Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Saudi sets big renewable goals

Saudi Arabia sits upon the world’s second-largest oil reserves, but in recent years, Saudi Arabia has begun taken advantage of the abundant sun and wind it enjoys by developing several major renewable energy projects. According to a new white paper published this week, Saudi Arabia will seek to develop 23.9 GW of renewable energy by 2020 and 54.1 GW by 2032, making it one of the biggest renewable energy producers in the world.
The goals outlined in the new Saudi white paper are some of the most ambitious renewable energy targets set by any nation. Of the 54 GW of renewable energy the kingdom will develop by 2032, 41 GW will be solar power, and the other 13 GW will be powered by wind energy, geothermal and waste-to-energy power.
The news comes just months after Saudi officials announced plans for the country to transition to 100-percent renewable energy in coming decades. At present, the country is powered almost entirely by fossil fuels — two-thirds oil and one-third natural gas. Last spring, the country announced plans to invest over $100 billion to develop 41 gigawatts of solar electricity by 2032. The new roadmap significantly eclipses that figure, and it shows Saudi Arabia’s commitment to a more sustainable energy future.

Monday, February 25, 2013

SE4All could be the answer

The UN's Sustainable Energy for All initiative, if successful, could make a significant contribution to the efforts to limit climate change to target levels, according to a new analysis. The study, published in Nature Climate Change, showed that reaching the 3 energy-related objectives proposed by the United Nations in their Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative, launched in 2011, would reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change and, in combination with other measures, could help keep global temperature rise from exceeding the internationally agreed target level of 2°C.
The SE4All objectives include providing universal access to modern energy, doubling the share of renewable energy globally, and doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency -- all by 2030. While the SE4All objectives do not explicitly address climate change, it is clear that sustainable energy is a prerequisite for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: 80% of human carbon dioxide emissions come from the global energy system, including transportation, buildings, industry, and electricity, heat, and fuel production.
But as the team observed, the UN's objectives must be complemented by a global agreement on controlling greenhouse gas emissions. While the UN energy objectives are formulated as global goals, the researchers also note that regional and national actions will be vital to achieving them.
Using a broad range of scenarios, the researchers found that if all the SE4All objectives were met, the likelihood of keeping temperature rise below 2°C would be more than 66%.­ If only the renewable energy goal is met, chances of keeping temperatures below 2°C would range from 40 to 90%, while achieving just the energy efficiency goal would improve the chances to between 60 and 90%. But the researchers warn that the latter result depends strongly on what economic growth is assumed in the future. The researchers note that the likelihood of reaching climate targets within the scenarios depended on a variety of other factors, including future energy demand growth, economic growth, and technological innovation.

The study also found that providing universal energy access by 2030 will not hinder long-term climate goals, thanks to the marked gains in energy efficiency that will result.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Geo-engineering global politics

If participation means investment, and non-participation means one gets to keep the purse intact and still enjoy the fruits of the outcome, who wouldn’t participate? Guess again. A game-theoretic model developed by Ricke, Caldeira, and their colleague Juan Moreno-Cruz from the Georgia Institute of Technology showed that when it comes to geo-engineering, the opposite is true.
Solar geo-engineering is a proposed approach to reduce the effects of climate change due to greenhouse gasses by deflecting some of the sun's incoming radiation. This type of proposed solution carries with it a number of uncertainties, however, including geopolitical questions about who would be in charge of the activity and its goals. New modeling work from Carnegie's Katharine Ricke and Ken Caldeira shows that if a powerful coalition ever decided to deploy a geo-engineering system, they would have incentive to exclude other countries from participating in the decision-making process.
Their work is published by Environmental Research Letters and is available online.
Smaller coalitions would be more desirable to the participants, not less, because those members could set the target temperature to their liking without having to please as many parties. Likewise, countries that aren't included in the coalition would actually want to join so that they could move the thermostat, so to speak, in the direction that better suits their interests.
Large volcanic eruptions cool the planet by creating lots of small particles in the stratosphere, but the particles fall out within a couple of years and the planet heats up again. The idea behind solar geo-engineering is to constantly replenish a layer of small particles in the stratosphere, mimicking this volcanic aftermath and scattering sunlight back to space.
Goes to show how global concerns like climate change also have the scope to trigger global anarchy! Someone wants a cooler climer, someone else wants it warmer. How is one to arrive at a consensus? As Caldeira says, it is good to maintain openness and inclusiveness in geo-engineering coalitions, so that all people who want a voice in the decision-making process are able to have that voice. But in the power game between nations, will the smaller ones have a voice? Are we simply imagining newer kinds of conflicts here?

