Campus Coffee Shop Powered By Solar



Solar Power to Brew Coffee in Virginia

December 30, 2010
By: Quest


The Dominion Foundation, has awarded a $30,000 grant to Virginia Highlands Community College for the development of “Wolf Grounds,” an on-campus, student-run coffee shop.


The non-profit business will involve 100 percent organically grown and recyclable products, local suppliers, Energy Star appliances, and both solar hot-water heating and solar photovoltaic technologies. The coffee shop project will serve as a student learning tool. “Dominion’s grant will allow our students to experience first-hand the process of opening and operating a business within the security of college supervision,” said Virginia Highlands President Ron Proffitt. “This is an outstanding opportunity for our students, and we are grateful to Dominion for their support of the college, our students and this project.”

Besides providing experience to business students in running a self-sustaining business, the project also will provide a hands-on learning opportunity to students in solar energy system design, equipment installation, and system maintenance and repair. “Dominion is excited about supporting this hands-on learning project and particularly because of its emphasis on energy conservation, efficiency and alternative energy generation,” said Preston Sloane, station director for the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center. The power station is being built in nearby Wise County, about 30 miles from the campus, by Dominion Virginia Power, a subsidiary of Dominion Resources.

The coffee shop, which is scheduled to open in April, will be managed by the campus organization Students in Free Enterprise. Roughly half the students involved in the project’s development will continue their involvement in the shop’s operation. For example, Information Technology students will continue to maintain the shop’s Web page and produce brochures, Marketing students will promote the business and Accounting students will manage the books. Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,600 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation’s largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 13 states. The Dominion Foundation is its’ philanthropic arm.

Way To Go, Denmark!

Denmark Boasts a 100% Renewable Energy Community

Dec. 29, 2010
Richard Cooke

Denmark, like, Germany, her neighbor to the south, is a country that takes renewable energy seriously.

The wind energy industry alone in Denmark is booming with companies like Vestas and Siemens Wind Power both having production facilities and bases of operation on Danish soil. Denmark’s own wind based energy also grows exponentially each year leaving many optimistic that the nation might be one of the few who can achieve 100% renewable energy in the next several decades. However, wind based renewable energy is not the only kind of clean energy the country has going for it. In one location, Denmark has proven that wind and hydrogen can be king when it comes to being green.

Called the Lolland Hydrogen Community, the project began in the middle of 2007 as a way of taking the excess wind energy produced by the island community and putting it to use. Since they were generating an impressive fifty percent more wind energy than was needed, they set about finding a way to convert that excess wind into hydrogen for use in powering the island and acting as way to demonstrate to Europe the viability of hydrogen as a renewable energy source. The way the project began was with the installation of a Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power plant that took the wind energy that was being produced in excess and using it to power an electrolyser that worked to separate the oxygen and hydrogen molecules that comprised water. Once the hydrogen is separated it is stored in pressure tanks and it is then used to power fuel cells that provide the community with electricity.

Although powering the community’s power grid with the hydrogen fuel cells proved to be a success the Lolland Hydrogen Community knew they could take the renewable energy a step forward. To achieve this end, the researchers on the community developed smaller hydrogen fuel cells that could be placed in a home and act similar to a boiler in order to provide heating, air, and energy. In 2008, five houses in the village of Nakskov were chosen to have the smaller fuel cells installed in them in order to determine if they would be effective. Nearly three years later, the Lolland Hydrogen Community is now looking into installing them in over forty more homes.

In the end, the Lolland Hydrogen Community serves as an example to the rest of Europe that 100% renewable energy is indeed possible. With the unique blend of both hydrogen based fuel cell power and wind energy the power that is generated easily powers the entire community. Based off the example being set in Nakskov and in Lolland, it would not be surprising to see the blueprint used in the future to convert further communities over to a fully renewable infrastructure.

Renewable Energy Funding: The Fate of Wind and Solar in Ohio

Renewable Energy Funding:

The Fate of Wind and Solar in Ohio

December 26, 2010
By: Guest Columnist Ann Marie

Alternative Wind Solutions, LLC is a renewable energy company located in North Central Ohio specializing in the small wind energy sector. While in operation a relatively short period of just two years, this Ohio-based renewable wind energy company has installed numerous home, farm and business turbines and has many more upcoming projects in the works.

Non-profits

A couple of these initiatives consist of working with non-profit groups. Alternative Wind Solutions, LLC owner, Keni Morgan stresses, "the critical nature" of  acquiring necessary funding for these important public facilities, which provide access to wide-range education in many areas of learning such as science and nature, at very little or no-cost to the public, and will allow them to reduce operating costs and remain within or even under their projected fiscal budgets. "This is an important step in ensuring the stability of these very worthwhile educational venues for future generations", remarked Morgan.

Residential/ Farm/ Business

While the curiosity factor is high for those looking into the possibility of wind power for their homes, farms or businesses, the urgent demand is obvious for the relief of an aging and overworked grid system. Morgan is quick to point out, "the clientele is generally a very educated and socially responsible group." Citing their concerns over the environmental effects of the continual burning of fossil fuels needed in vehicles, homes and to generate power for the utility companies are some of the reasons that bring these eco-minded customers to their doorstep.

There is of course, another consideration which is also a very important part of the equation for the prospective buyer. How much will my out-of-pocket expenses run?

Incentives and Rebates

While the 30% tax incentive being offered for qualifying individuals through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is still available, the expiration of the provider rebates funded by the ODOE and as offered by the four major investor-owned utilities, AEP, Duke Energy, Ohio Edison and Dayton Power and Light, are showing that residential installations are experiencing a sharp decline.

What lies ahead for the fate of wind and solar in Ohio?

"It is imperative for the general public to understand the importance of gaining independence from foreign oil sources which only serve to hold our economy hostage. Equally important is stressing the issue of the dire need to achieve some sort of independence from the utility providers", Ms. Morgan commented.

"We have heard a lot of complaining from homeowners about price increases from their utility providers. Even while being mindful to reduce their electrical consumption most customers are still witnessing a higher monthly bill. This is a trend which will most likely escalate as prices for manufacturing costs, wages, production and import fees continue to spiral." Morgan continued, "We don't have to look back very far into recent events to cite such things as blackouts, brownouts and major oil spills of epic proportions."

25 x '25

Far too many people are unaware of the proposed 25 x '25 bill in Congress which demands that all investor-owned utilities must generate 25% of their power from renewable energy sources by the year 2025. This unfortunately, will only afford the utilities the right to raise prices further. "It is becoming increasingly clear that we need to make ourselves more self-sufficient and with a more sustainable form of energy production", stated Ms. Morgan.

High demand. Dire need.

The demand for power is high. The need for a clean, renewable and sustainable form of energy production is dire. The call must be made for government officials to allot monies which will assist those responsible individuals, businesses and farm operators in their efforts to sustain the environment for future generations as well as providing a more stable economy. After all, the cost of feeding, clothing, manufacturing, etc. are all things factored into the price of the product for us- the end-users!

