Silicon Valley green office building unveiled Friday as "one of the first net-zero energy, zero carbon emission commercial office buildings in the nation."
Beyond buildings, Johnson Controls sees markets opening for greener and more fuel-efficient products in its auto-parts businesses. That includes development of next-generation batteries for hybrid vehicles and the use of renewable soy foam as a material in car seats. A joint venture with Saft, a French company, won a contract to build lithium-ion car batteries for Mercedes sedans that will be built next year. This fall, plug-in hybrid Dodge Sprinters outfitted with its batteries are being tested on the road in New York and California.
Experts say a massive infusion of hybrids that plug into the power grid could, by 2050, have the effect of taking 83 million cars off the road. But plug-ins are years from hitting dealerships, and the attention they get has masked the emissions that could be prevented if automakers sold more conventional hybrids.
"In the next 23 years, if we put mild hybrids in 25% of the general fleet, that would be equivalent to taking 64 million vehicles off the highway today," said Mary Ann Wright, who heads the Johnson Controls hybrid business. Other area manufacturers are working to make cars more fuel-efficient and comply with tough regulations in Europe.
Actuant Corp. of Butler expects by 2010 to double sales - to $100 million - of systems that would reduce emissions of another greenhouse gas, nitrogen oxide, from diesel truck engines, said Karen Bauer, director of investor relations. Modine, which makes heating and cooling systems for cars and off-road equipment, has developed a way to use carbon dioxide as a refrigerant in vehicle air conditioners.
Anthony de Vuono, vice president and chief technology officer at Modine, said using carbon dioxide will phase out a different greenhouse gas, a hydrofluorocarbon that is 1,300 times more harmful to the atmosphere. "It's going to be a very, very big market, and you just don't want to get left behind," he said.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=671757
Houston forecast murky
Experts say global warming checked or unchecked threatens city and region
By ERIC BERGER
Houston Chronicle
In a warming world, the long-term forecast for Houston's climate and economy is cloudy. If governments leave greenhouse gas emissions unchecked, scientists say, increasing concentrations would continue to push temperatures higher, raise the seas and possibly intensify hurricanes and other severe weather events that cause flooding.
Yet quick action advocated by environmentalists to arrest global warming, such as a steep tax on fossil fuels that spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, could rock the area economy. Some 49 percent of Houston's economy comes from the energy sector. It now appears likely that some measures will be taken to address global warming as the debate moves beyond questioning of its existence. Late last month, a long-skeptical President Bush declared that human activity was warming the planet and that governments must take action to reverse the trend. It's impossible to say what that action will be or whether it will be effective.
But for a warm, energy-producing region like Southeast Texas, the issue is central to the region's climatological and economic future. "Houston clearly has some unique vulnerabilities," said Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric science at Texas A&M University. While climate researchers haggle over some details of global warming, all but a smattering of scientists agree on the basics: The world has warmed, greenhouse gas emissions from sources such as automobiles and power plants are largely to blame, and such warming will continue and possibly accelerate in the absence of strict regulations on greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
Without such regulations, scientists generally agree, global temperatures will increase by 4 degrees to 5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. Winter insects? Temperatures in Southeast Texas would probably rise a similar amount, maybe a bit more, said John Nielsen-Gammon, the state's climatologist and a Texas A&M climate professor. "Texans are adapted to the heat, so there may not be much increase in morbidity except for those who can't afford air conditioning," Nielsen-Gammon said.
During warmer winters, tropical vegetation — and, unfortunately, insects — could flourish. Although there would be more moisture in the atmosphere, it's unclear whether a warming world would lead to more overall rainfall in Texas, Nielsen-Gammon said. Flood events, however, almost certainly would increase in frequency and severity.
Scientists differ on whether hurricanes would become stronger and if the exceptionally active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season would become the norm. However, with at least a foot or two rise in sea level — and possibly much more if the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melt more rapidly than expected — high tides and storm surges could inundate low-lying areas, including much of Galveston Island, scientists warn. Much of the upper Texas shoreline already is receding.
If energy costs rise as expected, global warming could have a greater impact on newer, Southern cities than on cities in the North. "A lot of cities in the southern United States were built with the idea that people have cars, access to cheap energy for air conditioning and don't need public transportation," Dessler said. "Living in Boston without energy would be a lot easier than doing so in Houston."
Acknowledging 'risks'As a local issue, global warming is complicated by Houston's deep ties to oil and gas, dating from Spindletop and the birth of the modern oil industry. The crucial question for Houston's economy is whether this entrenched industry can and will adapt if the federal government begins regulating the emissions of carbon dioxide. Some of the largest oil and gas businesses, such as Irving-based Exxon Mobil, have until recently resisted the concept of global warming.
Early this year, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group of more than 200,000 citizens and scientists, issued a report charging Exxon Mobil had adopted the tobacco industry's disinformation tactics toward global warming. According to the report, Exxon Mobil had funneled nearly $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to 43 advocacy organizations that sought to confuse the public on global warming science.
Exxon Mobil initially called the report a smear. A few months later, however, CEO Rex Tillerson began openly talking about global warming as a valid concern. While saying there was "still much that we do not know" about the phenomenon, Tillerson said it would be "prudent to develop and implement sensible strategies that address these risks."
Challenges, opportunitiesOther energy companies have viewed global warming as a serious problem for a longer time. "There's no question that setting carbon dioxide regulatory targets will have a profound impact on our business," said Bill Gerwing, general manager of regulatory affairs for BP. "But it's our fundamental belief that climate change is happening, that human carbon dioxide is a major factor, and that this creates as many opportunities as challenges for our business."
Barton Smith, professor of economics at the University of Houston, studied the impact of an alternative energy economy on Houston a few years ago and said he found the effect to be less than one might expect.
"As we get more and more involved in the menu of non-oil alternatives, you have to know Houston-based firms are going to be involved in that," Smith said. "Houston's oil industry has got its fingers in many, many pies, including alternative energies such as biofuels and wind." Houston could plausibly become a capital of alternative energy, Barton said.
To that end, BP recently opened the headquarters of its alternative energy and renewables firm, BP Alternative Energy, in Houston and plans to invest $8 billion in solar, wind, hydrogen and natural gas power technology and projects. BP and other alternative energy businesses have chosen Houston, Gerwing said, because of the city's traditional role as an energy capital and its welcoming regulatory environment, among other reasons. Coal threatsYet if federal caps are not placed on carbon emissions, it's plausible that Texas could ultimately lose its status as an energy center.
Most analysts believe that cheaply available oil and gas will be extracted during the next few decades. The question is, what will then fill the oil void? In the absence of carbon regulation, the clear answer is coal, many analysts say, because it's a cheap energy source in greater abundance in the United States than in any other country. Yet under such a scenario, both Houston and the environment could lose.
Houston is far removed from the coal belt, and heavy coal use would exacerbate global warming, because coal-fired power plants emit more carbon dioxide than any other source of electricity.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5194040.html
Experts say global warming checked or unchecked threatens city and region
By ERIC BERGER
Houston Chronicle
In a warming world, the long-term forecast for Houston's climate and economy is cloudy. If governments leave greenhouse gas emissions unchecked, scientists say, increasing concentrations would continue to push temperatures higher, raise the seas and possibly intensify hurricanes and other severe weather events that cause flooding.
Yet quick action advocated by environmentalists to arrest global warming, such as a steep tax on fossil fuels that spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, could rock the area economy. Some 49 percent of Houston's economy comes from the energy sector. It now appears likely that some measures will be taken to address global warming as the debate moves beyond questioning of its existence. Late last month, a long-skeptical President Bush declared that human activity was warming the planet and that governments must take action to reverse the trend. It's impossible to say what that action will be or whether it will be effective.
But for a warm, energy-producing region like Southeast Texas, the issue is central to the region's climatological and economic future. "Houston clearly has some unique vulnerabilities," said Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric science at Texas A&M University. While climate researchers haggle over some details of global warming, all but a smattering of scientists agree on the basics: The world has warmed, greenhouse gas emissions from sources such as automobiles and power plants are largely to blame, and such warming will continue and possibly accelerate in the absence of strict regulations on greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
Without such regulations, scientists generally agree, global temperatures will increase by 4 degrees to 5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. Winter insects? Temperatures in Southeast Texas would probably rise a similar amount, maybe a bit more, said John Nielsen-Gammon, the state's climatologist and a Texas A&M climate professor. "Texans are adapted to the heat, so there may not be much increase in morbidity except for those who can't afford air conditioning," Nielsen-Gammon said.
During warmer winters, tropical vegetation — and, unfortunately, insects — could flourish. Although there would be more moisture in the atmosphere, it's unclear whether a warming world would lead to more overall rainfall in Texas, Nielsen-Gammon said. Flood events, however, almost certainly would increase in frequency and severity.
Scientists differ on whether hurricanes would become stronger and if the exceptionally active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season would become the norm. However, with at least a foot or two rise in sea level — and possibly much more if the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melt more rapidly than expected — high tides and storm surges could inundate low-lying areas, including much of Galveston Island, scientists warn. Much of the upper Texas shoreline already is receding.
