Winners of 2016 UNESCO Prize for Sustainability Education Come from Cameroon, Japan and the United Kingdom

16.09.2016

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has named the three laureates of the 2016 UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): the Centre for Community Regeneration and Development (CCREAD-Cameroon) from Cameroon; the Okayama ESD Promotion Commission from Japan; and the National Union of Students UK (NUS-UK) from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

This is the second edition of the Prize, which was established in 2014 to honour and showcase outstanding ESD projects and programmes of individuals, institutions and organizations within the framework of the Global Action Programme on ESD (GAP). The Prize is funded by the Government of Japan and endowed with USD 50,000 for each laureate.

CCREAD-Cameroon was selected for its inspirational project “Integrated ESD schemes in schools and communities in Cameroon” which targets children, youth, women and indigenous groups in marginalized, hard-to-reach communities. The youth-led programme, which operates both in schools and through ESD community learning centres, helps enhance their social, economic and cultural empowerment to reduce poverty and health threats, improve governance, and preserve the environment.

The Okayama ESD Promotion Commission was selected for its “Okayama ESD Project” which shows a highly unusual systemic and city-wide approach to ESD: It addresses and involves various sectors and actors of the local community through both formal and informal education. More than 240 organizations are involved in the project, including NGOs, businesses and educational institutions. Citizens are trained through “ESD Coordinator Trainings”, “ESD internships” with a local NGO or “ESD Café” sessions which motivate mutual learning and discussion on sustainability.

NUS-UK, a confederation of 600 students’ unions across the United Kingdom, was selected for its “Green Impact” programme, which accredits and awards university departments for sustainability efforts. Training students as mentors, the programme encourages university staff to make their workplace “greener” while generating economic savings. The Green Impact framework ranges from simple actions such as advice on double sided printing to setting up an ethical credit union. Through peer to peer engagement, the programme creates collaboration across departments and institutions.

This year’s laureates were chosen by an international jury from a total of 120 nominations, submitted by 64 UNESCO Member States and 10 NGOs in official partnership with UNESCO.

The Director-General will award the Prize to the three laureates in a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 11 October, during the 200th session of UNESCO’s Executive Board.

Source: unesco.org

Boosting Global Renewables, One Island at a Time

16.09.2016

Islands from the Caribbean to the South China Sea are perhaps best known for their beautiful beaches, azure waters and rich sea life, but they are rich in something else as well: renewable energy. In most small island developing states (SIDS), a combination of renewable energy sources can meet the majority of domestic energy needs while decreasing electricity costs, increasing energy access, creating jobs and mitigating climate change.

What’s more, dramatically falling costs for renewable energy technology have made the switch to renewables more possible than ever before, resulting in many early success stories. In Cabo Verde for example, a wind project connected 50,000 citizens to the national electricity grid for the first time. In the Dominican Republic, 23 micro-hydropower plants are providing sustainable energy to more than 3,000 families across the country. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has also embarked on a large geothermal project, which could supply 75% of the islands electricity needs.

While it’s clear that strong renewable energy potential exists on islands, the pace of development is too slow.

Enabling the transition

Today, the US Department of Energy and the US State Department announced a new initiative to help boost renewables on islands. The Energy Transition Initiative Pacific Program will help Pacific islands move away from costly imported fuels and towards domestically produced renewables. Building on US assistance to Caribbean nations under the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative, and on the successful Energy Transition Initiative focused on Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands, this new effort will bring renewable energy expertise and technical assistance to the Pacific islands.

To kick things off, the US Department of State, the US Department of Energy, IRENA and the Pacific Community will host a workshop to provide regional governments with concrete strategies to implement an Energy Transition Initiative model in their countries. The workshop will help identify specific areas for technical assistance and/or advisory support, while also facilitating access to the Green Climate Fund and other sources of finance for clean energy projects.

IRENA’s island work

This workshop will directly support IRENA’s ongoing island work, conducted under the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative‎. The initiative supports SIDS partners in achieving their renewable energy targets by providing access to a suite of planning, policy and finance tools and services, as well as an information sharing network. So far, 34 SIDS partners from the Caribbean, Pacific, Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea and 19 development partners have joined the initiative.

