Facts and Myths About Saving Energy
August 18, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
A new survey reveals that, when it comes to saving energy, most of us don’t know what we think we know.
The Back-to-School Guide to Clutter: Where to Donate Last Year’s School Supplies
August 18, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Donate old school supplies you no longer need, like clothes, backpacks and computers. Here’s how.
Meet the Coda Electric Car, Soon Available in California
August 18, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
The ever-evolving Coda sedan in Santa Monica. (Jim Motavalli photo)
LOS ANGELES–I spent four days in California running back and forth between green car companies, including Coda, Tesla, Fisker and AC Propulsion. This state is becoming the epicenter of EV development for several reasons: environmental inclinations, weather, and governments (both state and local) increasingly willing to subsidize both EV purchases and the charging stations they’ll need to plug into.
Among the charging projects targeting California are ChargePoint America, the EV Project and a new $5 million effort by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Many of the charging companies are located in California, too, including Coulomb Technologies. Given all that charging synergy, it’s not surprising that Santa Monica-based Coda’s early production will go to California only. I visited Coda and found a beehive of activity, as the company tries to get a car ready for the market by the end of the year.
Russia’s peatland fires seen burning for months
August 13, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Some of Russia’s smog-causing peatland fires are likely to burn for months, part of a global problem of drained marshes that emit climate-warming greenhouse gases, experts said on Wednesday.
Novel carbon markets could offer a long-term fix for peat bogs, from Indonesia to South Africa, if negotiators of a U.N. climate treaty can agree ways to pay to safeguard marshes that are often drained to make way for farms, roads or homes.
“Peat fires continue underground and…they will not be extinguished in Russia before winter rains and snow set in,” said Hans Joosten, professor of peatland studies and paleoecology at the University of Greifswald in Germany.
Rebranding Tap Water: NYC Water-On-the-Go Campaign
August 13, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
On a recent walk along New York City’s Union Square Park, I came across a beautiful sight: walking in 95-degree humid heat, I saw fountains and fountains of cold, clean, and free drinking water. New Yorkers profess that their tap water is “the purest and tastiest” in the world. This summer, the New York Department of the Environment is rolling out an environmental education campaign on city streets to inform residents of just that–and to discourage people from buying bottled water.
Cleanup of Superfund Site Completed in Morris County, New Jersey
August 13, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has successfully completed the cleanup of a superfund site in Long Hill Township and Harding Township, Morris County, NJ. The site, at the edge of a National Wildlife Refuge, had formerly served as an asbestos dump. It has now been removed from the National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites.
How to Make the Most of Solar Power
August 13, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
A solar panel (photovoltaic module or photovoltaic panel) is a packaged interconnected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells. The solar panel is used as a component in a larger photovoltaic system to offer electricity for commercial and residential applications. There are many methods available to try to increase their output. There is now a new entrant to the realm of solar panel accessories that is said to increase panel performance while decreasing costs. Joining solar trackers and microinverters is a new polymer film called FUSION by Genie Lens Technologies.
EPA Proposes Permitting Rules for Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Texas Dissents
August 13, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Following the Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule, the US EPA issued a proposed two new rules to address the permitting issues which the tailoring rule created.
The GHG Tailoring Rule, specifies that beginning in 2011, facilities that increase GHG emissions substantially will require an air permit.
The EPA proposed two rules to ensure that businesses planning to build new, large facilities or make major expansions to existing ones will be able to obtain Clean Air Act permits that address their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The Tailoring Rule covers large industrial facilities like power plants and oil refineries that are responsible for 70 percent of the GHGs from stationary sources. The new EPA proposals are a critical component for implementing the Tailoring Rule and would ensure that GHG emissions from these large facilities are minimized.
The Clean Air Act requires states to develop EPA-approved implementation plans that include requirements for issuing air permits. When federal permitting requirements change, as they did after EPA finalized the GHG Tailoring Rule, states likely need to modify these plans.
Caribbean Island Closer to Becoming Geothermal Energy Exporter
August 13, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Among the islands in the Eastern Caribbean, St. Lucia’s economy is performing comparatively well. The island, which is less than half the size of Los Angeles proper and is home to about 170,000, is diversifying its agricultural sector, has decent infrastructure, and has attracted investment in its manufacturing and banking sectors.
Now this tiny nation northwest of Barbados is making a move on the renewable energy front. St. Lucia’s government has signed an agreement with US-based Qualibou Energy for the development of a geothermal plant. If all goes as planned, the plant will generate 12 megawatts of electricity by 2012, and another 108 MW of capacity will be in operation by 2015.
Global CO2 emissions off 1.3 percent in 2009
August 13, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2009 fell 1.3 percent to 31.3 billion tonnes in the first year-on-year decline in this decade, German renewable energy institute IWR said on Friday.
The Muenster-based institute, which advises German ministries, cited the global economic crisis and rising investments in renewable energies for the fall in emissions.
Global investment in renewable installations for power, heat and fuels last year rose to 125 billion euros ($161 billion) from 120 billion in 2008, IWR said.
But IWR director Norbert Allnoch said given the force of the crisis, the reductions in CO2 output could have been greater, had stronger output in Asian and Middle Eastern countries not overcompensated the savings obtained from declines in Europe, Russia, Japan and the U.S.