Thursday, February 21, 2013

China racing ahead in wind energy

China advanced past 50 gigawatts (GW) of on-grid/connected wind power capacity in 2012, and this is expected to grow a further 40% by the end of 2013. In 2012, China had nearly 35% of new wind power installations, according to the Global Wind Energy Council’s 2012 report. GTM Media Research and Azure International in their China Wind Market Quarterly for the fourth quarter of 2012 said the emerging market country is on target this year to add another 18 GW of installed grid connected wind capacity. Based on report projections, China will reach 140 GW of installed capacity by 2015, far exceeding expectations in 2011 of 100 GW.
Some of the underlying strength seen in the Chinese wind market is due to recent government action to help solve some of the domestic wind industry concerns. This included revamping surcharge revenue and pre-appropriating funding this year.
However, rapid growth for China’s wind sector should become more levelled out in the years to come, as the industry should see more linear growth, the report said.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The next level


Scientists at the Stanford University Global Climate and Energy Project have proposed taking the global warming fight to a whole new level. Instead of managing the emissions, instead of simply trying to reduce the carbon we put into the atmosphere, the Stanford team proposes a carbon negative strategy in which plants are deployed on a massive scale to grab carbon out of the atmosphere.

In this, the Stanford team has identified the biomass as one of the most promising ways to achieve carbon negative systems, on a large scale. These biomass-based systems are called bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
The basic idea is to break the carbon cycle. As plants grow they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Rather than letting carbon cycle back into the atmosphere, there are various ways to capture and convert it into other useful products. Conventional industrial carbon capture is based simply on direct storage but there are improved solutions.
A company had announced two years ago that it had developed a proprietary microbe that thrives in the carbon rich, hydrogen poor waste gases from steel mills. The initial process yielded pure ethanol, and the plant has since stepped up its carbon recycling platform to produce 2,3-Butanediol -- a foundational chemical for making any number of products that are normally made with petroleum, including plastics and synthetic rubber as well as fuel.

Aside from steel mills the system also works on industrial flue gas from other types of facilities, and on synthetic gas derived from other systems including biogas (from landfills or manure biogas systems), biomass, municipal waste, agricultural or forestry waste, and even burning tires.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Doubling US energy productivity

The area of building efficiency affords tremendous opportunities for both economic growth and reduced environmental impacts. Buildings are the single largest emitters of greenhouse gases. According to a UNEP study titled “Towards a Green Economy,” homes and businesses are responsible for 40 percent of the climate change causing carbon pollution. The potential savings from efficiency are huge, particularly when partnered with increased energy productivity. The Alliance Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy released a report that suggested a strategy to double U.S. energy productivity by 2030. The commission is comprised of a diverse coalition of energy leaders including representatives from energy utilities, academia, industry and environmental groups.
The commission found that getting twice as much output could reduce U.S. carbon dioxide pollution by one-third below 2005 levels. Achieving the commission’s goal of doubling energy productivity by 2030 would also:
  • Add 1.3 million jobs
  • Cut average household energy costs by more than $1,000 a year
  • Save American businesses $169 billion a year
  • Increase gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 2 percent
  • Decrease energy imports by more than $100 billion a year
  • Reduce CO2 emissions by one-third
The Commission report suggests that there are more than $1 trillion in energy-saving opportunities with the right private sector, federal, state and local support. The ambitious yet attainable solutions proposed by the commission will drive innovation and technological advancements, which will modernize manufacturing and make the U.S. economy more globally competitive.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Cheap shale oil disadvantages renewables

A worldwide expansion of relatively cheap shale oil could put investment in renewable energy and global emissions targets under threat, as well as posing other environmental risks. The shale oil industry has the potential to reach up to 12 per cent of global production, potentially pushing down oil prices by as much as $50 per barrel by 2035, according to a new report by consultancy firm PwC.
Lower oil prices are more likely to extend production rather than simply increase it, but this could make alternative low carbon technologies less attractive, Jonathan Grant, director of sustainability and climate change at PwC, told BusinessGreen.