Together, they pledge to achieve more than 120MW of new renewable energy deployment by 2020. Furthermore, all participating SIDS are committed to develop renewable energy roadmaps and the Initiative will facilitate engagement with stakeholders to mobilize USD 500 million in financing to support the implementation of these roadmaps.

Significant progress has been made to date under the initiative in the Pacific. IRENA recently completed grid studies for Samoa and the Cook Islands, including step-by-step guidance on planning, expansion and operation measures needed to host the target shares of variable renewable energy. According to the Samoa grid integration study, the island can meet up to 93% of its electricity demand through a combination of hydro, solar and wind power.

IRENA has also completed more than 25 Renewable Readiness Assessments (RRAs), which are a country-initiated, country-led process identifying actions needed to enable the rapid deployment of renewables. RRAs bring together key actors in the renewable energy space to discuss common challenges and to jointly devise actions to tackle them with resources from the international community. To date, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu have all completed the RRA process with IRENA.

In addition, IRENA island energy transition plans, known as roadmaps, to assist governments to create actionable plans to reach their renewable energy targets, are also in progress. To date, Nauru, Palau, Kiribati and Micronesia, have either completed or are in the process of completing these roadmaps.

The path forward

For SIDS, implementing renewables is not just about saving the environment, it is about saving their communities, families, and homes for future generations. Many island nations have taken the first, second, or even third step towards the large-scale use of domestic renewable energy. With renewable energy sources now cost-competitive with oil-generated electricity, islands have an unprecedented opportunity to rethink their energy strategy, develop policies and strengthen the institutions that would promote the deployment of renewable energy, and by doing so create jobs, bring power to those currently without and deliver more reliable electricity services, all while combating climate change and preserving their way of life.

The SIDS Lighthouses and the Energy Transition Initiatives, are the next steps to help islands realize their full renewable potential.

Source: irenanewsroom.org

Shell Starts Production at Stones in the Gulf of Mexico

15.09.2016

Shell announces recently that production has started from the Stones development in the Gulf of Mexico. Stones is expected to produce around 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day when fully ramped up at the end of 2017.

The host facility for the world’s deepest offshore oil and gas project is a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. It is the thirteenth FPSO in Shell’s global deep-water portfolio and produces through subsea infrastructure beneath 9,500 feet (2,900 meters) of water. Stones underscores Shell’s long-standing leadership in using FPSOs to safely and responsibly unlock energy resources from deep-water assets around the world.

“Stones is the latest example of our leadership, capability, and knowledge which are key to profitably developing our global deep-water resources,” said Andy Brown, Upstream Director, Royal Dutch Shell. “Our growing expertise in using such technologies in innovative ways will help us unlock more deep-water resources around the world.”

Stones, which is 100% owned and operated by Shell, is the company’s second producing field from the Lower Tertiary geologic frontier in the Gulf of Mexico, following the start-up of Perdido in 2010.

The project demonstrates Shell’s commitment to realizing significant cost savings through innovation. It features a more cost-effective well design, which requires fewer materials and lowers installation costs; this is expected to deliver up to $1 billion reduction in well costs once all the producers are completed.

The FPSO is also specially designed to operate safely during storms. In the event of a severe storm or hurricane, it can disconnect and sail away from the field. Once the weather event has passed, the vessel would return and safely resume production.

Shell’s global deep water business is a growth priority for the company and currently produces 600,000 boe/d. Deep-water production is expected to increase to more than 900,000 boe/d by the early 2020s from already discovered, established reservoirs. Three other Shell-operated projects are currently under construction or undergoing pre-production commissioning: Coulomb Phase 2 and Appomattox in the Gulf of Mexico and Malikai in Malaysia.

Source: shell.com

UNIDO Holds Regional Event in Moscow on Mitigation of Global Environmental Issues

15.09.2016

MOSCOW – Over 60 national and international experts from ministries, academia, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector and international organizations attended a two-day workshop last Friday and Saturday organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on mitigating global environmental problems.

The workshop, which concluded today, was the final in a series of eleven workshops; all held within the framework of UNIDO’s project titled “Regional (CIS) capacity building for developing programmes for mitigation of global environmental problems”.

The project began in 2014, and has been implemented in a number of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine.

Funded by the Russian Federation, the project aims at enhancing national technical capacities of CIS countries to help them address the effects of climate change and other emerging environmental challenges in the region.

