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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

Hey there lighting fans! Dr. Bulb here with some thoughts on the rise of LED lighting in office buildings. The emergence of LED lighting is causing the lighting market to change rapidly as businesses around the world recognize the benefits of taking energy management seriously. LED lighting can save energy, reduce costs, and even increase the quality of light.

When lighting an office building there are two options as to where to delegate the costs:

Option 1: The first and more traditional option is to buy inexpensive lamps, such as incandescent and CFLs, and pay for the maintenance costs and to have the bulbs replaced every year or two. Large office buildings can house hundreds of lighting fixtures, the maintenance and replacement costs of these lights can be astronomical if they are burning out quickly.

Option 2: The second option is (the right option) to spend a little extra on LED lamps, and then reap the benefits of a maintenance free, energy efficient lighting solution. LED lamps often have a rated life of around 50,000 hours which means they will last over 11 years it they are on for 12 hours a day, everyday.

Energy management is a rising field, and businesses are saving thousands because of low energy bills. LED lighting has nearly 80% efficiency, which means that 80% of the electricity is used as light energy. Incandescent bulbs, on the other hand, operate at only 20% efficiency. This means that 80% of the electricity you pay for is being lost as heat energy when using incandescent bulbs! And, all that wasted electricity from incandescent bulbs converts directly into wasted money for the building manager. When a large office building has hundreds of lighting fixtures, each LED bulb that can save a few dollars adds up to hefty savings.

Being “green” is a must for businesses in today’s world, but there is a difference between having a few recycling bins around your office and actually embracing the environmental trend. LED lights are a great way to start becoming environmentally sustainable. Not only do they use less energy, but they are not manufactured with mercury or other toxic chemicals. Customers and stakeholders appreciate businesses that take an environmental initiative, so the benefits of LED lights go beyond a reduced electricity bill.

New technology always spurs questions; everything from the automobile to the iPad has been through public doubt. Often LED bulbs are looked at as a “green” option, but they are believed to provide lower quality light. I cannot stress enough how untrue that statement is! LED bulbs offer excellent light quality, even comparable to natural light. Also, LED bulbs are directional and can point light in the desired area, while other bulbs splash light in all directions.

No matter what your building’s lighting needs are, be it troffers or wall packs, make sure you know the financial and environmental benefits of LED lighting. And visit Drbulb.com for LED lighting industry news.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

That sound you didn’t hear when that bike flew by at 170 mph was an electric engine. E-bikes have been popping up on streets for years, but they’re coming to a track near you. They’ll compete against gas bikes, inspire future gear heads and you might even end up building your own.

It’s Time to Stop Arguing and Start E-Racing

In 2009, electric motorcycle racing’s governing body split after the Isle of Man race, leaving two competing racing series. Sadly, electric racing suffered, producing less than exciting races. According to Bart Madson, Managing Editor at MotorcycleUSA.com, some of the TTXGP North America races didn’t even have enough racers to fill a podium. Thankfully, March of 2013 saw the factions united in an announcement that means sunny days for electric racers. The FIM and TTXGP will unite to form a single electric racing series.

2013 will see a 4-round North American and 4-round European championship, concluding in a united global final. This global final will take this yet-unnamed racing series to Asia for the first time. In 2014, the overall format will change to a more traditional World Championship. Rather than a global final race, the Championship will be awarded based on total points accumulated. 2015 will see a completely electric global championship, featuring races on North America, Europe, and Asia.

Can E-Bikes Take on Gas Racers?

There’s a unified electric racing series, but they’ll just race each other, right? Wrong. In a first for e-bikes, the AFM will allow Brammo to enter electric bikes in their race series. A recent article on Torque News lays out the steps for qualification. After a rider is approved for AFM racing, their motorcycle must meet technical specs and their crew must abide by mandatory pit safety practices. Don’t think this is a gimmick, these guys are racing to win.

