2017 Volkswagen e-Golf Preview

29.11.2016

The 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf electric car gets a number of notable updates this year, including considerably increased range and a more powerful electric motor. Unveiled at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show, the e-Golf gets similar styling and content changes to other models in 2017 Golf lineup. Crucially, the electric version also gets a 50-percent boost in battery capacity—from 24.2 kilowatt-hours to 35.8 kwh. While official EPA figures aren’t available yet, VW expects a range of 124 miles, up from the 83-mile range of the current car.

The longer range matches that of the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric, and represents the longest range of any current electric car apart from the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV and Tesla’s Model S and Model X. The Bolt EV has an EPA-rated range of 238 miles, while both Teslas have ranges of more than 200 miles, but with prices starting around $70,000. The e-Golf beats the range ratings of the 2017 Nissan Leaf (107 miles) and BMW i3 (114 miles), the only other mass-market electric cars of comparable price.

In addition to its larger battery pack, the 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf also boasts a more powerful electric motor. The upgraded motor produces 100 kilowatts (134 horsepower) and 214 pound-feet of torque, up from 86 kW (115 hp) and 199 lb-ft of torque in the previous year’s model. Volkswagen says the 2017 e-Golf will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 9.6 seconds, a reduction of more than 1 second. Top speed is quoted at 93 mph. A 7.2-kW onboard charger is now standard on all models, while a CCS DC fast-charging port is standard on the SEL Premium model and optional on the SE base model.

On the outside, the 2017 e-Golf features slightly updated front and rear styling. he 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf will go on sale early next year, at selected dealers only in certain states. While all other Golf models sold in North America are now built at a plant in Mexico, the e-Golf is assembled only in Germany and exported to the U.S. and other markets.

Assembly currently takes place alongside other Golf variants at VW’s Wolfsburg plant, but e-Golf production will soon expand into the “Transparent Factory” in Dresden. The “Transparent Factory” is a glass-walled plant built to produce the now-defunct Volkswagen Phaeton large luxury sedan. Volkswagen has also said that it expects to begin building electric cars in North America by 2020.

Source: greencarreports.com

Is Small-Scale Hydro the Answer To India’s Clean Energy Needs?

29.11.2016

In the western Himalayas, the entire village of Hamal is powered by a small hydroelectric plant on the edge of the Shalvi river. Producing 2MW per hour, the plant provides enough power to light up 100 homes at a time, ending the village’s once-endemic power cuts.

Small hydro projects, producing up to 25MW per hour, have the potential to transform India’s rural communities and are being driven by companies such as Vaishnavi Consultants, which completed the Hamal project in 2014.

The Indian government has said that by the end of March 2017 it hopes privately owned small hydro will be adding 7,000MW per hour to the national grid, enough to power more than a million lightbulbs, although there is little indication as to whether they are on track.

For private companies that invest in small hydro, government subsidies and the growing demand for clean energy ensures a steady income. But after millions of dollars of investment, these plants, even at full capacity, can produce only a fraction of India’s total energy needs, so are they worthwhile?

India’s rapid industrialisation over the last two decades has put pressure on the country’s coal, oil and gas industries to keep up with growing demand as factories have been set up, towns have been built and more than 18,000 villages have become electrified for the first time.

This industrialisation has come at huge environmental cost. Today, India is the world’s third largest emitter of carbon dioxide and its cities are among the most polluted in the world.

While large-scale hydroelectric plants can use moving water to make huge amounts of electricity, there are serious environmental drawbacks. In contrast, small-scale plants, which use much smaller quantities of water, can operate without heavily affecting the river flow, or disturbing the agriculture and wildlife around them.

At the Paris summit last year, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, promised to address carbon emissions by expanding the renewable energy sector to produce an additional 175,000MW per hour by 2022. India estimates small hydro projects could produce up to 20,000MW per hour – as much as a ninth of India’s new renewable energy.

A key benefit of small hydropower generation is that it can deliver local energy to remote communities which are unlikely to get connected to the main electricity grid due to set-up costs, says David Appleyard, a contributing editor for Renewable Energy World magazine. He says they also tend to be easier to finance given the reduced need for major civil infrastructure and capital investment.

Ajay Dogra, engineer and owner of Vaishnavi Consultants, has worked on 35 small hydro projects across India since 2004. These plants provide 24-hour electricity to remote communities in the Himalayas, with any surplus power distributed on the national grid. Dogra says such projects are profitable.

