You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'USA' category.
Source: National Research Council (US)
Plumes of harmful air pollutants can be transported across oceans and continents — from Asia to the United States and from the United States to Europe — and have a negative impact on air quality far from their original sources, says a new report by the National Research Council. Although degraded air quality is nearly always dominated by local emissions, the influence of non-domestic pollution sources may grow as emissions from developing countries increase and become relatively more important as a result of tightening environmental protection standards in industrialized countries.
“Air pollution does not recognize national borders; the atmosphere connects distant regions of our planet,” said Charles Kolb, chair of the committee that wrote the report and president and chief executive officer of Aerodyne Research Inc. “Emissions within any one country can affect human and ecosystem health in countries far downwind. While it is difficult to quantify these influences, in some cases the impacts are significant from regulatory and public health perspectives.”
The report examines four types of air pollutants: ozone; particulate matter such as dust, sulfates, or soot; mercury; and persistent organic pollutants such as DDT. The committee found evidence, including satellite observations, that these four types of pollutants can be transported aloft across the Northern Hemisphere, delivering significant concentrations to downwind continents. Ultimately, most pollutants’ impacts depend on how they filter down to the surface.
Current limitations in modeling and observational capabilities make it difficult to determine how global sources of pollution affect air quality and ecosystems in downwind locations and distinguish the domestic and foreign components of observed pollutants. Yet, some pollutant plumes observed in the U.S. can be attributed unambiguously to sources in Asia based on meteorological and chemical analyses, the committee said. For example, one study found that a polluted airmass detected at Mt. Bachelor Observatory in central Oregon took approximately eight days to travel from East Asia.
Read full report for free online. (National Academies Press)
(July 9, 2009) – In a process that is as complex as it is elegant, as breathtaking as it is breath-making, sunlight excites electrons in plant cells setting off a chain reaction that rips apart water to release oxygen and then changes carbon dioxide to sugars to produce fuel.
Now, a couple of scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory [US] have found a simpler, faster and far less costly way to measure manganese — the metal that helps plants split water. It’s a breakthrough that could support the development of photosynthetic systems for producing biofuels.
“This is going to make a difficult analysis much more routine,” NREL Research Fellow Dr. Michael Seibert said of the new process that quantifies the manganese content in plants that split water to get electrons for biofuels.
Up to now it has taken a half day and equipment worth as much as $200,000 to measure manganese in the water-splitting process of photosynthesis.
The NREL process takes a half hour and uses equipment that costs less than $10,000. And that opens up the process to any professional or undergraduate lab in the world.
A paper on the study, co-authored by Seibert and his Russian colleague Boris Semin was published in April 2009 issue of the journal Photosynthesis Research.
The International Herald Tribune 14 July 2009 – Exxon Mobil, perhaps the biggest skeptic about biofuels and alternative forms of energy, is about to make a major commitment to produce fuels from algae. Exxon is planning to spend $600 million in its first major foray into biofuels in partnership with Synthetic Genomics, a biotechnology firm founded by J. Craig Venter, the genomic pioneer.
Synthetic Genomics scientific capabilities encompass areas such as environmental genomics, microbiology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, plant genomics, genome engineering, synthetic biology, and climate change. In addition to the strong applied research efforts conducted at SGI, the company sponsors fundamental research at the J. Craig Venter Institute, a not-for-profit organization with more than 400 scientists and staff working on a variety of genomic research and policy fronts.
The investment amounts to a radical change of heart for Exxon, whose chairman and chief executive, Rex Tillerson, once derisively referred to corn-based ethanol as ”moonshine.”
But Emil Jacobs, the vice president of research and development at Exxon’s research and engineering company, said the investment comes after several years of looking at a range of options, including whether algae could be turned into transportation fuels at a competitive cost.
”We did a lot of work looking at alternative sources,” Dr. Jacobs said in an interview. ”We literally looked at every option we could think of with several key parameters in mind. Scale was the first. For transportation fuels, if you can’t see whether you can scale it up, then you have to question whether you need to be involved at all.”