As responsible stewards of this earth, we need to take this task in hand by calling on our local and State governments to continue supporting education in the renewable energy arena; aggressively create jobs in a most important and innovative field thereby generating an economic upswing and putting these well-spent dollars back into our economy; and reinstate and increase subsidies for homeowners, farmers and small businesses making a concerted effort to employ these technologies.

Our earth- let's leave it better than we found it!

Contact:

To help in this effort you can contact Senator Sherrod Brown and voice your concerns or opinions about the state of our economy and the fate of renewables in our State:

Sherrod Brown (D) US Senator for Ohio

Washington, DC: (202) 224-2315 (phone)

http://brown.senate.gov/contact/  (email form)


In Ohio you can call:

Toll Free: 1-888-896-OHIO (6446)

Cincinnati: (513) 684-1021

Cleveland: (216) 522-7272

Columbus: (614) 469-2083

Lorain: (440) 242-4100

EPA To Curb CO2 Sources

U.S. EPA to Curb 2 Big CO2 Sources

New rules planned in 2011 for power plants, refineries

December 24, 2010
By: Juliet Eilperin

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that it will regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants and oil refineries next year, targeting the nation's two biggest sources of carbon dioxide.

The move, which comes as part of a legal settlement with several states, local governments and environmental groups that sued the EPA under the Bush administration for failing to act, highlights the Obama administration's intent to press ahead with carbon-dioxide curbs despite congressional resistance.

Collectively, electric utilities and oil refineries account for almost 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. Under the agreement, the EPA will propose new performance standards for power plants in July and for refineries in December 2011, and it will issue final standards in May 2012 and November 2012, respectively.

"We are following through on our commitment to proceed in a measured and careful way to reduce GHG pollution that threatens the health and welfare of Americans, and contributes to climate change," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement. "These standards will help American companies attract private investment to the clean energy upgrades that make our companies more competitive and create good jobs here at home."

Gina McCarthy, the EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, emphasized that the agency is in the early stage of regulating greenhouse gases from the two sectors and could not spell out how significantly the new rules will reduce the nation's contribution to global warming.

"You will see measurable reductions," McCarthy said

Power plants account for more than 2.3 billion tons of carbon-dioxide emissions each year, more than any other industry. Oil refineries rank well behind that as the nation's second-largest source, with emissions equivalent to more than 200 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

McCarthy said the EPA will require existing and new utilities and refineries to use "what technologies are available" to curb their carbon output and will not set an overall limit on greenhouse gases such as the cap-and-trade bill that died in the Senate.

But Charles Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, said that the proposal the EPA was envisioning is unrealistic and that his industry will urge lawmakers to block it.

"There is no best-available technology. The only thing you can do is cut production," Drevna said.

Some key lawmakers such as Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who is in line to be chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next year, seemed open to the idea of halting the new rules.

"Rep. Issa is disappointed by EPA's refusal to appropriately and thoroughly consider regulations that will undoubtedly kill more jobs in an already struggling economy," said Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella in an e-mail.

However, environmentalists such as David Doniger, policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's climate center, said that "Congress should let EPA do its job," given that it failed to pass comprehensive climate legislation this year.

Chevy Volt Uses Recycled Gulf Oil Spill Booms

Gulf Oil Spill Booms to be Recycled in Production of Chevy Volt

December 22nd, 2010
By: Yale Environment 360

The plastic booms used to absorb oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year will be recycled for use as parts in the plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt. General Motors officials say the recycled oil extracted from the booms will be converted into 100,000 pounds of plastic resin pellets that will ultimately be mixed with recycled tires to create the parts that protect the Volt’s radiator.

The material would otherwise be buried in landfills or burned. “If sent to a landfill, these materials would have taken hundreds of years to begin to break down, and we didn’t want to see the spill further impact the environment,” said John Bradburn, manager of GM’s waste-reduction and recycling efforts. More than 2,550 miles of boom were deployed in the Gulf in the months following the BP oil spill.

Working Towards Greener Glassblowing

Eco-Friendly Ornaments

Blown Glass Ornament Ball - Tomato Orange Red

This glass was blown in an environmentally conscious manner in our low-energy consumption hot-shop powered in part by renewable wind energy through our power company's Green Works program. We ship using recyclable cardboard and Bio-Bubble, a 100% bio-degradable bubble wrap.

Hand blown glass ornament by Dean Wolf of Wolf Art Glass, Austin, Texas. Beautiful transparent tomato orange red swirled ball 3.75 inches in diameter. Lovely for your tree, to hang in a sunny window, or as a thoughtful gift! Each ornament is beautifully gift boxed and ready to ship to the glass lover on your holiday gift list!

View more of our ornaments here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/wolfartglass?section_id=6185422

Geothermal Wells For University Dorms

450 geothermal wells to heat, cool 5 OSU dorms

December 23, 2010

By: Regina Garcia Cano

Work is under way on the South Oval where the wells will be drilled. The switch to semesters will make cooling dorms a priority, an official said.

Ohio State University plans to drill 550 feet beneath campus to tap Earth's temperature to heat and cool five dormitories.

The university will drill 450 geothermal wells in the South Oval and the parking lot next to Hale Hall. The system will regulate the temperatures in Park, Siebert, Smith, Steeb and Stradley halls, all located between 11th and 12th avenues, as well as two new 11-story buildings that also will have dorm rooms.

"It will be one big system," said Scott Conlon, director of projects for Facilities Design and Construction.

The five dormitories, built in the 1950s, do not have air conditioning. Providing them with a cooling system has become a priority as the switch from quarters to semesters approaches in 2012, Conlon said.

"Students will be moving in in the third week of August - instead of the third week of September - when the temperature in the upper reaches of the high-rises would be unbearable."

The well field will be part of a closed-loop geothermal system that will circulate water. Earth's temperature at 550 feet deep stays between 55 and 60 degrees year-round, said Joseph Ortiz, an associate professor of geology at Kent State University.

Using a heat exchanger, the system pulls the warmth from the ground to heat the buildings on cold days; it removes heat from the buildings and transfers it into the ground on warm ones, Ortiz said.

The system will cost $4 million but will save Ohio State money in the long run, Conlon said. It will use 34 percent less energy than the natural-gas system at a savings of $200,000 a year, which will help the university recoup its investment in 12 1/2 years.

The wells also will help warm tap water.

"The system heats up domestic water that comes from the taps halfway for free, and then we'll use gas to heat it up the rest of the way," Conlon said. "This will also save money because the cost of heating the water supply will be lower."

The central cooling and heating plant for the well system will be in the basement of a soon-to-be-constructed 11-story building between Stradley and Park halls that also will contain dorm rooms. The geothermal system is part of a $170 million project to renovate dorms and build the two towers.