“It costs 9 crore rupees [£1m] to develop a plant that produces 1MW. Once we start generating electricity, the government pays us 3.27 rupees [1p] per watt to buy the energy, and guarantees to continue doing so for 40 years. Within five to seven years you recover your costs.”

Dogra’s small hydro plants provide work for local people, employing approximately 25 people per plant in addition to the casual workers hired on a daily basis during the construction stage. In addition, a small percentage of profit is given, by law, to the local gram panchayat, or village council.

Despite the benefits, building plants can be a tedious process because their construction is often slowed by bureaucratic inefficiency, Dogra explains: “You have to get so many clearances from the government. The project has to be signed off by the water department, the road department, the pollution control board. That process itself takes two to five years.”

Relying too heavily on small hydro could also have its drawbacks in India, which suffers from severe water shortages and drought, says Dr Latha Anantha, water expert at the River Research Centre:
“One small hydro plant is fine, but if you put three or four along the same stream then the cumulative effect can reduce the performance of the plants. Also, they don’t currently need clearances under the environmental impact act, so rules can be clouded, forest can be cut and there will be no one to question it.”

Bharat Lal Seth, an independent rivers expert who has worked with advocacy groups such as International Rivers, says small-scale hydropower needs proper oversight to ensure it benefits communities and does not damage the local environment.

“There are social and environmental concerns about the manner in which small hydropower has been implemented in India. There is need for better scoping and appraisal of sites, as well as monitoring of environmental management plans which are almost always violated by project developers.”

Source: theguardian.com

Swiss Pilot Plans To Fly Solar Airplane To The Edge Of Space

28.11.2016

It might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but a Swiss pilot is preparing to fly to the edge of space in a solar-powered aircraft. According to Wired, Raphël Domjan is planning to fly his plane, SolarStratos, higher than any plane has gone before. His goal is to prove that renewable energy is not only equal to, but potentially greater than fossil fuels.

That goal, it seems, is a lofty one in both the literal and figurative senses. When the planned date arrives in late 2018, Domjan hopes to hop into SolarStratos and fly 25,000 meters into the sky, to the edge of space. After flying for two and a half hours, he is planning to spend 15 minutes in the stratosphere before slowly ascending back to terra firma.

“Our goal is to be the highest plane ever, not only solar and electric,” Swiss pilot, Domjan told Wired. With this project, we take technology you can find in the supermarket and we put it to the limit. He adds that showing solar technology can take humans as far or further than petroleum fuels will send a strong message about the potential that clean technology holds. “We still have so many things to explore,” he adds. “Maybe exploration can be used to protect our planet.”

But he needs more funding to make his mission happen. Since founding SolarStratos in 2014, Domjan has raised $5 million to make his experimental plane, which is expected to be released by solar aviation specialist PC-Solar by the end of this year. The finished plane will weigh just shy of 1,000 pounds, including two 19kw motors that produce about 50 horsepower. That much weight and power is just barely light enough to complete the missions; according to Wired, Domjan will have to lose about 20 pounds before he can attempt the feat. There’s also the problem of how he will breathe at 25,000 meters, where there’s only two percent of the oxygen available at sea level. Also, despite the funds already raised, the team needs another $5 million in the bank before they’re ready to take flight.

Source: inhabitat.com

Report: China Risks Wasting $500bn On Unneeded Coal Plants

28.11.2016

China is at risk of wasting almost half a trillion dollars on new coal plants which could quickly become stranded assets as a result of the country’s pursuit of a lower carbon economy.

That is the conclusion of a new report from the Carbon Tracker think tank, which analyses China’s 13th Five Year Plan (13 FYP) from 2016 to 2020 and argues an anticipated slowdown in the rate of growth for power demand and increased low carbon capacity targets mean the country no longer needs the new coal powered stations currently in the pipeline.

Even existing capacity may come under financial pressure by 2020, as power market reforms and carbon pricing come into force, the report added.

The report said the weak outlook for coal power will be exacerbated by the falling growth in power demand, from a historical average of 10 per cent per annum to an expected three per cent or less per year. Add the imminent introduction of China’s national Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2017, and margins for coal plants are expected to be eroded still further.

As of July this year, 2,689 of China’s coal plants – with a combined capacity of 895GW – were utilised less than half the time. But despite these poor market conditions and ongoing concerns about air pollution, China still has a further 205GW of coal capacity currently under construction and 405GW more planned for the future.

The total construction cost of the project pipeline reaches $490bn, the report said, but the use of these plants once compleated is inconsistent with the wider goals of the 13 FYP.

