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Tuesday, October 26, 2010
EDF 'should pay more over Dartford power cut'
Homes in Dartford, Erith, Bexleyheath and Orpington were without electricity for up to four days in July 2009.A council leader has called for energy firm EDF to pay more compensation after a power cut affected 94,000 homes in London and Kent.
Energy watchdog Ofgem said it was not EDF's fault but it has agreed to pay £700,000 in compensation to the 12,000 worst affected customers.
The leader of London's Bexley Council Teresa O'Neill said it was not enough.
Ms O'Neill said: "They (EDF) have compensated those people that were out of power for the whole period but what they haven't done is compensated those that had intermittent service.
"Also the compensation that has been paid out obviously is a fraction of the actual cost of the inconvenience caused to people at the time."
The power failure occurred after a suspected vandalism attack which caused a fire on a cable bridge in Dartford Creek.
The fire damaged four major electricity circuits, affecting homes, businesses, petrol stations and Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford.
In a statement last week, Ofgem said it regarded the event as exceptional and "concluded that there is no evidence that any actions or lack of actions by EDF Energy Networks caused the event to happen".
A spokeswoman for EDF apologised, adding: "This was an illegal attack on the network which disrupted and inconvenienced local communities for several days and cost EDF Energy Networks millions of pounds."
The firm also announced a £750,000 community fund for local causes and said it had carried out a full security review of the site and similar facilities.
LEED-Bashing Pile-On Continues On New Fronts
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 10.25.10
USGBC
There is a lot of schadenfreude in the air as the lawsuits fly and everyone piles on with everything they have ever hated about LEED, including the bike racks. In New York City, residents of Riverhouse (seen in TreeHugger here) are suing because, according to Stephen Del Percio, "the building's much-heralded 'green' heating system consistently fails to provide adequate heat."
Riverhouse on Green Building Law
Ernest Beck writes in Architect Magazine:
Legal battles over sustainability promises vs. performance are just beginning. But it's not only about design, it's also about contracts, expectations, and (surprise, surprise) money....Now that sustainability is an integral part of design practice and the business and marketing strategies of architecture firms, it's inevitable that legal claims and liability issues concerning green building performance will appear.
On NetGreen News, they describe how a ten year old LEED certified building is being evacuated because it is structurally unsound. The damage has nothing to do with its LEED certification, but their story is entitled "The Lowdown on LEED."
It appears to be a lousy post-tensioning job using sub-par concrete. But Dawn Killough wrote in an article entited Does Salem's Building Disaster Give LEED a Bad Name?
What bothers me most about this situation is that projects like this can give LEED a bad name. Energy efficiency, recycled materials, and green roofs don't do anyone any good unless the building is sound. LEED projects get a lot of press these days, although they are becoming more commonplace, and projects like this can leave the public wondering what designers were thinking. Are they focusing too much attention on being green and not enough on good design?
Meanwhile, the wood wars are getting up to ignition temperature as US Green Building Council members get to vote on changing the rules that currently give FSC certified wood a credit. Big green groups including the Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace have written an open letter supporting the current restriction.
The certified wood credit in LEED has been one of the principal drivers for healthy forests ecosystems in North America and around the world ˆ we believe the standards set by FSC should represent the floor, not the ceiling," [FSC President] Brinkema said.
They pull no punches in their letter:
SFI and its industry supporters often argue that choice and competition between forest certification systems is good for everyone. Choice between forest certification systems can indeed be beneficial to the extent that competition can drive improvement among all systems. However, to the extent that "choice" confuses the marketplace and falsely professes equivalence between standards and practices that do not represent the same level of environmental and social performance, it is far from being beneficial. In fact, it is deceptive and harmful greenwashing.In the New York Times, Sustainable Forestry Initiative president Kathy Abusow appears to not like the new standards much either, and says:
"Man, this is a complicated process," Ms. Abusow said. "There's just way too many hoops to jump through for just one credit."
Finally, Preston at Jetson Green points us to Kevin Pierce of Shaw Sustainable Design Solutions, who gets all Churchillian and writes:
"...democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried..." ~ Winston ChurchillChange a few words and the Prime Minister's commentary on democracy could easily be applied to LEED.
Definitely a literate critic, he then gets Hobbsian calls LEED " clumsy, brutish, long, and expensive."
LEED is not designed to be a good tool for making the goal-seeking process of architecture more efficient or effective. Although certification is dangled in front of us as a reward, the process of dealing with LEED itself is more stick than carrot.....Official LEED reviewers are often uneven, inconsistent, unreachable, and inexperienced, a result no doubt of the incredibly rapid growth the the USGBC and the newly formed Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). And there seems to be a new fee every time you turn around.Pierce also accuses LEED of rewarding sprawl.