Contractors already dug the space for the plant. They are to begin drilling in the South Oval soon. Hale Hall's parking lot, which will become green space, will be drilled last.

"Using geothermal wells was by far the most cost-effective measure compared to others we considered, like solar panels and wind turbines," Conlon said. "Geothermal wells work well in open spaces, and they won't be visually obstructive."

The wells are not Ohio State's first. The Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, on the north side of campus, was built two years ago with a 70-well system.

"In general, it has worked beyond our expectations," Conlon said.

Erin Wingfield, director of development of 4-H Youth Development, said her office is comfortable.

"It feels nice and cool during the summer, and it doesn't feel as dry as other buildings during the winter," she said. "It's plenty warm. The difference is when you enter the building, you warm gradually because you don't get that blast of heat on you."

Concept: Waste Collecting Ships?

Ocean Plastic Waste Collecting Ships

By: Open Planet Ideas

Concept:

Unmanned automated solar+wind combined with biofuel powered, GPS navigated and coordinated ships would gather plastic waste in the north Pacific ocean, which would then be collected by maintenance ships and later recycled on the mainland. A GPS navigated and coordinated fleet of unmanned automated ships would be sent to north Pacific ocean to collect plastic waste floating on the surface. They would be mainly powered with solar and wind energy, merging the concepts of solar powered PlanetSolar catamaran and Flettner rotor assisted E-Ship 1 (or Alcyone). There could be also a small conventional wind turbine on the deck, additional power would come from biodiesel/gas/ethanol/hydrogen powered generator.

A turtle swimming amongst plastic bags.

The remains of a pelican and the contents of its' stomach display the amount of plastic consumed by this one creature.

The waste would be collected with lightweight but solid paddlewheels, which by rotating would also slowly move the ships forward. There would be two sets of rotating paddlewheels, one in front part for larger waste and one in the back part of the ship for smaller particle filtration.

Before the waste storage would be completely full, the ship would contact operating base through satellite phone connection to send for the maintenance ship to empty it and refuel if needed.

Waste would be brought to mainland for recycling and the ship would continue its collecting task.

Burning Wood For Power Plant Generation?

Plan to use wood at power plants now on back burner

December 5, 2010

By: Spencer Hunt

Biomass burning is proposed for Picway Generating Station in Lockbourne and nine other Ohio sites.

Plans to burn wood instead of coal at nine Ohio power plants now might do little more than fill state filing cabinets.

For a while, utility companies were gung-ho on burning wood as a renewable source of electricity and praised the idea as a way to meet a state mandate to cut down on coal.

The first public sign of trouble came on Nov. 17, when FirstEnergy announced that converting its R.E. Burger coal-fired power station into a "biomass" plant would cost too much. Located near Shadyside in Belmont County, Burger instead will be used only during peak electricity demand.

Officials with all of Ohio's major utilities, including Columbus-based American Electric Power, are now sounding equally discouraged about eight other proposed biomass projects. In all, the projects promised to power as many as 260,000 Ohio homes.

"It's an option, but one that's on the back burner for us," said Sally Thelen, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy, which had proposed burning wood and plant wastes at three power stations along the Ohio River.

The projects were submitted to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio over the past two years to help meet a 2008 state mandate that power companies produce 12.5 percent of their electricity from advanced and renewable sources by 2025. Wood, a "biomass," is considered a renewable source.

Melissa McHenry, an AEP spokeswoman, said the company will still conduct biomass tests at its Muskingum River plant. One problem, AEP said, was that it could not find wood or plant fuel at the right price.

"The cost has not been competitive with the other options for renewable energy," McHenry said, referring to solar and wind power projects.

Environmental groups, including the Ohio Environmental Council, Sierra Club and the Buckeye Forest Council, questioned whether enough wood could be found to fuel all the projects.

The groups estimated the Burger plant alone would have consumed more than 3million tons of wood a year - nearly twice the 1.7 million tons of timber the Ohio logging industry annually produces.

"There isn't enough 'forest residue' or 'paper-mill wastes' available," said Cheryl Johncox, the forest council's interim director. "If all of the permits go forward, we're looking at 351 square miles of cleared forest per year."

The Ohio Consumers' Counsel, which represents utility customers, questioned whether biomass would be affordable. If wood is scarce, power companies would have to pay more to get it, said Anthony Rodriguez, a counsel spokesman.

McHenry said AEP is now investing in wind and solar power projects. In addition to the Muskingum plant, AEP had proposed burning biomass at its Picway plant south of Columbus and at its Conesville plant in Coshocton County.

State officials are still eager to support these projects. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency released a draft permit last Monday that would let Dayton Power and Light burn biomass at its Killen plant in Adams County.

Dayton Power spokeswoman Lesley Sprigg said in a statement that the company must first resolve several issues, including "securing a consistent and reliable source of fuel."

Of all the proposals to generate electricity from wood, only the proposed South Point Biomass Generation plant in Lawrence County appears to be moving forward. South Point Biomass also was the only company willing to publicly disclose where it would get its fuel.

"To date, the company has entered into wood-waste agreements with approximately 30 independent companies, local businesses and municipalities," South Point reported to the PUCO on Feb.17.

Added Jobs As Solar-part Producer Expands Business

Solar-part producer to expand, add 50 jobs


November 30, 2010

By: Dan Gearino

A Columbus manufacturer plans to nearly triple its work force over the next three years, adding about 50 jobs as part of an expansion.

SCI Engineered Materials, based on the Far West Side, announced the plans yesterday. The company produces ceramic materials used in solar-power components, among other products.

"We're moving from the prototype stage to the manufacturing stage," said Dan Rooney, president and CEO. "It should lead to the biggest growth we've ever seen."

SCI was founded in 1987 as Superconductive Components Inc. by an Ohio State University metallurgy professor and his wife. The company, which now has 26 workers, has evolved to focus almost exclusively on materials that customers use to produce reflective or transparent surfaces.

Some of the financing for the expansion will come from the state government, which has approved $2.1 million worth of loans. SCI is providing the remainder of the $3 million project cost.

"The growth likely means the company will need to find a new location in central Ohio", Rooney said, "for now, though, there is some room to grow at the current location."

Survey: Getting on Board With New Energy Technologies

How do we get the general public on board with new energy technologies?

November 26, 2010

A friend and I have been doing some Renewable Energy Market and Economic Research with the end of goal of determining how to get more people to invest in Renewable Energy Systems and/or Energy Efficient Technologies for their home or business.

In order to accomplish this, we must first better understand what types of people are investing in these technologies and why. Conversely, we must also determine people's reasons for not investing. In doing so, we can focus on marketing to the customers that are interested as well as improve current technologies, financing, education, and market strategies in order to convince those who haven't invested that it is in fact a good investment.