“It is clear that China is coming to terms with the fact it does not need any more coal capacity in a market where existing plants are not even running half the time,” said Matthew Gray, senior analyst and author of the report, in a statement. “The dynamic policy environment suggests China is trying to work out how to avoid wasting half a trillion dollars on unneeded coal plants.”

The report concludes China could in fact avoid building any additional coal plants by marginally increasing the utilisation of its existing coal power fleet. After 2032, even this existing fleet becomes inconsistent with a 2C scenario, meaning plants will need to either be fitted with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or retired prematurely.

Rather than pouring capital into “increasingly unviable coal plants”, putting the financial system under additional pressure from the risk of large-scale defaults, the authors urge for China to “act with conviction” to contain its coal overcapacity crisis by promoting energy efficiency measures instead.

James Leaton, Carbon Tracker’s head of research, said there are “clear signs” Chinese coal generation is peaking, adding that the expected increases in hydro, wind, solar, gas, nuclear and biomass capacity under the 13 FYP will be sufficient to meet lower than previously expected demand in power demand.

He added that the trends could also impact the wider global coal industry. “This can only spell bad news for exporters betting on China propping up the seaborne thermal coal market in the future,” he said.

Source: businessgreen.com

IEA Executive Director receives Carnot Prize from the University of Pennsylvania

28.11.2016

Dr Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, was awarded the second annual Carnot Prize from the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design for his “distinguished contributions to energy policy.”

‌‌“We honor Fatih Birol for guiding the complex and politically-fraught process of global collaboration on energy policy,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “Dr Birol is steadily advancing inclusivity and equity by expanding the IEA’s role beyond primarily ‘first-world’ interests to encompass a much broader global community.”

President Gutmann also announced the creation of a new graduate student fellowship program at the IEA’s headquarters in Paris. The programme, which was named in honor of Dr Birol, will provide new opportunities for a rising generation of Penn-educated leaders.

“I am extremely honored by this distinction, which celebrates a forefather of the energy revolution, a mathematician and scientist—Nicolas Sadi Carnot,” said Dr Birol, “Carnot’s work has helped improve our understanding of energy efficiency, a topic to which we are very much attached at the IEA. It’s a special pleasure to be in the company of Penn students who will be the future leaders of our industry.”

Source: iea.org

Gazprom and Russian producers of pipes and steel sign scientific and technical cooperation programs

28.11.2016

Two scientific and technical cooperation programs for the period 2016 through 2021 were signed few days ago at the Gazprom headquarters, with one program inked by Gazprom, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, and TMK, and the other by Gazprom, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, and Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant.

The programs are aimed to supply Gazprom with innovative, highly reliable pipe products and to enhance the economic efficiency of the construction and operation of natural gas production, transmission and processing facilities.

Under the programs, it is planned to set up the production of flat products and pipes using high-strength steel up to K90 (X120); steel with enhanced resistance to CO2 environments and stress-corrosion; and steel that makes pipelines tolerant to a wide temperature range.

The programs also stipulate the development of new construction materials, including for gas liquefaction and underwater production projects. In addition, the documents are intended to create information systems with the purpose of helping monitor the technical condition of pipes during the production stage and throughout the entire lifecycle of pipelines and to optimize construction and operation processes.

According to the programs, Gazprom will provide organizational and consulting support, while Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, TMK, and Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant will perform relevant R&D and engineering activities.

Source: Gazprom.com

Costa Coffee Launches In-Store Cup Recycling Scheme

28.11.2016

The UK’s largest coffee chain Costa Coffee is to launch a recycling scheme in all of its stores to ensure that as many as possible of its own takeaway cups – and those from its competitors – are recycled.

In a move designed to reduce the millions of used disposable cups that end up in landfill, the chain’s customers will be encouraged to leave or return them to a Costa store, where they will be stored on a bespoke rack. Costa’s waste partner, Veolia, will transport them to specialist waste processing plants which have the capacity to recycle takeaway coffee cups – potentially as many as 30m a year from Costa alone.

Following a successful trial in more than 45 stores across London and Manchester, Costa is rolling out the recycling racks in all 2,000-plus stores at the end of January with a clear message that “we recycle any paper takeaway cup, no matter what brand”.