Commercial buildings, the primary LEED beneficiary, created 19% of total US greenhouse gas emissions in 2008. Personal vehicle use -- driving cars to buildings -- accounted for 17%, nearly as much as the buildings themselves. Yet LEED-NC (for example) has only 14 points available to reward reduced driving compared to 42 points directly related to energy reduction.More from Kevin Pierce
It is a good point; we have talked about transportation efficiency before. But as soon as you start talking about reduced driving, you get bike rack bashing. Sometimes, you just can't win; Rick Fedrizzi of the USGBC better be prepared for some rotten tomatoes at Greenbuild this year.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/leed-bashing-pile-on.php
Chicago Board of Education Makes Landmark Renewable Energy Credit Purchase Through Collaboration With Element Markets
HOUSTON -- Element Markets announced today it will supply more than 100 million kilowatt-hours a year of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to theChicago Public Schools (CPS), as part of an integrated program to reduce CPS' impact on the environment and educate students. Chicago Public Schools was honored today at the 10th Annual U.S. EPA Green Power Leadership Awards as one of 18 award winners nationally recognized for advancing the green power market. In conjunction with its enrollment in the EPA Green Power Partnership, Chicago Public Schools received the prestigious Green Power Purchaser of the Year Award. Coinciding with the 2010-2011 school year, the purchase makes Chicago Public Schools the largest K-12 purchaser of green power in the United States. EPA co-sponsors the Green Power Leadership Awards in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy and the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions.
"We commend Chicago Public Schools for this historical purchase and applaud their leadership in support of renewable energy and education for its students," said Angela Schwarz, President and Chief Operating Officer of Element Markets. "We are pleased to have been selected by the Board of the Chicago Public Schools. We share their vision to transform lives by building a foundation for excellence and contributing to a global society."
The EPA estimates that Chicago Public Schools' REC purchase will have the equivalent environmental impact of taking more than 20,000 passenger cars off the road each year or avoiding the amount of electricity needed to power more than 13,500 average American homes annually. The purchase from Element Markets will be certified by the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions' Green-e® Energy program which certifies and verifies green power products.
"EPA congratulates our leadership award winners for demonstrating by example the importance of using clean, renewable energy," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "By using green power, these winners are leading the way toward cleaner air and a healthier environment while helping advance the market for renewable energy."
Supplying RECs and educational materials to Chicago Public Schools is an extension of Element Markets' commitment to clean energy production in Illinois. Having significantly expanded their presence in the state, Element Markets currently manages renewable energy credits and is actively developing new renewable energy projects.
Element Markets was recently named "US Emissions House of the Year" by Energy Risk Magazine and was named the recipient of "Best Trading Company in North American RECs - 2009" by Environmental Finance magazine and "#1 U.S. Renewable Energy Credit Dealer - 2009" for the second consecutive year by Energy Risk magazine. In addition, the company has been awarded multiple contracts from the Illinois Power Agency to supply RECs in support of the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Element Markets intends to continue its development of the Renewable Energy Credits markets and looks forward to the successful development of Renewable Energy and Greenhouse Gas reduction projects.
About Element Markets
Element Markets, LLC is the leading developer and supplier of environmental credits in North America, with integrated trading expertise in the greenhouse gas, renewable energy and emissions credit markets. Since its inception in 2005, Element Markets has built one of the industry's largest diversified development portfolios of wind, solar, methane and greenhouse gas mitigation projects. The company provides structured environmental compliance and optimization services to prominent corporate and institutional clients and was named Emissions House of Year for 2010 by Energy Risk Magazine. Element Markets is based in Houston, Texas. Company website:http://www.elementmarkets.com
Element Markets, LLC is the leading developer and supplier of environmental credits in North America, with integrated trading expertise in the greenhouse gas, renewable energy and emissions credit markets. Since its inception in 2005, Element Markets has built one of the industry's largest diversified development portfolios of wind, solar, methane and greenhouse gas mitigation projects. The company provides structured environmental compliance and optimization services to prominent corporate and institutional clients and was named Emissions House of Year for 2010 by Energy Risk Magazine. Element Markets is based in Houston, Texas. Company website:http://www.elementmarkets.com
About Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 410,000 students in more than 670 schools. It is the third-largest school district in the nation.
Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 410,000 students in more than 670 schools. It is the third-largest school district in the nation.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Liverpool looks to the future as Shanghai EXPO ends
Oct 15 2010by Merseyside News, Liverpool Daily Post
LIVERPOOL is laying long term plans to tackle the challenges of becoming a low carbon city, regeneration chief Max Steinberg told an international conference in China today.
