Clean Energy's posts with tag: co2
| Video: GreenFuel Uses Algae For Biofuel? Posted: 19 May 2008 03:30 PM CDT Dr. Isaac Berzin, an Israeli scientist in love with "all things algae" has discovered a unique way to extract fuel from the tiny creatures in order to help ease our world's dependence upon fossil fuels.
(Video Credit: Newfangler Productions, via GreenFuel Technologies) Video: http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=715992788 (Haaretz.com) When Berzin looks at algae, he sees a new world and a revolution. Dr. Berzin, 40, is wearing a blue suit, and his hair is held in place with glistening gel. Eight months ago he returned to Israel from the United States after generating a research breakthrough that changed his life. Berzin, the founder of GreenFuel Technologies - a U.S. company that produces green fuel from algae - discovered that "green slime" contains one of the keys to the alternative fuel the world is seeking. His company is the first ever to develop and produce biofuels from algae that are bred on gases emitted by power plants. [...]
"I feel a bit like Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb," he says. "He tried thousands of materials until he arrived at the filament. My intuition, too, told me that it was possible to do something that people were only dreaming of - to build a device from algae to produce energy at market-compatible costs.
Even though other Israeli scientists are using seaweed as a means of alternative fuel, using algae may prove to be a lot more economical (not to mention easier to grow as well). Note: More info regarding GreenFuel Technologies can be found over here. |
jpost.com Making Waves vs. pollution from coal smoke stacks By SAM SER Apr 19, 2008 It doesn't look like much, this thing lying dormant in the grassy driveway of Shmuel Ovadia's exceedingly modest offices in south Tel Aviv. Still, Ovadia insists, this bunch of plywood and rusting engines, bolted together in an old shipping crate, could save the planet. The box of parts, and the large metal arm lying on top of it, is meant to be stationed a few kilometers away, just off the coast. There, in the surf that endlessly laps at the shore, a set of Ovadia's buoys would exploit one of the world's most reliable - and most potent - sources of energy. The idea is fairly simple: Every wave on the ocean represents a significant amount of force; if even some of that tremendous energy could be harnessed, it could be turned into electricity. "They say that just 1 percent of the energy in the oceans could power the entire world," Ovadia says, with a raise of the eyebrows and a nod of the head, as if to stave off any "no way" reaction. It is, he assures, a viable goal. The tricky part of realizing such potential is finding a way to capture as much of that energy as possible and turn it into electricity in a safe and cost-efficient manner. Until now, the dozens of contraptions that have been tried - although tantalizing and inspiring - have proven unable to meet that challenge. Part of the problem lies in the sheer brute force of the sea. One apparatus, a 750-metric-ton device, was torn to shreds off the coast of Scotland as it was being put in place. And that was in relatively shallow water. Attempts to harvest the even more powerful currents farther out to sea and deeper down require complicated feats of engineering that make such efforts impractical in the near future. The beauty of Ovadia's system, he says, lies in its simplicity. Rather than try to channel the ocean's power, Ovadia wants to go along for the ride. His buoys lie atop the water, at or just off the beach. As waves raise the buoys, attached hydraulic arms, contract - turning an alternator, creating electricity. The entire process is fully automatic, and requires not a drop of fuel. "I don't need smoke-belching towers, I don't need turbines, I don't need anything polluting," Ovadia says. What's more, he adds, his company's zero-emissions, quiet power plants could produce commercial amounts of electricity while taking up just a 10th of the space required by coal-burning or natural gas-burning power plants. The lower infrastructure costs, combined with lower per-kilowatt production costs, mean that the original investment in an ocean wave power plant manufactured by his firm SDE would be repaid in five years - a fourth of the time that most conventional power plants need to "earn their keep." WITH ALL these advantages, you'd think potential clients would be busting down Ovadia's door. According to him, they are - and they are hailing from some unusual places. In addition to some general interest from companies and governments in Chile, Argentina, Spain, Cyprus, Monaco and other countries, SDE is in very serious negotiations with the government of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim state. "We are very interested in this technology," Dr. Faizul Ishom of the State Ministry for Development of Disadvantaged Areas told The Jerusalem Post. "We are an island country with a lot of beaches, so it could be very good for us, and for our environment too. We want to apply this. I have already talked with power companies about it." Ishom and other Indonesian officials have visited SDE's offices here, and they hope to return soon to finalize a deal. Initially, Ishom said, his