Save and Conserve

I read a story like this about the horrors of summertime travel that many of us have experienced firsthand ... and I wonder why these experiences and these problems don't dissuade people from flying. In fact, the opposite is happening:

But with the lure of low fares and the lust for travel, Labor Day fliers will not be deterred, however. The Air Transport Association says 15.7 million people, a 2.6 per cent increase over last Labor Day weekend, will fly U.S. airlines between Aug. 29 and Sept. 5.

What keeps them coming back for more, I wonder? Why aren't they turning away from the airports and their frustrating wait times, cancellations, security checks, lack of communication, and piss-poor customer service? Cheap flights? Is it that simple?

The air system is clearly at its break point during the heavy travel summer season. Last place I want to be on Labor Day weekend is anywhere near an airport. Reminds me of a famous Yogi Berra quote:

Nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded.

That's how I feel, Yogi. Apparently most Americans don't share that sentiment. Bizarre ...

Posted by tom c. at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You're concerned about the environment and about the amount of energy you personally consume. You are thinking about reducing your carbon footprint. You are serious about changing something about your behavior, and you want to do something bigger than running down to Home Depot to grab some compact flourescent light bulbs for the house. But you aren't sure what you should do ... and you need some guidance.

Here's the simple solution: sell your car and replace it with a car that gets better fuel mileage.

I did it almost exactly one year ago, and it has been a great decision. I now go around telling everyone to do the same thing, so I might as well tell you about it too.

In my case, I swapped my Nissan Pathfinder SE for a used Honda Accord. Just like that I went from driving a vehicle that averages 15mpg (city + highway combined) to one that averages 24mpg. If I drive the Honda 13k miles this year, I'll be saving 325 gallons of gas. At $3.00/gallon (NY has a pretty steep gas tax), that's $975 dollars in my pocket. That's a pretty significant chunk of change.

I also obviously reduced the amount of harmful emissions I was producing by driving my car. FuelEconomy.gov tells me I am expelling about 4.5 fewer tons per year by making the switch from SUV to sedan. That feels good.

I loved the Pathfinder, but I could no longer overlook the fact that it was a total gas hog. Long drives from Albany, NY to family in Boston, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut and to vacations in Montreal, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine were becoming more and more expensive as gas prices hit $3.00/gallon territory.

Sure, I miss being perched higher up on the road and I miss the security that comes from shift on the fly 4 wheel drive during winter snowstorms. But let's face it - those are luxuries I can manage without. I hear a lot of people say they drive a big SUV because they need the space. I think that's BS. The Honda packs very well and has bigger trunk room than would appear. Other than moving furniture, the Honda meets my space needs really well.

So, if you want to reduce your energy use, save a substantial amount of money and do the right thing for the environment, replace your car. Very simple. If you're already in a small, fuel efficient car, kudos for choosing wisely and responsibly!

Posted by tom c. at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The US Department of Energy said today that a research group led by the University of Delaware has achieved a new record for solar cell efficiency.

In late July, a consortium led by the University of Delaware (UD) announced that it has created a solar cell that can convert 42.8% of the sunlight that hits it into electricity, besting a record set by Spectrolab and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in December 2007.

This is good news for the future of solar, which is currently limited in application due to exorbitant costs ... which map back to poor efficiency of the current cell technologies. If memory serves, most solar cells on the market today are about 11-12% efficient. 42.8% efficiency is, therefore, a huge leap forward for the technology. Of course, this has been achieved in a lab ... not in a mass-production, real world environment ... so there is still a tremendous need for funds and research to make higher efficiency a reality.

Interesting also to note that this research discussed above is funded by DARPA, the US Department of Defense's R & D center. The military seems to understand our current energy predicament quite well, based on their interest in alternative sources of energy like solar.

Posted by tom c. at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In late 2006, a new energy-efficient building opened in mid-Manhattan called the Hearst Tower (pictured at right).

This tower has subsequently been awarded rated "Gold LEED" by the United States Green Building Council. This was the first building in New York city to achieve the Gold status.

What exactly is LEED? From the USGBC's website:

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

The highest level of certification is Platinum, so the Hearst Tower apparently could have been just a little bit greener ;)

Anyway, the building is well ahead of its time. Here are some of the energy saving characteristics:

Hearst settled upon an innovative "diagrid" system (a word contraction of diagonal grid), that creates a series of four-story triangles on the façade. No verticle steel beams are being used, which is a first for North American office towers. In addition to giving the tower a bold architectural distinctiveness, it is providing Hearst with superior structural efficiency. As a result, Hearst eliminated the need for approximately 2,000 tons of steel, a 20 percent savings over a typical office building.