To date, the project has helped train more than 100 experts on effectively developing project proposals that contribute to mitigating environmental challenges in their respective countries and in the region as a whole. This resulted in the development of 21 national and 6 regional concept proposals.

Source: unido.org

OSCE Promotes Green Technologies Transfer in Kazakhstan

15.09.2016

ASTANA, 14 September 2016 – Promoting the Green Bridge Partnership Initiative (GBPI) with a focus on exchange of green technologies and improved co-operation is the topic of a two-day OSCE-supported international conference that started today in Astana.

The conference brought together some 150 representatives from state institutions, non-governmental and international organizations, the business sector and academia from Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Latvia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and the United States of America.

The participants reviewed best practices and lessons learned in the transition to a green economy as part of international efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change. Discussions also focused on the GBPI perspectives for Kazakhstan and the Eurasian region in light of the planned establishment of the Green Technologies Transfer Centre in Astana as a follow up of EXPO-2017. The new Centre will showcase opportunities for innovation and facilitate better know-how exchange in the domain of energy efficiency, energy saving, organic farming and green construction.

Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said: “We are confident that Astana will become an effective platform for showcasing the best of world developments and trends in the use of solar, wind, biogas, marine and geothermal energy. I believe that the dialogue platform in the framework of the forum will be a catalyst for constructive proposals for global-priority innovations in the field of the green economy and technology.”

“During the past decade Kazakhstan has consistently promoted green growth reforms and innovations, making a valuable contribution to sustainable development and co-operation,” said György Szabó, Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana. “The Office highly welcomes the GBPI initiative and is prepared to provide its expert assistance in the development of the Green Technologies Centre”.

The second day of the conference will take place at Arnasai village, where the participants will familiarize themselves with the application of energy and water-saving methods, drip irrigation, solar greenhouses and fertilizing with worms.

The event was co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and the Energy Ministry, the United Nations Development Programme in Kazakhstan, the Coalition for Green Economy and G-Global, with expert support from the Japan External Trade Organization, the Asian Development Bank Institute, the Austrian Institute of Technology, the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency and the Eurasian National University.

It is part of the OSCE Programme Office’s long-term efforts to promote solid renewable energy and green growth policies as part of the environment security approach in the host country.

Source: osce.org

Department of Energy Announces 16 New Projects to Transform Energy Storage and Conversion

14.09.2016

WASHINGTON — The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) today announced $37 million in funding for 16 innovative new projects as part of a new ARPA-E program: Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion-Conducting Solids (IONICS). IONICS project teams are paving the way for technologies that overcome the limitations of current battery and fuel cell products.

By creating high performance parts built with solid ion conductors – solids in which ions can be mobile and store energy – the IONICS program will focus on new ways to process and integrate these parts into devices with the goal of accelerating their commercial deployment. In particular, IONICS projects will work to improve energy storage and conversion technologies in three categories: transportation batteries, grid-level storage, and fuel cells.

“While battery technologies have improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years, there remain some imposing physical and chemical barriers that have stifled further innovation,” said ARPA-E Director Dr. Ellen D. Williams. “Solid ion conductors made of affordable, easily produced materials could replace today’s mostly liquid electrolytes and expensive fuel cell parts, helping create a next generation of batteries and fuel cells that are low-cost, durable, and more efficient.”

Batteries and fuel cells are referred to as electrochemical devices due to their method of converting chemical energy into electricity and electricity into chemical energy. These products make it possible to store electricity from intermittent, carbon-free resources like wind and solar power, as well as generate electricity from the energy stored in fuels like natural gas or hydrogen. IONICS project teams are seeking to improve these energy storage options through the use of solid ion conductors, which have shown potential as a robust and high-performance alternative to traditional liquid electrolytes or expensive materials used in current fuel cell stacks. However, until now, solid ion conductors have been limited by drawbacks such as low ionic conductivity and expensive processing.

IONICS projects will use new materials and processes to achieve advancements such as increasing battery energy capacity while preventing short circuits and battery degradation. By creating a pathway to replace expensive elements like platinum for more common metals to serve as catalysts, teams also hope to greatly reduce the cost of the fuel cell parts needed to generate electricity from chemical sources.

