Posted by Petah Marian on October 29th, 2008
Designers and manufacturers will have a new tool to benchmark the eco-performance of their products and comply with upcoming EU directives.
The European Commission’s Framework Directive on Energy Using Products (EUP) is due to appear in early 2009 and will set minimum eco-design standards for a range of parameters over the entire lifecycle of the product.
The legislation will cover design through to manufacturing, use and disposal. This includes energy consumption, water use, air emissions and waste embedded in the product, produced by the product and consumed during use.
EcoFly, created by WSP Environment and Energy, claims to be the first commercial tool to help designers, compliance and environmental managers benchmark the eco-performance of their products and confirm compliance with the EC directive.
David Symons, director of corporate services at WSP Environment & Energy, said:
“The EuP will have wide ranging impacts and manufacturers should be integrating the EuP into design teams today. With the standards progressively coming into force next year, design teams need to understand the proposed minimum standards for their products today.”
Ecofly has examined a range of products and has found a number of surprising results:
- A typical 29inch CRT TV will use more than 62,000 litres of water over its entire life cycle and will generate 83kg of waste.
- A desktop PC will generate over 47kg of waste and will generate 38,000 litres of water.
- A mobile phone charger will emit the equivalent of almost 6kg of CO2 over its life.
- The energy used to make a laptop is about the same as the energy used over its life with 1,571 MJ consumed during use and 2,902 MJ consumed throughout its entire life cycle.
Posted by Petah Marian on October 27th, 2008
With mobile networks expanding into sunnier emerging markets, solar power looks set to play an important role in mobile service provision and ABI research is projecting that 335,000 mobile base stations will include solar power by 2013.
The shift towards reducing base station power consumption along with improvements in PV cells means solar energy is now a viable solution for powering many cellular base stations.
Stuart Carlaw, ABI Research vice president, said:
“Solar power will first be used in conjunction with other primary energy sources such as diesel or grid-based electricity, but will increasingly be seen as a primary source for autonomous cell sites. The market for autonomous solar powered cell sites looks set to grow from extremely modest levels today to over 40,000 renewable energy sites by the end of 2013. A further 295,000 base stations are expected to supplement on-grid power usage with solar.”
The report said solar power is at the leading edge of renewable energy’s drive into the mobile network domain, with wind power having potential in areas that receive less solar energy, although it is less predictable.
You can find out more about ABI’s report here.
Posted by Greenbang on October 23rd, 2008
The Japanese government has just unveiled plans to cool the New Chitose Airport terminal building in summer using snow collected in winter.
According to this article on Japan Today the system, which will be introduced in 2010, will provide almost a third of the cooling energy for the terminal building.
The government tried collecting snow at the airport last winter and found it could retain almost half of it by September by covering it with heat insulating materials. The snow is used to chill the liquid used in the airport’s cooling system in summer.
The Japan Today article says:
“Doing so would lead to a cut of some 2,100 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to the officials.”
Posted by Petah Marian on October 17th, 2008
A company which uses refined cooking oil to produce high quality biodiesel was named the most innovative small technology business O2’s X Awards this year.
Proper Oils, founded in April 2007, is the only collector working with local authorities to facilitate free collections of used cooking oil from over 800 caterers within west London.
The refined bio diesel is then sold to local organisations with a proportion of the profits being returned to support local environmental initiatives.
Proper Oils was also named in Greenbang’s recent Clean-Tech Start-Up Index here.
Stephen Hurton Proper Oils managing director and founder said:
“Through hard work and dedication we have used technology to develop a successful and social responsible company and it’s great that our achievements have been recognised in this way.”
Posted by Petah Marian on October 15th, 2008
Greenbang has always liked a an offer – two for one, half price, supersize me…
Now the Carbon Trust is doubling the size of grants available under its Applied Research scheme. Growing from £250k to £500k, the grants aim to boost low carbon businesses, entrepreneurs and academics seeking to develop carbon saving technologies.
The government funded grants support the development of innovative technologies which have the potential to reduce UK carbon emissions. The decision to increase the maximum grant size will enable the development of more ambitious projects with the potential for bigger carbon savings.
Robert Trezona, head of R&D at the Carbon Trust said:
“If we are to meet our renewable energy targets, reduce carbon emissions and ensure that the UK has access to secure and cost effective energy it is vital to turn low carbon technologies into commercial reality.”
Since 2001, the Carbon Trust’s Applied Research scheme has invested £18.5m in 145 projects that have demonstrated potential to develop into commercial technologies that could reduce UK carbon emissions. Of the 95 completed projects, 70 per cent have filed patents, secured follow-on funding or generated commercial sales, or are expecting to shortly.
A new call for proposals to the Applied Research scheme will open on 13th October. Applications can be made online at www.carbontrust.co.uk/appliedresearch.
Posted by Greenbang on October 9th, 2008
A £2.2m hydrogen research and demonstration centre opens at the University of Glamorgan this week to investigate the viability and safety of producing hydrogen fuel from indigenous renewable sources in Wales.
Based at Baglan Energy Park near Swansea, the centre will also integrate research into other renewable technologies, including solar photovoltaic and wind power.
Professor Dennis Hawkes who is leading the project explained:
“Rather than an isolated one-off demonstration, this Centre provides the basis for a range of hydrogen energy and transport activities. The project puts Wales at the forefront of European efforts to develop hydrogen communities. The new centre brings together technology and expertise and will provide a platform for new business development, growth and employment in the region.”