country is looking to buy an ocean wave power plant capable of producing 100 MW, at a cost of $650 million. If that plant is successful, Indonesia would be interested in another one on the scale of 500 MW. Pakistan - the world's only nuclear-armed Muslim state and, like Indonesia, a nation that has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel - is also eager to have Ovadia's company build a power plant for its citizens, an official confirmed to the Post. Count India and Sri Lanka among the countries in talks with SDE, as well. Ovadia is focusing on Africa as a potential market, too. The general manager of the Zanzibar Electricity Corporation confirmed talks over a power plant between 10 MW and 100 MW in capacity. Tanzania, whose severely unstable electricity supply has crippled its already fragile economy, is eager to see a 500 MW plant constructed as soon as possible. Gambia, in a similar situation, paid for Ovadia to make a presentation in the capital. "One of our country's biggest challenges is that we have no reliable source of energy," Ebrima Camara, of the Office of the President, told the Post. "If we had, we could increase our potential to attract investors for industry and manufacturing. We really want to be able to give our people the ability to be self-reliant and productive, so if we can get a technology like this, which would make electricity cheaply and reliably, it would mean a lot for Gambia." Following what Camara described as "a very fruitful meeting," Gambia and SDE are negotiating over a 70 MW power plant in a deal that would be worth millions of dollars. FOR ALL this attention from the rest of the world, though, Ovadia lacks recognition here at home. "I used to get research grants from the Industry and Trade Ministry," Ovadia says, noting that his funding was cut in 2000, following a severe leg injury that kept him out of work for two years and prevented him from meeting deadlines that would have qualified him for further support. "Now," he says bitterly, "I'm just a pest to the government." What Ovadia wants, he says, is not money, but recognition. "Israel has maybe 10,000 meters of breakwaters along its shores. Those breakwaters could produce 10% of the country's electricity needs. If we could put our buoys on the breakwaters, they would not only produce electricity, but also act as a kind of shock absorber and lengthen the life of the breakwaters," he says, getting excited. "I can build a plant here, for example, that will produce 100 MW of electricity. This is not meant to answer all the country's needs, but it can definitely provide a good chunk. And with oil selling for more than $100 per barrel, it's definitely worth considering." That there is very little consideration of the potential in SDE's system vexes Ovadia. The Israel Electric Corporation "pretends to be interested in my technology," he says, "but in reality it sees us as a threat." IEC did not respond to that claim, but acknowledged it had no interest in SDE or ocean wave energy. A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Industry and Trade Ministry said the body was continuing to invest in local research and development of alternative energy options, but had no particular interest in Ovadia's ideas at this time. Ovadia claims he is doomed by bureaucrats swayed by lobbyists for conventional energy firms offering kickbacks, payoffs and the promise of cushy "adviser" jobs in the power industry upon leaving office. "It's no wonder that, when you ask officials about my ideas, they come up with excuses like, 'This isn't the time for this sort of thing,' or 'It isn't convincing enough,' or 'The technology isn't ready yet.' They prefer to protect the interests of those who sell coal or who operate coal-powered plants," Ovadia says. "Why? Those are deals worth billions. You think someone would risk losing that by supporting my little buoys?" Ovadia doesn't name names. Is he paranoid? Making excuses for his failure to inspire his countrymen? Either is possible, or both. Or, it may just be that he is exhausted from the efforts of trying to infect bureaucrats with the exuberance of a dreamer. AT 56, with his hair dyed black and agitation exaggerating the lines that middle age and frustration have carved into his face, it is clear that it hasn't been easy for Ovadia, being told over and over again for decades that his idea wouldn't work. It was as a soldier on leave, waiting outside the old Yaron Cinema in South Tel Aviv, that he first considered the potential of ocean waves. Sitting on the railing as waves rolled toward his feet, Ovadia was mesmerized. There must be a way, he figured, to turn that hypnotic motion into something useful. It took Ovadia, who pulls out forms detailing his 17 different patents, more than a decade to develop his foggy notion into concrete reality. After completing his service in the Engineering Corps, he worked in a plant manufacturing motors, learning about pneumatics, hydraulics and electricity. Eventually he struck upon the idea of a way to put the waves' own energy to use. The theory behind wave energy exploitation goes back ages; bringing theory to practice often takes ages. As he brought SDE to life, Ovadia built and tested eight different models of his system, starting with one so small that it fit in his bathtub. He