AP: NEW YORK - Starbucks Corp. is installing new water faucets in its U.S. stores that will allow the company to save about 150 gallons of water a day -- roughly two bathtubs' worth -- at each of its cafes after receiving criticism and as part of a green initiative.
The company said it will no longer run water continuously out of its taps to wash spoons and will instead install new faucets that meter out water. Baristas press the faucet once and high pressure water sprays out long enough to rinse a spoon. The faucets are now being installed in all U.S. stores -- a process that will be completed by September -- and will be delivered to select international stores in the fall. About 600 stores, mainly in California, now have the new faucets.
Stores that do not receive the new metered faucets will use a "single spoon, single pitcher" procedure, which involves using a spoon once and setting it aside to be cleaned and sanitized when dishes are washed.
"These standards balance Starbucks' need to reduce our environmental footprint and to meet the most stringent health safety standards for customer safety, with minimal cost and operational impact," the company said in documents obtained by the Associated Press, which outlined new procedures for using the faucets.
The company uses spoons to stir up its coffee concoctions and hold back foam when pouring steamed milk into its iconic cups. Starbucks mandates that the spoons be rinsed free of any residue between uses and sanitized every two hours.
The changover in faucets comes after the company was criticized by environomental groups for wasting water by keeping the tap turned on all day.
Angel Gardner, a barista in Minneapolis and a member of the Industrial Workers of the World union, characterized the change as "bow to public pressure."
Starbucks said it has been working since 2007 to find an alternative to the practice. Previously, the company had said it needed to keep the water running to prevent germs from breeding in the taps and pipes.
Starbucks said the change is part of the company's Shared Planet initiative, meant to encourage greener, more community-minded practices within the company, which was announced last year
Sounds reasonable. Also, the local Styarbucks employees are ready and willing to recycle but are stimied by corporate regulations. Some Starbucks recycle their plastic cups, cardboard, and milk jugs but it seems that most dont. They could get together with other local businesses and make an agreement for all of them to recycle. At least a dozen local businesses have agreed to recycle if it wasnt too expensive, and it was made easy to do.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
TreeHugger article
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 06. 4.09
Science & Technology (water)
Two new self-filtering water bottles have caught our eye as handy ways to get clean water on the go. We decided to try them out, discover their pros and cons, and see how they compare to each other. Check out our impressions of Tap Guard and Clear2Go.
Clear2Go Filtering Water Bottle
You may remember back in April when we met up with Clear2Go during Green Apple Festival. We showed you a quick video about how the bottle works. It filtered out some pretty nasty looking gook, giving crystal clear water.
The BPA-free bottle is $16.99 which compares to steel reusable bottles. It almost seems pricey, because the bottle itself is a squeezable plastic that doesn't feel terribly high-end. But, it needs to be squeezable and the plastic is 100% recyclable. However, it's the lid that really adds the value. That's where the carbon filter is. The carbon filter screws on to the pop-top lid, filtering water as you squeeze it to drink. What makes this so great is it's easy to drink on the go without spilling, and dispenses water quickly.
According to Clear2o, the carbon filters were created in conjunction with NASA, and are NanoCeram, "a carbon filtration technology in a filter media combining the benefits of sub-micron particulate filtration with exceptional chemical removal. Comprised of nanometer-size particles, these filters far exceed current filtration systems and can handle the most difficult treatment requirements for industrial, residential and recreational water purification." These filters last up to 100 gallons, reducing the chlorine taste & odor and removing 99.9% of microbial cysts. The replacement filters come in two-packs for $11.99. Considering they last for 2-3 months or 100 gallons, that doesn't seem terribly expensive. The filter is also recyclable.
Pros:
Easy screw-on filter system
Pop-top for drinking on the go
Recyclability
Clear instructions for use
Cons:
Questionable durability of the bottle
No clear program for taking back the filters for recycling
A bit on the pricey side at the get-go
TapGuard
The TapGuard is a food-grade silicone filter that fits to the mouths of popular BPA-free durable water bottles like Camelback and Nalgene. The filters removes up to 95% of chlorine, iodine, and other "bad tasting chemicals."
The carbon filters are little netted bags of activated carbon, which you insert into the filter holder. The holder is open at one end so you can pour in water, and the other end is a slotted sipper that sits over the carbon filter. You place the holder over the mouth of the water bottle, and fill the bottle . The water is filtered as you drink. However, unless you suck on the sipper, you have to drink very slowly since the water doesn't filter quickly, and if you tip too far, water spills out from the open end all over your face. So it isn't the easiest bottle to drink from.
Additionally, because you're inserting a bag of carbon into a holding area, we question if 100% of the water coming through the filter area is actually getting filtered by the carbon. And, unless you rinse the carbon pouch really, really, really well before use, we noticed a distinct feeling of dustiness or after taste. There are not clear instructions for use with the product that tell you to rinse the pouch before hand, so you have to either be familiar enough with these systems to know that, or do a little digging for additional instructions online.
One neat thing is that the maker of TapGuard, Guyot, runs a carbon offset program for the product. "Guyot Designs purchases enough carbon offsets to not only neutralize the production impacts of TapGuards, but to actually reduce greenhouse emissions. Each TapGuard carries enough carbon offsets to account for more than 50 lbs. of verifiable greenhouse gas emissions reductions." The offsets can be verified on Guyot's website.
The TapGuard is $15.95 and comes with the filter holder and two replacement carbon filters, each capable of filtering 100 liters, or just over 26 gallons. Replacement filters come in two-packs for $5.95.
Pros:
Small part that fits to water bottles you may already own
Is swappable to new water bottles when you need to replace them
Carbon filter is easily replaceable and doesn't require new plastic parts
Carbon offset program
Cons:
Difficult to drink from the bottle without spilling
Dusty or gritty after-taste
Lacks quality instructions for use
Conclusion - Which Filtering Water Bottle Wins?
Both of these water bottles are great for filtering tap water from safe water sources. But you can't really head into the woods, fill up your bottle from a stream, and expect to be protected from every nasty found in the water. However, for grabbing water from water fountains and faucets, you'll be able to feel better about the safety and taste of the water you're consuming.
Ease of Use, Materials, and Price
The Clear2Go bottle is definitely easier to use, both for the filter and on-the-go drinking. It also has a cleaner taste than TapGuard. However TapGuard uses fewer materials for the original product and replacement filters. The TapGuard is less expensive in the first place, if you already have a water bottle it fits with, but the replacement filter costs end up being higher. While the Clear2Go replacement filters are priced at $11.99 for two, they filter 100 gallons each, whereas the TapGuard filters are priced at $5.95 for two and filter just 26 gallons each. However, in terms of materials and filter recyclability, TapGuard seems to have the lighter footprint by far.
More on Water Filtration Systems
Take Filtered Water With You
AquaSafeStraw Offers Portable Water Filtration
Back to the Tap: Filtered Water Bottle
Ovopur: A Water Filter that Looks Good
Lifestraw, Version II: Still Filtering; Now Without Aftertaste
Buying a Water Filtration System: Determining Which System Is Best for You
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
Buying a Water Filtration System: Determining Which System Is Best for You
Meet Stanley, The Company Bringing Free Water to Bonnaroo
New York Takes a Big Step Toward Banning Bottled Water
Which is Healthier: Tap Water or Bottled Water?
Science & Technology (water)
Two new self-filtering water bottles have caught our eye as handy ways to get clean water on the go. We decided to try them out, discover their pros and cons, and see how they compare to each other. Check out our impressions of Tap Guard and Clear2Go.
Clear2Go Filtering Water Bottle
You may remember back in April when we met up with Clear2Go during Green Apple Festival. We showed you a quick video about how the bottle works. It filtered out some pretty nasty looking gook, giving crystal clear water.
The BPA-free bottle is $16.99 which compares to steel reusable bottles. It almost seems pricey, because the bottle itself is a squeezable plastic that doesn't feel terribly high-end. But, it needs to be squeezable and the plastic is 100% recyclable. However, it's the lid that really adds the value. That's where the carbon filter is. The carbon filter screws on to the pop-top lid, filtering water as you squeeze it to drink. What makes this so great is it's easy to drink on the go without spilling, and dispenses water quickly.
According to Clear2o, the carbon filters were created in conjunction with NASA, and are NanoCeram, "a carbon filtration technology in a filter media combining the benefits of sub-micron particulate filtration with exceptional chemical removal. Comprised of nanometer-size particles, these filters far exceed current filtration systems and can handle the most difficult treatment requirements for industrial, residential and recreational water purification." These filters last up to 100 gallons, reducing the chlorine taste & odor and removing 99.9% of microbial cysts. The replacement filters come in two-packs for $11.99. Considering they last for 2-3 months or 100 gallons, that doesn't seem terribly expensive. The filter is also recyclable.
Pros:
Easy screw-on filter system
Pop-top for drinking on the go
Recyclability
Clear instructions for use
Cons:
Questionable durability of the bottle
No clear program for taking back the filters for recycling
A bit on the pricey side at the get-go
TapGuard
The TapGuard is a food-grade silicone filter that fits to the mouths of popular BPA-free durable water bottles like Camelback and Nalgene. The filters removes up to 95% of chlorine, iodine, and other "bad tasting chemicals."