Algal biofuel – sometimes nicknamed oilgae by environmentalists – is a promising technology, but finding cost-effective ways to mass-produce it has so far eluded researchers.
Experts believe that the benefits of biofuels made from photosynthetic algae are significant. Algae, for example, can be grown using nonarable land and either brackish or salt water unsuitable for crop, plant or food production, unlike first- and second-generation biofuel feedstocks.
It has another benefit that could eventually help cut greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming: algae need carbon dioxide to grow. Using genomic technologies, including genome engineering, both companies believe they can eventually develop strains of algae that can produce biofuel on a commercial scale while absorbing carbon dioxide emitted, for example, by power plants.
”Algae is the ultimate biological system using sunlight to capture and convert carbon dioxide into fuel,” Dr. Venter said.
Exxon’s investment includes $300 million for in-house studies and ”potentially more” than that to Synthetic Genomics ”if research and development milestones are successfully met,” Exxon said.
The companies referred to their partnership as a long-term research and development effort, with future investments that could rise into the billions of dollars. Large-scale commercial plants are not expected for at least 5 to 10 years, Dr. Jacobs said.
Photosynthetic algae and cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, are very efficient at utilizing sunlight energy to convert carbon dioxide into cellular oils, or lipids, and other types of hydrocarbons that can then be processed into fuels and chemicals.
Synthetic Genomics said its scientists had been working for years to develop an efficient way to harvest these oils.
”Traditionally algae have been treated like a crop to be grown and harvested in a process that can be expensive and time consuming,” Dr. Venter said. His company has engineered algae that produce lipids in a continuous process.
————————————————–
http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MzUxMDM
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in this country who believes Canada needs more ice. But the distributors of a new green energy technology are trying to show consumers that’s exactly what we do need.
Behind a fence in the back of the Mountain Equipment Co-Op store parking lot in Burlington, Ont., six large blocks of ice, each the size of a playpen, sit in steel boxes melting slowly in the afternoon heat.
It’s the first Canadian installation of Ice Bear, the air conditioner’s answer to the hybrid car. It uses 95 per cent less electricity in peak hours than a conventional air conditioning unit.
“We see Canada as a terrific market,” said Greg Tropsa, Executive Vice President of Ice Energy, the company that developed and manufactures the Ice Bear. “We’ve got great prospects, especially now with the legislation that’s trying to get more green energy in the market.”
Toronto-based Transformative Technologies Inc. is partnering with Ice Energy to market and distribute the Ice Bear in Canada. “I think of all the effort it takes to build new natural-gas-fired facilities or fossil fuel power,” said James Alden, TTI’s president. “It’s clear Ice Bear is a great solution.”
And it’s getting attention. Gathered in the noonday sun in Burlington’s MEC parking lot are reps from Hydro One, London Hydro and Hydro Ottawa, among others. As the sweating lid is unscrewed from one of the 5-tonne units to reveal the melting ice inside, one of them quips, “Where’s the beer?”
Unlike your standard brew cooler, however, the big block of ice inside the Ice Bear is not what cools the building’s air. Not directly, at least.
During off-peak hours when electricity rates are at their lowest, the Ice Bear acts like a normal air conditioner and uses its compressor to cool refrigerant that in turn cools the air blowing into a building. What also happens overnight is the unit re-freezes water that had melted off the huge 200 kilograms cubes of ice. During the day when electricity rates are at their highest, the Ice Bear turns off its compressor and uses the ice to cool the refrigerant.
The result is an air conditioning system that uses about 300 watts – the equivalent of five or six light bulbs – rather than a traditional system that uses 6,000 watts.
For a store the size of this MEC, that could mean savings of roughly $400 a year, according to Ice Energy’s figures. Businesses also earn the goodwill of customers who like the use of green technologies in their stores.