made each of the models larger, until they required a shipping container full of water, and eventually tested his current system in the Jaffa Port. Along the way there have been numerous disappointments, including what he calls obstruction from the Israeli establishment and what he vaguely refers to as "some troubles with unscrupulous partners." Then there are the nagging questions - about whether the relatively gentle waves licking at the country's Mediterranean coast are strong enough to make this technology worthwhile; about the ability of SDE's buoys to survive and operate in the brutal environment of seawater, and about the environmental damage that could result from installing a power plant of this type on the shore. Ovadia has heard these complaints, it seems, a thousand times before. Yet he patiently addresses each issue. No matter where an ocean wave power plant is, Ovadia explains, it would produce different levels of energy during different times of the year, as waves are higher during certain periods and lower during others. Likewise, waves are higher and more powerful in some parts of the world (coastal areas on the North Sea, for example) than others (such as the calmer beaches of the eastern Mediterranean, to our disadvantage). True, he notes, the potential benefit in relation to other methods of producing electricity would not be as great here as in Britain or Spain, but it would still be significant. And his power plants would be economical to run even in areas where weaker waves predominate. "But I'll tell you something," he says. "Even in the Kinneret, I can make energy." An SDE power plant, Ovadia continues, "can produce electricity at a fraction of the cost of coal, a fraction of the cost of solar and a fraction the cost of wind. Run one six months to eight months per year, and you still come out ahead." Further, he says, "When are waves the highest? In the summer and in the winter. And when is the demand for electricity highest? In the summer and in the winter. It's a perfect match." What about reliability? Compared to the other wave energy systems being developed around the world, Ovadia's invention seems downright flimsy. What his design has going for it, he says, is that the buoys actually see less exposure to seawater than the other systems. There is a built-in self-correcting mechanism whereby, should a large wave overwhelm the buoy, it would flip over and then "wait" for lower tide to flip back. Unlike other systems deployed far out to sea, the moving parts in his power plants are easily replaceable. Also, the plants can be maintained easily, and they can be run automatically. One person, he says, could run five plants at a time, if necessary. Lastly, what of the environmental impact? "Strictly speaking, the beach would be damaged slightly if we installed these," Ovadia says. "But on the other hand, people die from the pollution caused by power plants burning fossil fuels. Which would you prefer?" Besides, with such little interest here, he notes wryly, "It isn't as if we're going to take over Frishman Beach tomorrow."
FORTUNATELY, OVADIA says, beaches needn't be marred. In his preferred scenario, a breakwater would be built first, and the buoys attached to it. A place like the Ashdod Port, where a 3,350 meter-long main breakwater and a sea wall 800 meters long already exist, would be an ideal location for SDE to prove its technology. Just in the past few weeks - after years of fruitless lobbying all over the country - Ovadia has won over the Ashdod Municipality to the merits of such a plan. "The mayor and the city engineer have looked over this idea thoroughly, and it seems quite worthwhile to us," said David Hartum, deputy director-general of the Ashdod Municipality. "We are suggesting building on the breakwater in the port. We like the fact that it's ecological, as ocean waves do the job instead of oil, and that it involves a one-time cost to produce electricity. We are definitely interested." The only thing standing in the way of the country's first ocean wave power plant, then, is the Israel Ports Authority, whose approval for the project is required. A spokeswoman for Shlomo Breiman, director-general of the Israel Ports Authority, said he was looking into the idea, but would have to review thorough studies on the potential environmental impact on the port basin - and any potential impact on the port's operations, especially - before giving the project a green light. Should SDE win a contract to build a power plant in Ashdod, it would certainly mean vindication for Ovadia - proof that, where other concepts have failed, his, like his buoys, has stayed afloat. But for the most part he is looking to other markets, focusing on underdeveloped and energy-poor countries in Africa and Asia. It is there that he expects to see his first power plant built - he estimates - within two or three years. "When I was in Gambia," he recalls, "we went to visit a little village. At one point our meeting was interrupted by afternoon prayers... There I was, this Israeli Jew, surrounded by Muslims praying intensely. "These people," Ovadia says, leaning forward as if to reveal a secret, "are in desperate need of energy in order to improve their lives. Well," he says, leaning back in his chair again, "I will be their messiah. I will save them."