The carbon filters are little netted bags of activated carbon, which you insert into the filter holder. The holder is open at one end so you can pour in water, and the other end is a slotted sipper that sits over the carbon filter. You place the holder over the mouth of the water bottle, and fill the bottle . The water is filtered as you drink. However, unless you suck on the sipper, you have to drink very slowly since the water doesn't filter quickly, and if you tip too far, water spills out from the open end all over your face. So it isn't the easiest bottle to drink from.
Additionally, because you're inserting a bag of carbon into a holding area, we question if 100% of the water coming through the filter area is actually getting filtered by the carbon. And, unless you rinse the carbon pouch really, really, really well before use, we noticed a distinct feeling of dustiness or after taste. There are not clear instructions for use with the product that tell you to rinse the pouch before hand, so you have to either be familiar enough with these systems to know that, or do a little digging for additional instructions online.
One neat thing is that the maker of TapGuard, Guyot, runs a carbon offset program for the product. "Guyot Designs purchases enough carbon offsets to not only neutralize the production impacts of TapGuards, but to actually reduce greenhouse emissions. Each TapGuard carries enough carbon offsets to account for more than 50 lbs. of verifiable greenhouse gas emissions reductions." The offsets can be verified on Guyot's website.
The TapGuard is $15.95 and comes with the filter holder and two replacement carbon filters, each capable of filtering 100 liters, or just over 26 gallons. Replacement filters come in two-packs for $5.95.
Pros:
Small part that fits to water bottles you may already own
Is swappable to new water bottles when you need to replace them
Carbon filter is easily replaceable and doesn't require new plastic parts
Carbon offset program
Cons:
Difficult to drink from the bottle without spilling
Dusty or gritty after-taste
Lacks quality instructions for use
Conclusion - Which Filtering Water Bottle Wins?
Both of these water bottles are great for filtering tap water from safe water sources. But you can't really head into the woods, fill up your bottle from a stream, and expect to be protected from every nasty found in the water. However, for grabbing water from water fountains and faucets, you'll be able to feel better about the safety and taste of the water you're consuming.
Ease of Use, Materials, and Price
The Clear2Go bottle is definitely easier to use, both for the filter and on-the-go drinking. It also has a cleaner taste than TapGuard. However TapGuard uses fewer materials for the original product and replacement filters. The TapGuard is less expensive in the first place, if you already have a water bottle it fits with, but the replacement filter costs end up being higher. While the Clear2Go replacement filters are priced at $11.99 for two, they filter 100 gallons each, whereas the TapGuard filters are priced at $5.95 for two and filter just 26 gallons each. However, in terms of materials and filter recyclability, TapGuard seems to have the lighter footprint by far.
More on Water Filtration Systems
Take Filtered Water With You
AquaSafeStraw Offers Portable Water Filtration
Back to the Tap: Filtered Water Bottle
Ovopur: A Water Filter that Looks Good
Lifestraw, Version II: Still Filtering; Now Without Aftertaste
Buying a Water Filtration System: Determining Which System Is Best for You
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
Buying a Water Filtration System: Determining Which System Is Best for You
Meet Stanley, The Company Bringing Free Water to Bonnaroo
New York Takes a Big Step Toward Banning Bottled Water
Which is Healthier: Tap Water or Bottled Water?
Kids at risk by ground-up tires in playgrounds?
Environment
Kids at risk by ground-up tires in playgrounds?
Government studies material in play areas after scientists raise concerns
Ground-up recycled tire crumbs cover this playground behind the K-2nd grade elementary Dickerson School in Chester, N.J., on Wednesday. The government is reconsidering whether fake turf in playgrounds and sports fields made of ground-up tires could pose health hazards to kids.
View related photos
Mike Derer / AP
Turning America Green
Florida's newest artificial reef created
Galveston recovers as hurricane season nears
Lights out for Earth Hour
New U.S. marine sanctuaries
'Nature's Best' awards
Earth from above
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
'Nature's Best' awards
'Nature's Best' backyards
Guarding gorillas in Rwanda, Congo
'Nature's Best' photos by youth
Breaking news alerts (about 1 per day)
Click here to sign up or text NEWS to MSNBC (67622).
Obama wants ‘new beginning’ in Muslim world
No Bible show-and-tell in school, court says
‘Perfect Storm’ fisherman convicted in Canada
Air France says no hope of Flight 447 survivors
Brazil custody battle hangs in balance
Most viewed on msnbc.com
Simple stool test may detect many cancers
Fallen soldier’s pup Laia arrives in U.S.
Conn. bride rescues family from house fire
Couple to plead guilty in toxic pet food case
Lawyer: N.J. man wins custody of son in Brazil
Most viewed on msnbc.com
No Bible show-and-tell in school, court says
Wal-Mart to create 22,000 jobs in 2009
Kids at risk by ground-up tires in playgrounds?
Obama wants ‘new beginning’ in Muslim world
Full text of Obama's speech in Cairo
Most viewed on msnbc.com
updated 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO - The federal government is reconsidering whether sports fields and playgrounds made from ground-up tires could harm children's health after some Environmental Protection Agency scientists raised concerns, documents show.
The EPA is concluding a limited study of air and surface samples at four fake-surface fields and playgrounds that use recycled tires — the same material used under the Obama family's new play set at the White House.
Although the EPA for years has endorsed recycled-rubber surfaces as a means of decreasing playground injuries, its own scientists now have pointed to research suggesting potential hazards from repeated exposure to bits of shredded tire that can contain carcinogens and other chemicals, according to internal EPA documents.
The scientists cited gaps in scientific evidence, despite other reviews showing little or no health concern, and urged their superiors to conduct a broad health study to inform parents on kids' safety.
Results from the agency's limited study, which began last year, are expected within weeks.
"From everything I've been able to see, I'm not sure there's an imminent hazard but it's something we're investigating," said Michael Firestone, EPA's head of children's health protection. "It's critical to take a look at all the data together."
The government hasn't decided whether broader testing is necessary.
Easy on the bones, great for recycling
Synthetic sports surfaces are easy on the bones and great for recycling, increasingly popular for their resiliency and for their weatherproof, low-maintenance qualities. But communities from New Jersey to Oregon have raised concerns about children touching, swallowing or inhaling lead, metals and chemicals like benzene, zinc and breathable particles from synthetic fields and play yards.
Last week, New York state officials said they found no significant health or environmental concerns in a study of leaching and breathable air above sports fields with so-called tire crumb, tiny rubber infill pellets that help anchor the synthetic grass blades. Other local studies have reached similar conclusions, examining artificial grass or tire crumb. Several have recommended additional research.
"If they really find it's something toxic, I would be concerned," said Alejandro Arroyo, a teacher watching his high school students from June Jordan School for Equity play soccer at San Francisco's Crocker Amazon Park. The scent of tire rubber wafted over the busy, five-field complex as a dozen third-graders flopped onto artificial turf infused with gravel-sized, black rubber.
Obama surprises daughters with new swing set
"We practice here, we eat lunch here," Arroyo said. "Everybody does that. It's a family park."
Scrap tire mulch cushions the ground under the Obamas' new play set at the White House. It was recommended by the National Recreation and Park Association, which relies on the industry's safety assurances and recommendations by the Consumer Product Safety Commission for cushioning the impact of falls, said Richard Dolesh, public policy officer for the park association.
But New York City officials say their new sports fields no longer will use tire crumbs. Connecticut asked the EPA to study the matter shortly after the EPA's Denver regional office recommended the same.
(Seems like a good use of old tires but further studies are needed.)
Kids at risk by ground-up tires in playgrounds?
Government studies material in play areas after scientists raise concerns
Ground-up recycled tire crumbs cover this playground behind the K-2nd grade elementary Dickerson School in Chester, N.J., on Wednesday. The government is reconsidering whether fake turf in playgrounds and sports fields made of ground-up tires could pose health hazards to kids.
View related photos
Mike Derer / AP
Turning America Green
Florida's newest artificial reef created
Galveston recovers as hurricane season nears
Lights out for Earth Hour
New U.S. marine sanctuaries
'Nature's Best' awards
Earth from above
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
'Nature's Best' awards
'Nature's Best' backyards
Guarding gorillas in Rwanda, Congo
'Nature's Best' photos by youth
Breaking news alerts (about 1 per day)
Click here to sign up or text NEWS to MSNBC (67622).
Obama wants ‘new beginning’ in Muslim world
No Bible show-and-tell in school, court says
‘Perfect Storm’ fisherman convicted in Canada
Air France says no hope of Flight 447 survivors
Brazil custody battle hangs in balance
Most viewed on msnbc.com
Simple stool test may detect many cancers
Fallen soldier’s pup Laia arrives in U.S.
Conn. bride rescues family from house fire
Couple to plead guilty in toxic pet food case
Lawyer: N.J. man wins custody of son in Brazil
Most viewed on msnbc.com
No Bible show-and-tell in school, court says
Wal-Mart to create 22,000 jobs in 2009
Kids at risk by ground-up tires in playgrounds?
Obama wants ‘new beginning’ in Muslim world
Full text of Obama's speech in Cairo
Most viewed on msnbc.com
updated 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO - The federal government is reconsidering whether sports fields and playgrounds made from ground-up tires could harm children's health after some Environmental Protection Agency scientists raised concerns, documents show.
The EPA is concluding a limited study of air and surface samples at four fake-surface fields and playgrounds that use recycled tires — the same material used under the Obama family's new play set at the White House.