If energy costs rise as expected, global warming could have a greater impact on newer, Southern cities than on cities in the North. "A lot of cities in the southern United States were built with the idea that people have cars, access to cheap energy for air conditioning and don't need public transportation," Dessler said. "Living in Boston without energy would be a lot easier than doing so in Houston."
Acknowledging 'risks'As a local issue, global warming is complicated by Houston's deep ties to oil and gas, dating from Spindletop and the birth of the modern oil industry. The crucial question for Houston's economy is whether this entrenched industry can and will adapt if the federal government begins regulating the emissions of carbon dioxide. Some of the largest oil and gas businesses, such as Irving-based Exxon Mobil, have until recently resisted the concept of global warming.
Early this year, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group of more than 200,000 citizens and scientists, issued a report charging Exxon Mobil had adopted the tobacco industry's disinformation tactics toward global warming. According to the report, Exxon Mobil had funneled nearly $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to 43 advocacy organizations that sought to confuse the public on global warming science.
Exxon Mobil initially called the report a smear. A few months later, however, CEO Rex Tillerson began openly talking about global warming as a valid concern. While saying there was "still much that we do not know" about the phenomenon, Tillerson said it would be "prudent to develop and implement sensible strategies that address these risks."
Challenges, opportunitiesOther energy companies have viewed global warming as a serious problem for a longer time. "There's no question that setting carbon dioxide regulatory targets will have a profound impact on our business," said Bill Gerwing, general manager of regulatory affairs for BP. "But it's our fundamental belief that climate change is happening, that human carbon dioxide is a major factor, and that this creates as many opportunities as challenges for our business."
Barton Smith, professor of economics at the University of Houston, studied the impact of an alternative energy economy on Houston a few years ago and said he found the effect to be less than one might expect.
"As we get more and more involved in the menu of non-oil alternatives, you have to know Houston-based firms are going to be involved in that," Smith said. "Houston's oil industry has got its fingers in many, many pies, including alternative energies such as biofuels and wind." Houston could plausibly become a capital of alternative energy, Barton said.
To that end, BP recently opened the headquarters of its alternative energy and renewables firm, BP Alternative Energy, in Houston and plans to invest $8 billion in solar, wind, hydrogen and natural gas power technology and projects. BP and other alternative energy businesses have chosen Houston, Gerwing said, because of the city's traditional role as an energy capital and its welcoming regulatory environment, among other reasons. Coal threatsYet if federal caps are not placed on carbon emissions, it's plausible that Texas could ultimately lose its status as an energy center.
Most analysts believe that cheaply available oil and gas will be extracted during the next few decades. The question is, what will then fill the oil void? In the absence of carbon regulation, the clear answer is coal, many analysts say, because it's a cheap energy source in greater abundance in the United States than in any other country. Yet under such a scenario, both Houston and the environment could lose.
Houston is far removed from the coal belt, and heavy coal use would exacerbate global warming, because coal-fired power plants emit more carbon dioxide than any other source of electricity.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5194040.html
Shanghai residents see the light over energy
By Zhang Jun 2
007-9-29
AN Internet survey of 500 Shanghai people reveals most local residents are taking measures to conserve energy.But the same residents also are largely unaware of the government's energy-conservation policies.The survey was conducted in late August by Mytianhui.com, a city-based research provider, which also cooperates with Shanghai Daily.
Nearly 90 percent of the respondents said they have taken various steps to conserve energy, but 47 percent did not know the Chinese government has established laws to improve energy efficiency. The leading two popular residential measures are using energy-saving bulbs (73 percent of the respondents) and turning off computers completely instead of leaving them on stand-by (71 percent).
Sixty percent completely turn off televisions and 50 percent unplug air conditioners when not using them. The respondents believed that not using disposable products, setting air conditioners' temperature above 26 degrees Celsius in summer and using energy-saving bulbs are the most effective ways of saving energy.However, only one percent unplug microwave ovens and only six percent unplug sound systems when not in use.Z
hao Guotong, a city official and expert on energy efficiency, said:"The survey results show energy-saving should be promoted by economic policy instead of government-initiated education." He said the survey shows the local residents do much better than their US counterparts at conserving energy. One contributory cause is that utility fees account for a higher percentage of Chinese salaries than US salaries.
An average Shanghai family will consume up to 500 yuan (US$67) of power each month in summer, more than a fifth of the city's average salary this year. In the US, however, utilities cost far less than Shanghai, Zhao said.
In recent years, the Chinese government has issued a range of administrative regulations to cut energy consumption and maintain sustainable economic development, such as the architectural energy-saving standards.
Zhao suggests the government take the lead in implementing its regulations.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200709/20070929/article_332986.htm
By Zhang Jun 2
007-9-29
AN Internet survey of 500 Shanghai people reveals most local residents are taking measures to conserve energy.But the same residents also are largely unaware of the government's energy-conservation policies.The survey was conducted in late August by Mytianhui.com, a city-based research provider, which also cooperates with Shanghai Daily.
Nearly 90 percent of the respondents said they have taken various steps to conserve energy, but 47 percent did not know the Chinese government has established laws to improve energy efficiency. The leading two popular residential measures are using energy-saving bulbs (73 percent of the respondents) and turning off computers completely instead of leaving them on stand-by (71 percent).
Sixty percent completely turn off televisions and 50 percent unplug air conditioners when not using them. The respondents believed that not using disposable products, setting air conditioners' temperature above 26 degrees Celsius in summer and using energy-saving bulbs are the most effective ways of saving energy.However, only one percent unplug microwave ovens and only six percent unplug sound systems when not in use.Z
hao Guotong, a city official and expert on energy efficiency, said:"The survey results show energy-saving should be promoted by economic policy instead of government-initiated education." He said the survey shows the local residents do much better than their US counterparts at conserving energy. One contributory cause is that utility fees account for a higher percentage of Chinese salaries than US salaries.
An average Shanghai family will consume up to 500 yuan (US$67) of power each month in summer, more than a fifth of the city's average salary this year. In the US, however, utilities cost far less than Shanghai, Zhao said.
In recent years, the Chinese government has issued a range of administrative regulations to cut energy consumption and maintain sustainable economic development, such as the architectural energy-saving standards.
Zhao suggests the government take the lead in implementing its regulations.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200709/20070929/article_332986.htm
Mayor Bloomberg praises Paris for rent-a-bike program
BY LINDA HERVIEUX
September 30th 2007
PARIS - Mayor Bloomberg got a two-wheeled lesson yesterday on French efforts to save the planet. In Paris on the second day of a two-city European tour, Bloomberg praised the French capital's innovative rent-a-bike program hailed as a model for other cities to curb traffic pollution.
The trip marks Bloomberg's first transatlantic visit since speculation flared that he is considering a run for President as an independent candidate. Last night, he was scheduled to dine with British Conservative Party leader David Cameron in Blackpool, England, ahead of a speech he will deliver at today's party conference. The tour ends tomorrow in London with security issues and traffic congestion on the agenda.
Environmental issues have boosted Bloomberg's profile and he wasted no time yesterday exporting his vision, touting his 127-point PlaNYC plan and saluting Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe for his Velib bike program. "It's fascinating," Bloomberg said, shortly before watching a demonstration of the bikes, which Parisians rent from docking stations across the city.
New York City Transit officials are already studying the program, which was bankrolled by a private company in exchange for advertising space. "Some things will work in New York and some things won't," Bloomberg said, citing tough road conditions, a lack of protected bike lanes and harsh seasons.
Bloomberg also met the French poverty minister yesterday and then had lunch with Delanoe, whose postprandial cigarette did not seem to bother his rabidly anti-smoking guest. The pair agreed to form a "working committee" to tackle issues facing the two cities.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/30/2007-09-30_mayor_bloomberg_praises_paris_for_rentab.html
BY LINDA HERVIEUX
September 30th 2007
PARIS - Mayor Bloomberg got a two-wheeled lesson yesterday on French efforts to save the planet. In Paris on the second day of a two-city European tour, Bloomberg praised the French capital's innovative rent-a-bike program hailed as a model for other cities to curb traffic pollution.
The trip marks Bloomberg's first transatlantic visit since speculation flared that he is considering a run for President as an independent candidate. Last night, he was scheduled to dine with British Conservative Party leader David Cameron in Blackpool, England, ahead of a speech he will deliver at today's party conference. The tour ends tomorrow in London with security issues and traffic congestion on the agenda.
Environmental issues have boosted Bloomberg's profile and he wasted no time yesterday exporting his vision, touting his 127-point PlaNYC plan and saluting Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe for his Velib bike program. "It's fascinating," Bloomberg said, shortly before watching a demonstration of the bikes, which Parisians rent from docking stations across the city.
New York City Transit officials are already studying the program, which was bankrolled by a private company in exchange for advertising space. "Some things will work in New York and some things won't," Bloomberg said, citing tough road conditions, a lack of protected bike lanes and harsh seasons.