Mr Steinberg, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, the organisation spearheading the city's involvement in the World Expo in Shanghai, told an urban regeneration forum: "Nothing short of a completely new model for the development of sustainable cities is required."
Mr Steinberg and council leader Joe Anderson gave keynote speeches at the forum, which reflected on the regeneration of the twin cities of Shanghai and Liverpool, the parallels between them and the lessons to be learned from each other's challenges.
"We have already achieved much in a short time, but we know we can make even more progress," said Mr Steinberg.
"Low carbon cities of the future will demand even more creativity from politicians and professionals, even more collective action globally, nationally and locally."
He said it was difficult for politicians to be risk takers.
"Public leadership is generally short term, and there is no reward for long-term decision-making," he added. "But in Liverpool we are thinking long-term - long term regeneration, long term improvement for our communities, long term commitment to playing our part in the UK's and world's future.
"We are going to have to find new ways to plan, build and govern our city. We must reduce our impact on the environment and increase our residents' quality of life."
He said that, far from being a threat to competitiveness, this was the key to Liverpool's future ability to compete in a world in which the sustainable use of resources and environmental technologies would become increasingly important.
Cllr Anderson told the conference that Liverpool and Shanghai faced many similar challenges in terms of regeneration, and of the importance of protecting the cities' heritage as they develop.
He thanked the city of Shanghai for the opportunity to take part in the World Expo, adding: "We cannot yet calculate the economic value of our place at World Expo, but we already know that relationships forged in Shanghai will continue to pay dividends in the future.
"And our international drive does not end with the close of the event. I am determined that there will be a lasting legacy – long after our Pavilion has shut its doors. "Both Liverpool and Shanghai are cities with a great past – but we share an even bigger future."
Waste to Resource: Seattle Moving on Eco-Industrial Districts
By Bill DiBenedetto | October 11th, 2010
The “eco-industrial district” concept in Seattle is moving – slowly – from concept to sustainable reality.The Metropolitan King County Council last month adopted a proposal that calls for a partnership with the City of Seattle (which resides in King County) to create Eco-Industrial Districts in the city and throughout the county.
The idea is to assist development in Seattle’s industrial core areas, such as the SoDo district or in the Duwamish River corridor in south Seattle by coordinating various public sector initiatives on sustainable communities.
That coordination is an opportunity for local industries to create green jobs and share resources that will benefit and business and the environment, said County Councilmember Larry Phillips, who sponsored the partnership measure. Development of EIDs “will advance our regional vision for land and resource conservation, energy efficiency and shared energy resources, recreational amenities, and transit access,” he said.
EIDs can vary in size, from a few properties to a large industrial community, within which manufacturers located in close proximity use waste products from one firm as an input resource for a neighboring firm, and where workforce housing, recreation and public transit are located nearby.
The districts help create sustainable communities by using waste byproducts, maximizing resources, promoting green job creation, applying sustainable manufacturing practices, and creating livable communities.
Under an EID partnership, the jurisdictions are hoping to “identify opportunities for innovation and collaboration within Seattle’s industrial center, provide public sector support for those innovations that may face legislative barriers and partner with industrial companies to support existing businesses and attract new business to the region,” a King County statement said.
The county manages regional utilities including transit, solid waste and wastewater treatment, and has resources – otherwise known as waste byproducts – to offer for this effort, including heat from wastewater trunk lines, treated wastewater effluent, mixed municipal waste and solid waste recyclables.
The legislation calls for the County Executive to coordinate these resources to ensure that they will be available to interested cities as they move forward and develop EIDs or other facilities that promote the sustainable use of resources and development of green communities in urban areas throughout King County.
Seattle’s City Council is working with the Seattle Office of Economic Development and the Mayor to draft an EID scope of work this fall.
It’s a potentially far-reaching step towards a more sustainable approach to developing the city’s most industrialized – and polluted – areas.
A likely first candidate is the Duwamish River corridor, which is home to an EPA Superfund site as well some grandiose and expensive development ideas from environmentalists and community activists. The industrial district along the Duwamish River valley and surrounding neighborhoods is one of the largest contiguous industrial areas in the U.S., encompassing about 4,000 companies and 70,000 employees.
An EID program there would strengthen the city’s industrial core while improving the environmental quality of the Duwamish, said Council President Richard Conlin.
Can clean and green coexist with industrial grit?
Maybe Seattle’s template will show the way to a new way of thinking about grunge.