“We’ve been getting a lot of feedback,” said Alicia Cairns, the manager of the Burlington MEC location. “The biggest things we hear about, are the solar panels and the Ice Bear system.”
But at a price tag of $8,500, businesses may ask themselves just how much a green image is worth.
While Ice Energy has done a few commercial installations, the company’s target market is utility providers. The technology allows utilities to reduce emissions and lower transmission costs. And in the hottest months when demand for energy goes into overload, instead of spending millions to rewire their distribution systems utilities can shift that demand to off-peak periods, Mr. Tropsa said. In the U.S., more than 20 utilities have already had trials of the Ice Bear units.
Canadians may not be far behind. London Hydro is “very seriously” considering investing in the technology, said its Conservation Program Manager, Hans Schreff.
“Our biggest problem here is the summer with air conditioning. It’s a very focused approach to solving that problem,” Mr. Schreff said. “It attacks peak energy, which helps us lower costs.”
With the Green Energy Act passed by the Ontario government in May, which is designed to increase the province’s dedication to renewable energy, utilities are being asked to consider more green technologies, said Tom Semler, Manager of Conservation and Demand at Hydro One.
“We’re going to get bigger targets for conservation,” he said. “These units could have a big impact for us.”
Ice Energy has yet to be profitable, but with the interest in the units Mr. Tropsa expects that could change within the next two years.
“You’re looking for [energy] storage, and what could be cheaper than water?” Mr. Tropsa said. “It’s a feel-good business, but it’s a potential money-maker too.”
June 18, 2009
Two new reports on the impacts of moving to a low-carbon economy show putting money toward energy efficiency, building retrofits and renewable energy projects can create 1.7 million new jobs, significantly more than the same investment in fossil fuel industries.
The reports were released today in tandem by four groups: Green for All, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) worked together on the “Green Prosperity” study, while PERI also worked with the Center for American Progress on the “Economic Benefits” report.
Together, the reports show the economic, environmental and social impacts of investing about $150 billion per year in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies; that number includes funding from the federal stimulus package signed into law in February as well as the proposals in the Waxman-Markey climate bill that is currently making its way through Congress.
Importantly, Ellis-Lampkin and Peter Lehner, the executive director of the NRDC, both highlighted the fact that these job-growth estimates are net gains, factoring in jobs displaced in the fossil fuel industries as the economy shifts to renewables. The loss of existing jobs is a regular criticism of green-collar jobs proposals.
Retrofits, Public Transit, and the Smart Grid
There are three prongs to where these investments should occur. The biggest and most immediately beneficial is energy efficiency retrofits for existing buildings: Those projects make up 40 percent of the funding in the $150 billion annual project.
“Retrofits right now is a known technology,” Pollin said, one that “creates fast returns with low risk, creates a lot of jobs in a construction industry that is flat on its back.”
Making homes, schools and workplaces more energy efficient offers a significant boon to residents and business owners: Ellis-Lampkin estimates that boosting energy efficiency will decrease the cost of living for low-income households by 3 to 4 percent per year as energy bills shrink. From the “Economic Benefits” report:
An average-sized single-family home in the United States would require an investment of as little as $2,500 in energy-efficiency retrofits to produce a cost savings in the range of 30 percent per year. This would involve caulking to plug air leaks in the house and adding insulation to attics and basement ceilings. For an additional $2,500, further energy savings are available through replacing windows with air leaks and installing energy efficient appliances.
Similarly, public transportation investments will allow municipalities to get more for their dollar: Pollin said that every mile traveled on public transit produces half the greenhouse gases than in a private vehicle, and costs about half the amount to travel the same distance in a private vehicle.
The final leg of the investment project is smart grid technology, which the reports’ authors suggest investments of about $44 billion per year to meet the growing demand for energy across the country.
“In the immediate term, energy efficiency is going to be the best investment,” Pollin said. “Then, for the next decade we’re going to see the creation of the clean energy economy.”