Working with the University at the centre, companies will be able to research, develop and demonstrate hydrogen related products and technologies.
Earlier this year, the University also launched the UK’s first minibus to be powered by a fuel cell using hydrogen as its fuel and the University has a number of pilot scale biohydrogen projects.
Posted by Petah Marian on October 8th, 2008
A power source has been developed by an MIT student using the difference in pH between the trees and the ground to power a wireless network.
The US Forest Service has been trialling this technology to track weather conditions, particularly during fire season. The service currently predicts and tracks fires using a variety of tools, which are expensive and sparsely distributed.
The Voltree Power system uses the trees as a self-sustaining power supply. Each sensor is equipped with a battery that can be slowly recharged using energy generated by the tree. The system produces enough electricity to allow temperature and humidity sensors to wirelessly transmit signals four times a day or immediately if there is a fire. Signals hop from one sensor to another until it reaches an existing weather station that beams the data by satellite to a forestry command centre in Boise, Idaho.
The inventor of the process Christopher Love, is currently a senor at MIT, majoring in Chemistry.
Who knows, maybe in a few years we’ll be able to use this tech to power our laptops with energy generated from our potplants.
Posted by Greenbang on October 3rd, 2008
Much like jet-packs, time-machines and robots that can do the washing up and make a decent cup of tea we, at Greenbang, are still waiting for all the ‘cars of the future’ peddled to us by boffins in flared brown cordorouy suits on programmes like ‘Tomorrow’s World’ in the 1970s.
And still, today, the auto show favourites are always the ‘concept cars’ manufacturers claim we’ll all be driving around in 10 years.
The latest, at the Paris Motor Show, is the ‘green car of the future’ unveiled by Nissan. Called the Nuvu, the motor company claims we’ll all be driving cars like this by the middle of the next decade.
It is, of course, an electric vehicle and at just three metres long is compact and made for the urban city dweller familiy of the future.
The Nuvu has two regular seats and a third ‘occasional’ chair that can be folded down when required. In the interests of saving both weight and space, the third seat has a centre section made from hammock-like netting, which allows cool or warm air to circulate around the occupant’s body for extra comfort. Which sounds nice.
All the major functions – steering, braking, transmission and throttle – are ‘By-Wire’ while the steering is controlled by an aircraft-style steering yoke with just one turn from lock to lock for better agility and maneuverability in the city.
The batteries used are the latest laminated lithium-ion type and have a capacity of 140 Wh/kg (watt-hours per kilogram) but the total capacity of the batteries and number of modules in the Nuvu are not being disclosed by Nissan yet.
Will we ever actually see a car like this on the road? Who knows, but Greenbang’s betting it’ll be stuck with its trusty Ford Cortina for a few more years yet.
This category is brought to you in association with Tandberg
Posted by Greenbang on September 26th, 2008
Suzlon Green Power, which controls a majority stake in Suzlon Energy - one of the world’s largest producers of wind turbines, has pledged to bring 3,500MW of electricity to 10 million people in India and China over the next five years as part of a $5bn renewable energy project.
Suzlon Green Power is owned by India’s Tanti family and the company will create $5bn in renewable and green energy assets, pledging $1.5bn in equity to the total project cost.
The project says it aims to bring more electricity where it is desperately needed in developing regions, and help move those regions toward energy security. The commitment also will help several countries meet the requirements of the Kyoto protocol, while creating 1,000 jobs directly and reduce seven million tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
The International Energy Agency estimates the world’s energy needs will increase more than 50 per cent by 2030, with both China and India’s energy use set to double between 2005 and 2030.
Suzlon Green Power says it will invest the resources and expertise in four key areas:
- Acquire existing green power assets to develop scale and expertise.
- Develop greenfield power projects.
- Garner support and cooperation from a network of vendors, business partners, investors.
- Partner with local NGOs and other organisations to develop neighborhoods where the power assets will be developed and operated.
Posted by Greenbang on September 25th, 2008
The world’s richest software geek, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, is one of the investors behind the latest round of funding for algae biofuel company Sapphire Energy.
The Series B funding brings the total funding in Sapphire Energy to “substantially more than $100m” and investors include Gates’ investment company Cascade Investment, Arch Venture Partners, Wellcome Trust and Venrock.
Sapphire says the money takes it a step closer to bringing the algae biofuel production to commercial scale and plans to use the funds to scale up its production facilities accordingly. The company says it anticipates relying on existing investors to achieve its initial commercial production capability of 10,000 barrels per day.
The company is aiming to produce “Green Crude” on a commercial scale within three to five years.
For those wondering exactly how this stuff works, Sapphire uses sunlight, CO2, industrial micro-organisms, non-arable land and non-drinkable water to produce its Green Crude petrol alternative, which can be refined into chemically identical fuel products compatible with the existing energy infrastructure.
Sapphire Energy CEO Jason Pyle says:
“We created Sapphire Energy by working backwards and considering what a perfect fuel would look like – carbon neutral, renewable, not dependent on arable land or potable water. We are creating an entirely new category of energy – Green Crude Production – and are now at a point where we can focus on implementing our plans without worrying about fundraising.”
Photo credit: Microsoft