One Dam Thing After Another For The Hydropower Industry According to Bourne Energy, while the major renewables, solar and wind power, are growing at double digits they still make up less than 1% of the country’s total energy output. The world must find clean sources of power that can be developed on a fast track. Bourne Energy has developed just such a renewable energy system which is described on their new website: http://www.bourneenergy.com/. After extensive research, Bourne Energy has targeted hydropower as the most likely clean energy source to develop on a global scale. Hydropower is as cheap as coal, which is a major source of global warming emissions. Today, while coal is producing 40% of the world’s electricity; hydropower is quietly producing 20% of the world’s electricity with zero emissions. And many energy analysts now believe coal resources are far less than originally projected while only 4% of the world’s estimated potential hydropower resources have been harnessed. Through the centuries hydropower has been dominated by the dam and reservoir configuration. But these large dam and reservoir projects, many built fifty or more years ago, are land intensive, environmentally unfriendly and are no longer cost-competitive to replicate today. Bourne’s solution is its RiverStar (Patent Pending) Kinetic Energy System, a “Power Company in a Box.” Place the self-contained energy module in river currents and it produces electricity from the harnessing of moving water in the river rather than the potential energy of water stored behind large dams. This technology has come about from the development of new materials, micro-power generation systems, hydrodynamic breakthroughs, improved structures and new power transmission, communication and control technologies. Bourne’s RiverStar System is designed to tap the energy in thousands of miles of rivers that stretch across the globe. Over a million cubic meters per second discharge of water flow down the world’s major rivers every hour, every day, every year. Many stretches of these rivers are virtually unpopulated and undeveloped. The energy locked up in this enormous volume of moving fluid can be harnessed again and again. Bourne’s novel approach does not require construction on the river bottom, which is both expensive and time-consuming. Construction, especially in industrialized countries, may also expose toxic materials, long hidden in the river sediments. Bourne’s proprietary low RPM turbines are specially designed to be safe for aquaculture. And the RiverStar power modules can access and tap the difficult areas where much of the world’s unharnessed hydropower is located. These kinetic energy modules are designed to be mass-produced in order to rapidly scale up this technology worldwide. Bourne has also adapted its Kinetic Energy Systems to harness the world’s potential ocean power and tidal power resources in the form of its OceanStar (Patent Pending) and TidalStar (Patent Pending) systems. Bourne plans to have small demonstration power arrays operating in Asia, US and Europe within the next 12 months.
 Free Power from the Earth 24/7
by Thomas R. Blakeslee. February 19, 2008 (renewableenergyworld.com) From our home on the earth's thin crust, it's hard to believe that 99.9% of the earth's volume is hot enough to boil water. Atomic decay inside of the earth heats its molten core to a temperature that is hotter than the surface of the sun! To harness this geothermal power, we need only drill through the crust and use that heat to boil water to drive turbine generators. This water can be reinjected into the earth in a closed loop. The world's first geothermal power plant was built in Larderello, Italy in 1911. It is still producing enough power for a million homes today. Geothermal power already supplies 26% of electrical power in Iceland and the Philippines and 5% of California's at prices that are competitive with coal power. Geothermal power plants run 24 hours a day with an uptime of over 90%. They require no fuel and produce no pollution. Coal and atomic power plants need much more maintenance downtime, so they only operate an average of 75% and 65% of the time. Wind and solar power are even worse, producing an average of only 30% and 24% of their rated power. Why then, do we use coal to produce most of our power? We dig thousands of miles of tunnels or blast the tops off of mountains and ship the coal thousands of miles just to burn it to make steam. Every step of this process is an environmental nightmare so bad that we have ruined the earth and upset the entire climate balance of our planet. Acid rain has killed our forests and coral reefs and mercury emissions have made it dangerous to eat most fish. We started burning coal because it was easy at first. The environmental problems didn't become apparent until the scale of coal burning became massive. Coal became big business with lots of political clout that squeezed out all competitors including geothermal. Energy policy today spends billions to subsidize coal and develop "clean coal" technology but nothing at all on geothermal development. The fossil fuel Juggernaut tramples all alternatives that threaten the status quo. Geothermal power today is mostly done in natural geyser or