Posted by Greenbang on June 30th, 2008
It’s quite astonishing this has only just come about, when you consider how far we have come with the climate debate. It is a good thing this has happened. But it’s taken a long time to arrive at this partnership that aims to boost the efficiency of data centres.
This whole move around data centres is more reactionary than visionary. It’s not really using IT to find a way to power the planet differently - just about shaving a few pennies and tonnes of CO2. Again, you can’t moan, but it’s a bit disappointing.
And there’s another funny thing with the Carbon Trust, whose name we’ve been wondering about a bit.
It’s a government entity that’s called a ‘trust’. Odd that.
And then you’ve got the word ‘carbon’. What about the other greenhouse gasses? There’s always methane, the worst of them. So why not call it the Methane Trust? Hmm, sounds a bit like fart trust. What about greenhouse gas reduction agency? No, no Carbon Trust is much clearer.
Greenbang can’t really talk with a name like Greenbang - ‘green’ is fair enough, but ‘bang’ raises a few eyebrows…
Anyway - this is what they say:
The Carbon Trust has teamed up with the British Computer Society (BCS) to develop a simulation software tool to help companies understand the energy use within data centres. The tool is being developed to address the IT industry’s need to manage growing power consumption and increased carbon emissions, which current forecasts compare to the level from the aviation industry.
The project, funded by the Carbon Trust’s Low Carbon Collaboration initiative and Romonet, will focus on data centres as they contribute the largest single proportion of energy use and carbon emissions from the IT sector. Data centres account for a quarter of IT-related carbon emissions, which in turn make up 2% of the world’s total carbon emissions1. Romonet will produce the software, which is expected to be available in first quarter of 2009 and will be released through an open source license.
Based on a model created by the BCS Data Centre specialist group the software tool will deliver outputs allowing operators to manage total costs of ownership, energy efficiency and ultimately carbon emissions (carbon footprint) on a per service or per application basis, an industry first in terms of carbon accountability.
Using the software tool data centre owners and operators will be able to simulate the complex environment factoring both the mechanical and electrical infrastructure as well as housed IT equipment.
Hugh Jones, Solutions Director at the Carbon Trust explains: “The scale of the problem is worrying. Forecasts based on the current growth of data and associated IT infrastructure translates into a picture of unsustainable power consumption in the long term and power supply capacity issues in the short term. It is crucial that we make effective tools available to enable companies to identify the right steps to take to reduce energy use and carbon.”
Bob Harvey, chair of the BCS’s Carbon Footprint group says: “We’re delighted to be working with the Carbon Trust to address this important area to meet the increasing need for the IT industry to reduce its carbon emissions. For most companies, the data centre is the place to start, and with increasing energy costs and the threat of restricted power output to large data centres, there has never been a better time for businesses to reassess their energy usage. The Carbon Trust’s support helps to reinforce the message that the IT industry needs to address this issue now.”
Liam Newcombe, Director of Research & Policy at Romonet says: “We believe this is a very positive step forward for our industry and shows commitment from two important industry bodies to help businesses understand and deal with the complexities of energy efficiency in their data centre. Romonet are happy to be engaged and supporting this activity.”
It’s wonderful how in these press releases everyone is delighted about what has just happened.
Posted by RobAshwell on June 30th, 2008
Why is it US sports cars are always given the most macho of names. Ford Mustang, AC Cobra and Dodge Viper are just a small selection. One that’s new to Greenbang is the Ronn Scorpion.
The Texas based manufacturer has come up with a new way to improve the efficiency of a petrol engine using hydrogen. Whilst adding hydrogen to fuel isn’t new, generating it from water whilst you’re driving is. According to the online publication Inventor Sport:
The Ronn Motor Company has developed a ‘hydrogen on demand system’. Electricity from the vehicles alternator is sent to a tank of water. The energy fractures the molecules and causes Hydrogen to be released. It is then sent straight into the cylinder where it is combusted.