However, the report also notes that cheaper oil could displace production from higher cost and more environmentally sensitive areas such as the Arctic and Canadian tar sands, while tax windfalls could provide finance for carbon capture and storage and other low carbon technologies

It adds that global GDP could receive a $2.7tr boost by 2035 with a 25 per cent to 40 per cent cut in global oil prices resulting from shale oil production. Under this scenario, UK GDP would receive a 3.3 per cent boost in 2035, China would see a three per cent GDP increase, US GDP would rise 4.7 per cent, and India's would climb by up to 7.3 per cent.

Any related reduction in renewable energy investments and an expected increase in mobility arising from the availability of lower cost oil is likely to increase total carbon emissions in the long term and potentially impair future economic growth.

In the US, shale oil production has risen from 111,000 barrels per day in 2004 to 553,000 barrels a day in 2011, equivalent to an annual growth rate of around 26 per cent. In the rest of the world the industry remains in its early stages, although China, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Russia, and New Zealand are all exploring the potential for shale oil development.

A Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) spokesman said there is no estimate of potential reserves in the UK and to date there have been no explorations, adding the energy source is "not on the horizon" for the country at the moment.

Supporters of shale gas argue that the fuel source can deliver net carbon savings by replacing coal, but shale oil remains significantly more carbon intensive raising concerns that the availability of a new cheaper source of oil will only lead to higher overall emissions.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Toxic solar?

Is clean really clean? How about the waste produced in the manufacture process? Or the water required? Can we find a different route to clean energy? Do we have a benefits vs. hazards chart for assessment of new technology?

Only in four years, between 2007 and 2011, the solar panel manufacturers in California produced 46 million toxic wastes, of which they were able to ship only three percent to other states, the remaining 97% still need a home. Solar cell manufacturers have a real problem in their hands disposing of the hazardous waste—millions of pounds of polluted sludge and contaminated water.

Solar cell manufacturing technique utilizes plenty of water that becomes toxic in the process, generating a thick sludge composed of metals and other toxins in water. That sludge must be treated by expensive water treatment equipment, before the water can be released in nature.
Solar cell manufacturers normally send the toxic sledges to special water treatment plants in far away states, transporting it by truck or rail. Dustin Mulvaney, a San Jose State University environmental studies professor who analyses carbon footprint of energies from various sources such as solar, biofuel, and natural gas commented, “It would take one to three months of generating electricity to pay off the energy invested in driving those hazardous waste emissions out of state.”

There is, however, positive news breaking all the time in the frontier of solar cell manufacturing technology. New processes continually reduce carbon foot prints. Not so long ago, solar cells used to have efficiency of three to five percent. In January this year, a new world record for solar cell efficiency has been claimed by a team of scientists led by Ayodhya N. Tiwari that also included PhD students Adrian Chirila and Fabian Pianezzi, at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.
The new product is thin film solar cells based on flexible polymer foils. This has pushed solar cell efficiency to over twenty percent for the first time. These solar cells are based on CIGS semiconducting material (copper indium gallium di-selenide). This new process will significantly reduce cost of solar cells production, and will also bring down carbon foot print through increase of efficiency in conversion of light to electricity.

Tale of two approaches

Bhutan is now famous for the term GNH or 'gross natural happiness' coined by its ruler. Called the poster child of sustainable development, more than 95 per cent of its population has access to clean water and electricity and live in perfect harmony with nature. With 80 per cent of its land forested, Bhutan is the only country that is near carbon neutral and food secure. To add to its happiness basket, Bhutan has decided to become the first country in the world to turn its agriculture completely organic, banning the sales of pesticides and herbicides and relying on its own animals and farm waste for fertilisers. Being predominantly a Buddhist country, living in harmony with nature is part of its spiritual and cultural heritage. The government expects to grow organic food for its 1.2 million people and export the surplus.  