The IONICS program and the projects funded today will look to improve U.S. energy security by enabling the production of more domestic, renewable energy while increasing economic competitiveness and reducing the country’s carbon footprint.

Source: energy.gov

Renewable Fashion: Putting An End To Needless Waste In The Apparel Industry

14.09.2016

Every year, millions of items of clothing with only tiny flaws such as fabric tears or broken zippers get thrown away. As a result,14 million tons of textiles are dumped into landfills.

This unnecessary waste horrified serial entrepreneur and environmentalist Jeff Denby, inspiring him to co-found The Renewal Workshop. The new company partners with the world’s best-loved, ethical apparel brands and retailers—including prAna, Toad & Co, Mountain Khakis, and Ibex—to renew their “unsellable” returns, thereby reducing excess inventory and landfill.

In their waterless, state-of-the-art factory in Cascade Locks, Oregon, The Renewal Workshop gives each garment new life as “renewed apparel.” Experts custom repair all the tiny flaws. Then each item is either sold back to the fashion brand or direct-to-consumers at TheRenewalWorkshop.com. The company is currently preselling renewed apparel items through an Indiegogo campaign. For any product that can’t be renewed, the company responsibly manages the upcycling, downcycling, or recycling in order to optimize the resources already invested in it.

In addition to renewing apparel, The Renewal Workshop uses data to advise its partners on design and production, in order to optimize the value of the resources already invested in their products. “We are creating the infrastructure and business models that will allow for a truly circular system for the apparel industry,” Denby said.

In his role as co-founder and co-CEO, Denby leads the creative side of the business including brand management, product design and development, packaging, e-commerce, and social media. Together with his co-founder, Nicole Bassett, they lead business development and cultivate an intentional culture and management structure based on the concept of self-directed “Teal” organizations.

Denby said that he has been “on a stumbling circuitous route” to his life purpose. He started down it twelve years ago, when he first entered a Chinese factory, which was manufacturing “everything from forks to furniture.” He soon discovered that there was a disconnect between design, brand, marketing, consumer assumptions, and the reality of how stuff gets made. Most businesses were in pursuit of the cheapest possible prices at an acceptable quality. The people making the products were not a consideration.

Source: forbes.com

Successful installation of world’s largest offshore wind turbine

14.09.2016

The first of 32 8MW wind turbines has been successfully installed at the Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm, under construction by DONG Energy in Liverpool Bay. The project is a joint partnership between DONG Energy (50%), PKA (25%) and KIRKBI A/S (25%).

At 195m, a bit taller than two Big Bens (96m), the MHI Vestas 8MW turbines are the largest in the world, and this is the first time they have ever been used in an offshore wind farm. Once completed, the 258MW wind farm will generate enough electricity to power over 230,000 UK homes.

Claus Bøjle Møller, Project Director at DONG Energy, said: “The installation of this world-first technology shows that DONG Energy is leading the way in offshore wind energy. By using bigger turbines, we’re able to bring down the cost of providing clean, renewable energy to homes around the UK. This first turbine is a significant achievement for the project, and we’re looking forward to producing the first green energy later this year.”

It is not the first time DONG Energy has pioneered new technology in this area. The project is being built alongside the existing Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm which itself was an innovative project for DONG Energy, as it was the first offshore wind farm to use the Siemens 3.6MW turbines now used widely across the industry.

When Burbo Bank Extension has been fully commissioned, expectedly in the first half of 2017, DONG Energy will have 18 offshore wind farms in production – 11 of these in the UK.

Source: dongenergy.com

China’s Oil Production Tanks, Foreign Oil Dependency Nightmare Intensifies

13.09.2016

It might seem disingenuous to call any country’s foreign oil dependency a nightmare, but that’s exactly what it is. A myriad of problems stem from foreign oil dependency, ranging from a massive transfer of wealth, to securing vital supply lines and shipping lanes to other geopolitical considerations.

As a major country becomes more dependent on foreign oil, that particular country’s geopolitical decisions and foreign policy become more limited or even forced, something the U.S. struggled with for nearly 40 years as oil demand was one of the major factors influencing U.S. foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, with subsequent allies and foes in the region up to the present.

Now, China, the world’s second largest crude oil importer, the world’s second largest economy and the fifth largest crude oil producer, will increasingly wrestle with this same quandary.