Although the EPA for years has endorsed recycled-rubber surfaces as a means of decreasing playground injuries, its own scientists now have pointed to research suggesting potential hazards from repeated exposure to bits of shredded tire that can contain carcinogens and other chemicals, according to internal EPA documents.
The scientists cited gaps in scientific evidence, despite other reviews showing little or no health concern, and urged their superiors to conduct a broad health study to inform parents on kids' safety.
Results from the agency's limited study, which began last year, are expected within weeks.
"From everything I've been able to see, I'm not sure there's an imminent hazard but it's something we're investigating," said Michael Firestone, EPA's head of children's health protection. "It's critical to take a look at all the data together."
The government hasn't decided whether broader testing is necessary.
Easy on the bones, great for recycling
Synthetic sports surfaces are easy on the bones and great for recycling, increasingly popular for their resiliency and for their weatherproof, low-maintenance qualities. But communities from New Jersey to Oregon have raised concerns about children touching, swallowing or inhaling lead, metals and chemicals like benzene, zinc and breathable particles from synthetic fields and play yards.
Last week, New York state officials said they found no significant health or environmental concerns in a study of leaching and breathable air above sports fields with so-called tire crumb, tiny rubber infill pellets that help anchor the synthetic grass blades. Other local studies have reached similar conclusions, examining artificial grass or tire crumb. Several have recommended additional research.
"If they really find it's something toxic, I would be concerned," said Alejandro Arroyo, a teacher watching his high school students from June Jordan School for Equity play soccer at San Francisco's Crocker Amazon Park. The scent of tire rubber wafted over the busy, five-field complex as a dozen third-graders flopped onto artificial turf infused with gravel-sized, black rubber.
Obama surprises daughters with new swing set
"We practice here, we eat lunch here," Arroyo said. "Everybody does that. It's a family park."
Scrap tire mulch cushions the ground under the Obamas' new play set at the White House. It was recommended by the National Recreation and Park Association, which relies on the industry's safety assurances and recommendations by the Consumer Product Safety Commission for cushioning the impact of falls, said Richard Dolesh, public policy officer for the park association.
But New York City officials say their new sports fields no longer will use tire crumbs. Connecticut asked the EPA to study the matter shortly after the EPA's Denver regional office recommended the same.
(Seems like a good use of old tires but further studies are needed.)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Portland, Oregon Ranks Second In Poll
The survey evaluated municipal websites for their privacy, usability, content, service, and citizen participation and ranked the cities nationally. Five cities received the Municipal Web Portal Excellence Award: Washington DC, Portland, OR, New York, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. These cities will be awarded the Municipal Web Portal Excellence Awards at the Public Technology Institute’s Technology Solutions and Innovations Conference.
Portland scored second overall and was highly ranked in the categories of content and citizen participation. The City’s PortlandOnline website (www.portlandonline.com) allows citizens to pay utility bills and businesses to get a license and pay taxes online.
PortlandMaps, its online GIS system, allows visual access to city neighborhoods, including demographic data; crime statistics; transit and bike routes; permitting activity; schools and parks; businesses; and capital projects among other features.
City of Portland bureaus and offices also use blog, comment, survey, and polling capabilities of the City’s web content management system to facilitate 24/7 interaction with the public. Many of these award‐winning features will be further enhanced over the coming months through a project to refresh the look, feel and usability of PortlandOnline; this project will involve the public in improving Portland’s online presence.
When can we look forward to some of these capabilities in the Springs?
Portland scored second overall and was highly ranked in the categories of content and citizen participation. The City’s PortlandOnline website (www.portlandonline.com) allows citizens to pay utility bills and businesses to get a license and pay taxes online.
PortlandMaps, its online GIS system, allows visual access to city neighborhoods, including demographic data; crime statistics; transit and bike routes; permitting activity; schools and parks; businesses; and capital projects among other features.
City of Portland bureaus and offices also use blog, comment, survey, and polling capabilities of the City’s web content management system to facilitate 24/7 interaction with the public. Many of these award‐winning features will be further enhanced over the coming months through a project to refresh the look, feel and usability of PortlandOnline; this project will involve the public in improving Portland’s online presence.
When can we look forward to some of these capabilities in the Springs?
From sugar water to Spandex
June 3, 2009 7:26 AM PDT
From sugar water to Spandex
by Martin LaMonica
Spandex tights or car dashboard in the future will be made out of sugar cane rather than petroleum if start-up Genomatica succeeds on its plans.
The San Diego-based start-up on Tuesday said that it has reached a technical milestone in converting sugar--derived from sugar cane or beets--into an industrial plastic called 1,4-butanediol, or BDO. It's a material that's used in the auto, apparel, and pharmaceutical industries for a variety of uses.
Coaxing little bugs to do some heavy lifting.
(Credit: Genomatica)Genomatica uses a genetically modified strain of E.coli bacteria to convert sugar water into BDO through fermentation. On Tuesday it said it demonstrated that it can remove impurities from that fermented brew to make a 99 percent concentrated version of BDO.
"We're using a process that will continue to allow the overall economics of making BDO from sugars to be cost advantaged," said Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling. "Not only do we purify it, but we purify it in a way that will allow us to use technologies known to scale."
Schilling said that at the current price of sugar and $50-per-barrel oil, the process is 25 percent cheaper than petroleum-based BDO. The cost advantage will attract customers, which are also interested in finding a plant feedstock that has a less volatile price than oil, he said.
The company plans to build a demonstration facility next year that will produce about one ton of BDO a day. A commercial-scale operation would 20 to 100 times larger.
Biological-based chemical manufacturing is poised for greater adoption in part because of volatile fossil fuel prices and because consumers are demanding products made from renewable materials, Schilling predicted. He noted that DuPont is using a fermentation-based process to make 1,3-propanediol (PDO), another industrial plastic.
If successful with its demonstration facility, Genomatica expects to license its technology to other chemical manufacturers.
Schilling said the company has plans for making other chemicals, using a suite of software modeling tools that speed up discovery of ways to manipulate microorganisms to make a desired product.
Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'sugar britches".
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development.
From sugar water to Spandex
by Martin LaMonica
Spandex tights or car dashboard in the future will be made out of sugar cane rather than petroleum if start-up Genomatica succeeds on its plans.
The San Diego-based start-up on Tuesday said that it has reached a technical milestone in converting sugar--derived from sugar cane or beets--into an industrial plastic called 1,4-butanediol, or BDO. It's a material that's used in the auto, apparel, and pharmaceutical industries for a variety of uses.
Coaxing little bugs to do some heavy lifting.
(Credit: Genomatica)Genomatica uses a genetically modified strain of E.coli bacteria to convert sugar water into BDO through fermentation. On Tuesday it said it demonstrated that it can remove impurities from that fermented brew to make a 99 percent concentrated version of BDO.
"We're using a process that will continue to allow the overall economics of making BDO from sugars to be cost advantaged," said Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling. "Not only do we purify it, but we purify it in a way that will allow us to use technologies known to scale."
Schilling said that at the current price of sugar and $50-per-barrel oil, the process is 25 percent cheaper than petroleum-based BDO. The cost advantage will attract customers, which are also interested in finding a plant feedstock that has a less volatile price than oil, he said.
The company plans to build a demonstration facility next year that will produce about one ton of BDO a day. A commercial-scale operation would 20 to 100 times larger.
Biological-based chemical manufacturing is poised for greater adoption in part because of volatile fossil fuel prices and because consumers are demanding products made from renewable materials, Schilling predicted. He noted that DuPont is using a fermentation-based process to make 1,3-propanediol (PDO), another industrial plastic.
If successful with its demonstration facility, Genomatica expects to license its technology to other chemical manufacturers.
Schilling said the company has plans for making other chemicals, using a suite of software modeling tools that speed up discovery of ways to manipulate microorganisms to make a desired product.
Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'sugar britches".
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development.
VW Continues Fuel Cell Technology
Pretty much everyone in the auto industry has drunk the electric Kool-Aid, but some are still betting on hydrogen. Volkswagen is right there with them, and it brought the fuel cell Ling Yu Passat to California to show it still believes the most plentiful element in the universe is the fuel of the future.
Make that the distant future. VW’s “Future Mobility Roadmap” makes it pretty clear hydrogen fuel cell technology is being pursued as a long-term energy solution — in this case, “long-term” means it falls in line behind internal combustion, hybrids, range-extended hybrids and pure electric vehicles.
Still, like Honda, Mazda and fellow German automakers Mercedes and BMW, Volkswagen isn’t putting all its eggs into the battery-electric basket. The automaker - which recently joined Chinese automaker BYD in developing cars with cords - says it is “actively looking in depth at both battery electric and fuel cell vehicle technologies. And taking advantage of all the new discoveries we make in the process.”
We hope they discover some hydrogen filling stations along the way, or even some funding now that the Obama administration cut $100 million from the Department of Energy’s budget for fuel cell technology.
Volkswagen has been working on hydrogen cars since 2000 and says fuel cell technology is “one possible solution to give the consumer both long ranges and the short refueling times they currently enjoy, both of which at present are still a challenge with pure battery electric vehicles. ”
With collaboration from China’s FAW, Volkswagen refined its fuel cell technology to build 22 Passat Ling Yu sedans just in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Ling Yu recently made it to Sacramento, and the folks who drove them reported a perfectly normal driving experience — albeit one with the unmistakable whine of a fuel cell and the characteristic hiccups of a prototype that is a long way from production.