hot spring areas where underground water in contact with hot rocks below produces steam near the surface. However, deep drilling methods developed by the oil industry make is theoretically possible to build geothermal plants in places where the earth's crust is deeper, like the eastern United States. Old oil wells are often rehabilitated by drilling another hole nearby and injecting water to push the oil out. The mixture of oil and water that comes out is very hot. This hot water is now considered a nuisance but if it's heat were used to generate power, tens of thousands of megawatts (MW) could be generated in Texas alone with a cost payoff of only three years. A recent MIT report studies the potential of similarly injecting water into hot rocks purely for the purpose of generating power in non-thermal areas like the Eastern U.S. The report concludes that hot rocks are a rich resource that should be developed now. The research cost of such a development would be much less than the billions already being spent on "clean coal" and nuclear power. Since the water used is recirculated back into the ground, geothermal power consumes a tiny fraction of the massive water consumption of a coal or atomic power plant. Atlantic Geothermal has a very ambitious plan using tunneling technology similar to that used to construct the tunnel under Mont Blanc to build a 50 foot wide tunnel 80 miles long and three deep. Using 1500 ft. boreholes laterally to expand the heat extraction field, the system could generate 1600 MW of power, nearly matching the output of Hoover dam. Since the entire system except for input and output facilities is underground and maintained by hydrostatic pressure, the visual impact above ground would be insignificant. While this project sounds grandiose, it is no more so than Hoover Dam itself. It is a much better use for government money, which is now being wasted on hydrogen and "clean coal" projects. Early in this century energy technology took a wrong turn when geothermal power was overshadowed by cheap coal and oil. Now the oil is running out and the unintended consequences of coal are killing people and ruining the planet. The problem now is a political one. Energy policy is determined by experts and lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry. We must derail the fossil energy juggernaut before it is too late. Thomas R. Blakeslee is president of The Clearlight Foundation, a non-profit organization that invests in renewable energy and other socially useful companies and issues cash grants to individuals who are working effectively for change. For Further Information
January 8, 2008
The Worlds Most Cost Efficient Heating with DRAGIN GeoThermal
DRAGIN Geothermal to Sponsor the Boston Going Green Expo 
Press Release from Going Green
Boston-
DRAGIN Geothermal Well Drilling Inc. with offices in Wareham, MA and Meredith, NH offers geothermal services and a "green" heating and cooling alternative for businesses and residence.
“Businesses and residents alike are looking for ways to conserve energy for both financial and environmental considerations,” said DJ Quagliaroli, President, adding, “The geothermal heating and cooling systems save energy, slash utility bills, reduce hot water costs, cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce maintenance costs.”
According to the EPA (1993) geothermal heat pumps are the world's most advanced and most cost-efficient heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Geothermal heat pumps operate at 75% greater efficiency than oil furnaces, 48% greater efficiency than gas furnaces and 40% greater efficiency than air source heat pumps.
The way it works is simple. The Earth absorbs 50% of all solar energy. Groundwater in New England is at a relatively constant temperature of 52 degrees all year long. In winter, this warmth is extracted by pumping groundwater out of the well. The well water is pumped to a heat pump inside the home. The heat pump concentrates the earth's thermal energy and transfers it to forced hot air ductwork and/or radiant flooring throughout the home.
In the summer, the process is reversed; heat is extracted from air inside the house and transferred to the biggest "heat sink" of all-Mother Earth-by way of the well. Prior to expelling the heat, the geothermal system sends excess heat through the home’s hot water tank to provide free hot water anytime the air conditioning is in use. With geothermal there are no worries about carbon monoxide, fuel leaks or spills, fumes, soot or even unsightly and noisy air conditioning units outside the home.
More than 1 million geothermal systems have been installed in the United States as the technology’s popularity continues to rise. It is estimated that these systems have saved 8 billion kwh of electricity and reduced the amount of CO2 by 5.8 million metric tons. This monumental impact is equivalent to taking 1,295,000 cars off the road or planting more than 385 million trees!
DRAGIN Geothermal recently completed a two-month project at Byerly Hall on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The project encompassed the drilling of five wells within a compact work area. The geothermal system is expected to be in operation at Byerly Hall by the spring of 2008.