“This means that as we’re driving down the road, we’re producing hydrogen in real time, and blending it with gasoline at a ratio of 30 to 40 percent,” says Ronn Maxwell, CEO of Ronn Motor Company. “We are still using gasoline, but we’re gonna be using 40 percent less,” Maxwell said. “The hydrogen cleans up the emissions. It actually consumes carbon. It’s not the perfect car, not electric, but it is something that’ll work right now.”
The technology is impressive and the Scorpion’s makers are claiming a 30 to 50 per cent improved efficiency over the stock 3.5 litre, 280hp Acura VTech engine. At $150,000 (£75,000) it’s $41,000 more than the fully electric Tesla sports car. Maxwell plans to produce 200 units this year and within 5 years increasing to 500 units.
Greenbang is really excited, however, about how this technology could be used by a manufacturer such as Porsche, which can often get much better performance than the American muscle cars using smaller, beautifully engineered engines.
This technology story is brought to you in association with Kyocera
Posted by Greenbang on June 30th, 2008
Greenbang has an image of Saruman’s fortress in his mind. (That’s Saruman from the Lord of the Rings - not pictured, left).
He wasn’t really considered a sustainable producer of goods and services, but a blemish on the environment. He’d be laughing now though, with the amount of plastics and man-made complex polymers. He’s have looked greener than Swampy, the modern-day road-construction protester.
This all comes from these chaps, Tuscan Foundry Products, who have done some ‘research’ that says, the whole life cost of copper and cast iron rainwater products is a third of that of PVC and Aluminium over a 100 year life cycle.
“Results showed that copper and cast iron has higher capital cost than PVC and aluminium but their whole life costs over a 100 year life cycle are only 35% of that of PVC and aluminium. The report demonstrates that both materials also have a significantly lower impact in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions than PVC and aluminium.
By using base data the report, written by Tim Pullen, eco-editor for Homebuilding and Renovating magazine, compares the key issues relating to each material over a 100 year life cycle for a standard house.
“The disposable age, so far as houses are concerned, is over. The ‘Lifetime Homes’ section embodied in the Government’s Code of Sustainable Homes (compulsory for new houses from April 2008), encourages the builder to design a house and use materials that will serve the needs of the occupier for his/her whole life; ” says Tim Pullen.
From an environmental aspect, the report shows that cast iron and copper are much greener than modern materials. 80% of cast iron is recycled, 55% of copper is recycled and only 33% of aluminium is recycled. Due to the complex procedure involved in recycling PVC, there are no reported post plants in the UK.”
Conveniently, the research echoes a business message of the company. But it’s interesting nevertheless.
This story is brought to you in association with Delta Simons
Posted by RobAshwell on June 30th, 2008
California’s doing well on the green stakes lately. It may have more cars than practically anywhere else but, in addition to last week’s announcement that it will receive the first renewably sourced hydrogen filling station (Shell) and the first hydrogen cars (Honda), the California Air Resources Board has approved a comprehensive draft to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the state by 30 per cent within 12 years.
According to the Cunningham Report, a US transport news publication, the draft includes several proposed regulations to reduce emissions from trucks and from ships docked in California ports.
More from the Cunningham Report:
The plan, which details the main strategies California would use to reduce climate-changing GHGs, contains a mix of strategies, including regulations, voluntary measures and fees. Regulation of the transportation sector is one component, but the plan also focuses on numerous other elements, including energy efficiency and industrial sources.
Regarding transportation, the Air Board’s draft plan doesn’t delve too much into specifics but calls for, among other things:
- A regulation to require improved efficiency for heavy duty trucks.
- Hybridization of urban and short-haul trucks.
- Development and implementation of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard that require oil companies to make cleaner domestically produced fuels.
Other measures the CARB included in the draft plan include a regulation to require ship electrification at ports, the installation of 3,000 MW of solar-electric capacity under California’s existing solar programs, and a high-speed passenger rail system from San Francisco to Anaheim.