Elsewhere across the globe there is a contrasting phenomenon spreading wings. Called "land grabbing," this practice can put strain on land and water resources in impoverished countries where the land, and water, is being "grabbed" for commercial-scale agriculture. A new study by the University of Virginia and the Polytechnic University of Milan, and currently published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides the first global quantitative assessment of the water-grabbing phenomenon, which has intensified in the last four years largely in response to a 2007-08 increase in world food prices. Countries most active in foreign land acquisition are located in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. Overall, about 60 percent of the total grabbed water is appropriated, through land grabbing, by companies in the United States, United Arab Emirates, India, United Kingdom, Egypt, China and Israel.

Instead of looking at ways to optimize on resource use and conserve them for tomorrow, this speaks of short-term outlook of exploitation. Any doubts, which brings happiness – plunder or harmony with nature?

Monday, February 11, 2013

Tablet for clean water

PureMadi, a nonprofit University of Virginia organization, has invented a simple ceramic water purification tablet. Called MadiDrop, the tablet is impregnated with silver or copper nanoparticles. It can repeatedly disinfect water for up to six months simply by resting in a vessel where water is poured. It is being developed for use in communities in South Africa that have little or no access to clean water. This should be ideal for many parts of India and Asia too, where clean water is at a premium.
The filters produced at the factory are made of a ceramic design refined and extensively tested at U.Va. The filters are made of local clay, sawdust and water. Those materials are mixed and pressed into a mold. The result is a flowerpot-shaped filter, which is then fired in a kiln. The firing burns off the sawdust, leaving a ceramic with very fine pores. The filter is then painted with a thin solution of silver or copper nanoparticles that serve as a highly effective disinfectant for waterborne pathogens, the type of which can cause severe diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration.

The design allows a user to pour water from an untreated source, such as a river or well, into the pot and allow it to filter through into a five-gallon bucket underneath. The pot has a flow rate of one to three liters per hour, enough for drinking and cooking. The filtered water is accessed through a spigot in the bucket. Testing shows that the filters are safe to use and release only trace amounts of silver or copper particles, well within the safe water standards of the developed world.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Glacial lakes spell disaster

Glacier melting over a 47-year period has led to formation of seven new glacial lakes in Chandra-Bagha Basin of western Himalayas. According to Farjana Sikandar Birajdar, lead author of the study by IIT Mumbai, the melting of glaciers would reduce the ice mass balance even as it resulted in formation of new lakes with loose moraine. This in turn could lead to a sudden breach of the unstable moraine dams and the phenomenon of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), posing a serious hazard to settlements downstream.

Many previous studies in the Himayalan region revealed that the rate of melting was increasing, according to a news report in The Hindu. If the same trend continued, glaciers would vanish in the long-term, adversely impacting the storage of freshwater resources as also hydro-power generation.

Preliminary findings of an ongoing study by researchers from IIT, Bombay, showed that glacier lakes underwent continuous changes between 1963 and 2010. Geographical Information System tools and high resolution remote sensing technology were used to delineate glacier lakes situated in inaccessible Himalayan terrain. In all, 15 large glacier lakes situated at an elevation between 4069 meters to 5252 meters were chosen for monitoring the changes that occurred.

Continuous ice-melting due to glacier recession (loss of ice due to excess melting) caused the formation of seven new lakes near the mouth of the glaciers. These were formed as moraine-dammed lakes and the glacier-lake area was estimated to have increased approximately by 2591 sq.meters during the 47-year period. Moraine is a depositional feature of glacier. As the glacier starts moving, it accumulates small rocks, debris, ice fragments and soil.

Foundations of such moraine-dammed lakes should be strengthened. Besides by studying the rate of glacier melting, it could be predicted when a lake would burst and the people living downstream could be forewarned, the researchers said.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

REFIT proving good

The energy efficiency programme announced in UK last year has already started showing results. The RE:FIT scheme works by helping public organisations retrofit their buildings with energy-saving technology that did not exist when they were first built such as combined heat and power, photovoltaic solar panels, low-energy lighting and more efficient boilers.