Bloomberg also met the French poverty minister yesterday and then had lunch with Delanoe, whose postprandial cigarette did not seem to bother his rabidly anti-smoking guest. The pair agreed to form a "working committee" to tackle issues facing the two cities.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/30/2007-09-30_mayor_bloomberg_praises_paris_for_rentab.html
D.C. region produces more carbon dioxide than many countries
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington region, with its crawling traffic and several coal-fired power plants, produces more carbon dioxide than several medium-size European countries, according to a new study of pollution.
Estimates produced by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments show 65.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted in the region in 2005 — more than in all of Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Denmark or Switzerland. And each of those countries have more people than the Washington area.
"It's not a surprise that we compete with entire countries in Scandinavia," said Mike Tidwell, who heads the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, an environmental group. "What this data does is point up just how huge America's contribution to climate change is. .. if our one capital region is emitting on par with other industrialized countries."
The study is one of the first to inventory pollution for an entire metropolitan area, rather than just looking at individual states and cities. It has some surprising results for how carbon emissions are produced across political boundaries. The Maryland suburbs, often thought of as more liberal and environmentally friendly, produce more carbon dioxide than either the Virginia suburbs or the District of Columbia, according to the estimates.
Coal-burning power plants are among the biggest polluters, and nearby Maryland counties have three of them. When compared with a similar study of the San Francisco Bay area, Washington doesn't shape up much better. San Francisco produces more carbon dioxide than Washington at 69.7 million metric tons, but it also has more people. That means the D.C. area produces more carbon emissions on a per capita basis.
"We're kind of like a country — you know, a small country," said Judi Greenwald, director of innovative solutions at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, a non-profit group. She said that if Washington cleaned up, the world would notice. "We can take action that is globally significant," Greenwald said.
Local governments are already working to become more "green." Arlington, Fairfax and Montgomery counties have joined a "cool counties" program that calls for more "green" buildings and hybrid cars in county fleets, and the D.C. government has mandated energy-saving features in some new buildings.
But the region's continuing growth means carbon emissions are still expected to increase 35% by 2030. So the solution may have to come from a new technology or other changes to reduce pollution while the population grows. "We don't know how we're going to meet the very, very. .. intense goal" of sharp reductions in the coming decades, said Stuart Freudberg, director of environmental programs for council of governments. "It's not going to be something we figure out — you know, six months from now, we have the answer."
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/environment/2007-09-30-dc-emissions_N.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington region, with its crawling traffic and several coal-fired power plants, produces more carbon dioxide than several medium-size European countries, according to a new study of pollution.
Estimates produced by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments show 65.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted in the region in 2005 — more than in all of Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Denmark or Switzerland. And each of those countries have more people than the Washington area.
"It's not a surprise that we compete with entire countries in Scandinavia," said Mike Tidwell, who heads the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, an environmental group. "What this data does is point up just how huge America's contribution to climate change is. .. if our one capital region is emitting on par with other industrialized countries."
The study is one of the first to inventory pollution for an entire metropolitan area, rather than just looking at individual states and cities. It has some surprising results for how carbon emissions are produced across political boundaries. The Maryland suburbs, often thought of as more liberal and environmentally friendly, produce more carbon dioxide than either the Virginia suburbs or the District of Columbia, according to the estimates.
Coal-burning power plants are among the biggest polluters, and nearby Maryland counties have three of them. When compared with a similar study of the San Francisco Bay area, Washington doesn't shape up much better. San Francisco produces more carbon dioxide than Washington at 69.7 million metric tons, but it also has more people. That means the D.C. area produces more carbon emissions on a per capita basis.
"We're kind of like a country — you know, a small country," said Judi Greenwald, director of innovative solutions at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, a non-profit group. She said that if Washington cleaned up, the world would notice. "We can take action that is globally significant," Greenwald said.
Local governments are already working to become more "green." Arlington, Fairfax and Montgomery counties have joined a "cool counties" program that calls for more "green" buildings and hybrid cars in county fleets, and the D.C. government has mandated energy-saving features in some new buildings.
But the region's continuing growth means carbon emissions are still expected to increase 35% by 2030. So the solution may have to come from a new technology or other changes to reduce pollution while the population grows. "We don't know how we're going to meet the very, very. .. intense goal" of sharp reductions in the coming decades, said Stuart Freudberg, director of environmental programs for council of governments. "It's not going to be something we figure out — you know, six months from now, we have the answer."
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/environment/2007-09-30-dc-emissions_N.htm
A boom in biodiesel?
By Ángel González
Seattle Times business reporter
The makeshift headquarters of Propel Biofuels looks a bit like an Allied war room before D-Day.
A map of Seattle and its environs teems with pins — potential sites for the company's green-and-white biodiesel pumps. Most of the pins mark well-established gasoline stations that sell traditional petroleum-based fuels. By striking deals to sell biodiesel there, Propel executives think they can overcome the retail-distribution obstacles that so far have kept it an alternative fuel for a small circle of green devotees.
The invasion is about to begin, with the company's first two pumps opening in mid-October. "We're not asking customers to radically change their behavior" in order to buy biodiesel, Propel founder Rob Elam said.
Biodiesel, which can be used in any diesel engine, has a following among environmentalists and well-informed car buffs. But it represents less than 1 percent of diesel consumption in the U.S., according to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) numbers, and is used mostly by government fleets such as King County Metro.
The Seattle area has about a dozen distributors, mostly informal operations, although Safeway sells a 20 percent biodiesel blend at some of its locations. Elam thinks it will take a healthy dose of marketing savvy — from fancy logos and flashy canopies to standardized automated-payment centers and consumer-loyalty programs — for biodiesel to succeed with mainstream consumers.
A strong retailing effort would crown the national push toward biofuels, which has gained momentum amid rising crude-oil prices and environmental concerns. Government incentives have increased the possibility of profit, helping entrepreneurs attract investment; Propel recently raised $4.75 million from venture capitalists.
A budding supply infrastructure is also beginning to reach critical mass: Washington catapulted to third place in national biodiesel-production capacity with the construction of Imperium Renewables' Grays Harbor facility, the largest in the U.S.
Imperium backed Propel with loans at the time of its inception and provides biodiesel for its pumps. (Propel's temporary base, once located atop an alehouse in Magnolia, now is nestled at Imperium's offices south of downtown Seattle, pending a move to more permanent quarters near Fremont.)
Business or hobby?
Propel isn't the only one riding on this alternative-energy élan, though it's the most ambitious.
Ballard biodiesel pioneer Dan Freeman, who offers anti-war stickers and environmental books in the auto shop where he sells alternative fuel, just opened his second biodiesel location, at Espresso Express near the University District, with the aid of a federal grant. He, too, has a new logo "very similar to the organic- food label," said Freeman, who goes by "Dr. Dan."
But as traditional gasoline retailers know, selling fuel is a tough business, with low margins, intense competition and volatile prices. Biodiesel retailers face the added challenges of setting up new distribution networks, dealing with authorities unfamiliar with biodiesel, and marketing a product that currently costs 30 to 50 cents more per gallon than conventional diesel.
"I don't think it's a get-rich-quick plan," said Sean Aydlott, who sells biodiesel by appointment from his house in Bothell and makes enough to cover his costs; he calls it "more of a hobby."
Another obstacle is that diesel users, who can make the transition to biodiesel without making any changes to their vehicles, represent a small minority of the automobile fleet.
A self-sustaining, expanding biodiesel retail sector "seems like a longshot at this point," said Marie LaRiviere, a biodiesel expert at the EIA. "It is a limited percentage of the transportation market."
Coexisting with Big Oil
Despite biodiesel's niche status, Propel's Elam said there's enough fervor in Seattle to make the fuel a big business. In 2005, the company installed a test pump near University Village, followed by similar sites in South Seattle and Issaquah.
"Truth is, we were selling a ton of biodiesel," said Elam — about 20,000 gallons a month per site.
Propel's official push will begin with two selling points: in Ballard, at Bernie's Auto on Leary Way, and at a Shell station on Bothell Way in Kenmore. The company plans to open other pumps within six to 12 weeks in Factoria, Maple Valley, Mount Vernon, Poulsbo, Seattle's Maple Leaf neighborhood, Camano Island and Bremerton.
Elam believes the secret to success is to make biodiesel visible and convenient. His team has talked to more than 100 gas-station owners on the West Coast, seeking arrangements to install pumps. "Generally the response is very enthusiastic," Elam said. "We don't ask them to have any hassle."
But coexistence with Big Oil is challenging, because existing contracts between fuel dealers and oil companies forbid placing a biodiesel pump under the canopy that carries the station's brand. Propel must have its own canopy and pump, leasing the space from the gas-station owner.
Elam says a biodiesel pump will also attract more customers to a station's convenience store, which is where retailers make most of their profits. "We give them a new revenue stream and increased visibility," he said.