Amid troubled oil markets and a more than two-year oil price downturn that has seen oil prices plunge from $115 per barrel in the summer of 2014, to now trading in the paltry $40s range, well below the production break even point for many major producers, news came from China on Tuesday that the country’s crude oil output fell nearly 10% in August from the same period a year ago – to the lowest in more than six years.

Chinese crude production amounted to 16.45 million tonnes (3.87 million barrels per day) in August – the least on a daily basis since December 2009 and the second month of sharp declines.

The news comes as China’s oil imports reach record highs. As of last month, China’s oil imports had increased by 16% for the year, while the country is now set to pass the U.S. as the world’s largest crude oil importer.

Though some of this increase has been to fill the country’s strategic petroleum reserves, which reportedly are at or near full capacity, China’s foreign oil dependency rate, which hit 60% in 2013, has now exceeded that mark, and will likely remain above 60% for the long-term in light of its domestic production slowdown.

However, more pain will follow. Sinopec , one of China’s three state-owned oil majors, said that it expects its crude production to also fall another 16% for the second half of the year to 147 million barrels from 175 million barrels from the same period last year.

Last month, Sinopec Chairman Wang Yupu said that the company had shut down aging wells and reduced output to counter the decline in crude oil prices.

This also highlights another problem for China. Its onshore oilfields are maturing. Onshore fields represent approximately 80% of China’s current crude oil production capacity, while 20% of production is from shallow offshore reserves as of 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest analysis of China’s energy sector.

Not only are China’s onshore fields maturing while new fields need to be developed, but the economics of the low oil price environment will mostly hinder development of new fields to offset the drop in production.

China can turn to offshore development, but offshore development is also expensive, while trying to develop any resources in the geopolitically tense South China Sea would add more fuel to the fire of that ongoing geopolitical drama, pitting the U.S., the Philippines, and Vietnam against China.

The way out for China is not easy to foresee. However, the result of China’s oil production dilemma is easy to understand – increased foreign oil dependency.

Beijing will have to intensity its already massive global oil search, increasing reliance in places from troubled South Sudan, to Niger, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Angola, Russia, and Venezuela, among others.

Perhaps China should consider taking advantage of U.S. shale oil exports. Though posing a potentially embarrassing geopolitical about-face for Beijing, at least U.S. production offers security of supply. The same argument can be made for an increase in Chinese procurement of American liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Beijing, who until a few years ago, saw energy independence as a key part of national security, has to reformulate a plan– one with no easy answers.

Source: forbes.com

Insights from Higher Wind and Solar Generation in Eastern Grid, USA

12.09.2016

A new study from the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) used high-performance computing capabilities and innovative visualization tools to model, in unprecedented detail, how the power grid of the eastern United States could operationally accommodate higher levels of wind and solar photovoltaic generation. The analysis considered scenarios of up to 30 percent annual penetration of wind and solar.

Whereas previous studies have investigated operations in one-hour intervals, NREL’s Eastern Renewable Generation Integration Study (ERGIS) analyzed a year of operations at 5-minute intervals, the same real-time interval used by grid operators for scheduling resources.

“By modeling the power system in depth and detail, NREL has helped reset the conversation about how far we can go operationally with wind and solar in one of the largest power systems in the world,” said the Energy Department’s Charlton Clark, a DOE program manager for the study. “Releasing the production cost model, underlying data, and visualization tools alongside the final report reflects our commitment to giving power system planners, operators, regulators, and others the tools to anticipate and plan for operational and other important changes that may be needed in some cleaner energy futures.”

For the study, NREL produced a high-resolution model of the entire Eastern Interconnection, including Canada, an important power trading partner with the United States. NREL modeled more than 5,600 electricity generators and more than 60,000 transmission lines in a power system that spans from Florida to Maine and portions of Canada and as far west as New Mexico.

ERGIS considered four hypothetical scenarios to analyze how the Eastern Interconnection might function in 2026, when the power system could have significantly less power generation from fossil fuels. The scenarios vary according to how wind, solar, and natural gas are used to replace the fossil fuel generators. The scenarios also differ according to the amount of new transmission lines that are assumed. Simulations occur in a modeling framework that mirrors the security constrained unit commitment (SCUC) and economic dispatch (SCED) process used by system operators. The SCUC and SCED determine the operation of the power system according to a variety of constraints, including marginal costs and defined operating reserve requirements. The capital costs, land use and siting, market design, gas pipeline, and other factors that would need to be addressed under the scenarios were not considered. This study also did not look at all aspects of reliability considered by system planners and operators, including system dynamics and AC power flow.