While Brammo cycles have posted speeds and laps that match gas racers in the TTXGP World Championships, nowhere in the standards does the AFM dictate a motorcycle must be a certain Brammo model. That’s right, you don’t have to run a Brammo to race an e-bike in the AFM. Any bike manufactured by anyone who meets the specs can race.
Enter the DIY Racers

If all this talk about e-racing has you interested in building your own bike with motorcycle parts at BikeBandit.com, you’re not alone. A team of students from Virginia Tech placed seventh overall at the Laguna Seca race in the TTXGP series. This wasn’t the kiddie division — the competition included some big names in the e-racing industry like Brammo, Zero Motorcycles, and Lightning; this wasn’t the kiddie division. Their bike, known as BOLT, was built specifically to compete in this racing series and they plan to race it at Daytona in the fall.

Virginia Tech doesn’t hold the monopoly on self-made electric bikes; Kevin Clemens actually set world records with the e-bike he built with his own hands. A former writer for “Automobile” magazine, Kevin found a passion for electric transportation while completing a Journalism Fellowship at the University of Michigan. He wrote a book, “The Crooked Mile,” about energy, infrastructure, and how we can better our transportation system for tomorrow.

Setting world records on his electric bike is Kevin’s way of spreading his message, inspiring kids and wrench monkeys all over the country to see e-bikes as more than a curiosity or a gimmick. They are a viable form of transportation — given his world-record speed — a quick one as well.

Ready to build a bike? Peruse your online parts catalog and get wrenching. You may not set world records or win a Grand Prix race, but you can certainly join the electric revolution.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

The truth of the matter is, all cars pollute. It doesn’t matter if they run on petroleum or diesel. Even hybrid and electric cars have been accused of contributing to pollution, at least indirectly. So how do you balance the necessity of driving with caring about the environment? It helps to know just how bad your car really is and what you might be able to do to minimize the damage. The main toxins that come from cars are Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, and Hydrocarbons. These chemicals are worse when they come from bigger engines and when the car is idling, which is why traffic jams cause pollution most of all. It’s important to understand the factors that determine how much pollution your vehicle generates as well as tricks you can try to make your car a little greener.

1. Fuel Consumption

Basically, cars that burn more fuel will cause more pollution, which is essentially a no-brainer. That’s why large SUVs and trucks are much more of a hazard to the environment than the average four-door sedan. Improving your fuel economy does more than help you drive greener; it also saves you a lot of money. There are several ideas for reducing the amount of gas your car consumes. It can be as simple as braking farther back or turning your air conditioning off when you don’t really need it. It’s important to remember that cars burn more fuel when they accelerate, so just by maintaining a constant speed and watching for hazards ahead, you are helping reduce pollution. Also remember the importance of traveling light. You shouldn’t drive around with equipment or stored cargo you don’t need, because it makes the car drag and costs you more in gas.

2. Idling

Reducing the amount of idling your car does every day is perhaps the easiest way to help the environment. There are times you won’t be able to help it, such as when you’re sitting at stoplights or in slow traffic, but there are also times where you don’t have to. If the traffic is stopped for more than a few seconds, you should turn your engine off. The idea that this wastes gas is a myth – you actually waste more gas by idling, and you release tailpipe emissions into the air that can be dangerous for your health and the health of your town or city. You never need to warm your car up in the morning, either. This has long ago been proven unnecessary, and your engine won’t really be warmed up until you’re driving. For every 10 minutes your car isn’t running, you stop one pound of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. That’s an incredible difference!

BOSS Military Spouses Appreciation Day - Free Vehicle Inspection - U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, South Korea - 11 May 2012

3. Car Maintenance

Keeping your car operating smoothly can go a long way towards improving fuel economy and reducing pollution. Many times, there can be a problem with your engine that you don’t even know about which is affecting your gas mileage, which is why it pays to have a mechanic look at the vehicle regularly. Problems with spark plugs, dirty or damaged air filters, and your fuel injection system can all affect how much fuel you burn. But there are also some simple ways you can reduce fuel consumption yourself. Make sure the gas cap is on tight enough. Nearly 150 gallons of gas per year are lost because it evaporates into the air due to a loose gas cap. Also make sure your tires have enough air in them. Driving on partially-deflated tires can severely reduce your fuel economy, and it’s such an easy fix.