Hearst executives also selected an innovative type of glass that wraps around the exterior of the building. The glass has a special "low-E" coating that allows for internal spaces to be flooded with natural light while keeping out the invisible solar radiation that causes heat.

In conjunction with the glass, Hearst is installing light sensors that will control the amount of artificial light on each floor based on the amount of natural light available at any given time. The optimization of natural light has been demonstrated in recent studies to have important, positive effects on occupant health, quality of life and productivity.

Hearst also will utilize technology that senses activity level. At lunchtime, when some employees are leaving or not using their computers, motion sensors will detect this and adjust the system accordingly. These sensors will allow for lights and computers to be turned off when a room is vacant.

In addition, Hearst is using high efficiency heating and air-conditioning equipment that will utilize outside air for cooling and ventilation for 75 percent of the year, as well as Energy Star appliances. These and other energy-saving features are expected to increase energy efficiency by 22 percent compared to a standard office building. This is a welcome innovation in New York City, where rapidly growing electricity demand is threatening to overwhelm the local power supply.

Hearst is also employing pioneering technologies in order to conserve and more efficiently use water. For example, Hearst's roof has been designed to collect rainwater, which will reduce the amount of water dumped into the City's sewer system during rainfall by 25 percent.

The rainwater will then be harvested in one 14,000-gallon reclamation tank located in the basement of the Hearst Tower. The rainwater will be used to replace water lost to evaporation in the office air-conditioning system. It also will be fed into a special pumping system to irrigate plantings and trees inside and outside of the building. It is expected that the captured rain will produce about half of the watering needs.

The harvested water also will be utilized for "Icefall," a three-story, sculpted water feature within the building's grand atrium. In addition to serving as a stunning entrance to the building, Icefall, which is believed to be the nation's largest sustainable water feature, will also serve an environmental function by serving to humidify and chill the atrium lobby as necessary.

I wish we heard more about these types of developments ... and although this is old news, I thought it deserved a write up. Hope you did too.

Posted by tom c. at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sales of hybrid automobiles in the US are projected to have grown 35% in 2006 (compared to 2005). At the same time, recent articles like this one claim that consumer interest in hybrids is on the decline. As long as sales are growing 35% year over year, I don't really care if fewer people are considering buying a hybrid. Why look at it from that angle?

Anyway, in addition to very healthy sales growth, the US Dept of Energy is reporting that the leader in hybrid sales - Toyota - is planning to slash prices on 2008 hybrids like the Camry and the Prius. Me thinks that hybrid sales will continue to gain year over year with news like this. And me thinks this is good news as we try to increase the average fuel efficiency of our auto fleet.

Posted by tom c. at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Energying Information Administration ("EIA") recently released the 2005 edition of their report named Renewable Energy Annual. What exactly does this report cover you ask?

The Renewable Energy Annual 2005 is the eleventh in a series of annual publications on renewable energy by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The 2005 edition presents four reports, accompanied with data tables and graphics covering various aspects of the renewable energy marketplace.

The renewable energy sources included are biomass (wood, wood waste, municipal solid waste, landfill gas, ethanol and other biomass); geothermal; wind; solar (solar thermal and photovoltaic); and conventional hydropower.

Hydroelectric pumped storage facilities are excluded, because they usually use non-renewable energy sources for their operation. Since the EIA collects data only on terrestrial (land-based) solar energy systems, satellite and some military applications are also excluded.

The big news coming out of this report is the increase in American wind energy consumption. Total renewable energy consumption in 2005 was 6.588 quadrillion Btu, up 2.4% from 6.433 in 2004. However, wind energy consumption grew 25.6% over the same period. Granted, the total amount of wind energy consumed is not much (at 0.178 in 2005), but the growth is the story.

Wind is taking off and has a lot of headroom to grow. While wind is growing like a weed, conventional hydroelectric, solar energy, and geothermal energy are all in the growth doldrums.

The difference between wind energy and all other renewable sources becomes even more pronounced when you compare growth since 2001. From 2001 to 2005, wind energy consumption has grown 156%. None of the other sources has grown more than 21% during the same time ... although hydroelectric is a much more mature source of renewable energy, with most of the available power already harnessed for years.

Still, it's clear that the market believes wind power is where the action is going to be going forward. News that Shell is going to build a 3,000 megawatt wind farm in Texas - four times bigger than any other existing wind farm - shows that the turn to wind is at the head of a long tail.

Posted by tom c. at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)