“Our work provides power system operators and regulators insights into how the Eastern Interconnection might operate in future scenarios with more wind and solar energy,” said Aaron Bloom, NREL project leader for the ERGIS study. “More importantly, we are sharing our data and tools so that others can conduct their own analysis.”

Among other findings, ERGIS shows that as wind and solar power generation increase:

The operation of traditional power sources (such as coal, natural gas, and hydropower) changes -Turning up or down more quickly to accommodate seasonal and daily variations of wind and solar in order to maintain the balance between demand and supply. In addition, traditional generators would likely operate for shorter periods of time as wind and solar resources meet more of the demand for electricity. Flows of power across the Eastern Interconnection change more rapidly and more frequently. During periods of very high wind and solar generation (e.g., 40 percent or more of daily load), model regions trade frequently and in large volumes according to new net load patterns. Regulatory changes, market design innovation, and flexible operating procedures are important to achieving higher levels of wind and solar. Looking at a year of operations at a 5-minute level, ERGIS shows that the power system can meet loads with variable resources-like wind and solar-in a variety of extreme conditions. However, technical feasibility depends on other transmission and generation operators providing the necessary ramping, energy, and capacity services; wholesale market design changes; and various capital expenditures, all of which will have financial and other implications that may need to be addressed and were outside of this study.

Fast Facts from the Analysis

The maximum penetration of wind and solar was 60 percent over a five-minute interval. The maximum annual curtailment of wind and solar was 6.2 percent. Wind and solar generation result in a 30 percent reduction in generation and commitment from coal and natural gas plants in the high wind and solar scenarios. Over the baseline scenario, CO2 emissions were reduced by up to 33 percent annually in our high wind and solar scenarios.

Peregrine Supercomputer: Power for an Efficient, Integrated Energy Future

NREL developed new modeling and analytical approaches that were executed using Peregrine, the lab’s ultra-efficient supercomputer. Peregrine has a peak performance of 2.25 petaflops (2.25 million billion calculations per second). That combination of computing power and innovative modeling techniques enabled NREL to remove simplifying assumptions included in other power systems models, increase fidelity of the modeled results, and reduce the processing time for ERGIS calculations from 19 months on a desktop computer to 19 days. The ERGIS team also took advantage of additional resources in NREL’s Energy Systems Integration Facility.

“We developed visualization tools that allow us to see how energy moves through the grid in space and time, and through those tools we could see patterns and events that weren’t visible in the static data points and plots,” said Bloom.

Source: sciencedaily.com

ABB Introduces the World’s most Efficient Electric Propulsion System for Marine Vessels

12.09.2016

abb-azipod-xl ABB’s Azipod XL model increases fuel efficiency by up to an additional 10 percent

Zurich, Switzerland, September 2016 – Azipod XL, the latest version of ABB`s market leading podded electric propulsion system, further increases vessel fuel efficiency to an unprecedented level of up to 20 percent compared to modern shaft line propulsion systems. The efficiency gain of the new version is achieved by a unique nozzle system that accelerates the water flow into the propeller to increase thrust, and by redesigning the thruster for reduced water resistance. Since the first installation 25 years ago, Azipod propulsion systems have accumulated more than 12 million running hours with an availability of 99.8%, saving over 700,000 tons of fuel, helping to reduce the maritime carbon dioxide footprint.

An industry standard for the marine industry, Azipod propulsion is a gearless steerable propulsion system with the electric drive motor located in a submerged pod outside the ship hull. Having 360-degree maneuverability, it is used to steer and drive a broad variety of vessels at the same time.

“We continuously strive to advance our technology to the benefit of our customers and the environment, as part of our Next Level strategy. Azipod XL is a perfect example for this approach as it represents the biggest jump in the systems’ fuel efficiency in recent years,” said Peter Terwiesch, president of ABB’s Process Automation division. “To put it in perspective, replacing all existing Azipod units with the new model would save the shipping industry an additional 2.2 million tons of fuel and 7 million tons of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years.”