The company is also looking at nontraditional fueling sites such as auto shops, but getting permits is a chore.
Municipalities are unfamiliar with biodiesel, which is not as flammable as petroleum diesel and can be stored in surface tanks. For entrepreneurs, the amount of explaining and paperwork can be daunting. Propel's proposals for stations in Lake Forest Park, downtown Bellevue and Gig Harbor are "stalled in city permitting," according to Elam.
"It took a little understanding of what they were proposing to do," Seattle planning-department spokesman Alan Justad said. He added that alternative fuels are a priority for the city and that the approval for Propel's pump at Bernie's Auto in Ballard took eight weeks, a relatively short time by Seattle standards.
Propel executives say they can make a profit on the fuel by avoiding the high overhead costs that traditionally eat up most of retailers' revenue. The biodiesel selling points will be unmanned and centrally managed, Elam said. Government incentives — like a federal tax credit for building alternative-fuel infrastructure, and exemptions from certain local taxes — may help the company's bottom line.
"Starting to break even"
As biodiesel retailing becomes more businesslike, it's generating some tension. "Dr. Dan" Freeman, who says that after six years he is "starting to break even," resents Propel's incursion into Ballard with a pump a few blocks from his home base.
"I think there's a lot of market out there. Instead of taking advantage of that market, they're exploiting mine," he said.
But there may be enough market for everybody, if the fuel catches on. An anticipated fossil-fuel crunch may help tilt the balance in biodiesel's favor.
Although petroleum diesel is currently cheaper, many analysts think its price will only increase with time. Sharp spikes in price — such as those produced by political tension or hurricanes — drive people toward alternative fuels. "After the war started all we could do was answer the phone," Freeman said.
"I've been anxiously waiting the arrival" of Dr. Dan's station at Espresso Express, said Harry Sanders, an IT project manager for King County who attended the pump's inauguration while sipping coffee. "It's pivotal to get this going to make biofuels accessible to the consumer."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003915502_biofuels01.html
By Ángel González
Seattle Times business reporter
The makeshift headquarters of Propel Biofuels looks a bit like an Allied war room before D-Day.
A map of Seattle and its environs teems with pins — potential sites for the company's green-and-white biodiesel pumps. Most of the pins mark well-established gasoline stations that sell traditional petroleum-based fuels. By striking deals to sell biodiesel there, Propel executives think they can overcome the retail-distribution obstacles that so far have kept it an alternative fuel for a small circle of green devotees.
The invasion is about to begin, with the company's first two pumps opening in mid-October. "We're not asking customers to radically change their behavior" in order to buy biodiesel, Propel founder Rob Elam said.
Biodiesel, which can be used in any diesel engine, has a following among environmentalists and well-informed car buffs. But it represents less than 1 percent of diesel consumption in the U.S., according to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) numbers, and is used mostly by government fleets such as King County Metro.
The Seattle area has about a dozen distributors, mostly informal operations, although Safeway sells a 20 percent biodiesel blend at some of its locations. Elam thinks it will take a healthy dose of marketing savvy — from fancy logos and flashy canopies to standardized automated-payment centers and consumer-loyalty programs — for biodiesel to succeed with mainstream consumers.
A strong retailing effort would crown the national push toward biofuels, which has gained momentum amid rising crude-oil prices and environmental concerns. Government incentives have increased the possibility of profit, helping entrepreneurs attract investment; Propel recently raised $4.75 million from venture capitalists.
A budding supply infrastructure is also beginning to reach critical mass: Washington catapulted to third place in national biodiesel-production capacity with the construction of Imperium Renewables' Grays Harbor facility, the largest in the U.S.
Imperium backed Propel with loans at the time of its inception and provides biodiesel for its pumps. (Propel's temporary base, once located atop an alehouse in Magnolia, now is nestled at Imperium's offices south of downtown Seattle, pending a move to more permanent quarters near Fremont.)
Business or hobby?
Propel isn't the only one riding on this alternative-energy élan, though it's the most ambitious.
Ballard biodiesel pioneer Dan Freeman, who offers anti-war stickers and environmental books in the auto shop where he sells alternative fuel, just opened his second biodiesel location, at Espresso Express near the University District, with the aid of a federal grant. He, too, has a new logo "very similar to the organic- food label," said Freeman, who goes by "Dr. Dan."
But as traditional gasoline retailers know, selling fuel is a tough business, with low margins, intense competition and volatile prices. Biodiesel retailers face the added challenges of setting up new distribution networks, dealing with authorities unfamiliar with biodiesel, and marketing a product that currently costs 30 to 50 cents more per gallon than conventional diesel.
"I don't think it's a get-rich-quick plan," said Sean Aydlott, who sells biodiesel by appointment from his house in Bothell and makes enough to cover his costs; he calls it "more of a hobby."
Another obstacle is that diesel users, who can make the transition to biodiesel without making any changes to their vehicles, represent a small minority of the automobile fleet.
A self-sustaining, expanding biodiesel retail sector "seems like a longshot at this point," said Marie LaRiviere, a biodiesel expert at the EIA. "It is a limited percentage of the transportation market."
Coexisting with Big Oil
Despite biodiesel's niche status, Propel's Elam said there's enough fervor in Seattle to make the fuel a big business. In 2005, the company installed a test pump near University Village, followed by similar sites in South Seattle and Issaquah.
"Truth is, we were selling a ton of biodiesel," said Elam — about 20,000 gallons a month per site.
Propel's official push will begin with two selling points: in Ballard, at Bernie's Auto on Leary Way, and at a Shell station on Bothell Way in Kenmore. The company plans to open other pumps within six to 12 weeks in Factoria, Maple Valley, Mount Vernon, Poulsbo, Seattle's Maple Leaf neighborhood, Camano Island and Bremerton.
Elam believes the secret to success is to make biodiesel visible and convenient. His team has talked to more than 100 gas-station owners on the West Coast, seeking arrangements to install pumps. "Generally the response is very enthusiastic," Elam said. "We don't ask them to have any hassle."
But coexistence with Big Oil is challenging, because existing contracts between fuel dealers and oil companies forbid placing a biodiesel pump under the canopy that carries the station's brand. Propel must have its own canopy and pump, leasing the space from the gas-station owner.
Elam says a biodiesel pump will also attract more customers to a station's convenience store, which is where retailers make most of their profits. "We give them a new revenue stream and increased visibility," he said.
The company is also looking at nontraditional fueling sites such as auto shops, but getting permits is a chore.
Municipalities are unfamiliar with biodiesel, which is not as flammable as petroleum diesel and can be stored in surface tanks. For entrepreneurs, the amount of explaining and paperwork can be daunting. Propel's proposals for stations in Lake Forest Park, downtown Bellevue and Gig Harbor are "stalled in city permitting," according to Elam.
"It took a little understanding of what they were proposing to do," Seattle planning-department spokesman Alan Justad said. He added that alternative fuels are a priority for the city and that the approval for Propel's pump at Bernie's Auto in Ballard took eight weeks, a relatively short time by Seattle standards.
Propel executives say they can make a profit on the fuel by avoiding the high overhead costs that traditionally eat up most of retailers' revenue. The biodiesel selling points will be unmanned and centrally managed, Elam said. Government incentives — like a federal tax credit for building alternative-fuel infrastructure, and exemptions from certain local taxes — may help the company's bottom line.
"Starting to break even"
As biodiesel retailing becomes more businesslike, it's generating some tension. "Dr. Dan" Freeman, who says that after six years he is "starting to break even," resents Propel's incursion into Ballard with a pump a few blocks from his home base.
"I think there's a lot of market out there. Instead of taking advantage of that market, they're exploiting mine," he said.
But there may be enough market for everybody, if the fuel catches on. An anticipated fossil-fuel crunch may help tilt the balance in biodiesel's favor.
Although petroleum diesel is currently cheaper, many analysts think its price will only increase with time. Sharp spikes in price — such as those produced by political tension or hurricanes — drive people toward alternative fuels. "After the war started all we could do was answer the phone," Freeman said.
"I've been anxiously waiting the arrival" of Dr. Dan's station at Espresso Express, said Harry Sanders, an IT project manager for King County who attended the pump's inauguration while sipping coffee. "It's pivotal to get this going to make biofuels accessible to the consumer."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003915502_biofuels01.html
London heading down greener path
The mayor has won influential allies in his quest to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions.
By DAVID ADAMS
October 1, 2007
LONDON - London Mayor Ken Livingstone used to be known as "Red Ken" for his unapologetically left-wing policies. These days Livingstone's politics come in shades of green. Under his leadership, the city once known as "The Big Smoke" is heading a coalition of nearly 40 international cities that have pledged to reduce emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases that scientists say cause climate change.
Livingstone is winning the support of some influential allies, such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former President Bill Clinton. Though he doesn't head a city, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is also among the converts. Crist flew to New York last week at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation, where he helped unveil a major solar power investment by FPL Group, Florida's largest energy company.