No matter what energy-efficient solution powers the cars of the future, we’ve got to hand it to Volkswagen for keeping so many irons in the fire. We admire its longstanding support of clean diesel technology, even if they won’t bring the Scirocco GT TDi to America. It also is working on battery-electric hybrids and even pushing the limits of fuel efficiency with wild experiments like the One-Liter Car concept.
With Volkswagen at the helm, even hydrogen might have a chance.
Obama pulled the 100 million out of the fuel cell research but VW soldiers on, in the belief that fuel cell technology is THE energy answer in the long run. They may be right but right now we need much better mileage sooner, so he seems to be looking for immediate help. This seems to be a prudent path- focus on here and now while putting SOME monies toward a possible longterm solution. We need relief from energy prices NOW, and down the road. Wonder if VW's diesel ehgine would run on veggie oil?
Make that the distant future. VW’s “Future Mobility Roadmap” makes it pretty clear hydrogen fuel cell technology is being pursued as a long-term energy solution — in this case, “long-term” means it falls in line behind internal combustion, hybrids, range-extended hybrids and pure electric vehicles.
Still, like Honda, Mazda and fellow German automakers Mercedes and BMW, Volkswagen isn’t putting all its eggs into the battery-electric basket. The automaker - which recently joined Chinese automaker BYD in developing cars with cords - says it is “actively looking in depth at both battery electric and fuel cell vehicle technologies. And taking advantage of all the new discoveries we make in the process.”
We hope they discover some hydrogen filling stations along the way, or even some funding now that the Obama administration cut $100 million from the Department of Energy’s budget for fuel cell technology.
Volkswagen has been working on hydrogen cars since 2000 and says fuel cell technology is “one possible solution to give the consumer both long ranges and the short refueling times they currently enjoy, both of which at present are still a challenge with pure battery electric vehicles. ”
With collaboration from China’s FAW, Volkswagen refined its fuel cell technology to build 22 Passat Ling Yu sedans just in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Ling Yu recently made it to Sacramento, and the folks who drove them reported a perfectly normal driving experience — albeit one with the unmistakable whine of a fuel cell and the characteristic hiccups of a prototype that is a long way from production.
No matter what energy-efficient solution powers the cars of the future, we’ve got to hand it to Volkswagen for keeping so many irons in the fire. We admire its longstanding support of clean diesel technology, even if they won’t bring the Scirocco GT TDi to America. It also is working on battery-electric hybrids and even pushing the limits of fuel efficiency with wild experiments like the One-Liter Car concept.
With Volkswagen at the helm, even hydrogen might have a chance.
Obama pulled the 100 million out of the fuel cell research but VW soldiers on, in the belief that fuel cell technology is THE energy answer in the long run. They may be right but right now we need much better mileage sooner, so he seems to be looking for immediate help. This seems to be a prudent path- focus on here and now while putting SOME monies toward a possible longterm solution. We need relief from energy prices NOW, and down the road. Wonder if VW's diesel ehgine would run on veggie oil?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Dania school teaches sailors how to repel pirates
Posted on Tuesday, 06.02.09share email print comment reprint
DANIA BEACH
Dania school teaches sailors how to repel pirates
A Dania Beach school teaches merchant sailors how to repel pirates -- a hot topic now in light of recent attacks off the Somalia coast.
BY ROBERT NOLIN
Sun Sentinel
Lacking any firepower of their own -- merchant crews aren't allowed to carry guns -- sailors must rely on innovation and resourcefulness to ward off pirates who are becoming increasingly brazen in their attacks on the high seas.
That's what instructor David Greenhouse imparts to students at the STAR Center maritime academy in Dania Beach. Through table-top exercises and ''what if'' scenarios, Greenhouse outlines anti-pirate options to merchant seamen seeking certification as security officers.
They range from simple flares to exotic sound rays and water guns.
''There's no absolute fix. We're looking at layers of defense here,'' said Greenhouse.
''It's obviously a hot topic right now,'' said STAR Center director Brian Long. STAR stands for Simulation, Training, Assessment and Research, which is affiliated with the American Maritime Officers union and issues about 4,000 training certificates a year to merchant sailors.
How to deal with pirates is a popular course. As their threat grows, Greenhouse said, so do methods to repel them.
Pirates, especially those off the Somalia coast such as the ones who held the captain of an American cargo ship hostage in April before Navy snipers killed his captors, typically attack from small boats. They clamber up a vessel's sides and, often brandishing AK-47s, take it over for ransom.
NO WEAPONS
Merchant crews can't counterattack because they don't carry weapons. The reasons: Many international ports won't let ships dock with armed crews; owners fear liability from gun accidents; captains fear mutinies.
So fleeing is the first wave of defense. The bigger ship should outrun the brigands' boat and throw a large wake to deter it, Greenhouse said.
''The best defense is don't let them get on the ship,'' he said.
A vessel should be well lighted, Greenhouse said, so pirates aren't afforded the advantage of stealth. Should they attempt to scale a vessel's sides, fire hoses can be used to wash them back into the briny.
Also readily available are flare guns, which can be fired directly into an attacking boat. ''A magnesium flare in someone's boat will keep them very, very busy,'' said Greenhouse.
A fiendishly futuristic deterrent, used extensively by cruise ships, is the LRAD, or long range acoustical device. The $30,000 machine produces a painful wail that assails a person's entire nasal system. ''Blow their eardrums out,'' said Long.
Structural defenses under consideration are simple: metal plates that slide out perpendicular to the vessel's side to prevent pirates from getting on deck, or foamy sprays to keep them from achieving a foothold should they do so.
WATER CANNON
Another developing option that appeals to Greenhouse and Long is the water cannon, a muscular squirt gun that can move along a ship's rail, suck up seawater and blast it back on pirates at near deadly velocity.
''Two hundred psi, that will take your eyes out of your sockets,'' Greenhouse said. ``It will be able to sink a small boat.''
With no pat solution to the pirate problem on the horizon, merchant seafarers will have to adapt to defending against them. ''It's probably never going to go away,'' Long said, ``but hopefully we can keep it controlled.''
DANIA BEACH
Dania school teaches sailors how to repel pirates
A Dania Beach school teaches merchant sailors how to repel pirates -- a hot topic now in light of recent attacks off the Somalia coast.
BY ROBERT NOLIN
Sun Sentinel
Lacking any firepower of their own -- merchant crews aren't allowed to carry guns -- sailors must rely on innovation and resourcefulness to ward off pirates who are becoming increasingly brazen in their attacks on the high seas.
That's what instructor David Greenhouse imparts to students at the STAR Center maritime academy in Dania Beach. Through table-top exercises and ''what if'' scenarios, Greenhouse outlines anti-pirate options to merchant seamen seeking certification as security officers.
They range from simple flares to exotic sound rays and water guns.
''There's no absolute fix. We're looking at layers of defense here,'' said Greenhouse.
''It's obviously a hot topic right now,'' said STAR Center director Brian Long. STAR stands for Simulation, Training, Assessment and Research, which is affiliated with the American Maritime Officers union and issues about 4,000 training certificates a year to merchant sailors.
How to deal with pirates is a popular course. As their threat grows, Greenhouse said, so do methods to repel them.
Pirates, especially those off the Somalia coast such as the ones who held the captain of an American cargo ship hostage in April before Navy snipers killed his captors, typically attack from small boats. They clamber up a vessel's sides and, often brandishing AK-47s, take it over for ransom.
NO WEAPONS
Merchant crews can't counterattack because they don't carry weapons. The reasons: Many international ports won't let ships dock with armed crews; owners fear liability from gun accidents; captains fear mutinies.
So fleeing is the first wave of defense. The bigger ship should outrun the brigands' boat and throw a large wake to deter it, Greenhouse said.
''The best defense is don't let them get on the ship,'' he said.
A vessel should be well lighted, Greenhouse said, so pirates aren't afforded the advantage of stealth. Should they attempt to scale a vessel's sides, fire hoses can be used to wash them back into the briny.
Also readily available are flare guns, which can be fired directly into an attacking boat. ''A magnesium flare in someone's boat will keep them very, very busy,'' said Greenhouse.
A fiendishly futuristic deterrent, used extensively by cruise ships, is the LRAD, or long range acoustical device. The $30,000 machine produces a painful wail that assails a person's entire nasal system. ''Blow their eardrums out,'' said Long.
Structural defenses under consideration are simple: metal plates that slide out perpendicular to the vessel's side to prevent pirates from getting on deck, or foamy sprays to keep them from achieving a foothold should they do so.
WATER CANNON
Another developing option that appeals to Greenhouse and Long is the water cannon, a muscular squirt gun that can move along a ship's rail, suck up seawater and blast it back on pirates at near deadly velocity.
''Two hundred psi, that will take your eyes out of your sockets,'' Greenhouse said. ``It will be able to sink a small boat.''
With no pat solution to the pirate problem on the horizon, merchant seafarers will have to adapt to defending against them. ''It's probably never going to go away,'' Long said, ``but hopefully we can keep it controlled.''
Broward to use Smart Cars at Aiport, Seaport
The Broward Sheriff's Office is going green at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
According to a news release, airport safety officers and community service aides will start to use smart cars to help them patrol the airport. The cars will also be used to Port Everglades.
Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti is expected to discuss the new program at a news conference Tuesday.
The smart cars will have emergency lights and carry a Broward Sheriff's Office decal.