The Azipod XL concept can be designed to give high bollard pull thrust at lower speed and still have good characteristics at higher speeds. Thus it fits vessels such as tugs and offshore construction vessels. Other suitable ship types are ferries and LNG tankers.

Azipod XL’s features include the capability for advanced condition monitoring utilizing ABB’s concept of the Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) and its Integrated Operations Centers for Marine, continuously monitoring equipment and performance parameters of more than 600 vessels.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leading global technology company in power and automation that enables utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs about 135,000 people.

Source: abb.com

Indian Scientists Design Solar Tree to Save Space for Solar Power Generation

12.09.2016

NEW DELHI — Indian scientists have designed a “solar tree” that they hope will help overcome one of the key challenges the country faces in the generation of solar power.

With photovoltaic panels placed at different levels on branches made of steel, “solar trees” could dramatically reduce the amount of land needed to develop solar parks.

“It takes about four-square meters of space to produce energy which otherwise would have required 400 square meters of space. So almost 100 times the space is saved, which as you know is very valuable,” said Daljit Singh Bedi, chief scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in New Delhi, whose laboratory in Kolkata developed the tree.

A scarce resource in India, acquisition of land to develop roads, factories and other infrastructure is a sensitive issue that has led to frequent and sometimes violent protests from displaced people.

Scientists estimate the energy generated by a solar tree would be sufficient to light up five homes. They say the space-saving tree would not only make it easier to increase solar power generation to light up homes and streets in cities, but also in rural areas where farmers are unwilling to give up large tracts of land for solar panel installations.

The solar tree will also harness more energy compared to rooftop panels. “This design, it facilitates placement of solar panels in a way that they are exposed more towards sun and that way they are able to harness 10 to 15 per cent more energy, which is more or less equivalent to one hour more than the conventional format,” said Bedi.

India’s pledge to reduce its carbon emissions relies heavily on increasing the generation of solar energy. The world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, India pledged at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris last year to slow the rate at which it emits greenhouse gases by one third over 2005 levels by 2030.

To achieve this, India has set an ambitious target of generating 40 percent of its total capacity from renewables by 2030 and reducing its reliance on polluting coal-based thermal energy. In the sun-drenched country, the main focus will be on solar power.

While the falling cost of photovoltaic panels in recent years has made solar power much more viable, and investment has been flowing into the growing sector, worries remain about acquiring large tracts of land to set up solar parks.

“It takes quite a bit of time which results in cost escalation and all those things,” said Amit Kumar at the Energy and Resources Institute, a research institute in New Delhi.

But will solar trees provide a sustainable option? Kumar cautions that innovations that aim at concentration of solar power so far have not made much headway.

“Unless we put those [trees] on a large scale, [only] then will we be able to get that answer,” he said.

However Indian officials like Bedi are optimistic.

“When we talk about plantation of trees, we would now talk about plantation of solar trees,” he said.

Source: voanews.com

Elopak Becomes a CarbonNeutral® Company and now Offers CarbonNeutral® Packaging to its Customers

12.09.2016

Elopak is pleased to announce it is now a CarbonNeutral® company and is also able to exclusively offer CarbonNeutral® packaging to its customers. With this, Elopak is fulfilling its vision of carbon neutrality, in line with its ambitious environmental strategy; Future Proofed Packaging.

“Since 2012 Elopak has envisioned becoming carbon neutral as a company and offering carbon neutral beverage cartons. Now, we have achieved this milestone, well-ahead of schedule. Elopak wishes to achieve absolute sustainability and be a company with zero net impact on the environment, and our carbon neutrality program brings us several steps closer to this vision”, says Niels Petter Wright, CEO of Elopak.

After having reduced its own greenhouse gas emissions by investing in energy efficiency and phasing in renewable electricity, Elopak is taking the next step by achieving carbon neutrality and supporting projects with verified carbon savings, which also have a positive impact on people’s lives and the environment. Kristian Hall, Director Corporate Environment at Elopak, explains the concept of carbon neutrality: “Achieving carbon neutrality means that Elopak’s residual greenhouse gas emissions are offset by projects outside of our value chain, which have a very positive effect on local livelihoods and the environment. Specifically, Elopak is supporting a Ugandan cooking stove project, as well as a REDD+ rainforest protection project in Borneo, where 65 000 hectares of tropical rainforest are being preserved. By becoming carbon neutral in our products and operations, we are sending a strong signal to our customers and to end users of our packaging, that we are taking our environmental responsibility seriously and are taking positive action where we can”.