Please help us to understand the general public's perception on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies by taking our 5 minute survey using the attached link at the bottom of the page. Since most people in this group are energy enthusiasts please pass the link along to energy skeptics as well so that we get decent distribution of the general population.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QT85FJN

Also, please feel free to comment on this discussion with regards to your opinions as to what we can do get the general population on board with renewable energy technologies. What are the biggest factors? Cost? Aesthetics? Lack of public knowledge and education?

New Turbine Designs: Paving The Way For Limitless Wind Possibilities

New turbine designs: Paving the way for limitless wind possibilities


October 29, 2010
By: Rowena F. Caronan

The potential benefits of wind energy, such as job creation and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, are encouraging many countries to switch from fossil fuels to this renewable source for their power needs. The United States and Europe are just a few examples, with both regions aiming for 300,000 megawatts of wind energy supply over the next two decades.

For the United States, this entails ramping up annual installations of new wind power capacity to more than 16,000 MW to meet the target. As for Europe, this means installing about 75,000 onshore and 15,000 offshore wind turbines with a capacity of at least 2 MW and 10 MW each, respectively.

However, growing demand for wind turbines requires additional technical innovations to address existing and new challenges in wind energy development to boost overall competitiveness.

Setbacks

Alongside its environmental and economic benefits, wind energy also come with drawbacks such as high capital and maintenance costs vis-à-vis conventional generation sources.

Onshore wind farms are often located in remote locations that are far from cities where electricity is supplied. Transmission lines built to connect a wind farm to its client city are an added expenditure for developers.

Those who wish to enter the offshore wind market must shell out even more funds as offshore wind farms are 30 percent to 50 percent costlier than their onshore counterparts. However, the tradeoff is higher wind speeds at sea that lead to more energy production, offsetting offshore wind’s additional expenses.

Aside from cost-based concerns, critics also find fault in wind turbines’ deafening rotor blades, their aesthetic impact and bird deaths caused by turbine blades.

New rotor blade designs

Wind turbine operations are limited on wind speeds as those operating in lower wind speeds shut down upon reaching maximum speed, while heavier generator and blades produce lower output in the more frequent and moderate winds.

Wind manufacturers increase the pitch, or the operating angle of the rotor blade, to improve low-speed wind performance. While pitch turbines balance power production by increasing pitch as wind speeds fall, they are still limited to pitch angles possible with conventional airfoils.

New wind turbine designs aim to address three major limitations in wind power – poor reliability when winds fail, noise and poor performance in unsteady or turbulent air. One such design is the new-fangled tubercle technology, which pushes the limits of airfoil-dependent blade design.

Tubercles are installed along the edges of airfoils to help the blades cut through the air while still absorbing energy from the wind.

Canadian wind turbine manufacturer WhalePower makes tubercle-enhanced blades similar to whale fins.
The tubercle technology tilts blades to a steeper angle to cut through air, akin to humpback whales shifting its fins at a specific angle to make a better lift in the water.

Steeper-angled winds are beneficial in low wind speeds and, with a stalled angle of 40 percent, are better in moving the air around.

Wind Energy Institute of Canada concluded that tubercles not only enhance wind turbines’ operational stability and durability under varying wind speeds and turbulence, but also reduce noise and remove tip chatter through its quieter blades.

Tubercle-enhanced blades also increase annual energy production by 20 percent due to stall reduction as the air stays attached to the blade, the institute added. Whale Power said the new rotor blade design has attracted the interest of 10 large and small turbine manufacturers.

Small-wind turbine for houses

Homeowners may also use wind-generated power to meet their electricity needs through the use of small wind turbines. One such turbine is the Jellyfish by Seattle-based Clarian Power, a 48-inch tall vertical-axis wind turbine that uses simple plug-and-play operation. The turbine is suitable for homes and small businesses and automatically generates power whenever the wind blows.

The wind turbine has a helical design resembling a jellyfish, hence the name. It can be mounted on home rooftops or existing street lights that are prewired to the grid, which is not feasible for conventional turbine designs.

The Jellyfish has a rotor design that absorbs wind energy from different directions. Its blades are also barely audible over normal sounds, such as wind blowing through trees, and spin roughly at half the speed of a typical wind turbine, reducing the probability of injuring birds that fly into them.

The wind turbine is also Wi-Fi capable, allowing homeowners to track and monitor system performance using specific desktop software. It also comes with a circuit protection that shuts off the system in case of a power outage.

Clarian Power estimated that the Jellyfish can generate 40 kilowatt-hours of energy monthly in moderate winds – the equivalent of the power needed to light an average home using energy efficient light bulbs.

Homeowners do not have to spend a lot to acquire the Jellyfish as the turbine is very affordable at under $800. The turbine also qualifies for a 30 percent federal tax credit, as well as other local and state tax credits and rebates.

However, the use of the Jellyfish wind turbine in homes requires the United States to upgrade its existing power distribution system to a smart grid. The turbine’s total generated capacity will also not satisfy all power needs of an average American home, which stands at an estimated 1.38 billion kWh, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Eliminating location-dependency

However, the high capital cost of building a smart grid for wind turbines restrains the growth of wind energy development in countries that lack an advanced energy grid system.

Magenn Power aims to overcome this drawback by designing a wind turbine that will complement diesel power generation. The California-based company manufactured a high-altitude wind turbine called MARS that boasts of exceptional mobility, allowing it to be easily deployed and eliminating problems with locations. MARS is a light-tethered, horizontal-axis wind turbine that contains helium, allowing it to ascent 1,000 feet above the ground – higher than conventional wind turbines.

With the ability to reach such altitude, MARS can be installed closer to the grid and in places with wind speeds ranging from 4 miles per hour to over 60 miles per hour, making its generated energy 25 percent to 60 percent efficient. It can transfer the energy down through the tether for immediate use, for storage in a battery or for connection to a power grid.

Magenn Power said that the Magnus effect of the wind turbine’s rotation provides additional lift and keeps the turbine stabilized. MARS reportedly has lower noise emissions and is less probable to cause bird and bat deaths.

Lowering capital cost

Another solution to the expensive cost of manufacturing, transporting and installing large wind farms is to generate wind energy with few materials. This can be done by putting together two to ten dozens of smaller rotors on the same shaft linked to the same generator, according to Doug Selsam, the inventor of the Selsam Sky Serpent wind turbine.

The seven-foot diameter turbine boasts of the highest generated capacity of 5,033 watts at over 31 miles per hour and the lowest capacity of 1,943 watts at more than 18 mph. During the latest testing in California in 2004, the wind turbine recorded its highest generated capacity of 6,000 watts at a wind speed of 32.5 mph. The lowest generated capacity was around 1,000 watts at winds of 16 mph.

To achieve the highest efficiency, each rotor is aligned at the optimal angle and spaced to receive its own wind. The efficiency is dependent on each rotor receiving its own wind, which is different from previous multirotor turbines. The Selsam wind turbine received $75,000 funding from California Energy Commission for component testing.