The Smart cars are the little ones. It makes better sense to me to use an electric vehicle, as they probably dont log in more than 40 miles a day anyway.
According to a news release, airport safety officers and community service aides will start to use smart cars to help them patrol the airport. The cars will also be used to Port Everglades.
Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti is expected to discuss the new program at a news conference Tuesday.
The smart cars will have emergency lights and carry a Broward Sheriff's Office decal.
The Smart cars are the little ones. It makes better sense to me to use an electric vehicle, as they probably dont log in more than 40 miles a day anyway.
May's record rainfall soaks South Florida drought
May's record rainfall soaks South Florida drought
The wet season arrived with a historically soggy splash and erased most drought impacts.
BY CURTIS MORGAN
cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com
In a swift and soggy reversal, South Florida's weather has gone from historically dry to historically wet in the space of a month.
It was the rainiest May on record for the South Florida Water Management District, which recorded just over nines inches overall in the 16 counties it oversees, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe.
That's more than double the average, replenishing lakes and ground-water supplies that had been drained dangerously low by one of the driest dry seasons ever.
''I think for all intents and purposes the drought is over,'' said Robert Molleda, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Miami.
Water managers weren't quite ready to go that far.
South Florida gets about 70 percent of its annual rainfall, normally 35 to 45 inches, during the rainy season.
But as the last year has shown, average rainfall in the subtropical lower peninsula is often the point between two extremes.
Spokesman Randy Smith said the district was reviewing the improving conditions but with the six-month rainy season less than a month old, it was too early to declare the drought over.
But it was the rainiest May in West Palm Beach in 119 years, with a gauge at Palm Beach International Airport collecting 15.69 inches.
Moore Haven, on the southern shore of Lake Okeechobee, recorded 11.52 inches, less than a half-inch short of the two wettest Mays in 1923 and 1954.
Miami and Fort Lauderdale were almost above normal but far short of records. Miami International Airport recorded 7.53 inches -- nearly a foot short of the 18.66 record of Miami 1925. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International saw 7.80 inches -- 10 inches short of the 17.85 that fell in 2003.
The district's broader array of gauges across the counties showed coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties all at or near 10 inches for the month, close to double the normal amount of rainfall.
The upper basin of the Kissimmee River, which feeds Lake Okeechobee, recorded a stunning 14.16 inches -- more than four times the average.
The lake, which serves as the region's water barrel, has rebounded as well, rising three-quarters of a foot in the last few weeks and erasing evaporation losses from the last month.
The lake still remains seven-tenths of a foot below where water managers would like to see it at this time of year.
Even the driest region, Naples and Southwest Florida, recorded well above average rainfall.
Because the rainfall deficit between November and April was so deep -- with Miami about a foot below average and Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach more than 16 inches below normal -- groundwater and lake levels were at extreme low levels only a few weeks ago.
Much of Homestead, Florida City and the Keys remain on once-weekly watering restrictions because of concerns that encroaching salt water could taint well fields.
Forecasters expect the patterns of afternoon thunderstorms to continue into the week
Let it rain! let it rain! Let it rain! everything is greening up and looking good. of course now my grass needs to be cut every week now, but......
The wet season arrived with a historically soggy splash and erased most drought impacts.
BY CURTIS MORGAN
cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com
In a swift and soggy reversal, South Florida's weather has gone from historically dry to historically wet in the space of a month.
It was the rainiest May on record for the South Florida Water Management District, which recorded just over nines inches overall in the 16 counties it oversees, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe.
That's more than double the average, replenishing lakes and ground-water supplies that had been drained dangerously low by one of the driest dry seasons ever.
''I think for all intents and purposes the drought is over,'' said Robert Molleda, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Miami.
Water managers weren't quite ready to go that far.
South Florida gets about 70 percent of its annual rainfall, normally 35 to 45 inches, during the rainy season.
But as the last year has shown, average rainfall in the subtropical lower peninsula is often the point between two extremes.
Spokesman Randy Smith said the district was reviewing the improving conditions but with the six-month rainy season less than a month old, it was too early to declare the drought over.
But it was the rainiest May in West Palm Beach in 119 years, with a gauge at Palm Beach International Airport collecting 15.69 inches.
Moore Haven, on the southern shore of Lake Okeechobee, recorded 11.52 inches, less than a half-inch short of the two wettest Mays in 1923 and 1954.
Miami and Fort Lauderdale were almost above normal but far short of records. Miami International Airport recorded 7.53 inches -- nearly a foot short of the 18.66 record of Miami 1925. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International saw 7.80 inches -- 10 inches short of the 17.85 that fell in 2003.
The district's broader array of gauges across the counties showed coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties all at or near 10 inches for the month, close to double the normal amount of rainfall.
The upper basin of the Kissimmee River, which feeds Lake Okeechobee, recorded a stunning 14.16 inches -- more than four times the average.
The lake, which serves as the region's water barrel, has rebounded as well, rising three-quarters of a foot in the last few weeks and erasing evaporation losses from the last month.
The lake still remains seven-tenths of a foot below where water managers would like to see it at this time of year.
Even the driest region, Naples and Southwest Florida, recorded well above average rainfall.
Because the rainfall deficit between November and April was so deep -- with Miami about a foot below average and Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach more than 16 inches below normal -- groundwater and lake levels were at extreme low levels only a few weeks ago.
Much of Homestead, Florida City and the Keys remain on once-weekly watering restrictions because of concerns that encroaching salt water could taint well fields.
Forecasters expect the patterns of afternoon thunderstorms to continue into the week
Let it rain! let it rain! Let it rain! everything is greening up and looking good. of course now my grass needs to be cut every week now, but......
South Miami Hospital finds hope in umbilical cords
Posted on Tuesday, 06.02.09 Recommend (1)share email print comment reprint
HEALTHCARE
South Miami Hospital finds hope in umbilical cords
A recently opened umbilical cord bank at South Miami Hospital joins a national network of donation centers.
Buy PhotoMAY 26, 2009: Jennifer Garcia and her daughter Natalia Carmen Garcia, 1 week old, at their Miramar home. LILLY ECHEVERRIA / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Photo BY FRED TASKER
ftasker@MiamiHerald.com
When Jennifer Garcia scheduled the birth of her daughter at South Miami Hospital, nurses asked her an unusual question: ``After your baby is born, are you willing to donate the umbilical cord to save someone's life?''
She said yes: ``What's the point of throwing it in the trash if it can help other people?''
When Natalia Garcia, seven pounds six ounces, arrived at 3:56 p.m. on a recent Wednesday, the blood from the cord and placenta -- about a quarter cup -- was collected by those nurses, working in the hospital's new public Cord Blood Donation Center.
They flew it to a lab at Duke University in North Carolina, and the stem cells were spun off and stored at minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit. The cells became part of a rapidly growing national bank of cord blood stem cells waiting to treat patients with leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, aplastic anemia, sickle cell and other diseases.
Scientists are now discovering the power of cord blood stem cells, which are easier to collect and can be used more flexibly than bone marrow stem cells traditionally employed to fight blood diseases.
South Miami Hospital's new center -- one of only five in the state, and the only one south of Orlando -- is part of an expanding network of centers for a new therapy that has grown up over the past five years, using flexible umbilical cord blood stem cells instead of harder-to-extract bone marrow stem cells to fight blood diseases.
''This can make a real difference in giving doctors a choice of treatment,'' says Kathy Welte, director of the national Cord Blood Center in Minneapolis.
The new collection center, which opened in January, is especially welcome because of South Florida's diverse population, since minorities are seriously under-represented in the stem cells stored so far, she said.
South Miami Hospital's center came about after stem cells from centers in New York and Germany in 2007 treated the leukemia of the son, then 9, of one of the hospital's cardiologists.
''Those cells saved his life, and they came from umbilical cords, something we'd just been throwing away,'' says Dr. Harry Aldrich, who asked that his son's name not be used.
The case of Aldrich's son demonstrates the power of cord blood stem cells. At 9, the boy had acute myelogenous leukemia, a cancer of the blood that starts in the bone marrow.
Standard chemotherapy didn't work. Doctors said he needed a stem cell transplant. So Aldrich began looking for a bone marrow donor which can take months. No well-enough-matched donor could be found in the entire country.
SUCCESS STORY
But Aldrich had heard of a newer way of attacking leukemia -- with stem cells from umbilical cord blood. The Cord Blood Center in Minneapolis quickly found two matches for the boy -- one in New York, one in Germany.
The boy began treatment in March 2007. High doses of chemotherapy first destroyed his cancerous bone marrow. Umbilical cord stem cells were then injected into a vein leading to his heart. The new cells became part of his bone marrow, replacing the cells destroyed by chemotherapy, creating new, healthy blood cells and rebuilding his immune system.
Aldrich's son is now 11 and finishing fifth grade, having helped his team win a few rounds in his school's Geography Club Bee. He's been off all cancer drugs since January 2008.
One reason a quick match could be found was that umbilical cord blood stem cells don't have to match the recipient as closely as do stem cells from bone marrow. Starting at almost zero in 2000, umbilical cords now are the source of 21 percent of stem call transplants.
Still, they won't replace bone marrow stem cells. It takes stem cells from more than one umbilical cord to treat patients larger than a child or small adult, which complicates matching. Also, umbilical cord blood stem cells take longer to ''engraft'' into the patient and start producing new blood cells, leaving patients weaker longer.