Posted by RobAshwell on June 30th, 2008
What’s the sweetest phrase in the English language? ‘This chocolate makes you thin’ is a good start. ‘This alcohol will leave you with no hangover’ is getting closer. But also ranking highly is ‘this vehicle will out accelerate all but a Formula 1 car and release no emissions’.
There’s always been a soft spot in Greenbang’s heart for motorbikes, not only are they inexpensive, go really fast and give great adrenaline rushes they also are really light so emit precious little CO2 per km. And this is set to decrease further at the true home of bike racing - the Isle of Mann.
Next year, running alongside the main race there will also be an environmentally friendly race, called the TTxGP, to push technology that little bit futher. Whilst the organiser’s could not confirm teams at this early stage, Greenbang has been given a sneak peak at the one bike likely to be raced, the imaginatively titled Vectrix Electric Superbike, pictured above.
The organisers have stated the race will be the ‘world’s first Clean Emissions Grand Prix race’ and ’showcase a diverse range of clean emission vehicles capable of reaching Grand Prix race speeds. Racing teams are likely to be backed by international corporations, universities and high tech institutions, all eager to prove their credentials in the brave new world of clean emission transportation.’
There will also be a open class race for innovative cottage teams that are experimenting with alternative energy sources. These teams will be required to build the bike to a set budget using off-the-shelf power sources only.
“It’s unlikely the vehicles will be close to the petroleum ones… petrol has had 100 years to evolve,” race coordinator, Azhar Hussain, told Greenbang. “Vehicles will still be quite fast though, probably 70 to 100mph.
“We’ve made the conditions of entry as low as possible, for example there is no minimum weight.
“The intention is to run a long term series… we’d like to take it to other parts of the world and ultimately make clean emission vehicles sexy.”
Kingston University’s course director for motorsport and motorcycle engineering, Paul Brandon has said of the race “Designing a solution for a course as demanding the Isle of Man TT circuit will further increase the impetus to bring cost effective, clean transport technologies to the general public.”
Teams and sponsors can register at here.
This category is brought to you in association with Tandberg
Posted by RobAshwell on June 30th, 2008
Greenbang hasn’t felt this disappointed since she was told that Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny didn’t exist. All on the same day , quite a blow for a 6 year old.
According to the Asian wing of UPI, next week’s G8 Summit is to undergo a change in agenda replacing climate change with concerns over the price of food and oil.
After last week’s announcement by Tony Blair and the Climate Group of the 10 building blocks to a low carbon future Greenbang was keenly anticipating the summit, now she may just skulk off and mope.
At the same time the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has urged Japan to take a greater lead in the fight against climate change. Greenbang will be waiting to see if this has been heeded, but she suspects not.
According to the news organisation AFP:
In a speech at Kyoto University, Ban said Japan, the world’s second largest economy and a leader in green technology, had a “moral and political responsibility” to play a bigger role in tackling climate change.
Japan should share its environmental technology with other nations to help reduce their levels of greenhouse gases which cause climate change, as well as help setup active trading schemes for carbon emissions, Ban said.
Posted by RobAshwell on June 27th, 2008
A little over a week ago Greenbang spoke to Honda about the launch of its new hydrogen powered car, the FCX Clarity. During the discussion Honda let her know that in addition to the likes of actress Jaime Lee Curtis and Producer Ron Yerxa the car would be making use of five refueling stations strategically positioned around California.
Greenbang was informed that the enough hydrogen to fill one car every 24 hours would be generated from electrophoresis* and that was the end of the story.
A news release from Shell, however, has just resparked her interest. According to the release Shell has just ‘announced the opening of California’s first hydrogen refueling station on a conventional Shell gasoline forecourt.’ Which is impressive, but one further item in the release has caught Greenbang’s eye - no carbon will be emitted in the hydrogen production process:
Hydrogen produced at the Shell station will be done on-site by the electrolysis of water using ‘green electricity’ purchased from the Los Angeles City Department of Water & Power. It will then be compressed and stored to provide daily fueling.