Already 63 public sector organisations across London have signed up to participate and a number have already seen real benefits, says a Guardian report. Ealing council's £1.1m scheme took 10 months to complete, has found a 29% per annum saving on the local authority's energy bills. It has also cut the council's CO2 emissions by 1,000 tonnes a year. With a five year payback, transferring the risk from the public purse to the private provider of the work, it has made both environmental and financial sense.

By 2015 when complete, the projects will have created more than 1,000 jobs and CO2 emissions will have been reduced by nearly 47,000 tonnes a year – the equivalent to 5,402 flights from London to Paris. Nearly 1.7m sq metres of public property will have been retrofitted, space which could be stretched across 250 football pitches, finding energy cost savings of nearly £9.7m. That is something. From a 'mere' retrofit?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Better than coal, oil and nuclear is hydro

After damning the dams, now here comes a research that feels hydro is most sustainable and acceptable environmentally and economically!
Researchers in Italy and the UK have reviewed the economic, social and environmental impact of hydro, coal, oil, gas and nuclear power. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, but of these conventional electricity generation technologies, hydroelectric power wins the race.
Research literature has offered several studies of the economics of power plants but these are commonly based on cash flow considerations whereas sustainability factors, such as environmental and social considerations have moved higher up the agenda when investment in this area of technology is considered.
Writing in the International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, the team explains that as worldwide demand for electricity grows, new power plants must be built. However, the "green" options of solar, wind, tidal and other newer forms of electricity generation simply cannot maintain pace with demand. The team has considered various factors: fuel supply security, environmental impact, public acceptance, volatility of fuel price, risk of severe accident and emergency planning zone (EPZ) consideration -- in assessing each classification of power generation. Where hydroelectric power generation is not possible, nuclear and coal-fired power plants are the next obvious choice, but each has many pros and many cons.
The question is whether we should be looking at lesser of evils or rooting out evil!! Renewable may not be able to match demand on its own but surely a combination could stand taller than the hydro option which has its own environmental fallouts?

Monday, February 4, 2013

Popularising energy efficiency

In the US where Smart Grid initiatives are fast being deployed, more than half of the consumers surveyed (54%) by Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) had never heard the term ‘smart grid!’ But many firms are looking at ways to make energy efficiency as popular as the Facebook!
According to SGCC’s 2013 “State of the Consumer Report” “Billions of dollars are being invested in new technologies that are little understood by the people who are supposed to benefit and who are paying the bills.” The good news is that people like the concept once they learn about it. Among those familiar with the term, only 13 percent perceive it in negative way, according to the SGCC survey.

Meanwhile, another survey found that two-thirds (62 percent) of those it surveyed spend less than 10 minutes per month reviewing their energy usage or bill. To put this in perspective, the average American spends 100 times longer each day on Facebook than on checking out their energy bill! Can Smart power be made as popular as the FB? Some think so.

SGCC has been at work for some time defining who we are as energy consumers. The organization has segmented the American consumer based on our attitudes, values, behaviors, motivations, lifestyles, technology know-how and other characteristics. SGCC then helps utilities tailor their marketing to each segment. Some groups respond to messages about saving money and energy, others environmental concern and global warming.

For example, those who SGCC calls “Do-it-yourself and save” types are likely to show interest in programmable thermostats that require some planning on their part. And “Easy Streets,” wealthy individuals reluctant to change their behavior, might respond to marketing materials pitching automated thermostats of the “set and forget” variety.

A new one-stop ‘residential customer engagement solution’, which is a software and services product helps utilities reduce energy use by making householders more energy aware. Others, too, are pushing the idea of centralizing home energy management. Honeywell rolled out an energy management platform this week that combines Wi-Fi thermostats and a management software with interactive, cloud-based application. Homeowners are able to view and adjust energy use from anywhere using a smartphone or computer.

Utility spending on energy efficiency will double by 2025 to about $9.5 billion per year, according to a recent study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That means substantial energy savings – and a lot of new ideas and technology for the consumer to master.