When a patient receives a stem cell transplant, the direct cost is about $25,000, doctors say. The entire treatment can be $200,000 or more. Some insurance companies pay; others don't.
South Miami Hospital was enthusiastic about creating the new cord blood donation center, said Denise Woods, assistant vice president.
''We deliver 4,500 babies a year,'' she said. ''Nearly 80 percent of the mothers who are eligible take part.'' In its first nine weeks, the South Miami center collected blood from 198 cords, she said.
FIVE IN FLORIDA
Florida now has five hospitals with cord blood collection centers: the one in South Miami, three in Gainesville and one in Orlando.
Setting up collection centers in South Florida is important because of the area's diverse population, Aldrich said. Only 20 percent of donors to the national center in Minneapolis are African-American or Hispanic, while 40 percent of those seeking stem cell transplants are in those groups.
The Minneapolis center has 100,000 cord blood units in storage. It would take about 150,000 units to provide a quick match for every person who might need a transplant.
Aldrich now is working to persuade Baptist and University of Miami hospitals to open centers. Both say they are working toward that goal.
He adds: ``I'm grateful to those cord donors in New York and Germany who helped my son. And I know someone else will be grateful some day for the donors at South Miami Hospital.''
HEALTHCARE
South Miami Hospital finds hope in umbilical cords
A recently opened umbilical cord bank at South Miami Hospital joins a national network of donation centers.
Buy PhotoMAY 26, 2009: Jennifer Garcia and her daughter Natalia Carmen Garcia, 1 week old, at their Miramar home. LILLY ECHEVERRIA / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Photo BY FRED TASKER
ftasker@MiamiHerald.com
When Jennifer Garcia scheduled the birth of her daughter at South Miami Hospital, nurses asked her an unusual question: ``After your baby is born, are you willing to donate the umbilical cord to save someone's life?''
She said yes: ``What's the point of throwing it in the trash if it can help other people?''
When Natalia Garcia, seven pounds six ounces, arrived at 3:56 p.m. on a recent Wednesday, the blood from the cord and placenta -- about a quarter cup -- was collected by those nurses, working in the hospital's new public Cord Blood Donation Center.
They flew it to a lab at Duke University in North Carolina, and the stem cells were spun off and stored at minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit. The cells became part of a rapidly growing national bank of cord blood stem cells waiting to treat patients with leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, aplastic anemia, sickle cell and other diseases.
Scientists are now discovering the power of cord blood stem cells, which are easier to collect and can be used more flexibly than bone marrow stem cells traditionally employed to fight blood diseases.
South Miami Hospital's new center -- one of only five in the state, and the only one south of Orlando -- is part of an expanding network of centers for a new therapy that has grown up over the past five years, using flexible umbilical cord blood stem cells instead of harder-to-extract bone marrow stem cells to fight blood diseases.
''This can make a real difference in giving doctors a choice of treatment,'' says Kathy Welte, director of the national Cord Blood Center in Minneapolis.
The new collection center, which opened in January, is especially welcome because of South Florida's diverse population, since minorities are seriously under-represented in the stem cells stored so far, she said.
South Miami Hospital's center came about after stem cells from centers in New York and Germany in 2007 treated the leukemia of the son, then 9, of one of the hospital's cardiologists.
''Those cells saved his life, and they came from umbilical cords, something we'd just been throwing away,'' says Dr. Harry Aldrich, who asked that his son's name not be used.
The case of Aldrich's son demonstrates the power of cord blood stem cells. At 9, the boy had acute myelogenous leukemia, a cancer of the blood that starts in the bone marrow.
Standard chemotherapy didn't work. Doctors said he needed a stem cell transplant. So Aldrich began looking for a bone marrow donor which can take months. No well-enough-matched donor could be found in the entire country.
SUCCESS STORY
But Aldrich had heard of a newer way of attacking leukemia -- with stem cells from umbilical cord blood. The Cord Blood Center in Minneapolis quickly found two matches for the boy -- one in New York, one in Germany.
The boy began treatment in March 2007. High doses of chemotherapy first destroyed his cancerous bone marrow. Umbilical cord stem cells were then injected into a vein leading to his heart. The new cells became part of his bone marrow, replacing the cells destroyed by chemotherapy, creating new, healthy blood cells and rebuilding his immune system.
Aldrich's son is now 11 and finishing fifth grade, having helped his team win a few rounds in his school's Geography Club Bee. He's been off all cancer drugs since January 2008.
One reason a quick match could be found was that umbilical cord blood stem cells don't have to match the recipient as closely as do stem cells from bone marrow. Starting at almost zero in 2000, umbilical cords now are the source of 21 percent of stem call transplants.
Still, they won't replace bone marrow stem cells. It takes stem cells from more than one umbilical cord to treat patients larger than a child or small adult, which complicates matching. Also, umbilical cord blood stem cells take longer to ''engraft'' into the patient and start producing new blood cells, leaving patients weaker longer.
When a patient receives a stem cell transplant, the direct cost is about $25,000, doctors say. The entire treatment can be $200,000 or more. Some insurance companies pay; others don't.
South Miami Hospital was enthusiastic about creating the new cord blood donation center, said Denise Woods, assistant vice president.
''We deliver 4,500 babies a year,'' she said. ''Nearly 80 percent of the mothers who are eligible take part.'' In its first nine weeks, the South Miami center collected blood from 198 cords, she said.
FIVE IN FLORIDA
Florida now has five hospitals with cord blood collection centers: the one in South Miami, three in Gainesville and one in Orlando.
Setting up collection centers in South Florida is important because of the area's diverse population, Aldrich said. Only 20 percent of donors to the national center in Minneapolis are African-American or Hispanic, while 40 percent of those seeking stem cell transplants are in those groups.
The Minneapolis center has 100,000 cord blood units in storage. It would take about 150,000 units to provide a quick match for every person who might need a transplant.
Aldrich now is working to persuade Baptist and University of Miami hospitals to open centers. Both say they are working toward that goal.
He adds: ``I'm grateful to those cord donors in New York and Germany who helped my son. And I know someone else will be grateful some day for the donors at South Miami Hospital.''
Obama Lauds Nellis Solar Array
President Obama is at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada today. Not to talk to the drone pilots or network warfare specialists stationed there — but to highlight the installation’s king-sized solar array.
For years, the U.S. military has been on a lurching, irregular march towards green power and green energy. Along the way, it’s built biodiesel generators in Baghdad, bought thousands of electric vehicles, installed wind farms at bases around the country — and put together America’s largest solar array, at Nellis.
The 140-acre array, made from more than 72,000 solar panels, went online in December, 2007. It’s designed to generate more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
“That’s the equivalent of powering about 13,200 homes during the day. It’s a project that took about half a year to complete, created 200 jobs, and will save the U.S. Air Force, which is the largest consumer of energy in the federal government, nearly $1 million a year,” Obama said. “It will also reduce harmful carbon pollution by 24,000 tons a year, which is the equivalent of removing 4,000 cars from our roads. Most importantly, this base serves as a shining example of what’s possible when we harness the power of clean, renewable energy to build a new, firmer foundation for economic growth.”
The military, for its part, is pushing ahead with alt-energy and alt-power efforts. The recent stimulus bill gives the armed forces an extra $300 million to fund 51 energy research projects, plus another $120 million to go towards energy conservation. The Pentagon’s new budget contains an extra $75 million in new energy projects — from “Landfill Gas Energy Capture” to a “Tactical, Deployable Micro-Grid.” And plans are proceeding for a 500-megawatt solar array at Ft. Irwin, California that would make the Nellis panel collection look teeny by comparison
For years, the U.S. military has been on a lurching, irregular march towards green power and green energy. Along the way, it’s built biodiesel generators in Baghdad, bought thousands of electric vehicles, installed wind farms at bases around the country — and put together America’s largest solar array, at Nellis.
The 140-acre array, made from more than 72,000 solar panels, went online in December, 2007. It’s designed to generate more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
“That’s the equivalent of powering about 13,200 homes during the day. It’s a project that took about half a year to complete, created 200 jobs, and will save the U.S. Air Force, which is the largest consumer of energy in the federal government, nearly $1 million a year,” Obama said. “It will also reduce harmful carbon pollution by 24,000 tons a year, which is the equivalent of removing 4,000 cars from our roads. Most importantly, this base serves as a shining example of what’s possible when we harness the power of clean, renewable energy to build a new, firmer foundation for economic growth.”
The military, for its part, is pushing ahead with alt-energy and alt-power efforts. The recent stimulus bill gives the armed forces an extra $300 million to fund 51 energy research projects, plus another $120 million to go towards energy conservation. The Pentagon’s new budget contains an extra $75 million in new energy projects — from “Landfill Gas Energy Capture” to a “Tactical, Deployable Micro-Grid.” And plans are proceeding for a 500-megawatt solar array at Ft. Irwin, California that would make the Nellis panel collection look teeny by comparison
Army Wants Portable Wind Power for Grunts
Army Wants Portable Wind Power for Grunts
By Katie Drummond June 1, 2009 | 4:19 pm | Categories: Army and Marines, Science!
Hauling fuel to remote bases not only puts troops in jeopardy, by sending them on convoy runs through bomb-laden roads. It can cost as much as $400 per gallon to get the fossil juice there. So it’s not surprising that the Army is looking for portable wind-powered generators. The real head-scratcher is: what took them so long?