DRAGIN Geothermal is sponsoring the Waste Management Inc. Going Green Expo in Boston. The event will be held on February 2nd and 3rd at the Bayside Expo Center, and will be the third green event of its kind hosted by Going Green Magazine. With hundreds of Green exhibitors and dozens of Green workshops, the Boston expo promises to attract an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 consumers. Come see us there!
December 26, '07 (IsraelNN.com) Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee Chairman MK Ofer Paz-Pines (Labor) has submitted a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Israel. The bill aims for Israel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2010, and 50 percent by 2050. The Ministry of Environmental Protection will have to formulate a national emission reduction plan within six months of the bill entering into law.
December 17, 2007
Why did solar energy lose its flare? Underutilized alternative source could curb bad gases
msnbc.msn.com  | Cells in most solar panels are made of silicon, which is abundant in sand. But demand in the electronics industry for silicon wafers has caused a shortage of high-grade silicon, which spells potential trouble for the solar industry. | | Andrea Danti / Dreamstime.com |
| "Wind can play some role, as can biofuels and geothermal, but they are all too small," said Erin Baker of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "The three really big players are solar energy, nuclear power and carbon capture and storage." Over the course of a day, the amount of energy in sunlight striking the continental United States is more than 2,500 times the amount of the nation's daily electricity consumption. Despite this potential, solar power is far behind other renewables, making up just 0.07 percent of the U.S. energy portfolio, according to the Department of Energy. "Solar energy would have to provide 20 percent of the energy supply to have a climate change impact," Baker told LiveScience. "We'd like it to be more than that." In a report released earlier this year, Baker and her colleagues looked at the technologies that might bring solar out into the full light. Sand in demand
Solar panels contain photovoltaic cells that turn light into electricity without releasing any greenhouse gases. One of the attractive features of solar panels is that they can be relatively easily added to a home, as opposed to the bigger construction projects typically associated with wind turbines or other energy-gathering setups. Almost all cells in current use are made of silicon. Although silicon is abundant in sand, it must be processed to make it usable in solar cells and computer chips. In fact, the current high demand from the electronics industry for silicon wafers has caused a shortage of high-grade silicon, which means the solar industry could have even more trouble trying to become competitive. For a typical home's electricity needs, the cost of solar panels is several tens of thousands of dollars. Over the lifetime of the panels, this works out to about 30 cents per kilowatt hour, three times what most utilities charge. To reduce this price, much of the current engineering effort is focused on making solar cells from thin films that either use less silicon or replace it with other photovoltaic materials. Baker said that many experts think this should be the first goal of research and development. "We could fund a lot of people to look for other materials," she said. Solar on the horizon
There are other ideas as well, such as organic solar cells based on cheap, flexible plastic. However, organic cells are currently inefficient at converting sunlight into electricity, and what's worse, said Baker, "they tend to fade and breakdown in the sun." Some researchers are working on future "third generation" solar cells, which could employ a number of new technologies, such as lenses, chemical dyes, multi-layer cells or tiny quantum dots that trap more of the incoming sunlight. But even if highly efficient solar panels could be made cheaply, they can't make electricity at night or on a cloudy day. "The biggest problem for solar is the intermittency of supply," Baker said. For solar to be a major energy provider, there will need to be better electricity storage. Giant flywheels or improved batteries could help smooth out the power flow. Diversify
None of the technological options are sure to work, so Baker thinks policy makers and the solar industry should fund research into several possibilities, much like a diversified stock portfolio. "You don't invest all your money in Google; instead you buy 10 or 100 different stocks," she said. Interestingly, Google just announced plans to invest tens of millions of dollars next year in the development of a gigawatt of power from renewables, enough to supply roughly a million households. One of the companies selected by Google is eSolar Inc., which specializes in solar thermal power.