“This is not a question of whether the private sector spends the money, it’s a question of if we spend it smart or stupid,” said Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “If we spend it well it will have tremendous impacts throughout the economy.”
Customizable Interactive Map Shows U.S. Alternative Fuel Data
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) announced the launch of a comprehensive mapping tool to help industry and government planners implement alternative fuels and advanced vehicles. The new TransAtlas tool combines several different types of geographic data to identify areas with potential for developing advanced transportation projects. It is sponsored by DOE’s Clean Cities initiative, which aims to reduce petroleum consumption in the transportation sector by promoting advanced vehicle technologies and alternative fuels. This interactive mapping tool is available by visiting www.afdc.energy.gov and clicking on the TransAtlas icon.
Drinking Water And Hydroelectric Power – Binding The Common Future Of Canada And USA
Hydroelectric power produced in Canada – generally known there as simply “hydro” – is another water-created, and shared resource of increasing importance to Canada and the US Northeast. DailyTech reports that much of 8 Terawatt-hours (1550 MW) of new Canadian “hydro” could soon be on its way to New England and to New York State, specifically. (1550 MW of hydroelectric capacity is roughly the equivalent of what a thousand new top-of-the-line wind turbines would be rated at, cumulatively.
Notably, export of the new green, hydroelectric power to the USA, from Canada, will be encouraged by renewable energy targets, as included in the present energy bill being considered in the US Congress.
Much of the water flowing through the turbines at Niagara Falls originates from Canadian watersheds. That water-driven source has, historically, supplied a great deal of green power to the US, and will continue to do so.
Should the various offshore wind farms being proposed for Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Michigan be completed, their power output will be created by the wide open spaces (wind fetch) offered by the shared water resource
Contrast the above, with how water is shared – or rather how it is not shared – between Mexico and the USA. What the US Southwest and Mexico have in common for optimal green power generation performance is the sun, not water: the opposite of Canada and the US Northeast. One big difference between these two regions is that the southwest’s common solar resources need no international contracts or treaties to manage them, whereas in the other instance, for shared water and power, both are needed. The other difference between the regions, relative to green power and economic development, is that it is extremely unlikely that investors would build a concentrated solar power plant in Mexico to export electricity to the USA.
Via: resourceshelf on Source File
The 2009 Fortune ranking of America’s largest corporations is now available online.
Exxon Mobil returns to the top spot this year. Wal-Mart (last years #1) moves down to #2.
Top 10 (2009)
1. Exxon Mobil
2. Wal-Mart Stores
3. Chevron
4. ConocoPhillips
5. General Electric
6. General Motors
7. Ford Motor
8. AT&T
9. Hewlett-Packard
10. Valero Energy
+ Direct to Complete List
NOTE: The complete list consists of 1000 corporations.
USDA Launches New Country Web Pages
In an effort to expand information available to exporters, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) today added country pages to its Web site. Grouped into four regions – Western Hemisphere, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Asia and Oceania – these country pages provide essential demographic, economic and political information.
The new country pages will allow users to find comprehensive links, all in one place, on import requirements for each country, as well as travel and market information, the status of trade negotiations, trade development and important contacts. These pages are available on the FAS Web site at http://www.fas.usda.gov/countryinfo.asp.
In addition, the FAS Web site includes many searchable databases providing export, import, production, supply, and distribution data, as well as export sales reports and market reports from U.S. agricultural trade experts stationed in 97 offices around the world. A link to this information may be found at http://www.fas.usda.gov/fassearch.asp.
Via: ResourceShelf
Statistics On-Line Database presents information on transportation and transportation-related activities among Canada, the United States and Mexico, both within individual countries and between the countries. This database, presented in French, English, and Spanish is, accessible in table and time series formats, and covers twelve thematic areas, including transportation and the economy, transportation safety, transportation’s impact on energy and the environment, passenger and freight activity, and transportation and trade.
Direct to : North American Transportation Statistics Database
Recent Comments