For years, the military has been trudging towards eco-friendliness, dumping some of their gas-guzzling Humvees in favor of greener electric rides, experimenting with trash-powered generators in Baghdad and investing $300,000 into research on wave-driven converters. They’ve also installed wind farms at bases nationwide. So with around $420 million in eco-targeted federal stimulus dollars to play with, it’s time for cooler green gadgets.
As with most things tech, cooler means smaller – and the military’s ideas are no exception. They’re asking for prototypes of a compact wind turbine, weighing less than 45 pounds and able to be compressed to 1/8th its operational size in less than four minutes. (In 2007, the Joint Chiefs of Staff negged a “priority 1″ request by the head of coalition forces in western Iraq for 183 solar- and wind turbine-equipped power stations. But those were supposed to way, way bigger - up to 40 feet long.)
These more manageable-sized generators should be as tough as a tank. “The system is expected to operate in harsh weather environments including wide daily swings in temperature, sand and snowstorms, hail and rain, and strong winds in excess of 60 mph,” according to the request for proposals. The mounted generators would power peripheral systems, like GPS and target acquisition systems (which use 60 to 100W, about as much as a home computer). The Army estimates that the turbines would provide between 10 and 100 percent of these secondary energy requirements – and save the equivalent cost in fuel.
The economic and environmental benefits are puny compared to military initiatives like the solar panel array at Nellis Air Force Base, which generates 30-million kilowatts of energy per year. But, as the army’s proposal points out, easy-to-use, portable wind-generators could have widespread use, including “hybrid vehicles, electrical power for remote locations, backup power for telecommunication devices and computers, and forestry service sensors.”
This seems to me to be the PERFECT situation to use solar power, in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is scorching daylight all day over there that is just begging for solar arrays, and the costs, compared to the $400 a gallon fuel they use now, would be a good deal. I applaud their use of solar at Nellis AFB and other places but it just seems to be a no-brainer to use solar in the desert. It may reduce the amount of fuels needed to half, if daylight last 12 hours as is usual and customary throughout the world. It could also be a proving ground for further Green technologies ie wave generators, electric or hybrid trucks, etc.. Wind generation is fine, if theres enough wind. We know there's plenty of sun over there - lets use it!
By Katie Drummond June 1, 2009 | 4:19 pm | Categories: Army and Marines, Science!
Hauling fuel to remote bases not only puts troops in jeopardy, by sending them on convoy runs through bomb-laden roads. It can cost as much as $400 per gallon to get the fossil juice there. So it’s not surprising that the Army is looking for portable wind-powered generators. The real head-scratcher is: what took them so long?
For years, the military has been trudging towards eco-friendliness, dumping some of their gas-guzzling Humvees in favor of greener electric rides, experimenting with trash-powered generators in Baghdad and investing $300,000 into research on wave-driven converters. They’ve also installed wind farms at bases nationwide. So with around $420 million in eco-targeted federal stimulus dollars to play with, it’s time for cooler green gadgets.
As with most things tech, cooler means smaller – and the military’s ideas are no exception. They’re asking for prototypes of a compact wind turbine, weighing less than 45 pounds and able to be compressed to 1/8th its operational size in less than four minutes. (In 2007, the Joint Chiefs of Staff negged a “priority 1″ request by the head of coalition forces in western Iraq for 183 solar- and wind turbine-equipped power stations. But those were supposed to way, way bigger - up to 40 feet long.)
These more manageable-sized generators should be as tough as a tank. “The system is expected to operate in harsh weather environments including wide daily swings in temperature, sand and snowstorms, hail and rain, and strong winds in excess of 60 mph,” according to the request for proposals. The mounted generators would power peripheral systems, like GPS and target acquisition systems (which use 60 to 100W, about as much as a home computer). The Army estimates that the turbines would provide between 10 and 100 percent of these secondary energy requirements – and save the equivalent cost in fuel.
The economic and environmental benefits are puny compared to military initiatives like the solar panel array at Nellis Air Force Base, which generates 30-million kilowatts of energy per year. But, as the army’s proposal points out, easy-to-use, portable wind-generators could have widespread use, including “hybrid vehicles, electrical power for remote locations, backup power for telecommunication devices and computers, and forestry service sensors.”
This seems to me to be the PERFECT situation to use solar power, in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is scorching daylight all day over there that is just begging for solar arrays, and the costs, compared to the $400 a gallon fuel they use now, would be a good deal. I applaud their use of solar at Nellis AFB and other places but it just seems to be a no-brainer to use solar in the desert. It may reduce the amount of fuels needed to half, if daylight last 12 hours as is usual and customary throughout the world. It could also be a proving ground for further Green technologies ie wave generators, electric or hybrid trucks, etc.. Wind generation is fine, if theres enough wind. We know there's plenty of sun over there - lets use it!
Banks have declared war -- on you
Banks have declared war -- on you
Changes are coming fast to the credit card world, and you can expect your bank to raise rates, slash credit limits, add fees and cut rewards. Consumers, brace yourselves.
[Related content: credit, credit cards, banking, credit card fees, Liz Pulliam Weston]
By Liz Pulliam Weston
MSN Money
Fasten your seat belts, credit card holders. It's going to be a bumpy few months.
When President Barack Obama signed credit card reforms into law recently, bankers shook their fists and warned us we'd be sorry. Though some of their threats are so much hot air, the new legislation will force some dramatic and often unwelcome changes.
Who's most at risk? Anyone who carries credit card debt, and that includes those of you with great FICO credit scores.
Who's least at risk? Big spenders with good credit scores who don't carry balances.
"Brace yourselves. For the next nine months, until this law takes effect, issuers will do more of the same: raising interest rates, pushing through new and higher fees, and continuing to scale back credit limits," said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. "Everybody, including those with very good credit, will have to get accustomed to lower credit limits, higher rates and higher fees as a result."
Read on for how the landscape will change and how you can best cope.
Talk back: Have you been abused by a credit card company?
First, a little history: After years of offering cards to virtually everyone, including toddlers and dogs, issuers started overhauling their practices early last year as the recession took hold. (Read my column "The credit card party is officially over" from February 2008 to see how it all began.) Rate increases, account closures and credit limit cuts became more widespread as delinquencies started to spike and as issuers lost access to the securitization market that had provided them with so much cash.
More from MSN Money
How your credit compares with your neighbors'
Raise your credit scores to 740
Sneaky changes to your credit cards
7 fast fixes for your credit scores
What credit card reform means to you
Before the credit crisis, you see, issuers could bundle up your credit card debt and sell it in slices to investors, raising money the card companies could use to extend even more credit.
Once investors became allergic to risk, though, that easy source of funds dried up, and issuers reeled back some of the credit lines they'd proffered in better days. (One prominent banking analyst estimates issuers will cut overall limits by more than half before the end of 2010.)
Facebook users: Become a fan of Liz Pulliam Weston
Issuers are also making cards harder to get. The deluge of credit card offers that once swamped your mailbox has slowed to a trickle, and the majority of card companies tell the Federal Reserve they've tightened lending criteria by, for example, requiring higher credit scores.
Suddenly, the consumer matters
Meanwhile, the Fed woke up after a long slumber and noticed that some of the issuers' practices weren't exactly fair to their customers. Stuff like:
Hiding fees.
Raising rates on existing balances for any reason or no reason.
Jacking up rates because you missed a payment on an unrelated bill.
Applying payments first to balances with the lowest rate so the higher-rate charges would accrue interest longer.
Charging interest even in months when a customer didn't carry a balance, a practice known as double-cycle billing.
So the Fed and other banking regulators banned these practices but postponed implementation of the changes until July 2010. That, of course, gave issuers a running start so they could jack up rates, cut limits and impose fees even more furiously.
Video on MSN Money
The new credit card landscape
CNBC's Bertha Combs looks at the shockwaves the new rules will send through the card industry.
Which issuers did. That, in turn, fed a groundswell of public indignation that led lawmakers to impose even stricter reforms by lopsided votes in the House and Senate. For example:
Interest-rate increases will be permitted only under a few conditions, including when a promotional rate ends or when a cardholder is 60 days late with a payment. Issuers won't be able to raise rates for a year after granting a customer a card.
Instead of allocating payments proportionately among balances with different interest rates, issuers will have to apply payments to the highest-rate balance first.
Issuers will have to give 45 days' notice of any significant changes in your card agreement, up from today's 15-day notice, which will give you more time to shop for an alternative.
"Gotcha" fees for late payments will be harder to impose. Cardholders must be given at least 21 days to pay a bill after the statement closing date. Any payment received by 5 p.m. on the due date will be considered on time. Issuers will no longer be able to assess a late fee if a payment is received on a due date that falls on a day when the issuer is closed, such as a weekend or a holiday.
Cardholders must agree before issuers can approve over-limit transactions and impose fees.
Applicants under 21 must prove they have independent income or get a co-signer before they can open a credit card account.
Issuers can no longer lard subprime credit card offers with upfront fees. Such fees would be limited to 25% of the credit limit.
Like the Fed, though, lawmakers gave card issuers some time before the changes go into effect. So credit card companies have until next February to get their licks in.
And they will.
"Those (cardholders) who are revolving balances, even those with good credit, are going to suffer," predicted CardRatings.com's Curtis Arnold. "There's probably never been a worse time to have credit card debt."