SF Courts Bidders for New, Greener Power Company
The city lowers credit rating requirement to jumpstart creation of an alternative to PG&E
By JOHN UPTON on October 14, 2010 - 4:55 p.m. PDT
Wind turbines near Livermore
San Francisco is courting organizations with low credit ratings in an increasingly desperate bid to create a power company in the city to compete with Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
The city has been working for more than six years to establish an alternative electricity seller under California's Community Choice Aggregation law.
Only one municipality, Marin County, has established a program under the eight-year-old law, which force existing utility companies to allow competitors to use their infrastructure. Similar programs exist in other states.
Under San Francisco's proposed program, dubbed CleanPowerSF, PG&E's electricity customers could buy greener power from a competing organization, probably for a slight price premium.
CleanPowerSF customers would continue to receive their power bills from PG&E, but payments for electricity purchases would be passed on to the company's new competitor. PG&E would continue to charge for natural gas and for delivery of electricity through its power lines.
In an effort to move the stalled program forward, city officials recently extended bidding deadlines for organizations interested in running it and reduced bidders' minimum credit ratings from Baa2/BBB to Baa3/BBB-.
"This is lowest notch of investment grade rating," San Francisco Public Utilities Commission project manager Michael Campbell said during a Sept. 17 hearing at City Hall. "The next down is colloquially termed a junk rating."
The change was needed because of a shortage of qualified potential bidders, according to Campbell.
By easing the credit requirement for bidders, "we can at least get them in the door," Campbell said during the hearing.
The SFPUC is in talks with Power Choice, Morgan Stanley Commodities, Constellation Energy, Sempra Energy, Iberdrola Renewables and EcoSys in an effort to encourage those companies to bid to run CleanPowerSF, according to Sheehan.
A quarter-page advertisement promoting the program to potential bidders was recently published in Megawatt Daily, a major trade publication, Campbell said.
The new energy service provider must have the financial resources to meet the needs of CleanPowerSF, SFPUC spokesman Charles Sheehan told The Bay Citizen.
"This includes, but is not limited to, startup costs, startup payment for energy and the ability to absorb and manage price fluctuations in the energy markets," Sheehan said in an e-mail.
The deadline for bids, originally set for Oct. 6, is now Nov. 3. No bids had been submitted by Thursday, according to Sheehan.
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who has championed CleanPowerSF and recently voted as a member of San Francisco's Local Agency Formation Commission to approve the recent bidding changes, said the state of the energy industry demanded an easing of credit rules.
"Due to fluctuations in the energy industry, a slightly revised bond rating could assist us in ensuring a healthy bid response," Mirkarimi said in an e-mail. "These days, no matter a sterling bond rating or not, the uncertainty in the rating markets requires us to be innovative and vigilant."
Mirkarimi said he is not concerned by the current lack of bids. "It's early, and bidders are like poker players," he said.
Efforts to establish CleanPowerSF have been thwarted during the past year by economic conditions, a PG&E-backed ballot proposition and other factors.
San Francisco appeared earlier this year to be close to signing a deal with a team assembled by startup company Power Choice to run CleanPowerSF, but the deal collapsed on the verge of the June election because of a dispute over financing.
Neither San Francisco nor Power Choice was willing to back a loan of up to $400 million needed to keep power prices competitive during the program's formative years. The loan would have been repaid through higher rates in later years.
Following the collapse in talks, the project was rebid using revised terms.
The earlier bidding process and subsequent negotiations with Power Choice were rushed in an effort to sign a deal prior to the June election, according to Paul Fenn, who helped craft the Community Choice Aggregation law and works as a consultant.
A heavily PG&E-funded initiative on the June ballot, Proposition 16, would have made it more difficult for municipalities to establish Community Choice Aggregation programs if it had passed. The proposition failed, with 52.8 percent of voters rejecting the measure.
San Francisco can now afford to take its time as it tries to establish CleanPowerSF, according to Fenn.
"The first RFP [request for proposals] was put out under duress," Fenn said. "We had Prop. 16 hanging over our heads."
In Search Of Charging Stations For Electric Cars
EnlargeJustin Sullivan/Getty Images
A power cable from a vehicle charging station is seen plugged into the side of a Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid in San Francisco.
Second of a three-part series
Every year, buzzwords enter the American lexicon, like "octomom" or "crowdsourcing." Next year, "range anxiety" may top the list. It's the fear of being stranded in an electric car because the battery has run out.
The futuristic world of the electric car may finally be here. The first mass-produced electric vehicles for sale in the United States are being released over the next few months, but what's missing are places to charge up.
Marty Young, with L.A.-based AeroVironment, is opening the electric panel on the side of my house, so he can work up a price quote for a home charging station.