In addition to zero tailpipe emissions, finding ways to produce hydrogen from renewable sources will be critically important to making the fuel infrastructure sustainable. And with ground breaking approaches to produce ‘green hydrogen’, manufactured from renewable energy sources, such as bioethanol (derived from biomass) and solar energy being researched for the future, ‘well to wheel’ emissions will be able to near zero.
The station will also support a U.S. Department of Energy hydrogen infrastructure program, to supply hydrogen to future and existing General Motors FCVs in the LA metro area. GM plans to provide more than thirty Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell-Electric compact SUVs to private and commercial customers in Southern California, as part of a three-year trial, called “Project Driveaway” to test the vehicles in real world driving conditions.
The capacity is still low but matches current demand, speaking to Robin Lebovitz from Shell’s press office Greenbang learned the station can “fuel three cars back to back and five to seven cars over 24 hours.”
* Using electricity to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen.
This category is brought to you in association with Tandberg
Posted by RobAshwell on June 27th, 2008
Commodities trading has always intrigued Greenbang ever since, as a little girl, she sat down to watch the Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd film Trading Places. Why there are so many heart attacks and bankruptcies over pork bellies and frozen concentrated orange juice she’ll never know.
There is one market she could get into, however.
Yesterday, the FT reported that the market in greenhouse gas emissions is potentially set to become the biggest traded commodity. This is according to the head of the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Bart Chilton.
Bart Chilton reportedly stated “Even with conservative assumptions, this could be a $2,000bn futures market in relatively short order.”
The Norwegian environmental market analyst firm Point Carbon has gone even further estimating the global carbon market could reach more than $3,000bn in 2020.
As cited in by the FT article:
Carbon trading was worth about $64bn last year, according to the World Bank, but the US accounted for a small fraction of this. Most of the trading – about $50bn – was carried out under the European Union’s emissions trading scheme, with nearly all of the rest carried out under the Kyoto Protocol, which the US has not ratified.
Posted by jumperhead on June 27th, 2008
Like a student house and Ikea, or bananas and custard, or Boris Johnson and a blancmange made of razor blades, some things naturally go together. Today’s Romeo and Juliet are US utility Duke Energy and Catamount Energy Corporation, who were united in a $240 million buy.
Duke’s acquisition of Catamount will give it an extra leg up in the wind sector, where Catamount has wind farms in both the UK and the US - 300 MW already on the go and 1750 under development.
Here’s the information cherry on the top:
Today’s acquisition, valued at approximately $240 million plus assumed debt, is a continuation of Duke Energy’s strategy to develop renewable energy. In May 2007, Duke purchased Tierra Energy, a leading wind developer in Austin, Texas. The combined entity will have more than 5,000 megawatts of wind energy under development in 12 states and approximately 500 megawatts of operating assets by the end of 2008.
Today’s announcement follows several other recent renewable initiatives announced by Duke Energy, including a $100 million plan to install electricity generating solar panels at up to 850 North Carolina sites; a plan to purchase electricity output from the nation’s largest photovoltaic solar farm to be built in Davidson County, N.C.; a 20-year contract to purchase 100 megawatts from a wind farm in Indiana; and a request for proposals to purchase significant amounts of electricity from renewable energy providers in Ohio.
Posted by jumperhead on June 27th, 2008
You can’t keep a good buzzword down. Ladies and gentlemen, Greenbang presents the latest in green PR word play ’solar as a service’, brought to you courtesy of residential solar provider SunRun.
Greenbang might not be too impressed with SunRun’s wordage, but she can’t fault its business model: homeowners get solar panels through SunRun. They don’t pay for the gear itself - SunRun owns and maintains the panels - but instead just pay for the solar electricity they use and SunRun pays for any maintenance and repairs the solar equipment may need.
The service looks like it’s already got its fans: SunRun has just closed a $12 million funding round led by Foundation Capital.
SunRun said the investment will “accelerate our ability to deliver SunRun Solar Service to our rapidly growing market”, which isn’t exactly illuminating as strategy announcements go.