"Britain's cities were at the beginning of an industrial revolution that was mirrored across the world in the 18th and 19th centuries," former British environment minister David Miliband said last year in a major policy speech. "Britain's cities can lead the way again."
"London is setting the standard for climate change policy," said Chris Walker, U.S. director of the Climate Group, a nonprofit that advocates greater business and government leadership on climate change.
Scientific studies show cities contribute 75 percent of the global warming emissions in the world, Walker noted. "With that kind of carbon footprint, it's vital that cities get this right," he said. Livingstone launched his idea in 2005, bringing together 18 world cities under the Cities Climate Leadership Group. By August of the next year, his program had support from the Clinton Foundation, which has enlisted Microsoft to design an accurate emissions monitoring system for cities.
The coalition has since grown to 38 major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia. It calls itself "C40," with two seats reserved for Beijing and Shanghai, which have yet to join. In February, Livingstone launched a "Climate Action Plan" with the goal of reducing London's emissions by 60 percent by 2025, using a mix of energy conservation, efficiency and renewable resources such as biofuels, wind and solar energy.
For years London was synonymous with smog, the phrase coined to describe the city's dense mix of fog and smoke from coal fires. Many of the old factory smokestacks no longer belch pollution, but air quality is still a problem. With a population of 7.5-million residents (double that in the wider metro area), London is the largest city in the European Union. If nothing is done, London's emissions are projected to increase by 15 percent to 51-million tons of carbon dioxide by 2025, officials say. (The average American car emits about 7 tons of CO2 in a year.)
"It's important we clean up our act," said Allan Jones, CEO of the London Climate Change Agency, an autonomous body created by the mayor to implement climate change projects. As a first, largely symbolic step, solar panels are being installed on the roof of City Hall, a landmark egg-shaped building opposite the Tower of London.
Officials talk of "remaking" the city based upon a "low-carbon" economic model - ultimately taking half the city off the national electricity grid by 2050. So, London is turning to small, decentralized energy systems that can supply customers more efficiently.
One method, known as Combined Heat and Power, or "co-generation," involves capturing the heat produced making electricity and using it to heat water that can warm nearby homes. In depressed east London, the city borough of Tower Hamlets teamed up with a French power utility to convert an abandoned electrical sub-station into a small co-generation plant. Capturing the heat doubles the plant's energy efficiency, says plant manager Nicolas Mugniot.
"You still have some emissions, but it saves about 1,700 tons of C02 per year," he said. Instead of natural gas, one day officials say they could use biogas captured from municipal waste sites. Recycled organic waste, including restaurant waste, could also supply electricity for up to 2-million homes in the London area, Jones says.
London has one of the most aggressive anticongestion programs in the world. It levies a fee of $16 per day for drivers entering the city center. The system has reduced carbon emissions by 16 percent within the city center, officials say. Traffic congestion has also eased. Livingstone has his sights on carbon-spewing SUVs and luxury cars, which he wants to hit with a tax keyed to their emissions.
- - -
Cities - and states like Florida - can act now, Livingstone argues, while national governments lose valuable time trapped in endless international climate change negotiations. New York and Los Angeles have ambitious plans to cut greenhouse emissions by a third over the next two decades. New York's effort to emulate London's congestion tax has so far failed to win legislative approval, however.
The members of the C40 group get most of the media attention. But mayors of more than 600 smaller American cities, including Tampa and Key Biscayne, have also signed a "climate protection agreement." "It's much easier to do it if someone else has done it," said Simon Reddy, manager of the C40 group. "You can learn from their mistakes and successes. Cities can pick and choose what's best for them."
FAST FACTS
The greening of London
- London requires new developments to draw at least 10 percent of energy needs from on-site renewable power wherever feasible. That is being applied to venues for the 2012 Olympic Games.
- London wants to save water and reduce emissions from the water treatment industry. Only 2 percent of treated water is used for human consumption. "Most goes down toilets," one official says.
- Other projects include a 1,000-megawatt offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary, and new fleets of hybrid diesel and hydrogen buses.
- London is also encouraging homeowners to retrofit their properties with better insulation to save emissions. Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, experts say, The Clinton Foundation launched a $5-billion program this year backed by major energy service companies and banks to retrofit older, energy-inefficient buildings in 15 of the world's largest cities.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/01/Worldandnation/London_heading_down_g.shtml
The mayor has won influential allies in his quest to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions.
By DAVID ADAMS
October 1, 2007
LONDON - London Mayor Ken Livingstone used to be known as "Red Ken" for his unapologetically left-wing policies. These days Livingstone's politics come in shades of green. Under his leadership, the city once known as "The Big Smoke" is heading a coalition of nearly 40 international cities that have pledged to reduce emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases that scientists say cause climate change.
Livingstone is winning the support of some influential allies, such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former President Bill Clinton. Though he doesn't head a city, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is also among the converts. Crist flew to New York last week at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation, where he helped unveil a major solar power investment by FPL Group, Florida's largest energy company.
"Britain's cities were at the beginning of an industrial revolution that was mirrored across the world in the 18th and 19th centuries," former British environment minister David Miliband said last year in a major policy speech. "Britain's cities can lead the way again."
"London is setting the standard for climate change policy," said Chris Walker, U.S. director of the Climate Group, a nonprofit that advocates greater business and government leadership on climate change.
Scientific studies show cities contribute 75 percent of the global warming emissions in the world, Walker noted. "With that kind of carbon footprint, it's vital that cities get this right," he said. Livingstone launched his idea in 2005, bringing together 18 world cities under the Cities Climate Leadership Group. By August of the next year, his program had support from the Clinton Foundation, which has enlisted Microsoft to design an accurate emissions monitoring system for cities.
The coalition has since grown to 38 major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia. It calls itself "C40," with two seats reserved for Beijing and Shanghai, which have yet to join. In February, Livingstone launched a "Climate Action Plan" with the goal of reducing London's emissions by 60 percent by 2025, using a mix of energy conservation, efficiency and renewable resources such as biofuels, wind and solar energy.
For years London was synonymous with smog, the phrase coined to describe the city's dense mix of fog and smoke from coal fires. Many of the old factory smokestacks no longer belch pollution, but air quality is still a problem. With a population of 7.5-million residents (double that in the wider metro area), London is the largest city in the European Union. If nothing is done, London's emissions are projected to increase by 15 percent to 51-million tons of carbon dioxide by 2025, officials say. (The average American car emits about 7 tons of CO2 in a year.)
"It's important we clean up our act," said Allan Jones, CEO of the London Climate Change Agency, an autonomous body created by the mayor to implement climate change projects. As a first, largely symbolic step, solar panels are being installed on the roof of City Hall, a landmark egg-shaped building opposite the Tower of London.
Officials talk of "remaking" the city based upon a "low-carbon" economic model - ultimately taking half the city off the national electricity grid by 2050. So, London is turning to small, decentralized energy systems that can supply customers more efficiently.
One method, known as Combined Heat and Power, or "co-generation," involves capturing the heat produced making electricity and using it to heat water that can warm nearby homes. In depressed east London, the city borough of Tower Hamlets teamed up with a French power utility to convert an abandoned electrical sub-station into a small co-generation plant. Capturing the heat doubles the plant's energy efficiency, says plant manager Nicolas Mugniot.
"You still have some emissions, but it saves about 1,700 tons of C02 per year," he said. Instead of natural gas, one day officials say they could use biogas captured from municipal waste sites. Recycled organic waste, including restaurant waste, could also supply electricity for up to 2-million homes in the London area, Jones says.
London has one of the most aggressive anticongestion programs in the world. It levies a fee of $16 per day for drivers entering the city center. The system has reduced carbon emissions by 16 percent within the city center, officials say. Traffic congestion has also eased. Livingstone has his sights on carbon-spewing SUVs and luxury cars, which he wants to hit with a tax keyed to their emissions.
- - -
Cities - and states like Florida - can act now, Livingstone argues, while national governments lose valuable time trapped in endless international climate change negotiations. New York and Los Angeles have ambitious plans to cut greenhouse emissions by a third over the next two decades. New York's effort to emulate London's congestion tax has so far failed to win legislative approval, however.
The members of the C40 group get most of the media attention. But mayors of more than 600 smaller American cities, including Tampa and Key Biscayne, have also signed a "climate protection agreement." "It's much easier to do it if someone else has done it," said Simon Reddy, manager of the C40 group. "You can learn from their mistakes and successes. Cities can pick and choose what's best for them."
FAST FACTS
The greening of London
- London requires new developments to draw at least 10 percent of energy needs from on-site renewable power wherever feasible. That is being applied to venues for the 2012 Olympic Games.
- London wants to save water and reduce emissions from the water treatment industry. Only 2 percent of treated water is used for human consumption. "Most goes down toilets," one official says.
- Other projects include a 1,000-megawatt offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary, and new fleets of hybrid diesel and hydrogen buses.