It was revealed earlier this year that only 1 in 400 coffee cups are recycled in the UK because they are made of a difficult-to-recycle mix of paper and plastic. That prompted calls for a charge on takeaway cups by prominent figures including chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

“As the UK’s largest coffee shop brand, we want to make it as easy as possible for the public to recycle their used coffee cups,” said Jason Cotta, the managing director of Costa UK and Ireland. “Our research in Manchester and London shows around 40 cups per day are left in stores, which means we have the potential to recycle 30m Costa cups a year. What’s more, the fact that we will accept competitors’ cups means we could significantly increase that figure.”

Costa is funding research at Sheffield University into cup recyclability and currently donates 25p to litter charities every time a customer uses a reusable cup in a Costa store.

“We are committed to taking a lead and, like many others, we are working hard to find a cup that can be recycled anywhere,” Cotta continued. “Whilst there is more work to do in partnership with the wider industry, we are excited to see the impact our new in-store recycling offer will have and hope it is embraced by everyone – by our customers and by those who buy their coffee elsewhere.”

Meanwhile, Starbucks is trialling a fully recyclable coffee cup – the Frugalpac – which could eventually divert huge numbers of cups away from landfill. And environmental charity Hubbub is facilitating the trial of a paper cup recycling bin scheme in Manchester, supported by McDonald’s, Costa Coffee, Caffè Nero, Pret a Manger, KFC, Greggs and Nestlé.

Source: theguardian.com

Finland Set to Become First Country in the World to Ban Coal

28.11.2016

The Finnish government has announced plans to stop using coal, one of the the dirtiest fuels on the planet, by 2030.

“Finland is well positioned to be among the first countries in the world to enact a law to ban coal … This will be my proposal,” Minister of Economic Affairs Olli Rehn told Reuters.

This is all part of Finland’s ambitious target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050.

“Giving up coal is the only way to reach international climate goals,” Rehn added.

According to The Independent, the “Energy and Climate Strategy for 2030 and Beyond” is the country’s plan to phase out coal within 14 years. Finland aims to turn its energy production carbon-neutral by 2050 with plans to switch its traditional energy sources to biofuels and renewable energy.

The strategy will be presented to the Finnish parliament for approval in March.

Currently, Finland gets only 8 percent energy from coal, mostly imported from Russia. Renewable sources and nuclear make up 45 percent and 34 percent respectively.

Finland is not the only country trying to stamp out coal—other European countries as well as Canada have similar plans. The state of Oregon also wants to phase out the carbon-polluting fuel.

However, Finland’s plan appears to be much more strict. According to ZME Science, “In countries such as France or the UK where coal will be phased out, there will still be some leeway that will allow the trading the coal for instance. With a ban in place, not only will be Finnish utilities be barred from producing energy from coal, it will also be illegal to import electricity that is made from it—that’s an entirely radical approach, but one that has a lot of positive environmental implications.”

“Basically, coal would disappear from the Finnish market,” Peter Lund, a researcher at Aalto University, and chair of the energy program at the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council, told New Scientist.

Of course, not everyone in Finland is happy with the plan.

“The discussion about prohibiting the use of coal under law is inexplicable,” Jukka Leskelä, the managing director of Finnish Energy, told the Helsinki Times. “Such an effort would not succeed without offering substantial compensation [to energy producers]. I fail to understand how the central administration can spend so recklessly and be so unappreciative of the situation in the energy markets.”

Transport and Communications Minister Anne Berner also told the Associated Press that the emission targets for the transport sector is “demanding.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Greenpeace calls timeout for fast fashion

25.11.2016

New research on fashion trends and textile waste, released by Greenpeace on the eve of Black Friday, highlights the serious environmental consequences of over consumption. Clothing is among the most sold products on the annual shopping day promoted in many countries, which, critics say, encourages impulsive overspending and unnecessary purchases through ‘bargain’ offers and discount prices.

“It is hard to resist the allure of a good bargain, but fast fashion means we’re consuming and trashing fashion at a higher rate than our planet can handle,” said Kirsten Brodde, head of Greenpeace’s Detox my Fashion campaign.

To counter excessive consumerism, growing numbers of people choose to abstain and observe “Buy Nothing Day” instead. As part of this movement, “trash queens” in dresses upcycled from discarded clothes are visiting shopping centres in three major cities in Asia and Europe to remind customers how many impulse buys of today end up as trash tomorrow.

The research, Timeout for fast fashion, published today by Greenpeace Germany, shows how the fast fashion business is rapidly expanding: Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014, with sales rising from US$ 1 trillion in 2002 to 1.8 trillion by 2015, and a forecast of 2.1 trillion by 2025. The average person buys 60 per cent more items of clothing every year and keeps them for about half as long as 15 years ago, producing immense volumes of textile waste.