Other challenges

The United States has increased its funding on research and development particularly in wind energy. As a result, component testing of wind turbines further enhanced reliability.

About $75 million is allotted for wind and $20 million for renewable systems integration. The United States’ Department of Energy is also building major blade testing and gearbox facilities.

The American Wind Energy Association also asked for $201 million funding to meet industry needs, improve performance, lower cost and improve reliability.

Similar efforts are being taken in Europe, where a research program will allocate 50.52 billion euros ($72.72 billion) for renewable energy, including wind.

However, challenges in the wind energy industry do not end in manufacturing of new wind turbine designs and increased funding on R&D. To significantly boost the competitiveness of wind power, the cost of offshore wind must be brought down, compliance with standards in small-wind turbine technology must be ensured and risks reduced through standards reliability testing.

West Virginians Down To Last Mountain

West Virginians Down to Last Mountain –
 Yet Wind Income Would be 50 Times More

By: Susan Kreamer
November 20, 2010

Having permanently removed a staggering 500 mountains in West Virginia to supply a temporary fix of “cheap” coal, Big Coal is now down to the very last one in the region. Virginia-based Massey Energy, the fourth largest coal company in the US, has begun to level 6,000 acres of Coal River Mountain, the last mountain standing.

Desperate local residents of Coal River Valley banded together and formed the Coal River Mountain Wind Project. They financed an independent study to compare the economics of a wind project instead. What they found is truly staggering.

Their study found that one typical sized 392 MW wind farm on Coal River Mountain would provide provide 80-90 permanent jobs for the community and pay the county a staggering $1.7 million in revenue every year. The site is rated as a prime wind power resource – at least if the mountain remains.

By contrast, continued mountaintop removal would provide the county with only $36,000 in annual revenue—and only for 17 years, till it runs out.

These remaining seventeen years of coal would bring in just $612,000. Then, it’s finished. By contrast, the first seventeen years of wind farm revenue would bring in $28.9 million. Almost fifty times more. And that’s just for the first seventeen years. There is no peak wind. When parts such as turbines need to be replaced, construction and replacement would create an additional 200-300 local jobs.


Despite this far more profitable wind potential discovered three years ago, every week, coal companies are still detonating Hiroshima-sized explosives. Obliterated mountaintops are pushed into neighboring valleys, burying headwater streams and contaminating drinking water with heavy metals. Over 2,000 miles of headwater streams now have unusable water.

Coal River Mountain, the last mountain standing, is now the only remaining source of clean water in the community.

And less than 100 yards from the site where explosives are being detonated is the largest coal sludge containment in the Western Hemisphere, Brushy Fork Impoundment.

Taller than the Hoover Dam, and filled to the brim with 8.2 billion gallons of toxic sludge, it directly endangers the lives of almost 1,000 homeowners living nearby.

The giant dam is in danger of breaching. Hastily built of compacted mining waste and slate rock, with the ground literally undermined by a honeycomb of used-up empty mines underneath, it has a “C” rating. Yet Massey is detonating explosives less than a football field away.

“We want anyone with power to intervene, and they better hurry,” says group founder Lorelei Scarbro, who lives in a nearby house that her coal-miner husband had built before he died.”People are dying as we speak because of ramifications of the coal industry in Coal River Valley.”

You can help.

The economics might seem overwhelmingly in favor of wind. The revenue potential – even over the first seventeen years – would provide about 60 times more money to the local county. But the lousy economics of coal versus wind are clearly not what keeps King Coal king.

As is typical with the resource curse, everyone from dogcatcher to the Governor is now deep in the pockets of the economically indefensible coal industry.

Gail Windpower Project

Fortune 500 Company Proposes Wind Project
New Wind Project Proposed For Two Michigan Counties

By: Lauren Amstutz
November 15, 2010


Benzie, MI- One of the largest energy companies in the country has plans for a new wind project in Benzie and Manistee Counties.

Duke Energy is moving forward with what they are calling the Gail Windpower Project. The plan is to build more than 100 wind turbines over 12,000-16,000 acres.

Duke Energy spokesperson, Greg Efthimiou says, “We have development teams throughout the U.S. that look at great areas for wind and the Lower Peninsula near the lake is certainly an area with tremendous wind resources. This is an opportunity for Michigan to capitalize on.”

Right now the company is signing leases with large landowners, mostly farmers. An estimated $1 million dollars in revenue per year would be shared by those landowners. The wind farm would also generate taxable revenue for both Manistee and Benzie Counties year after year.

Benzie County Commissioner Mary Pitcher says, “To me the biggest thing is the boost it would bring to our economy. The construction phase will bring lots of jobs and there’s also money in the form of taxes. We’re expecting more than $100,000 annually from it.”

The power will go to whoever signs a power purchasing agreement (PPA) with Duke Energy. The company says they are talking with several businesses and groups, but no contract has been signed yet. It’s the last step needed to move forward with construction.

Click here to view newscast video:

http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/video.aspx?list=194414&id=541355

Worm Ranching?

“I Am a Worm Murderer”

Author: Kylee

If you've had the pleasure of meeting Katie Elzer-Peters (and I have), this already amusing story becomes more so, because you can visualize the facial expressions (more like lack of them!) and hear her saying it...

Well, I told Kylee that I’d write a post about my worm ranching operation for the blog, and...well...I am. This isn’t the post I planned to write. I planned to write about how my worms and I were getting along fabulously. We were sharing our food, and creating wonderful crap (er...castings) for the soil, and enjoying every minute of it.

I planned to write about the magic of worm poo, and how my worms and I are living happily ever after.

Instead, I have to confess to murdering my worms. How did we get from running into each other’s arms from across the room to confessing crimes against the soil?

Let’s back up.

On April 24, 2010, I celebrated my birthday by working at this little indie bookstore in my town, running our “Garden Extravaganza Day!” It was lots of fun, if somewhat poorly attended due to the fact that springtime in Wilmington brings with it a multitude of events - many more than people can actually make it to.

Anyway. One of our speakers was a worm advocate. She had a brand-new worm bin that she made out of a big Rubbermaid container. It had fresh worm bedding and happy worms. She told us all how to use it, and then gave it to me as a birthday present!

Worms! For my birthday!

I brought home my new pets (where have I read about it not being a good idea to give people pets for “occasions?”), and started dutifully feeding them. I wasn’t good about the “feed them as much food as the back of my hand every day” directions, but about once a week, I’d load them up. Every now and then, I’d toss in a handful of shredded newspaper.

Then, when there was more poop than worms in the bin, I began the disgusting process of sorting out the worms from the poo so that I could put it in my garden. I’ll spare you the details, but I feel lucky that I didn’t vomit. Then I put the poo in the garden, and the worms back in their box with new newspaper.

The worm poop really is magical. My garden soil was horrendous. I live in an area that is basically sand. We pretty much grow hydroponically here. In the ground. After adding the worm poo though, my winter veggies are so happy! They’re actually growing.