- London is also encouraging homeowners to retrofit their properties with better insulation to save emissions. Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, experts say, The Clinton Foundation launched a $5-billion program this year backed by major energy service companies and banks to retrofit older, energy-inefficient buildings in 15 of the world's largest cities.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/01/Worldandnation/London_heading_down_g.shtml
In France, mini fuel pumps will soon adorn homes
By Corrie Salientes
NarismaInquirer
10/02/2007
Want to gas up at home with your very own mini refueling station? This may not be such a far-fetched idea anymore. Some countries have started to adopt this technology in support of efforts to encourage people to shift to natural gas-fed vehicles for cleaner environment.
Showcased in an exhibit during the 2007 Gas Conference in Paris held last month were a CNG (compressed natural gas) mini refueling station for homes -- only about double the size of a residential circuit breaker -- and a prototype of a CNG-fed Toyota Prius II. Both were innovations of Gaz de France, a major player in Europe’s natural gas sector.
Gaz de France’s mini home refueling station was born out of necessity. France, like several other European countries, has decided to go full blast in the promotion of natural gas use not only for power generation but also for transport fuel.
Commitments
But unlike Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria, France does not have a chain of public pump stations for natural gas, although oil companies and distributors committed to install at least 300 natural gas filling stations between now and 2010. This plan formed part of the undertaking entered into in 2005 by members of the French Association for Natural Gas Vehicles. Under the agreement, vehicle manufacturers will develop four-seater car models. The government will then provide a permanent tax incentive system, while Gaz de France will establish conditions that will lead to the adoption of a home refueling system.
In line with this commitment, Gaz de France started offering home natural gas packages, but only to customers whose houses were connected to existing natural gas network. The mini gas refueling unit is not even for sale. It is leased to customers by the company.
Practical, easy to use
The mini station -- which compresses the gas to 200 bar, equivalent to the pressure of air in a scuba diver’s air cylinder -- may be installed by trained personnel in a private garage, garden or driveway. It is checked regularly by technicians, and is guaranteed by Gaz de France.
Once the unit is set up, fixed to a wall and connected to the gas network, all the customer needs to do is to connect the loading nozzle to the car and press the “on” button. It automatically stops operating when the tank is full. A 50-km drive will need about three hours of refueling. A customer pays a basic monthly charge of 29 euros for the equipment and home refueling service, plus the cost of the gas consumed. Under the Gaz de France package, natural gas fuel costs 0.58 euro per cubic meter, equivalent to a liter of 98 octane super gasoline. This, according to the company, is about 50 percent less than the price of gasoline and 40 percent lower than that of diesel.
Perks
While vehicle makers, gas distributors and energy companies in France provide all the necessary tools that will encourage people to shift to natural gas as transport fuel, the French government sweetens the package and throws in tax incentives both to individual and corporate users.
A 2,000-euro tax credit is given to an individual user at the time of the original purchase of CNG-powered vehicle. The amount goes up to 3,000 euros if the purchase of the CNG-powered car is accompanied by the destruction (by an authorized agency) of a gasoline-run private car registered before Jan. 1, 1997 and acquired at least 12 months prior to the date of destruction.
Companies shifting to vehicles operating solely or partially on natural gas get tax exemption on the purchase of the units and are allowed a 100-percent recovery of value-added tax on fuels.
http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view_article.php?article_id=91933
By Corrie Salientes
NarismaInquirer
10/02/2007
Want to gas up at home with your very own mini refueling station? This may not be such a far-fetched idea anymore. Some countries have started to adopt this technology in support of efforts to encourage people to shift to natural gas-fed vehicles for cleaner environment.
Showcased in an exhibit during the 2007 Gas Conference in Paris held last month were a CNG (compressed natural gas) mini refueling station for homes -- only about double the size of a residential circuit breaker -- and a prototype of a CNG-fed Toyota Prius II. Both were innovations of Gaz de France, a major player in Europe’s natural gas sector.
Gaz de France’s mini home refueling station was born out of necessity. France, like several other European countries, has decided to go full blast in the promotion of natural gas use not only for power generation but also for transport fuel.
Commitments
But unlike Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria, France does not have a chain of public pump stations for natural gas, although oil companies and distributors committed to install at least 300 natural gas filling stations between now and 2010. This plan formed part of the undertaking entered into in 2005 by members of the French Association for Natural Gas Vehicles. Under the agreement, vehicle manufacturers will develop four-seater car models. The government will then provide a permanent tax incentive system, while Gaz de France will establish conditions that will lead to the adoption of a home refueling system.
In line with this commitment, Gaz de France started offering home natural gas packages, but only to customers whose houses were connected to existing natural gas network. The mini gas refueling unit is not even for sale. It is leased to customers by the company.
Practical, easy to use
The mini station -- which compresses the gas to 200 bar, equivalent to the pressure of air in a scuba diver’s air cylinder -- may be installed by trained personnel in a private garage, garden or driveway. It is checked regularly by technicians, and is guaranteed by Gaz de France.
Once the unit is set up, fixed to a wall and connected to the gas network, all the customer needs to do is to connect the loading nozzle to the car and press the “on” button. It automatically stops operating when the tank is full. A 50-km drive will need about three hours of refueling. A customer pays a basic monthly charge of 29 euros for the equipment and home refueling service, plus the cost of the gas consumed. Under the Gaz de France package, natural gas fuel costs 0.58 euro per cubic meter, equivalent to a liter of 98 octane super gasoline. This, according to the company, is about 50 percent less than the price of gasoline and 40 percent lower than that of diesel.
Perks
While vehicle makers, gas distributors and energy companies in France provide all the necessary tools that will encourage people to shift to natural gas as transport fuel, the French government sweetens the package and throws in tax incentives both to individual and corporate users.
A 2,000-euro tax credit is given to an individual user at the time of the original purchase of CNG-powered vehicle. The amount goes up to 3,000 euros if the purchase of the CNG-powered car is accompanied by the destruction (by an authorized agency) of a gasoline-run private car registered before Jan. 1, 1997 and acquired at least 12 months prior to the date of destruction.
Companies shifting to vehicles operating solely or partially on natural gas get tax exemption on the purchase of the units and are allowed a 100-percent recovery of value-added tax on fuels.
http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view_article.php?article_id=91933
A Tale of Two Cities: High-Profile Events Push China’s Urban Development
Ling Li – October 2, 2007
As Beijing counts down to the 2008 Summer Olympics, Shanghai, another modern city on China’s east coast, is gearing up for its own big event: the 2010 World Expo. This marks the first time that developing-country cities will host both high-level world events. Beijing and Shanghai hope the activities will help accelerate their urban development through infrastructure investments, environmental improvement, and public participation.
China’s booming economic growth has led to rapid industrialization and urbanization, as well as to associated damage to human health, natural resources, and the environment. Half of all Chinese people will live in cities by 2010, up from some 44 percent of the population in 2006. But air contamination, lagging environmental infrastructure, and the lack of effective pollution controls remain major challenges to China’s urban environment.
Beijing ploughed nearly 284 billion yuan (US$38 billion) into infrastructure development between 2002 and 2006, nearly double the level of the previous five years. As a result, the city’s rail-based public transportation network has been expanded, and the wastewater treatment rate in the downtown area has reached nearly 90 percent, up from only 42 percent in 2001. The rate of municipal solid waste treatment has increased as well, to some 97 percent. The average ‘green space’ coverage per Beijing resident is some 12 square meters, and the city’s overall green coverage is now nearly 50 percent.
The Olympic Games have become a major force driving Beijing’s economic development, spurring average annual growth of nearly 12 percent over the past five years. But whether such growth can be sustained after the Olympics remains a question, as industries such as tourism, restaurants, financial services, and real estate are expected to face a downturn. “Beijing should take the 2008 Olympic Games as a new start for its city development,” the local government noted in a report to China’s Communist Party. Over the next five years, Beijing aims to transition from a traditional, manufacturing-based economic structure to a new economic model comprising high-tech industry, cultural innovation, and modern services, agriculture, and manufacturing.
The World Expo in Shanghai will last for half a year, compared with the half-month Olympic gala in Beijing. With its theme of urban development (‘better city, better life’), the Expo will demonstrate cutting-edge technologies to improve urban living. “Shanghai is a city still under development, and we need to embrace new concepts for its future,” Vice Mayor Yang Xiong said in a media interview. “Meanwhile, as the host city for the Expo, Shanghai will attract visitors from all over the world, which will provide a great opportunity for Shanghai’s citizens’ economic and social development.”
Shanghai has been taking active measures to create a better urban living environment. These include implementing a 50-percent energy-efficiency standard in all new buildings, creating the world’s first “eco-city” with a minimal ecological footprint on Chongming Island, and launching 10 major citywide energy-saving projects, from renovating electrical devices and adopting “green” lighting to installing sulfur-removal and wastewater treatment equipment in coal-fired power plants. In 2006, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau invested 40 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) to improve local environmental infrastructure, with the goal of boosting the municipal wastewater treatment rate above 75 percent and the solid waste treatment rate above 80 percent by 2010.