Environmental impacts detailed include chemicals from textile factories polluting rivers and oceans, high levels of energy use and pesticides from cotton growing contaminating agricultural land. One of fast fashion’s biggest costs to the planet comes from the rising use of synthetic fibres, says Greenpeace, in particular polyester that emits nearly three times more CO2 in its lifecycle than cotton. Already present in 60 per cent of clothing, polyester can take decades to degrade, as well as polluting marine environments with plastic microfibres.

As of today, recycling is not a solution. Markets are overloaded with unwanted clothes and technological challenges mean full recycling of clothing into new fibres is still far from commercially viable. “Our research indicates that the second hand clothing system is on the brink of collapse. Fashion brands need to urgently re-think the throwaway business model and produce clothing that’s durable, repairable and fit for re-use . As consumers, we also hold the power. Before buying our next bargain item, we can all ask ‘do I really need this?’,” said Brodde.

Since 2011, Greenpeace’s Detox campaign has gathered support from 78 companies including fashion brands, retailers and textiles suppliers to achieve zero discharges of hazardous chemicals in the manufacturing supply chain by 2020 and many are making progress towards this goal. However, if the trend for more and cheaper clothing continues, any gains that are made on eliminating hazardous chemicals will be outstripped by higher rates of production and consumption in the industry as a whole.

Source: greenpeace.org

Mayor of Vienna receives OPEC Secretary General

25.11.2016

HE Michael Häupl, Mayor of the City of Vienna, received OPEC Secretary General, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, on Thursday, 24 November 2016, during a courtesy visit to Vienna City Hall (the Wiener Rathaus).

The Mayor welcomed the Secretary General, congratulating him on his new role, and wished him a good stay in the city during his tenure as head of the 14-member Organization. The Secretary General expressed his deep appreciation to the Mayor for his hospitality, and for the good planning and services provided by the City of Vienna. Mr. Häupl has been Mayor of Vienna since 1994.

Source: opec.org

IEA moves to enhance global gas security

25.11.2016

While the rise of the liquefied natural gas market has accelerated the globalization of natural gas, the energy security implications of this transformation have attracted much less attention. Through an extensive analysis of global gas data, a new report from the International Energy Agency seeks to provide more transparency into the LNG market.

There is no doubt that global gas markets are well supplied today. While this is positive for global gas security, the new analysis from the first Global Gas Security Review, released today in Tokyo, warns that LNG markets are less flexible than is commonly believed.

A growing share of LNG capacity is offline – mostly because of a lack of enough gas to feed into the system but also because of security and technical problems – meaning the market has less extra capacity than assumed. Between 2011 and 2016, the level of unusable export capacity has doubled, disabling about 65 bcm of gas, which is equal to the combined exports of Malaysia and Indonesia, the world’s third- and fifth-largest exporters. A period of low oil and gas prices could further worsen the situation.

However, the Global Gas Security Review finds that LNG contract structures are becoming less rigid, increasing market liquidity. In 2015, about 40% of LNG contracts had fixed destination terms, down from 60% for contracts signed up to the year 2014.

While shorter term contracts are gradually becoming more common, buyers are also accepting longer contracts in exchange for increased flexibility in the final destination in order to better respond to market conditions. Flexible contractual structures are important for gas security as they enable to aggregate gas volumes at a lower cost from various regions.

LNG’s share of the global gas market is set to increase in the coming years. In fact, LNG supplies have grown at a faster pace than total gas consumption. Providing a factual picture and analyzing its implications for gas security matches well with the IEA’s core mandate about energy security.

“The growth in the global gas trade, along with the diversification of supply sources, is improving the security of supply,” said Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency. “But there is still a need to be vigilant on gas security as the changing nature of the market means that regional demand and supply shocks may now be felt in more distant places than ever before.”

The report provides detailed case studies on Europe and Japan. For Japan, it show that while gas markets reacted relatively effectively to the loss of nuclear generation in Japan after the Fukushima nuclear accident, the factors that made that possible cannot always be counted on in the future.

The Global Gas Security Review builds on an extensive set of data and other substantial inputs from industry and will be produced on an annual basis. It is accompanied by country specific statistics; data on outages of LNG export capacity by type and region; flexible LNG demand by importers; flexible LNG supply by importers, producers and portfolio players; and flexible gas demand and supply in Europe.

Source: iea.org

Finland Reveals Plans To Wipe Out Coal Use By 2030

25.11.2016

Within the next fifteen years coal will have no place in the Finnish energy system, according to a new climate plan released yesterday by the Finnish government which sets out a roadmap towards the country’s long-term goal of carbon neutrality.

