Green Options

Now we’re cooking.

Operation of a new Spanish solar thermal plant just kicked into high gear, taking the title as the world’s largest commercial tower-type collector.

It’s easy to see how house swapping can save you some green, but what makes it ecologically green? Houses tend not to have all the bells and whistles of large hotel complexes (nor the acreage) – and all the resultant waste in energy and resources.

The evolution of industrial power has been largely a story of utility. Societies adopted the most productive means of producing power, irrespective of all other concerns. Wind and water power may have been cheaper and cleaner, but with available technology were far less productive ways of making stuff.  Hence, they were abandoned in favor of fossil fuels. 
This is why, even after the energy trials and tribulations of the 1970s and the spikes in prices since, FFs still hold sway. Renewables just never quite had the reliable and sustained punch of the power we could generate by setting things on fire.

Yet present-day advances in solar promise to turn that model on its head. This time, we start with one of the cleanest fuels available – sunlight – and learn how to use it as productively as possible.        

Keep an eye on concentrating solar power (CSP), which has the potential to give fossil fueled power plants a run for their (and our) money in the near future.

This solar technology has the audacity, the unmitigated gall, to produce electricity long after the sun has gone down. What, you may ask, are these upstarts trying to do? Compete with coal and natural gas?

Pretty much.

It had to happen: boxed water is here.
Recently, commentator/comedian Bill Maher hypothesized what would happen if the only sacrifice required to curb climate change was for people everywhere to give up their TV remotes. His theory was that, after an intolerable stint of shuffling betwixt couch and television, harried viewers would finally give up and resume clicking the world toward apocalypse.

It’s an amusing premise, though one seasoned with the nagging aftertaste of truth.  For sustainability will ultimately require changing many small habits, which when weighed in the aggregate, make a big difference.

Few of these habits have received as much attention from environmental advocates as disposable water bottles. Why water? Mainly because (disposable) bottled water adds an avalanche of industry to a resource that is readily and cheaply available at the tap.

Pointing to the success of bottled water, one could make a compelling case for a bottled air industry. There could emerge rainforest and mountain flavors. Cracking open a bottle would provide a lungful of rarefied airs from exotic locales.

Alpine Air. Belgium Breeze. Wyoming Wind. In the realm of the absurd, possibilities are endless.

Yet bottled water has become a staple of Americans on the go, and plucking it from the shelf plays a part in the grocery store shopping ritual for millions of us.

Toothpaste?
Check.

Noodles?
Got ‘em.

Bottles containing the same stuff drawn nearly free from household tap?
Score.

Now enter boxed water. The company’s name is Boxed Water is Better, and it is marketing the product as an earth-friendlier alternative to plastic bottles.

Last year was a bright spot for the solar industry, despite dark economic clouds and forecasts that rolled in during 2008’s final few months.
SEIA (Solar Energy Industries Association) just released its yearly review, which identified 2008 as the third in a string of record growth years.
The numbers were for the US solar market, with a highlight of 1,265 megawatts (MW) of new installed solar power. The figure includes all forms of the energy resource, from photovoltaic (PV) to home and water heating. PV modules accounted for 342 MW of that total. A conversion formula is used to express solar heating capacity in an electrical equivalent.

Returns on investment for solar electric installations typically take longer than heating applications. Yet while thermal power has comprised the lion’s share of the solar market since 2000, the percentage of PV growth for the same period has been greater and more stable.

States also made strides last year in terms of solar legislation. Already a leader in the solar hot water arena, Hawaii further bolstered that title last year when it began requiring that all new construction include the technology.

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) will host its annual conference - three days of presentations, workshops and exhibits focusing on green energy and building.
BuildingEnergy09 will run Mar. 10 – 12 in Boston, MA at the Seaport World Trade Center,  and will include top names in the realms of renewables, efficiency and sustainable building practices.
The event’s content and 200 presenters are geared to accommodate everyone from veteran builders and policy makers to students looking to expand skill sets in these important and growing areas.

Forums will range from immediate and practical knowledge – including installation techniques and building materials – to the most effective tools employed toward the policy and advocacy of sustainability.

The iconic image of celebrities emerging onto red carpets from stretch limos may become Hollywood history, and while flickering flashbulbs and expensive outfits may endure, ever more Hollywood elites are favoring a green carpet rolled out instead.

For those seeking greener pastures and products, average consumers are finding it ever easier to jump right in.
JumpGauge is an online tool allowing prospective buyers to assess and compare the environmental impacts of a growing number of products.  The site pairs seemingly common, everyday products with icons that denote their uncommon stewardship of the environment. 
The site is geared more toward mainstream buyers, those otherwise less inclined to delve deeply into the origins and impacts of things they buy. Yet as common consumers continue to turn an ever deepening shade of green, they are seeking ways to spend their green in a more eco responsible manner.

Enter JumpGauge, a  tool that requires little effort to see what goes into manufacturing and bringing a product to market. 

As traditional buyers become more aware of how the products they purchase affect the environment, they are learning too that their own interests and those of the planet are often one and the same.

Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, mothers are fond of saying, but idling engines are being targeted as a worse offender.
Mom meant that if you’re not busy doing something constructive, bad things were bound to follow.
That’s also the rationale behind NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest law aimed at making the city more eco friendly. The mayor has added yet another piece of legislation to a growing list of environmentally friendly measures.
The new law will reduce the time drivers can run their engines while going nowhere.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced yesterday it is working to explore and promote Carbon Sequestration. The process seeks to capture and store carbon dioxide produced from the burning of fossil fuels.
The department is accepting bids for contracts to investigate sites in Pennsylvania as suitable holding cells for the captured CO2. The work would consist primarily of mapping out geologic formations below the earth’s surface to determine the most suitable spots for storing the gases. The bid deadline is Feb. 20.  
Pennsylvania is among the most polluting of US states, ranking third in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated the state produces 1 percent of the world’s total climate change pollutants. The carbon capture and storage plan is an effort to improve the state’s standing and combat climate change.  

The CO2 – a major cause of global warming - would be stored about a half mile underground and come mainly from coal fired and other fossil fueled electrical plants. A risk assessment and cost study are set to begin this spring.