| |  | | A UN panel of scientists and national delegations has agreed on an "instant guide" for policy makers, declaring unequivocally that climate change has begun and threatens to irreversibly alter the planet. The document, to be published Saturday, summarizes the scientific consensus on human-induced climate change. It will be the first point of reference for delegates at a crucial meeting in Indonesia next month that is intended to launch a political process on international cooperation to control global warming. Negotiators from more than 140 countries wrangled for five days until dawn Friday before approving a 20-page summary of data and computer projections. Then they labored throughout the day to finalize a longer 70-page version. Both papers synthesize research compiled over the last six years by the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will address the IPCC when it releases the report Saturday. "It's done. They have come up with a really strong report," said Hans Verholme, of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The papers describe how climate systems are changing and why, the impacts it is having on mankind and ecosystems, and various scenarios of future impacts, depending on how quickly action is taken to slow the trend. Another WWF climate scientist, Stephan Singer, called it a "groundbreaking document that will pave the way for deep emissions cuts by developing countries." The report does not commit participating governments to any course of action but it is important because it is adopted by consensus, meaning those countries accept the underlying science and cannot disavow its conclusions. It provides a common scientific base line for the political talks. "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal," the summary begins, in a statement meant to dispel any skepticism about the reality of climate change, said participants in the meeting. In a startling and much-debated conclusion, the document warns that human activity risks causing "abrupt or irreversible changes" on Earth, including the widespread extinction of species and a dramatic rise in sea levels before the end of this century, they said on condition of anonymity because the details are supposed to remain confidential until Saturday. "I think overall it is a good and balanced document," said Bert Metz, an eminent Dutch scientist and one of the 40 authors of the draft. "In the end, a lot of people had to compromise," he said. Though it contains no previously unpublished material, the summary pulls together the central elements of three lengthy reports the IPCC released earlier this year. Boiling down the 3,000 pages into about 20 was "quite a challenge," said Metz. "I think this will be the scientific imperative" propelling action, said Stephanie Tunmore of the Greenpeace environmental group, an observer at the talks. The agreement was seen as a personal triumph for the IPCC chairman, Rajendra Pachauri of India, who presided with no-nonsense efficiency and bulldozed through compromise language. Pachauri, who will accept the IPCC's Nobel Peace prize in Oslo on Dec. 10 along with former US Vice President Al Gore, is expected to stand for re-election as head of the IPCC next year, delegates said. Delegates said the talks this week were difficult, and sometimes bogged down for hours over a brief phrase. The outcome was "much better than I expected," said Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, the chief scientist of the Belgian delegation. The report was not just "a cut-and-paste" job from earlier papers, but it highlighted more clearly than before the risks faced by the Earth's most vulnerable systems, he said. The meeting in the Indonesian resort of Bali starting Dec. 3 will discuss the next step in combating climate change after the measures adopted in the Kyoto Protocol expire in five years. Kyoto obliges 36 industrial countries to radically reduce their carbon emissions by 2012, but has no clear plan for what happens after that date. Organizers say the new "road map" emerging from Bali should draw in the United States, which rejected the Kyoto accord and which has tried to enlist other countries in voluntary schemes to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and invest in technology research. | |
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By Philip Proefrock Wed, 22 Aug 2007 It's not just for hobbits anymore. The logic of green roofs is becoming more apparent. We can minimize our bills while maximizing the beauty of the urban landscape. And every day it's becoming a little easier to live in a house that just happens to have plants growing on it. 
Vegetated roofs, or green roofs have a layer of living plants on top of the structure and the waterproofing elements. There are really two types of green roofs, intensive and extensive. 
Intensive green roofs often have a soil depth of a foot or more, and require substantial structural elements to support the weight of the whole roof. Intensive roofs can sustain a wide range of plant species and typically require a fair amount of regular maintenance. Because of the additional demands they impose, intensive roofs are much less common than extensive roofs. 
Extensive roofs are much shallower, typically only 2 to 4 inches deep, and are planted with particularly hardy plants. Over the last 50 years or so, this kind of roof has been developed, especially in Europe,. But now they are becoming increasingly common in the United States. Why are green roofs such a great idea? First, they help to reduce roof stormwater runoff. In some cases, this can help reduce the size of stormwater pipes, and the amount of stormwater that needs to be treated by municipal water treatment. In a light rainfall, a building with a vegetated roof can have no stormwater runoff at all. Green roofs also protect the roof membrane from sunlight, which breaks down the roofing material. Having even a couple inches of soil helps to greatly extend the life of the roof, and a longer lifespan means less material ends up in landfills from re-roofing buildings after the membranes have failed. 