By 2030 the use of coal for energy production will be banned in Finland, while the use of imported oil for domestic needs will be cut in half.

Renewable energy will be called on to pick up the slack, with the Finnish government outlining plans for renewable energy – inlcuding the use of biofuels such as peat – to account for more than 50 per cent of energy use by the end of the 2020s. Meanwhile, the share of renewable transport fuels will rise to 40 per cent by 2030.

Coal use has been in decline in Finland for several years and currently accounts for just eight per cent of total energy consumption in Finland. The pledge to phase it out completely from the energy system echoes similar promises made by a host of countries including the UK, France and, most recently, Canada.

To spur clean energy investment, the Finnish government said it will create new support programmes for renewable energy, based on the principle of technology neutrality and delivered according to “economic priorities”.

The launch of the new strategy comes just a couple of weeks after the country ratified the Paris climate treaty. To date 113 parties have ratified the Paris Agreement, representing 79 per cent of global emissions.

Source: businessgreen.com

Heathrow third runway ‘to breach climate change laws’

25.11.2016

aircraft-1362587_960_720 — Foto: Pixabay

Plans to expand Heathrow Airport are set to breach the government’s climate change laws, advisers have warned. The Committee on Climate Change says the business plan for Heathrow projects a 15% increase in aviation emissions by 2050. If that increase is allowed, members say, ministers will have to squeeze even deeper emissions cuts from other sectors of the economy.

The government said it was determined to keep to its climate change targets. The Committee on Climate Change is a statutory body set up to advise the UK government on emissions targets. It warns that creating the space for aviation emissions to grow will impose unbearable extra emissions reductions on sectors like steel-making, motoring and home heating.

The committee also says that in making the decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow, ministers appear to have jettisoned their policy that aviation emissions in 2050 would be frozen at 2005 levels.

Its chair, Lord Deben, wrote to the Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark, saying: “If emissions from aviation are now anticipated to be higher than 2005, then all other sectors would have to prepare for correspondingly higher emissions reductions.

“Aviation emissions at 2005 levels already imply an 85% reduction in other sectors. My committee has limited confidence about the options (for achieving the compensatory cuts needed).”Already since 1990, aviation emissions have doubled while economy-wide emissions have reduced by more than a third. Ministers see aviation as a special case because low-carbon technology for planes is not well advanced.

The committee says the Department for Transport appears to be planning to solve the aviation overshoot by buying permits to pollute from poor countries which have low levels of CO2 emissions.

Source: bbc.com

Solar Goes Big: Launching the California Valley Solar Ranch

24.11.2016

Today marks a major solar milestone for sunny San Luis Obispo County, California, with the start of commercial operation for California Valley Solar Ranch. This facility is one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants with the ability to shift the position of panels wirelessly to track weather and optimize solar input — ensuring the panels collect as much of the sun’s energy as possible. The 250 megawatt project is led by NRG Energy and SunPower and was made possible by a $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office.

California Valley Solar Ranch now produces enough energy to power more than 42,000 homes. According to NRG Energy, the project sponsor, the project also has created hundreds of jobs and put an estimated $315 million into the local economy.

This isn’t just big news for California. It’s part of a broader clean energy transformation that is taking place across the country. Solar energy facilities are now producing electricity at the scale of traditional power plants. These utility-scale projects show that solar power is no longer found just on rooftops.

The Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office has played a key role in realizing the promise of utility-scale solar energy. In fact, Energy Department loan guarantees have helped finance the first five utility-scale solar PV facilities in the U.S., leading the way to making utility-scale solar energy a commercial reality in the U.S. Now, similar projects are moving forward with private financing.

Source: energy.gov

China’s Crazy Smog-Sucking Vacuum Tower is Actually Working

24.11.2016

Daan_Roosegaarde — Photo: en.wikipedia.org

Studio Roosegaarde‘s smog-sucking vacuum tower is actually cleaning up the air in China. The Smog Free Tower has been installed in Beijing, a city notorious for its air pollution, and the country’s Ministry of Environmental Protection recently announced the air around the tower is in fact 55 percent cleaner than it was before. According to Studio Roosegaarde, the tower has snatched billions of PM2.5 fine particles out of the polluted air.