4. Driving Less

You probably already know the benefits of reducing the time you spend in the car, but it’s still the number one way to be a greener driver. When you eliminate short car trips and decide to walk or bike instead, you’re helping the environment as well as yourself. Carpooling is another tried and true way to help the planet, and you should offer rides as well as accept them whenever you can. There’s no denying that carpooling decongests roads and saves everybody money. You might be lucky enough to live in an area with great public transportation, too. You don’t have to give up your car entirely, but being conscious of how much you use it means cheaper insurance, less money spent on gas, and better health for you and the environment.

Bicycle commuter

Until everyone is driving biodiesel cars or some other form of clean energy is produced, it’s never going to be totally environmentally friendly to get behind the wheel. But you can be conscious of how much your driving habits affect the environment, and you can make sure your car is pumping as few pollutants as possible into the air. You may find that thinking about safe, green driving has way more benefits than one.

Amy Thomson is a blogger for Monkey.co.uk, a leading UK car insurance comparison site. Follower her on Twitter @VroomVroomAmy.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

The repercussions about climate change are pretty diverse and prove out to be very much damaging to millions of people dwelling at different parts of this planet especially to the people based in developing nations. Most of the climate changes taking place bring in a number of negative economic consequences to these nations and the people residing there. For instance, a wide range of weather events including the hurricane, avalanches and droughts could be counted in the list of climate change consequences, which have led to billions of dollars in economic damage to the affected nations. The below is the list of the bad effects of climate change found inside the world. Let’s check them out:

Stronger and more recurrent weather events

The most obvious ill effects of climate change include a much stronger events occurring on a frequent basis. A number of weather events including floods, precipitation, waves, hurricanes, droughts, windstorms and avalanches seem to be increasing in the coming years owing to the climate change. If you look at the recent events, the extreme weather conditions seem to have worsened since past few years. In the 2003, the extreme and abnormal heat waves have killed around 35,000 people in Europe alone. In the year 2005, more than 1300 people were killed due to the Hurricane Katrina in United States giving a total loss of 135 billon dollars. As per the experts, the increase in the intensity of hurricane is only due to the climate change taking place since 1975. According to a report published in Nature Journal in 2005, the intensity of hurricane has increased all these years along with changing the ocean warming trends in the past few decades and will continue the same. Also, the issue of extreme weather also seems to have erupted due to the climate change.

Rise of sea levels

Another implication of climate change is the rise of sea levels, which seems to have accelerated since past few years owing to the land based ice melting and because of the thermal expansions of oceans. As per the eight arctic nations based forum- ACIA (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment), since the past twenty years the rise of sea level is around 8 centimeters all across the globe and it also predicts around 10 -90 centimeters in the coming decades. With such projections, you would see threat of floods for more than ten million people dwelling across the coastal areas all across the globe. One of the biggest concerns is melting of Greenland Ice Sheet that has been melting since the late 70’s in a rapid manner as expected. The drastic change in climate will certainly going to have adverse effects on it’s melting, which can raise the sea levels up to 7 meters.

Water shortages and the food security threats

Currently more than one billion people all across the world are facing the issue of water scarcity. The climate change could aggravate this serious issue in different forms like prolonged droughts and spreading desertification, which will simply make the situation from bad to worse. The regions, which depend upon the glacial melt water during their dry season including the Himalaya-Hindu Kush region (spreading over India, China and other Asian countries), which is actually a home for more than 50% of population in the world is likely to be hit the most as the glaciers are seen receding while the dry season water sources are unable to refill. Moreover, these changes in climate could also bring in the global food security threat since the agricultural production is likely to be hit at the tropical and subtropical areas owing to excessive droughts and heat.

Disease and several other health implications

The climate change is more likely to expand the geographic distribution and thus bringing in a number of contagious diseases including, dengue, malaria, Lyme, cholera, and fever at places like Latin America, Africa and North America since the presence of warm weather simply allows these diseases especially at places, which were earlier too cold. As per WHO, the changes in climate seems to have hampered the 150,000 fatalities among the people living all across the world in the year 2000, while the latest figure seems to be double. The fatalities that result due to the climate change include diseases like the respiratory issues and cardiovascular mortality and the tainted transmission of infectious diseases along with the rise of malnutrition cases going up due to the crop failures.