Green roofs keep the roof cooler, which helps to reduce the heat-island effect, which contributes to cities being hotter than the surrounding countryside. This can be beneficial to the building in reducing its summertime cooling load. A green roof is also a source of oxygen and provides a habitat for some birds. Birds and insects can find homes much more readily in the living environment of a green roof, where an ordinary roof is nearly barren. And yes, it's even possible to graze goats. 
What is a green roof made of? Starting from the top, an extensive green roof has a layer of plants, which are typically sedums. These are low-growing, shallow rooting, drought tolerant plants. There are many different varieties of sedum, with different different coloration and different flowerings, so that a roof can have a varied appearance, rather than looking like an entire crop of a single variety. The plants are in a growth medium, an engineered mixture of lightweight soils, vermiculite, and other materials that provides a good environment for the sedum. The shallow depth of the soil aids in keeping weeds from establishing themselves on the roof, since most weeds cannot survive in the arid and shallow soil conditions on a vegetated roof. Local plants that can survive in that environment may establish themselves on the roof, as well. Underneath the soil are several membrane layers, rather than just a single membrane roof. There is also a drainage layer (to allow excess water to move freely, rather than lifting the soil and having it flow off the roof in a mudslide, and a root barrier layer, which keeps the roots from penetrating the roof. The roof membrane sits on the roof deck, insulation, or structure of the building much like a conventional roof. 
Can I put a green roof on my house? Green roofs make sense for residential use as much as for commercial buildings. However, retrofitting a green roof onto an existing house is not a simple matter because of the extra weight a vegetated roof adds. Most roofs are not structurally strong enough to support a vegetated roof without some reinforcement. Green roofs also work best on lower slopes. They can be installed on steeper pitched roofs, but the design and installation is more difficult and requires additional care. The added cost of a vegetated roof versus a conventional shingle roof, and the relatively small number of contractors familiar with installing them are probably the biggest limiting factors. A house with a suitably pitched roof would still likely need structural evaluation from an architect or engineer before going ahead with a retrofit, and some structural reinforcement is likely to be needed. 
Does a green roof have to be mowed? A sedum covered roof is naturally self limiting in size. Most sedums grow only a few inches tall. As mentioned above, it is also fairly self weeding, due to the inhospitable environment it offers to most weed species. An extensive roof planted with prairie grasses on the Ducks Unlimited National Headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba uses a controlled burn of its upper roof every three years to repropogate the prairie plants. The 16 inches of soil protects the building from any damage while the grass fire helps remove weed species and assists prairie species which need periodic fires as part of their life cycle. What Does the Future Hold? We were excited a while back to announce Toyota's green roofing tile. These modular, interlockable grass tiles make green roofing an absolute cinch.They're a lot lighter than other methods, and installation is a breeze. At about $34 per tile, they're still expensive, but prices would of course drop if demand were to increase. 
And, second, I and many others would like to see Friedenreich Hundertwasser's vision of every horizontal surface being returned to nature: "The true proportions in this world are the views to the stars and the views down to the surface of the earth. Grass and vegetation in the city should grow on all horizontal spaces - that is to say, wherever rain and snow falls vegetation should grow, on the roads and on the roofs. The horizontal is the domain of nature and wherever vegetation grows on the horizontal level man is off limits; he should not interfere. I mean taking away territories from nature, which human beings have always done." 
Green Roof Resources:
-The EPA on Green Roofs-
-Greenroofs.com-
-Green Roofs on Wikipedia-
-Green Roofs for Healthy Cities-
Image Key:
1. Hundertwasser's Waldspirale, Austria...From WikiMedia Commons
2. Green Rooftops from Swishphotos on Flickr from the Faroe Islands
3. Grass Roof in Oswego Illinois, USA, from Greg Robbins on Flickr
4. Solaire Green Roof in Battery Park City, NY from Birdw0rks on Flickr
5. Goats on a Roof in Wisconsin, from Driftless Media on Flickr
6. Grass Roofs in Iceland from Pietroizzo on Flickr
7. Green Roof in Tokyo from Dissonanc3 on Flickr
8. Toyota Roof Tiles from Toyota Roof Garden
9. Hunderwasser's village model, on display at Kunsthaus in Vienna.
|  | Thinfilm can be applied to glasing to generate electricity |
| | Vehicles, including hybrids running on biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen (fuelcell), electricity, gas, etc. |
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