"The other part of our assessment is the actual loads in the house, and just by looking really at the circuit breakers, you can see that you just have general purpose circuits," he says.
With my old Honda's days numbered, I have been thinking of taking the leap and buying an electric car. Drivers are expected to do most of their charging where they spend the most time, usually at home or at work.
I could plug a car like Nissan's new all-electric Leaf into any socket in my home, but Young says that would take about 20 hours for a full charge. He says a dedicated 220-volt line would be better. That's the kind your clothes dryer runs on.
For about $3, or the price of a gallon of gas, a charging dock will juice up the car every night, or in about 6 to 8 hours, Young says.
Get A Charge
Below are some of the companies involved in charging electric plug-in vehicles in the U.S.
Better Place of Palo Alto, Calif., recently raised $350 million in financing from multiple investors and has announced a partnership with GE. Better Place specializes in charging stations as well as technology that allows depleted electric-vehicle batteries to be switched quickly for fresh ones at a network of robotic stations.
San Francisco-based ECOtality has received $100 million in federal stimulus funding to roll out charging stations in 16 major cities.
Coulomb Technologies of Campbell, Calif., received $15 million in federal stimulus funding to develop 4,600 charging stations through its ChargePoint network in nine U.S. regions. See a video.
Los Angeles-based AeroVironment produces charging stations for home, retail, business and public locations. Lance Armstrong just got an AV charging dock for his Nissan Leaf. The automaker is using AV to do home assessments in which an engineer visits your house, considers where best to install the charger, and what electrical work you will need to get done. Usually this means installing a dedicated 220-volt line.
Based near Sacramento, Calif., ClipperCreek is working with electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors and has installed about 3,000 public charging stations since January 2009.
San Francisco-based ECOtality has received $100 million in federal stimulus funding to roll out charging stations in 16 major cities.
Coulomb Technologies of Campbell, Calif., received $15 million in federal stimulus funding to develop 4,600 charging stations through its ChargePoint network in nine U.S. regions. See a video.
Los Angeles-based AeroVironment produces charging stations for home, retail, business and public locations. Lance Armstrong just got an AV charging dock for his Nissan Leaf. The automaker is using AV to do home assessments in which an engineer visits your house, considers where best to install the charger, and what electrical work you will need to get done. Usually this means installing a dedicated 220-volt line.
Based near Sacramento, Calif., ClipperCreek is working with electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors and has installed about 3,000 public charging stations since January 2009.
And if I charge overnight, I can get a discounted rate from my utility. I own my house, although I don't have access to a garage. But it turns out I can put a charging dock in my driveway.
It can be safely outside, Young assures me — I won't electrocute myself in the rain.
"No, the great thing about the charging dock is the power is off to this cord until it is plugged into the car and latched in the car, and then the car is communicating with the device to give power to the car," Young says.
This charging dock, which is the size of a large Frisbee, with a cord and pump, would set me back about $2,500 with installation. Federal tax credits would help with that.
But what about charging away from home?
The bad news is there are only a few charging stations around the Bay Area — around the country for that matter. And that's a big problem. There is some hope, though.
Thanks to help from the federal government and local air districts, thousands of car chargers should be installed in homes, apartments and office buildings in the next few years.
Coulomb Technologies near San Jose, Calif., like a number of other companies, is giving away charging stations to businesses and residents to help jump-start the market.
"It's a $37 million program funded in part by a $15 million stimulus grant from the Department of Energy," says Richard Lowenthal, the CEO of Coulomb. "With that program, we'll be rolling out 4,600 free charging stations across the United State in nine different regions."
I caught up with Lowenthal outside the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., one of the few places that actually has a charging dock for public use. Lowenthal takes a small, pistol pump out of a sleek-looking charging dock and plugs it into his limited release electric Mini.
"And pretty soon you will hear a clack, and that clack is turning on the vehicle and bringing electricity to the vehicle," Lowenthal says.
Just like a gas station, any electric vehicle can use any charging station. If a driver is not a member of a charging network, Lowenthal says they can just call a toll-free number on the dock and give their credit card number.
"So I can charge my Mini on this, you can charge a Leaf on it, you can charge a Chevy Volt on it or a Ford Transit Connect, the Smart vehicle," he says.
Well, we're not there yet — at least not until there are many more charging stations around the country. Bottom line: Production of the EV has jumped ahead of the infrastructure. Still, companies like Coulomb are optimistic, and they have big plans — including one to install "high-speed" chargers that could rev up a car like Nissan's Leaf in less than 30 minutes. Commercial fast chargers will make their debut in major cities in January.
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