Final word

Climate change has already started hampering the world and people living over this planet and is certainly going to do the same in the coming times. With the consistent changes taking place in climate, people and the planet both have now started encountering the above said implications of climate change, which will aggravate in the coming future.

About The Author: Alia is a writer/blogger. She loves writing, travelling and reading books. She contributes to ReputationChangerWikiManagement.com

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

I was on a conference call this morning on which I told the audience that the American electorate is becoming far more focused on environmental issues than they were just a few short months ago.  Based on what I read and hear, I get the distinct feeling that incidents like Exxon’s tar sands spill in Arkansas are causing a lot of people to gnash their teeth in advance of the decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.  Sure, there are people who just nod their heads and go along with whatever their corporate-controlled government tells them, but the good news is that there are fewer of them every single day. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Synthetic Fuel

I spend a fair amount of time writing about how the vested interests in energy (e.g., the oil companies), keep bad ideas in place (e.g., extracting and burning petroleum), at the expense of good ideas (e.g., renewables).

But there is, in fact, another major enemy of good ideas: bad ideas.   

Here’s an article on a topic I’ve seen before: synthesizing fuel from the CO2 in ocean water.  As it happens, there are some excellent concepts in synthetic fuels from CO2, but, as a minimum requirement, they contemplate the use of point-sources for the carbon dioxide, for example, coal-fired power plants or concrete manufacturing facilities.  Extracting CO2 from the ocean or the atmosphere will be exorbitantly expensive and is therefore a non-starter.

Dr. David Doty, one of the world’s most senior researchers in this space, amplifies my comments:

For reasons I can’t begin to understand, the U.S. Navy keeps promoting this garbage. By the measure that matters most, kg/kg, the concentration of CO2 in surface waters of the ocean is less than 1/4 its concentration in the atmosphere. I pointed out their misrepresentations at least five years ago here — about 2/3 of the way down the page, under “Sea Fuels,” and “More Sea Fuels.”

My crude estimate several years ago was that taking CO2 from the ocean would be at least 5 times more expensive than taking CO2 from the atmosphere, and taking CO2 from the atmosphere would be at least 5 times more expensive than taking it from point sources.  

Needless to say, the process of evolving a working approach to supplying power for a large and increasingly energy-hungry population is not served with the continued promotion of ideas that lack scientific merit.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Based on its title, I have to say that my initial impression of the article linked below wasn’t too favorable.  Calling something “The Truth About Solar Energy,” or “The Truth About ….(anything)” is a bit off-putting.  Yes, I’d rather have the truth, as opposed to the lies, any day of the week; I think that goes without saying.

But the more I got into this, the more value I found it had to provide.  For instance, there is a discussion of PERI’s (the Political Economics Research Institute) oft-quoted infographic on the number of jobs that would be created with an incremental $1 million investment into each of a dozen different types of energy generation, conservation, and efficiency.  One of PERI’s key people, Dr. Robert Pollin, was good enough to favor me with an interview for “Is Renewable Really Doable?” and he spoke at some length about this subject. 

I wish this subject would come up more in our usual political discourse; frankly it’s a bit strange that it doesn’t.  After all, we just had a presidential election that was all about jobs, and the subject is at least as hot now as it was then.  Romney attacked Obama for not being sufficiently friendly to the coal industry, and he nearly convinced enough voters that renewable energy was a job killer.  This, of course, is ironic, as precisely the opposite is true, as readers will see. 

I have to say that I laughed out loud at one of the comments: “I suspect those low numbers for job creation in coal don’t count all the awesome jobs in the health-industry for cancer care, lung and heart diseases, etc.”  Now there’s someone with a sense of humor. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Occasionally I go off by myself for a “happy hour” drink at a local upscale restaurant/bar — a place that’s almost always good for an interesting conversation with the people sitting next to me.  Last evening was no exception: I found an elderly couple that looked like they were right out of the “Society” column of the New York Times — dressed to the nines, very nicely educated, with warm and sophisticated old-money smiles.  In fact, she was from Boston, Wellesley to be exact, and her paternal heritage was a line of “Harvard men” that was (I’m not exaggerating) four generations long. 