Today, when I went out to the garage, where I have the bin, to take some photos for this blog, I was dismayed to find that I can’t FIND the worms. And they didn’t escape. I think that the horrible smell I’ve smelled in the garage this week is, in fact, dead worms turning to slime.

Hello, my name is Katie and I’m a worm murderer.

I WILL try again next year with new worms, though, because their poo really is magical.

'Because A Rind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste'

Composting needs a corporate hero


November 4, 2010
By: Director of Insight, Karen Barnes

Here’s a big idea – free for the taking. Solar’s got big corporate heroes. Recycling’s got big corporate heroes. Heck, even backyard farming’s got a corporate hero. Isn’t it time someone got behind composting?

SunChips tried with its bag, but we all know how that story ended. The noisy design wound up in the proverbial trash heap.

Consumers want packaging and products that are biodegradable. In our Green Living Pulse study this year, biodegradable packaging was considered “the best thing to read on a package” by 29% of Americans. But the truth is, very few Americans compost – in fact, a recent Harris poll found that fewer than 1 in 5 are composting. People don’t know how, they don’t have the right equipment,they don’t know what to do with the compost. They don’t even have a way to compost the biodegradable products and packaging that are in the marketplace now. So here’s where a progressive company can step in and fill an unmet consumer need. Maybe it’s a paper products company. Maybe it’s a food manufacturer. Maybe it’s your company.

Start giving away composters. Start showing people how to build their own composters. The space is there for the taking. It’s there for a willing company to own.

Americans generate more than 250 million tons of trash each year, according to the EPA, and less than a third of that is composted or recycled. That’s a big opportunity.

If your company’s looking for a way to connect with a sustainable behavior that hasn’t been “claimed” yet, consider composting. It needs a hero.

Who’s in?

'Louder Because It Is Compostable'

The Sunchips Bag — Canadian Style


November 17, 2010
By: CEO, Suzanne Shelton

Thanks to KoAnn Skrzyniarz at Sustainable Life Media for enlightening me to the fact that Frito Lay Canada made the decision to leave their SunChips compostable bags intact. All but one SKU were pulled from American shelves.

Really interesting and worth checking out. I blogged about the American bru-ha-ha a while back and still bring it up in conferences. In short, Americans love the idea of compostable packaging, as in, “Neat! We could just throw it out our car window and it would decompose?! I don’t have to DO anything? Awesome!” Though it’s not actually that simple, for the most part, mainstream Americans don’t want to sacrifice or trade off anything to be green.

And therein lies the problem: the cool, compostable bag — the one that means we can be green without trying too hard — requires Americans to compromise their comfort. And that’s a deal-breaker. In short: a really loud bag means we can’t hear the judges’ commentary on Dancing with the Stars, and that’s not OK.

Apparently, the Canadians see it differently.

In a YouTube video the Director of Sustainability for Frito Lay Canada basically tells his fellow citizens, “Tough cookies; you’re going to have to live with it, we’re keeping the bag on the shelves.” And then he goes on to actually use the words “trade-off” and tells his compatriots they’re going to need to make one.

Bold.

Now, I don’t have the answer as to whether this move actually helped these guys sell more product in Canada. But they appear to be getting some props from consumers already. Check out their Facebook page.

A few of my favorite comments are:

Allison Rankin-Fillo: Keep the bag! I am off to buy some just because of the bag!

Kelly Vrooman: I have actually started buying Sun Chips more frequently because of the compostable bag. Yeah, sure it’s a little bit noisier than the other chip bags, but putting your chips in a bowl while you snack solves that problem!

Sarah McRaven: I find the noise is a great conversation piece to talk about the fact that the bag is biodegradable. Keep it up! We’ll keep buying (at least in Canada.) Thanks!

Craig Rowe: You know what else is noisy? Drilling for oil!

In the end, sales figures will tell the full story. But for the moment it appears that Frito Lay Canada has turned a negative into a positive and found a way to engage consumers, simply by sticking to their guns.

Who knew principals could be so attractive?

Rewards: A New Approach to Recycling

What’s the future of recycling?

October 30, 2010
By: Marc Gunther

It’s an unhappy fact that recycling rates haven’t moved up much since Earth Day. Yes, the original Earth Day, back in 1990. But innovative companies like RecycleBank, TerraCycle and Waste Management, yes, Waste Management, through a subsidiary called 'Greenopolis', are experimenting with clever and promising new ways to move the needle, by rewarding consumers for recycling.

The company, RecycleBank, measures homeowners’ curbside recycling, and then rewards those who recycle with points that can be redeemed for stuff at more than 1,500 companies. “The idea of consumer behavior change is at the heart of our business,” said Ian Yolles, the chief marketing officer at RecycleBank, who previously worked at Nike and The Body Shop. The company is growing. It now operates in more than 300 communities in 26 states; and its investors include Coca-Cola, venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins and Generation Investment Management (the fund led by Al Gore and ex-Goldman partner David Blood). RecycleBank generates most its revenues by saving municipalities money (lower tipping fees, higher revenue streams from recycling) and taking a share of the savings.

TerraCycle has a more unusual model. It collects all kinds of hard-to-recycle stuff by mail; drink pouches, candy wrappers, plastic bags, wine corks, toothpaste containers, and then turns them into other things. “In 2011, you’ll see a playground made out of Capri Sun and Honest Kids drink pouches,” said Jo Opot, TerraCycle’s vice president of business development. Consumers who send trash get rewarded with donations to schools or charities, and they get the psychic satisfaction of knowing that something useful was made out of their garbage. You’d think that few people would bother to send their trash in the mail to New Jersey, Terracyle’s home base, but the company says 12 million people have participated, returning 1.8 billion items! The company gets paid by brands whose products it recovers, by manufacturers who buy its materials and by marketers who use its logo on finished products. There’s lots more about this all works at the TerraCycle website: http://www.terracycle.net/

For its part, Waste Management is rolling out 'Greenpolis', which offers interactive kiosks on streets, where people can recycle, as well as an online platform that offers rewards for recycling.

Digging In

Compost pile is a science unto itself

November 7, 2010

By: Jane Martin, Horticulturist


Compost pits hidden behind hedges in the Netherlands

Now that we've had temperatures dipping into the low 30s, it's time to gather garden debris and leaves and compost them, which is the green thing to do.

For those who are new to composting, some guidelines will help you get started.

Most of the time compost "happens" despite what you do or don't do to manage a pile. Successful composting is both art and science. A mix of green and brown matter is required; brown matter is high in carbon content; green matter is high in nitrogen content.

A carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of 30-to-1 is ideal for microbial activity. The compost pile will give you hints as to whether the mix is a good one.