Another major benefit—and challenge—of these two upcoming events for both Shanghai and Beijing is to improve citizens’ behavior. The Beijing Olympic Committee has launched several campaigns to encourage residents to improve their awareness of personal manners “for Olympic glory”—including not spitting on the road. Shanghai expects the World Expo to open the eyes of its citizens and to inspire innovation, particularly among the city’s youth.
China Watch is a joint initiative of the Worldwatch Institute and Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute (GEI) and is supported by the blue moon fund.
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5383
Ling Li – October 2, 2007
As Beijing counts down to the 2008 Summer Olympics, Shanghai, another modern city on China’s east coast, is gearing up for its own big event: the 2010 World Expo. This marks the first time that developing-country cities will host both high-level world events. Beijing and Shanghai hope the activities will help accelerate their urban development through infrastructure investments, environmental improvement, and public participation.
China’s booming economic growth has led to rapid industrialization and urbanization, as well as to associated damage to human health, natural resources, and the environment. Half of all Chinese people will live in cities by 2010, up from some 44 percent of the population in 2006. But air contamination, lagging environmental infrastructure, and the lack of effective pollution controls remain major challenges to China’s urban environment.
Beijing ploughed nearly 284 billion yuan (US$38 billion) into infrastructure development between 2002 and 2006, nearly double the level of the previous five years. As a result, the city’s rail-based public transportation network has been expanded, and the wastewater treatment rate in the downtown area has reached nearly 90 percent, up from only 42 percent in 2001. The rate of municipal solid waste treatment has increased as well, to some 97 percent. The average ‘green space’ coverage per Beijing resident is some 12 square meters, and the city’s overall green coverage is now nearly 50 percent.
The Olympic Games have become a major force driving Beijing’s economic development, spurring average annual growth of nearly 12 percent over the past five years. But whether such growth can be sustained after the Olympics remains a question, as industries such as tourism, restaurants, financial services, and real estate are expected to face a downturn. “Beijing should take the 2008 Olympic Games as a new start for its city development,” the local government noted in a report to China’s Communist Party. Over the next five years, Beijing aims to transition from a traditional, manufacturing-based economic structure to a new economic model comprising high-tech industry, cultural innovation, and modern services, agriculture, and manufacturing.
The World Expo in Shanghai will last for half a year, compared with the half-month Olympic gala in Beijing. With its theme of urban development (‘better city, better life’), the Expo will demonstrate cutting-edge technologies to improve urban living. “Shanghai is a city still under development, and we need to embrace new concepts for its future,” Vice Mayor Yang Xiong said in a media interview. “Meanwhile, as the host city for the Expo, Shanghai will attract visitors from all over the world, which will provide a great opportunity for Shanghai’s citizens’ economic and social development.”
Shanghai has been taking active measures to create a better urban living environment. These include implementing a 50-percent energy-efficiency standard in all new buildings, creating the world’s first “eco-city” with a minimal ecological footprint on Chongming Island, and launching 10 major citywide energy-saving projects, from renovating electrical devices and adopting “green” lighting to installing sulfur-removal and wastewater treatment equipment in coal-fired power plants. In 2006, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau invested 40 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) to improve local environmental infrastructure, with the goal of boosting the municipal wastewater treatment rate above 75 percent and the solid waste treatment rate above 80 percent by 2010.
Another major benefit—and challenge—of these two upcoming events for both Shanghai and Beijing is to improve citizens’ behavior. The Beijing Olympic Committee has launched several campaigns to encourage residents to improve their awareness of personal manners “for Olympic glory”—including not spitting on the road. Shanghai expects the World Expo to open the eyes of its citizens and to inspire innovation, particularly among the city’s youth.
China Watch is a joint initiative of the Worldwatch Institute and Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute (GEI) and is supported by the blue moon fund.
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5383
Power Plant Plans $100M Expansion
ELIOT BROWN
Special to the Sun
October 2, 2007
Facing a rising citywide demand for electricity, a Brooklyn-based power plant is seeking to increase its capacity, with plans to spend more than $100 million to expand its Sunset Park facility. The owner of the plant, Astoria Generating Company, a subsidiary of US Power Generating Company, announced yesterday that it is applying to add 100 to 150 megawatts of capacity to its 560-megawatt facility, an alteration that will require the operator to go through a lengthy environmental review process.
In a statement, the company pledged that the changes to its facility would result in a net decrease in emissions, a commitment that received praise from Mayor Bloomberg. "It could serve as a prime example of an innovative measure that promotes both environmental sustainability and economic development," Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement.
The city has been pushing for power companies to invest in cleaner energy as the city's demand for electricity increases with its population. The Bloomberg administration's long-term sustainability plan, PlaNYC, predicts total demand for electricity will grow by 44% between 2005 and 2030, rising to 72 million megawatts a year.
The announcement by US Power Generating Company was greeted with caution by a community group critical of the Sunset Park plant, Uprose. "If the proposal itself can demonstrate that there will be a net reduction, then that's something that we will live with," the group's executive director, Elizabeth Yeampierre, said of emissions. "We understand that there is an increased demand for energy."
http://www.nysun.com/article/63751
ELIOT BROWN
Special to the Sun
October 2, 2007
Facing a rising citywide demand for electricity, a Brooklyn-based power plant is seeking to increase its capacity, with plans to spend more than $100 million to expand its Sunset Park facility. The owner of the plant, Astoria Generating Company, a subsidiary of US Power Generating Company, announced yesterday that it is applying to add 100 to 150 megawatts of capacity to its 560-megawatt facility, an alteration that will require the operator to go through a lengthy environmental review process.
In a statement, the company pledged that the changes to its facility would result in a net decrease in emissions, a commitment that received praise from Mayor Bloomberg. "It could serve as a prime example of an innovative measure that promotes both environmental sustainability and economic development," Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement.
The city has been pushing for power companies to invest in cleaner energy as the city's demand for electricity increases with its population. The Bloomberg administration's long-term sustainability plan, PlaNYC, predicts total demand for electricity will grow by 44% between 2005 and 2030, rising to 72 million megawatts a year.
The announcement by US Power Generating Company was greeted with caution by a community group critical of the Sunset Park plant, Uprose. "If the proposal itself can demonstrate that there will be a net reduction, then that's something that we will live with," the group's executive director, Elizabeth Yeampierre, said of emissions. "We understand that there is an increased demand for energy."
http://www.nysun.com/article/63751
More green building projects sprouting up in Chicago
by Jim Collins Oct 03, 2007
Building green is not just environmentally friendly; it’s also a smart business decision.New developments like Eco18, a 12-story mixed-use building at 1818 S. Wabash Ave., are using their sustainable features as selling points to potential tenants.
“They are trying to differentiate themselves, and they are using it in their marketing,” said Hill Burgess, director of Wight and Company, the Darien, Ill.-based architectural firm that designed the South Loop building.
Eco18’s Web site boasts an 11,250 square foot green roof, lower electricity bills and a solar thermal hot water system. The building is one of many in Chicago now seeking certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, a nationally accepted benchmark for green design. Doug Widener, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the green building council, said Chicago is more active in LEED certification than any other city, with about 200 developments either registered or certified as LEED buildings.
“It’s definitely on the forefront in Chicago,” Widener said. The City of Chicago is adding to the trend with its mandate that all new public buildings are built with LEED certification. The city also offers an expedited building permit process to developers seeking this designation. Hines, developer of the 60-story tower being built on the Chicago River at 300 N. LaSalle St., is also using its green design to gain an edge in the office market. Signs in front of the construction site claim the new building will help “save on energy and water costs by maximizing efficiency” and “increase productivity by maximizing the use of natural light.” Aaron Bowman, Hines’ construction manager, said LEED certification is a definite selling advantage, as many tenants now expect environmentally friendly buildings.
He said the designation is now becoming a standard for all Hines high-rise developments.“It comes down to three things – it’s marketing, it’s becoming our protocol and it’s the right thing to do,” Bowman said. The office tower’s green features include a significant amount of natural light, a green roof and the use of Chicago River water as condenser water, which eliminates the need for traditional cooling towers. As the anchor tenant of the building, Chicago law firm Kirkland and Ellis will occupy about half of the 1.3 million square feet. Senior partner Kevin Evanich said the green design helped fulfill both economic and ethical desires for the firm.LEED certification uses a rating system to evaluate applicants in five areas – sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Buildings can receive silver, gold and platinum certificates.Burgess said developments can achieve silver certificates with little or no additional costs. Gold and platinum may require more investment, but Burgess said the energy-efficient design should eventually pay off. Wight and Company has completed six LEED certified developments, and has 11 LEED projects currently in the works. “The market is really picking up on this,” Burgess said. “It’s quickly becoming the norm.”
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=63077
by Jim Collins Oct 03, 2007
Building green is not just environmentally friendly; it’s also a smart business decision.New developments like Eco18, a 12-story mixed-use building at 1818 S. Wabash Ave., are using their sustainable features as selling points to potential tenants.