Over the last 41 days, the Smog Free Tower has busily scrubbed 30 million m3 of air, according to Studio Roosegaarde. That’s equal to the volume of 10 Beijing National Stadiums. Studio Roosegaarde reports that locals referred to his tower as a “clean air temple,” drawing comparisons to China’s famed pagodas.

What to do with all that pollution captured by the tower? Make jewelry out of it, of course. Smog particles sucked up by the Smog Free Tower during its stint in Beijing will make 300 special Smog Free Rings, similar to the rings Studio Roosegaarde has designed in the past. However, these rings can hold even more smog than the ones made with Rotterdam pollution.

Daan Roosegaarde was especially inspired to tackle air pollution in China after a trip to Beijing around three years ago, when he noticed children had to stay inside because the air qualityoutdoors was so poor. According to Studio Roosegaarde, over 80 percent of people dwelling in urban places are “exposed to air-quality levels that exceed World Health Organization limits.” Roosegaarde’s Smog Free Tower aims to combat the issue by sucking 75 percent of PM10 and PM2.5 particles from the air.

The Smog Free Tower will continue to tour China, and Studio Roosegaarde will announce soon which city the smog-sucking tower will venture to next.

Source: inhabitat.com

Grundfos: to Be the Best with the Best

24.11.2016

Currently in the world, about 13% of primary energy consumption comes from renewable sources although the technological capacities are significantly higher. Contrary to renewable sources are non-renewable energy sources. They could be defined as sources whose reserves are expected to be exhausted for a maximum of a few hundred years, and whose regeneration could last several times longer. According to such trend, we in Grundfos believe that we have an obligation to behave responsibly always – in business and in society. We comply with international and local standards, regulations and legislation wherever we operate.

Furthermore, Grundfos operates in a manner that meets or exceeds compliance with the ethical, legal, and public expectations made by society. We are convinced that as a company, we have a responsibility towards the environment, employees, and local communities, as well as conducting a fair and correct behaviour towards our customers, suppliers and competitors.

In addition to corporate responsibility and compliance, sustainability is a key concept in Grundfos. The overall objective for this generation is to hand over our planet Earth to the next generation as cleaner and more energising place than we inherited. Sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs in terms of both natural resources and social wellbeing.

In Grundfos, sustainability is first and foremost related to the way we respond to the climate challenges. Grundfos strongly believes in enhancing our sustainability profile by offering cutting-edge green solutions, which will contribute to meeting a number of global challenges in terms of climate change, water constraints and demographic changes, while at the same time we make profitable and sound business in the long run.

As a global leader in pump solutions, we have a unique business opportunity in helping to improve energy efficiency. We believe that our ability to pioneer and deliver superior environmental solutions to solve problems such as water shortage, mismanagement of energy and natural resources, inefficient infrastructure and increasing CO2. It is clear that there will be a growing need for protection against flooding and better systems for transportation, filtration and water treatment. However, we have already launched products that can meet the demands and environmental standards of tomorrow and many of them are based in or originate from Grundfos.

Grundfos – being a part of the challenge – is ready to be a part of the solution. We do this by taking our own medicine and setting the goal never to emit more CO2 than we did in 2008. This is an ambitious and important objective.

It is our ambition to be a frontrunner when it comes to and cost-efficient buildings. We take our own medicine by focusing on sustainability when constructing new buildings and renovating the existing ones.

Grundfos has set targets and defined a building code, which is a classification system showing the sustainability level of our buildings ranging from class 1-3, where class 1 buildings are those with low energy and water consumption or can achieve LEED Gold level awards.

Targets

Define the ‘Building code’ for Grundfos Buildings and set specific improvements target for all Grundfos sites – year 2009.

From 2010 building code class 1 will be considered as the target to strive for when constructing new Grundfos buildings.

Renewable energy supply is chosen where the payback time is less than 5 years.

By year 2015 the consumption of fossil based energy is reduced by 30% in all existing buildings (compared to year 2008). This can be achieved via reduction in energy consumption or via renewable energy supply.

No Domestic Water has been used for irrigation from 2012.

By year 2015 the reuse of grey wastewater and rainwater harvesting accounts for more than 30% of the water consumption in all existing Grundfos buildings (compared to year 2008).

We want Grundfos’ buildings to support our values and brand. At the same time, we hope that they can inspire our customers and employees to sustainable solutions. As a global company, when planning new buildings as well as when renovating of existing constructions, we live up to the requirements in LEED (LEED Green Building Rating system), Gold level or corresponding requirements in accordance with a local standard.