The carbon neutral certification is in accordance with The Carbon Neutral Protocol and has been verified by an independent third-party, Anthesis Consulting Group.

This announcement comes only months after Elopak became the first packaging company to join the RE100 campaign, committing to sourcing 100% renewable electricity from 2016 onwards for all its production and administration units worldwide, excluding two joint ventures.

Source: elopak.com

Cities Are at the Frontline of the Energy Transition

12.09.2016

Cities dominate energy demand, and by extension are responsible for a significant share of carbon emissions. In 2013, the world’s urban areas accounted for about 64% of global primary energy use and produced 70% of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions. These shares will rise as cities grow and urban economic activity expands. As the world seeks to make more efficient use of its energy resources, increase energy security and meet global climate targets, it is essential that cities take a leading role in the energy transition.

Thankfully, there are a wide range of solutions for reducing the carbon footprint and improving the energy efficiency of urban areas. For example, according to IEA analysis presented in the special section on urban energy systems in Energy Technology Perspectives 2016 (ETP 2016) the gradual evolution of urban transport systems to encourage walking, cycling and public transit could save $21 trillion by 2050, while at the same time making a significant dent in greenhouse gas emissions. But the longer action is delayed, the greater the chances that inefficient choices will be “locked-in” for decades to come. This focus on urban energy systems in ETP 2016 provides policymakers at both national and local levels the tools and analysis necessary to set realistic targets to encourage immediate action.

Policy at the national level must encourage the deployment of clean energy technologies, and include greenhouse gas emission reduction targets (such as those under the Paris Agreement), carbon pricing mechanisms, and investment in energy research, development and demonstration.

But these targets must then be complemented by action at the local level. To meet their renewable energy targets, cities can provide detailed solar maps giving valuable information on expected energy yields and installation costs for buildings and houses in various neighbourhoods for example. On transportation and fossil fuel emissions, cities can also invest in the long-term development of walking and cycling infrastructure. For energy efficiency, cities can take a leading role in adopting, monitoring and enforcing building energy codes for new construction.

There are cities that are already taking serious action. Some small towns in the United States are already running entirely on renewable power, including Aspen, Colorado, and Burlington, Vermont. Bigger cities have set ambitious goals, with Copenhagen, Denmark, aiming to be carbon neutral by 2025. San Diego, California, aims to be 100% powered by renewable sources by 2035, and Vancouver, Canada, by 2050.

Even some of the world’s biggest cities are seeing encouraging results. Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan with a population of 3.7 million and like many other cities in the world, rapid urbanisation has increased energy use, caused traffic jams, and led to spikes in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In 2010, the city decided to tackle the issue and improve its energy management, doing its part to mitigate climate change. The Yokohama Smart City Project began as a five-year pilot in three districts. It has since been deployed to the entire city, covering about 435 square kilometres. The project uses smart grids to manage the energy needs of households, buildings and local communities. It introduced about 37 megawatts of solar PV generation spread over 265 locations across the city (enough to power more than 9 000 Japanese households) has deployed over 2,000 electric vehicles, and has seen great success in using incentives to limit electricity use.

There is growing momentum behind the role of the city in taking action on climate and sustainability. Ten years ago the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group was established as a global network of cities that are developing and implementing policies to reduce emissions. Today, the C40 network consists of more than 75 cities, representing more than 550 million people. As part of the C40 network, Paris has committed to reducing CO2 emissions in municipal buildings, in part by undertaking deep renovations of 600 public schools to save 65 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. More than 2 000 of such measurable actions have been taken by C40 cities around the globe.

Cities are naturally positioned to make these kinds of changes. The density of human, economic and intellectual capital in the world’s cities can be a driving force for the acceleration of clean energy development and deployment. As more and more cities take the opportunity to act as innovation hubs and test beds for sustainable urban energy technology, the closer the whole world will be to providing secure, sustainable and affordable energy for all.

Source: iea.org

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