The couple was so cordial and so sincerely excited to meet a fellow transplant from the East Coast that it was hard to imagine that the conversation could possibly turn sour, but it did precisely that when they asked me about my vocation and I explained that I was in renewable energy.  The guy, perhaps 80, who, a moment before, was regarding me as if I could have been a rowing mate on the Charles, was at a loss to contain his anger.  He demanded to know: What about clean coal?  Could I convince him that we won’t be burning oil in 100 years?  Did I think people really want these spinny toys (wind turbines), an aesthetic blight, all over the place?  After all, we’re not running out of coal and oil; we keep finding more. 

At least he had enough class and self-composure to emphasize repeatedly, “I’m not an expert, but…” before throwing out another unworkable defense for  the continued extraction and combustion of fossil fuels.  That, in fact, is the part I find most interesting with people like this; it’s what I call the “I’m Not an Expert, but… Syndrome.”

It’s unclear to me how people who know quite well that their understanding of the energy industry is limited feel entitled to extremely rigid positions – especially ones that fly in the teeth of the beliefs of the vast majority of scientists – i.e., actual experts.  Would this guy have felt comfortable being so doctrinaire if the discussion were on cancer research or criminal psychopathology?  Nope.  Yet when it came to energy, he didn’t mind latching onto a few sounds bites and blasting them at me as if they had come from Mount Sinai. 

I’m normally pretty good getting people to see that there really are tough realities here,  that perhaps there are issues that make this subject a bit more complicated than they may have initially realized.  In such situations, I try to fashion myself after Socrates (one of my great heroes growing up); I just try to ask good questions.  But this gentleman was having absolutely none of it. 

The experience served as an important reminder: part of what makes the migration to renewable energy such an interesting challenge is getting the world to back down off of what they think they know, and look at our problems fairly and squarely in the eye.  I suppose that’s why the public relations angle is so crucial here.  This fellow’s intractable viewpoint is the product of a considerable fortune that’s been spent convincing him of something extremely specific; the problem is that it’s also totally incorrect.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

A friend asked my opinion on this high school kid’s experimentation with algae as biofuel.

Friend:  Hmmm.

Craig: Well, this IS exactly what algae researchers are doing…  And it DOES have promise, IMO. 

Friend: It certainly would give us a much more carbon neutral solution for the existing transportation infrastructure – and, effectively, it’s solar energy. 🙂

Craig: You’re absolutely right.  As long as we’re married to liquid fuels, there’s a lot to like here, including the fact that algae can be grown on non-arable land with salt water, and it’s 30 – 50 times more energy-dense that ANY terrestrial plant.

The problem is that it’s really hard to grow outside of carefully controlled laboratory conditions. If this is going to work, it’s going to take a lot of time and money, and a lot of that money is going to have to come from the public sector, since the private sector is so focused on short-term ROI.

The other issue is competition from electric transportation charged from wind and solar; i.e., we won’t be married to liquid fuels forever. 

Btw, what an impressive young lady she is! 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I had lunch yesterday with a young attorney (more details on him soon) who will be researching and writing on the legal aspects of renewable energy for our readers at 2GreenEnergy.  I view this as a fantastic opportunity, since there are dozens of legal elements that need to be sorted out in order to accelerate the adoption of clean energy and, over time, phasing out the consumption of fossil fuels.  We discussed a few of these over our meal:

• Looking at the approach that countries like Germany have taken, i.e., standardizing the process of permitting, installing, and grid-tying solar PV such that lawyers are almost completely removed from the process

• Using the law to create a level playing field for renewables – and everything this implies: incentives, subsidies, carbon taxes, renewable energy credits, etc.

• Establishing Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) – the same legal framework for capital formation of renewable energy projects as those in oil and gas exploration enjoy

• Getting rid of the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling that enables corporations to spend as much as they like influencing our elections

• Exploring the work of the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) in using litigation to protect our natural environment

• Reporting on the work performed by the Environmental Law Institute, which “fosters innovative, just, and practical law and policy solutions to enable leaders across borders and sectors to make environmental, economic, and social progress.”

• Understanding the status of eminent domain law, as it may apply to establishing a build-out of our electrical grid with, perhaps, high-voltage DC power transmission.

There is a ton of extremely interesting and important material to be unearthed here, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity of presenting it here on our site. 

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