Following these guidelines Grundfos factory in Indjija was built. It is a building with a LEED Gold certification, which is the second highest certificate in civil engineering in the field of environmental protection. The research regarding the installation of panels has been started on a huge deck surface, and there is an ongoing project water purification system that will be operated in the same way.

In order to increase the value we must bring responsibility and sustainability to a higher level, that is create common values. In simple terms, aiming to create value for Grundfos, we have to make value for the people in the countries in which we operate.

Furthermore, we can deal with the solutions related to Grundfos pumps. Pumps currently consume 10% of global electricity. However, most are needlessly inefficient. With Grundfos high efficiency pumps and motor technology we can reduce the average pump’s energy consumption by up to 60%. Our energy-efficient products are especially relevant due to increased legislation such as the EuP Directive. Some of those pumps are: MAGNA3, ALPHA2, ALPHA3 and all pumps with motors which have label Blueflux^®.

The MAGNA3 is a circulator pump based on the tried and tested MAGNA technology and our

industry-leading experience with electronic pumps. The permanent magnet motor, AUTOadapt

function and integrated frequency converter is still a part of the MAGNA package, but to MAGNA3 pumps we have added some additional, ground-breaking new technologies. The result is a cutting-edge piece of intelligent technology that retains the unrivalled Grundfos reliability.

With 40 years of experience with electronically controlled pumps and 1 million test hours for the MAGNA3 in extreme conditions, including alternating pressure tests, high humidity tests as well as high and low temperature tests, we are confident that this pump will serve you day in and day out for many years to come.

MAGNA3 is a truly full-range pump with more than 150 different single and twin circulators in cast iron or stainless steel. We have also increased the maximum twin to 18 m and the flow to 70 m3/h. Get ready to specify a perfectly sized circulator pump for any HVAC application.

MAGNA3 gives you new opportunities with more intelligent control modes, optimized building management communication (BMS) and a built-in heat energy meter.

With an Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) well below the EuP benchmark level MAGNA3 can achieve energy savings of up to 75% compared to a typical installed circulator and thereby a remarkably fast return on investment.

MAGNA3 is the ideal pump for heating and cooling applications, recirculation of hot water as well as the transport of various antifreeze mixtures. It is designed to handle liquids at temperature from -10°C to 110°C, the ambient temperatures from 0°C to +40°C, which makes it suitable for both tough industrial tasks and ground source heat pump systems (GSHP).

Grundfos Blueflux® is Grundfos’ motor & drives technology label. Grundfos Blueflux® technology represents the best from Grundfos within energy efficient motors and variable frequency converters – class IE4 (i.e MG motors, MGE motors and CUE drives). The Grundfos Blueflux® motor technology label ensures that the motor meets or exceeds international legislation regarding motor efficiency.

Every aspect of the technology driving a Grundfos Blueflux® motor has been developed to respond to the real needs of the application or the solution in which the pump system is installed – and always with an emphasis on reliability and efficiency.

A pump system or solution with a Grundfos Blueflux® motor has a considerably higher total efficiency than comparable solutions and reduces lifecycle costs substantially. When motor technology is combined with advanced pump design and the addition of speed control, Grundfos ensures superior system control, reduced day-to-day service costs, and lowered environmental impact.

Grundfos Blueflux® illustrates a range of skills and innovative processes that Grundfos brings to motor technology development. Grundfos was instrumental in the drafting and passing of the EuP Directive, setting the ecodesign requirements for electric motors for the European Union. As a technological leader of high-efficiency motors, Grundfos was invited to help with the technical aspects of the legislation.

Grundfos was able to create political awareness of the huge savings potential of variable speed motors and, at a late stage, to influence the decision makers to include variable frequency drives in the new legislation. As a consequence, Europe’s annual electricity consumption will be reduced by 5% by 2020 – about 10 times more than originally planned before Grundfos intervened.

Our ability to get our knowledge of energy optimisation and of the issues facing customers taken into consideration by researchers, opinion leaders, politicians and partners means we are uniquely placed to offer solutions that keep Life Cycle Costs down, reduce CO2 emissions, and increase the sustainability of the pump system or solution.

The Grundfos Blueflux® label guarantees that the motor technology used is ahead of current market standards, and either meets or exceeds legislative requirements for motor efficiency, where these apply.

We believe that every day holds the possibility of solving the urgent challenges of the world. Every day we choose to take steps to care for our people, our planet and our business. In Grundfos everyone is invited to take part in making the world better. Only through a joint global effort will we be able to keep our core promise: to be responsible, to think ahead and to innovate the future. Step by step, day by day – every day.

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