“They are trying to differentiate themselves, and they are using it in their marketing,” said Hill Burgess, director of Wight and Company, the Darien, Ill.-based architectural firm that designed the South Loop building.
Eco18’s Web site boasts an 11,250 square foot green roof, lower electricity bills and a solar thermal hot water system. The building is one of many in Chicago now seeking certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, a nationally accepted benchmark for green design. Doug Widener, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the green building council, said Chicago is more active in LEED certification than any other city, with about 200 developments either registered or certified as LEED buildings.
“It’s definitely on the forefront in Chicago,” Widener said. The City of Chicago is adding to the trend with its mandate that all new public buildings are built with LEED certification. The city also offers an expedited building permit process to developers seeking this designation. Hines, developer of the 60-story tower being built on the Chicago River at 300 N. LaSalle St., is also using its green design to gain an edge in the office market. Signs in front of the construction site claim the new building will help “save on energy and water costs by maximizing efficiency” and “increase productivity by maximizing the use of natural light.” Aaron Bowman, Hines’ construction manager, said LEED certification is a definite selling advantage, as many tenants now expect environmentally friendly buildings.
He said the designation is now becoming a standard for all Hines high-rise developments.“It comes down to three things – it’s marketing, it’s becoming our protocol and it’s the right thing to do,” Bowman said. The office tower’s green features include a significant amount of natural light, a green roof and the use of Chicago River water as condenser water, which eliminates the need for traditional cooling towers. As the anchor tenant of the building, Chicago law firm Kirkland and Ellis will occupy about half of the 1.3 million square feet. Senior partner Kevin Evanich said the green design helped fulfill both economic and ethical desires for the firm.LEED certification uses a rating system to evaluate applicants in five areas – sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Buildings can receive silver, gold and platinum certificates.Burgess said developments can achieve silver certificates with little or no additional costs. Gold and platinum may require more investment, but Burgess said the energy-efficient design should eventually pay off. Wight and Company has completed six LEED certified developments, and has 11 LEED projects currently in the works. “The market is really picking up on this,” Burgess said. “It’s quickly becoming the norm.”
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=63077
Energy Consumption for Getting to and from Buildings Exceeds Energy Use for Operations
BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT,
Oct. 4
E-Wire
Getting people to and from buildings often uses more energy than the buildings themselves consume, according to a recent examination of the "transportation energy intensity" of buildings. The lead article in the September 2007 issue of Environmental Building News shows that for an average office building in the United States, office workers expend 30 percent more energy commuting to and from the building than the building itself consumes for heating, cooling, lighting, and other uses. For an office building built to modern energy codes, the fraction of energy used for transportation is much greater.
"This was a huge surprise," says Environmental Building News (EBN) executive editor Alex Wilson, author of the article. "I knew that transportation energy requirements were significant, but I was amazed at the differences." For the article, Wilson analyzed U.S. data on commuting distance and vehicle fuel economy, the split among commuting options, and the building square footage per employee to normalize transportation energy intensity in Btus per square foot per year. He then compared that transportation energy intensity to the average building energy use (also in Btus/ft2-yr) for average existing office buildings and buildings designed to comply with today's energy codes.
The bottom line is that for an average office building in the U.S., commuting to and from the building uses about 120,000 Btus/ft2-yr, or 30 percent more than the building itself consumes (93,000 Btu/ft2-yr). For an office building that is compliant with today's stringent energy code (ASHRAE 90.1-2004), the difference is even greater, with the transportation energy use 2.4 times the operating energy use of 51,000 Btu/ft2-yr. "The green building community has expended tremendous effort to reduce the operating energy use of buildings," notes Wilson, "but very little effort to reduce the transportation energy use of those buildings." He would like to see this change. "To achieve widely shared goals for mitigating climate change," says Wilson, "we simply can't ignore the energy consumption of getting to and from our buildings."
Many of the strategies for reducing the transportation energy intensity of buildings relate to location. The September EBN article, "Driving to Green Buildings: The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings," reviews a wide range of strategies for reducing vehicle use. Such strategies are often lumped under the heading "transit-oriented development" and include increasing development density, creating mixed-use development, providing various forms of public transit, restricting parking, and creating more pedestrian-friendly streetscapes.
"Although progressive urban planners have been advocating for such development features for years," says Wilson, "the building industry has only recently begun paying attention to these issues."
About Environmental Building News and BuildingGreen :
Environment Building News (EBN) is the oldest and one of the most respected sources of green building information in North America. Celebrating its 15th year of publication in 2007, EBN has never carried advertising and is supported entirely by subscription revenue. BuildingGreen, Inc., the publisher of EBN, is a 20-person company based in Brattleboro, Vermont. The article on transportation energy intensity can be accessed free at www.BuildingGreen.com.
http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/4261
BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT,
Oct. 4
E-Wire
Getting people to and from buildings often uses more energy than the buildings themselves consume, according to a recent examination of the "transportation energy intensity" of buildings. The lead article in the September 2007 issue of Environmental Building News shows that for an average office building in the United States, office workers expend 30 percent more energy commuting to and from the building than the building itself consumes for heating, cooling, lighting, and other uses. For an office building built to modern energy codes, the fraction of energy used for transportation is much greater.
"This was a huge surprise," says Environmental Building News (EBN) executive editor Alex Wilson, author of the article. "I knew that transportation energy requirements were significant, but I was amazed at the differences." For the article, Wilson analyzed U.S. data on commuting distance and vehicle fuel economy, the split among commuting options, and the building square footage per employee to normalize transportation energy intensity in Btus per square foot per year. He then compared that transportation energy intensity to the average building energy use (also in Btus/ft2-yr) for average existing office buildings and buildings designed to comply with today's energy codes.
The bottom line is that for an average office building in the U.S., commuting to and from the building uses about 120,000 Btus/ft2-yr, or 30 percent more than the building itself consumes (93,000 Btu/ft2-yr). For an office building that is compliant with today's stringent energy code (ASHRAE 90.1-2004), the difference is even greater, with the transportation energy use 2.4 times the operating energy use of 51,000 Btu/ft2-yr. "The green building community has expended tremendous effort to reduce the operating energy use of buildings," notes Wilson, "but very little effort to reduce the transportation energy use of those buildings." He would like to see this change. "To achieve widely shared goals for mitigating climate change," says Wilson, "we simply can't ignore the energy consumption of getting to and from our buildings."
Many of the strategies for reducing the transportation energy intensity of buildings relate to location. The September EBN article, "Driving to Green Buildings: The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings," reviews a wide range of strategies for reducing vehicle use. Such strategies are often lumped under the heading "transit-oriented development" and include increasing development density, creating mixed-use development, providing various forms of public transit, restricting parking, and creating more pedestrian-friendly streetscapes.
"Although progressive urban planners have been advocating for such development features for years," says Wilson, "the building industry has only recently begun paying attention to these issues."
About Environmental Building News and BuildingGreen :
Environment Building News (EBN) is the oldest and one of the most respected sources of green building information in North America. Celebrating its 15th year of publication in 2007, EBN has never carried advertising and is supported entirely by subscription revenue. BuildingGreen, Inc., the publisher of EBN, is a 20-person company based in Brattleboro, Vermont. The article on transportation energy intensity can be accessed free at www.BuildingGreen.com.
http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/4261
For Sale: San Francisco Wind-Powered Home
AER Staff
04 October 2007
If you are in the market for a zero-energy home in San Francisco's Mission District that comes with its own wind turbine, you are in luck.According to a news story on Inhabit.com, La Casa Verde is on the market. The 4,800 square-foot home was designed by John Lum Architecture and built by Meridian Builders and Developers as part of Sunset Magazine's 2007 Idea House Program. Even within a city with no shortage of architectural landmarks, La Casa Verde is unique because of its Skystream 3.7 wind turbine. The home is believed to be the first San Francisco private residence to include this particular renewable energy source.The house also includes a solar water-heating system and rainwater tanks - as well as an indoor lap pool, which clearly benefits from such renewable features.Even before construction was completed, La Casa Verde attracted local attention, both as an example of clean technology in construction and as example of inventive home remodeling. Open house tours will be conducted at La Casa Verde through the end of this month.
AER Staff
04 October 2007
If you are in the market for a zero-energy home in San Francisco's Mission District that comes with its own wind turbine, you are in luck.According to a news story on Inhabit.com, La Casa Verde is on the market. The 4,800 square-foot home was designed by John Lum Architecture and built by Meridian Builders and Developers as part of Sunset Magazine's 2007 Idea House Program. Even within a city with no shortage of architectural landmarks, La Casa Verde is unique because of its Skystream 3.7 wind turbine. The home is believed to be the first San Francisco private residence to include this particular renewable energy source.The house also includes a solar water-heating system and rainwater tanks - as well as an indoor lap pool, which clearly benefits from such renewable features.Even before construction was completed, La Casa Verde attracted local attention, both as an example of clean technology in construction and as example of inventive home remodeling. Open house tours will be conducted at La Casa Verde through the end of this month.
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