For example, a pile will not degrade very quickly with too much brown matter, which can be remedied by adding a pound of urea (high nitrogen) fertilizer per cubic yard of debris. On the other hand, a pile will have a faint odor of ammonia with too much green stuff, which can be remedied by mixing in more brown stuff.

The size of the pile should range from 3 feet on all sides (27 cubic feet) to 5 feet (125cubic feet). Those sizes will allow proper heating but won't cut off oxygen to the center of the pile.

Build it in a well-drained area; debris can simply be piled on the ground or enclosed in snow fencing, wire mesh, concrete blocks or wood pallets.

Start by layering 3 to 4inches of coarse material, such as shrub branches. Next, add 6 to 8inches of mixed green and brown stuff. If it's shredded, breakdown will occur quicker.

Next, add a thin layer of soil or finished compost, which serves as a source of microorganisms. If you don't have much green stuff now, add nitrogen in the form of high-nitrogen fertilizer. Repeat until the pile reaches the desired size.

For the process to work, material in the pile should be damp, so watering might be needed initially. A properly constructed pile will reach about 140 degrees in four to five days and will begin to settle.

Finished compost is called 'black gold' because of its value as an amendment for improving clay soil. When finished, it is dark and crumbly, has an earthy smell and is within 10 degrees of air temperature. The original pile will degrade to be about one-third of its original size.

To use compost as a soil amendment; start by turning over the garden soil to be amended, then apply compost over the area at the rate of 1 to 3 inches and turn it in to a 6- to 8-inch depth. Some gardeners also layer compost in garden beds in the fall, an inch or two deep, which eventually aids soil structure.

Once you produce a good batch of compost, it's hard to quit, and most gardeners seem to increase the number or size of their piles. It's a good way to recycle yard waste on your own property!

Sea Monkeys

What business can learn from Sea-Monkeys

October 19, 2010
By: Marc Gunther

If you were one of those kids who looked forward to science class, you probably remember Sea-Monkeys.

I wasn’t into science but, as I recall, you could order Sea Monkeys from the back page of a comic book. According to Wikipedia, Sea Monkeys are the brand name for a variant of brine shrimp… a species which enters cyptobiosis, a natural state of suspended animation, allowing their cysts (dormant saclike embryos) to be distributed and sold as a dry powder. When the “eggs” are poured into saltwater, the Sea-Monkeys start to come out of their cysts.

Now, it turns out, the coating that kept the brine shrimp alive can do more than entertain science geeks on a Saturday night. Its properties have inspired a startup company called Biomatrica, which makes a “room temperature stabilization technology” used to preserve vaccines and other medicines that would otherwise have to be refrigerated. Don’t ask me to explain how the science works — yes, I should have paid more attention back in high school — but I can tell you that this product is potentially a very big deal. Think of how it can help overcome the challenges of delivering medicine to the many places in the world without an electricity grid, where keeping them reliably cold is all but impossible.

Janine Benyus

The story of Biomatrica, one of a number of companies using a practice known as biomimicry to drive innovation and become more sustainable, was recounted yesterday by Janine Benyus, the biologist who dreamed up the idea of biomimicry. She now leads a consulting firm and a nonprofit to spread its ideas; their website defines biomimicry as” an emerging discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems.”

Janine spoke on a panel today at the first GreenBiz Innovation Forum, a two-day event intended to help business rethink their products, processes and business models to make them more sustainable. She was joined by John Warner, the president of the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry.

Benyus and Warner are among the most original, creative and inspiring thinkers you’ll find anywhere in the sustainability world. They made a bit of news during the GreenBiz event by disclosing that they will be working together in the future, at least for certain clients. They’re both big thinkers: This is a crude way of putting it, but Benyus and Warner are trying to transform industry to become more like nature and less like, well, industry — by using more benign materials and processes, by becoming more efficient and generating less waste.

John Warner

Green chemistry, Warner explained, “is a science of active pollution prevention.” His institute works in a variety of industries–solar energy, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, personal care and cosmetics–to reduce or eliminate substances that are hazardous to human health or to the planet. His institute says:

Green Chemistry presents industries with incredible opportunity for growth and competitive advantage. This is because there is currently a significant shortage of green technologies: we estimate that only 10% of current technologies are environmentally benign; another 35% could be made benign relatively easily. The remaining 65% have yet to be invented!

The benefits to consumers and to the environment of green chemistry are obvious. Business gains because if hazardous materials are eliminated from products or manufacturing processes, the cost of disposing and handling those materials should disappear as well. “If you render the molecules safe in the first place, you don’t have the expense of exposure controls.” Warner said most major chemical firms are at least dabbling in green chemistry, and some are taking it very seriously.

Benyus’s Biomimicry Institute, meanwhile, has a long list of blue-chip clients including GE, Hewlett Packard, DuPont, Kraft, General Mills, Johnson & Johnson, Nike and Procter & Gamble. Its success stories are not quite as numerous–they include a new city in India called Lavasa being designed by HOK architects (See Building Design, Inspired by Nature at Fortune.com), an Interface carpet tile whose design was inspired by the “organized chaos” of the forest floor and a self-cleaning paint modeled on the lotus plant, whose leaves are covered with tiny points that keep dirt away from its surface so it can be washed away by rain.

Interesting, Benyus and Warner burst onto the sustainability scene at about the same time with books that took on traditional ways of thinking. Benyus’s Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature was published in 1997. Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, by Warner and Paul Anastas (a Yale prof who is now science advisor to EPA), was published in 1998.

More than a decade later, it makes you wonder: Why haven’t their ideas been adopted more broadly? Why are we still living with so much wasteful design and so many toxic chemicals? Partly, I think, it’s because true innovation — radical, disruptive, transformational innovation of the kind that’s need to drive sustainability — is very hard for big companies to do. Why? I’ll be exploring that problem on a panel tomorrow with big and small company executives, and report back later on what we learn.

Amtrak Spends $466 Million on Electric Locomotives

Amtrak Spends $466 Million on Electric Locomotives


By: Beth Buczynski
October 30, 2010

Transportation company's six-year contract with Siemens will create 250 jobs in California, Ohio and Georgia.

In an effort to modernize its fleet and provide improved performance and reliability for U.S. passengers in the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak has commissioned the German manufacturing giant, Siemens (NYSE: SI), to build 70 Cities Sprinter ACS-64 electric locomotives, the first of which will be operational in 2013.

According to Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman, the new locomotives will operate at speeds up to 125 mph (201 kph) on the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston and up to 110 mph (177 kph) on the Keystone Corridor from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pa. They will replace locomotives in service between 20 and 30 years with an average mileage of 3.5 million miles traveled.

The Federal Railroad Administration applauded the decision, which it says supports the Department of Transportation’s strategy to use transportation to build strong, modern infrastructure, while also making cities more livable, protecting the environment and reducing dependence on foreign oil.

The ACS-64 locomotives will be capable of operating on 25 kV, 12.5 kV, and 12 kV power supplies and will feature regenerative braking systems that can automatically return electricity to the power grid. Additional features include crash energy management components like anti-climbing technology and push-back couplers designed to keep the train upright, inline and on the tracks in the event of a collision. Amtrak claims the design will also allow for easier maintenance leading to faster turn around times and increased availability.

The contract with Amtrak represents Siemens' latest attempt to take advantage of the $80 million in grants for high-speed rail projects provided to several U.S. states this year. Earlier this month, Florida announced that it would make transportation history as the first state to build a high-speed rail corridor, with Siemens Velaro ICE trains soon to connect Tampa to Orlando and then Miami in a second phase.

Siemens will manufacture the locomotives primarily at the Siemens Mobility plant in Sacramento, California, creating 200 new jobs for that facility alone.

Smart Grid's Long Road Ahead

Smart Grid’s Long Road Ahead

Oct 29, 2010
By: Amy Hsuan

The nation’s electric power industry, dating back to the 19th century, is in the early phases of an unprecedented change. With new, renewable resources coming online and commercial users searching for new modes of efficiency, the underlying infrastructure that has served the power needs of the United States for the better part of the last 150 years is about to undergo a historic transformation.

Borrowing from the lessons learned in telecommunications and information technology, the “Smart Grid” will one day be an agile, responsive and “intelligent” network — nearly the exact opposite of what it is today. It will have new hardware and software and stand to become the innovation of the 21st century.

The question is when and at what cost? To get there, political boundaries need to be redefined at the federal and state levels, old infrastructure needs to be replaced and a new system needs to go from a mere vision to reality.

That’s where Katherine Hamilton, president of the GridWise Alliance, comes in. Hamilton, a moderator at the Wharton Energy Conference in Philadelphia this Friday, is no oracle when it comes to foretelling the future of Smart Grid, but she has spearheaded legislative and policy efforts, developed language for the energy and climate bills and secured critical funding for the grid.

I caught up with Hamilton to hear her perspective on what’s in store for Smart Grid as it emerges as one of the hot topics at Wharton Business School’s conference in Philadelphia.

In your view, how will the evolution of the Grid unfold over the coming years? Where to begin and what does the roll-out look like?

This is an evolution that will take place over time and in very different ways depending on the nature of the utility and the community it serves. For example, rural cooperatives have been installing remote meter-reading technology so that they can cut back on long truck trips over miles of territory. Urban utilities are focusing on demand management since their stressors are meeting peak loads during the hottest days of the year. Municipalities have to consider interoperation of all systems—gas, water, transportation, electricity—and are planning projects that consider these holistically.

What do you personally define as success in the Smart Grid arena? What will it take to get there?

The stimulus funding has really uncorked a bottleneck of projects which will prove the value of Smart Grid to consumers and regulators. We will learn a great deal from these 100+ projects that will help us quantify benefits and make the case for an additional roll-out—without stimulus. We hope to see tax incentives, such as accelerated depreciation for meters and credits for energy storage, to encourage Smart Grid development. We want sustained research to spur innovation and creative financing mechanisms to promote investment.

Is there any country, municipality or town that you feel could serve as a model for the U.S.?

Many municipalities — Austin, TX and Boulder and Fort Collins, CO — are a few early adopters, but there are many more in the works. They are forging ahead with Smart Grid and designing their roll-outs to include all of the stakeholders impacted by the energy system. Vermont even developed their project as a state initiative, bringing dozens of utilities into the mix to apply for stimulus funding. We are also watching communities all over the world in their implementation strategies so that we can learn from global Smart Grid programs.

There are some skeptics who say that even with Smart Grid and growing energy efficiency, energy usage will continue to grow because of the digital nature of our society. Do you believe energy efficiency means reduced energy usage?

It is absolutely true that we are moving to an ever more electrified existence. This promises to grow even more with plug in electric vehicles. If you believe that energy efficiency means using energy smarter, Smart Grid can greatly enhance efficiency by providing measurable data and feedback to track energy and carbon savings. ACEEE recently issued a report that found that Smart Grid significantly strengthened energy efficiency if implemented with consumer engagement. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory calculated that Smart Grid could enable efficiency and renewable and reduce carbon emissions directly by 12%, indirectly by up to 18%. A more efficient economy is a more prosperous one; all of our forecasts and experiences to date have shown that Smart Grid will grow the economy and create higher paying, sustainable jobs.

What do you see as the biggest obstacles to what the GridWise Alliance is trying to achieve?

Some of our barriers are in the rules we have put into place. I think we will see an evolution not only of technology over the next decade but of our regulatory policies as well. Once we get the rules right—whether that means a cost on carbon or standards for renewables or simply internalizing externalities into the process—the development of Smart Grid and all that it enables will follow. Remember, Smart Grid is simply a means to an end; the end goals are what we will set to determine our energy future. The GridWise Alliance takes our collective knowledge to inform our policymakers so we can begin to see some of those rules evolve.

Author Amy Hsuan is an MBA candidate at the Wharton Business School and marketing coordinator for the school’s 2010 energy conference “Bridging the Gap”. Prior to attending Wharton, Hsuan was an energy reporter based in Portland, Ore.

The "Windstalk Concept"

Wind Energy Beyond Wind Turbines

By: Marta Iglesias
Oct. 18, 2010

“Our project takes clues from the way the wind caresses a field of wheat, or reeds in a marsh; our hair on a gusty afternoon”.

With these words, the team that presented the “Windstalk Concept” at the 2010 Land Art Generator Initiative competition described the aesthetics of a project that gave them the second place mention from the jury.

The “Windstalk Concept” consists of 1203 stalks made of carbon fiber reinforced resin poles that generate kinetic energy when moved by the wind. Each stalk is anchored to the ground using concrete bases that contain a chamber with a generator. A series of piezoelectric ceramic discs surrounded by electrodes are located in each hollow pole, and cables connect even and odd electrodes separately. When wind blows, the movement generated in the poles forces the compression of the ceramic discs, hence generating a current through the electrodes. The generator placed at the base of each pole converts the kinetic energy into electricity.

Since the wind does not always blow, the team has designed two chambers located under the area covered by the poles that play the role of batteries. These chambers are used to store the energy produced and a series of pumps move water from the lower chamber to the upper one. When wind stops blowing, water flows down from the upper chamber, turning the pumps into generators. The owners of the concept estimate that the overall output of the project is the same of a wind turbine array.

The beauty of the project is completed by the LED lights placed at the top of every pole (stalks are 55 meters high). The lights glow and dim depending on wind strength, and poles look dark when wind does not blow. Vegetation grows wild among the bases of the stalks, watered by the scarce rain that flows down the bases and concentrates within these green spaces.

The “Windstalk Concept” was presented by New York based Atelier DNA, a studio started in 2008 with the aim of reaching equilibrium between humans and the world we live in, and designed for Masdar city, the clean technology cluster in Abu Dhabi.