This is credit card abuse, of course. I have had it happen to me a couple times in the past, which resulted in my closing the account. they, of course, threaatened to report me to the credit bureau for their bogus charges, so most of the time I just paid them off to stop a possible black mark on my credit scores. Now, of course, I tell everybody I know NOT to deal with MBNC and the "whats in YOUR wallet?" people, as those were the people who ripped me off.
My nephew charged all of his credit cards up and is now paying the price. He had 4 credit cards with 12%, 13%, 14% and 19% interest rates, and charged them all up to the max. The 19% was from Home Depot and jumped to 13% when he was late with a couple payments. Charging them up at those interest rates was HIS fault.
The robbing, raping, and plundering he took from the credit card companies afterward was on THEM tho. It is a lesson I am sure he will NEVER forget. I tried to tell him, my Mom tried to tell him, but he didnt listen, like a lot of young men dont, thinking they know what they are doing even if its obvious to others they have NO clue. As a result of his poor money management, he has lost his house, the house my Mom gave hime free and clear six years ago when she died. Its a tough lesson to learn, but one that will stick with him for a LONG time, I hope.
Changes are coming fast to the credit card world, and you can expect your bank to raise rates, slash credit limits, add fees and cut rewards. Consumers, brace yourselves.
[Related content: credit, credit cards, banking, credit card fees, Liz Pulliam Weston]
By Liz Pulliam Weston
MSN Money
Fasten your seat belts, credit card holders. It's going to be a bumpy few months.
When President Barack Obama signed credit card reforms into law recently, bankers shook their fists and warned us we'd be sorry. Though some of their threats are so much hot air, the new legislation will force some dramatic and often unwelcome changes.
Who's most at risk? Anyone who carries credit card debt, and that includes those of you with great FICO credit scores.
Who's least at risk? Big spenders with good credit scores who don't carry balances.
"Brace yourselves. For the next nine months, until this law takes effect, issuers will do more of the same: raising interest rates, pushing through new and higher fees, and continuing to scale back credit limits," said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. "Everybody, including those with very good credit, will have to get accustomed to lower credit limits, higher rates and higher fees as a result."
Read on for how the landscape will change and how you can best cope.
Talk back: Have you been abused by a credit card company?
First, a little history: After years of offering cards to virtually everyone, including toddlers and dogs, issuers started overhauling their practices early last year as the recession took hold. (Read my column "The credit card party is officially over" from February 2008 to see how it all began.) Rate increases, account closures and credit limit cuts became more widespread as delinquencies started to spike and as issuers lost access to the securitization market that had provided them with so much cash.
More from MSN Money
How your credit compares with your neighbors'
Raise your credit scores to 740
Sneaky changes to your credit cards
7 fast fixes for your credit scores
What credit card reform means to you
Before the credit crisis, you see, issuers could bundle up your credit card debt and sell it in slices to investors, raising money the card companies could use to extend even more credit.
Once investors became allergic to risk, though, that easy source of funds dried up, and issuers reeled back some of the credit lines they'd proffered in better days. (One prominent banking analyst estimates issuers will cut overall limits by more than half before the end of 2010.)
Facebook users: Become a fan of Liz Pulliam Weston
Issuers are also making cards harder to get. The deluge of credit card offers that once swamped your mailbox has slowed to a trickle, and the majority of card companies tell the Federal Reserve they've tightened lending criteria by, for example, requiring higher credit scores.
Suddenly, the consumer matters
Meanwhile, the Fed woke up after a long slumber and noticed that some of the issuers' practices weren't exactly fair to their customers. Stuff like:
Hiding fees.
Raising rates on existing balances for any reason or no reason.
Jacking up rates because you missed a payment on an unrelated bill.
Applying payments first to balances with the lowest rate so the higher-rate charges would accrue interest longer.
Charging interest even in months when a customer didn't carry a balance, a practice known as double-cycle billing.
So the Fed and other banking regulators banned these practices but postponed implementation of the changes until July 2010. That, of course, gave issuers a running start so they could jack up rates, cut limits and impose fees even more furiously.
Video on MSN Money
The new credit card landscape
CNBC's Bertha Combs looks at the shockwaves the new rules will send through the card industry.
Which issuers did. That, in turn, fed a groundswell of public indignation that led lawmakers to impose even stricter reforms by lopsided votes in the House and Senate. For example:
Interest-rate increases will be permitted only under a few conditions, including when a promotional rate ends or when a cardholder is 60 days late with a payment. Issuers won't be able to raise rates for a year after granting a customer a card.
Instead of allocating payments proportionately among balances with different interest rates, issuers will have to apply payments to the highest-rate balance first.
Issuers will have to give 45 days' notice of any significant changes in your card agreement, up from today's 15-day notice, which will give you more time to shop for an alternative.
"Gotcha" fees for late payments will be harder to impose. Cardholders must be given at least 21 days to pay a bill after the statement closing date. Any payment received by 5 p.m. on the due date will be considered on time. Issuers will no longer be able to assess a late fee if a payment is received on a due date that falls on a day when the issuer is closed, such as a weekend or a holiday.
Cardholders must agree before issuers can approve over-limit transactions and impose fees.
Applicants under 21 must prove they have independent income or get a co-signer before they can open a credit card account.
Issuers can no longer lard subprime credit card offers with upfront fees. Such fees would be limited to 25% of the credit limit.
Like the Fed, though, lawmakers gave card issuers some time before the changes go into effect. So credit card companies have until next February to get their licks in.
And they will.
"Those (cardholders) who are revolving balances, even those with good credit, are going to suffer," predicted CardRatings.com's Curtis Arnold. "There's probably never been a worse time to have credit card debt."
This is credit card abuse, of course. I have had it happen to me a couple times in the past, which resulted in my closing the account. they, of course, threaatened to report me to the credit bureau for their bogus charges, so most of the time I just paid them off to stop a possible black mark on my credit scores. Now, of course, I tell everybody I know NOT to deal with MBNC and the "whats in YOUR wallet?" people, as those were the people who ripped me off.
My nephew charged all of his credit cards up and is now paying the price. He had 4 credit cards with 12%, 13%, 14% and 19% interest rates, and charged them all up to the max. The 19% was from Home Depot and jumped to 13% when he was late with a couple payments. Charging them up at those interest rates was HIS fault.
The robbing, raping, and plundering he took from the credit card companies afterward was on THEM tho. It is a lesson I am sure he will NEVER forget. I tried to tell him, my Mom tried to tell him, but he didnt listen, like a lot of young men dont, thinking they know what they are doing even if its obvious to others they have NO clue. As a result of his poor money management, he has lost his house, the house my Mom gave hime free and clear six years ago when she died. Its a tough lesson to learn, but one that will stick with him for a LONG time, I hope.
Why banks (still) aren't lending
Extra4/23/2009 12:01 AM ET
Why banks (still) aren't lending
Taxpayers want bailed-out banks to make loans and goose the economy. But given the depths of the economic mess, that's the last thing the banks should do.
[Related content: banks, loans, recession, Treasury, financial crisis]
By David Weidner, MarketWatch
Banks need to stop the charade, ignore the political and public pressure and admit they're not lending.
It's not because they don't want to, but because it's bad business.
Don't think so? Take this pop quiz. Bank of America (BAC, news, msgs) posted smashing first-quarter profits and its chief executive, Ken Lewis, said the Charlotte, N.C., company is lending as if the good times never ended. So, in the bank's conference call, which of the following statements did Lewis make?
A. "Credit is bad, and we believe credit is going to get worse before it will eventually stabilize and improve."
B. "Even our internal economists are a little at odds as to the timing (of the recovery), with some seeing recovery earlier (than year's-end)."
C. "We believe unemployment won't peak until next year at somewhere in the high single digits."
D. All of the above.
E. None of the above.
For a CEO whose bank is lending as if it's 2006, you might be surprised that the Lewis who proclaims to be bullish on loans is bearish on the economy. The answer is D.
There's only one problem. No bank CEO can reconcile more lending with a deteriorating economy -- especially one in which economic conditions are the worst they've been in generations. But that's exactly the claim the bank chief is making.
Talk back: Do you see signs the economy is improving?
Lewis described a deep recession that's going to be here for months. Still, Bank of America touts that it's "helping" homeowners and small businesses with new loans. It claims to have added 45,000 customers and provided them credit. The reality, however, is less impressive: Bank of America loaned $183 billion during the quarter, up just 1.6% from the last quarter of 2008, when lending took a big dive industrywide.
This isn't to single out Bank of America. All of the major big banks, including Wells Fargo (WFC, news, msgs), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, news, msgs) and Citigroup (C, news, msgs) have been doing the credit double-talk that goes something like this: These are terrible conditions to be lending in, but we're lending in them without risk.
If those claims sound a little too good to be true, it's because they are. Almost all the big banks that have taken cash from the Troubled Asset Relief Program have curtailed lending, according to The Wall Street Journal.
One of the intentions behind TARP was for it to be a kind of stimulus program made through the banks. After plugging holes on each bank's balance sheet, the TARP cash was supposed to flow into new mortgages, auto loans, credit card lines and corporate lending. Six months later, it's fair to say TARP money has helped prop up some banks, but it hasn't flowed into the consumer credit markets the way the framers intended.
Now, critics have argued that the banks should be loaning this money to help stimulate the economy. Companies need credit to expand and hire, they say, and consumers need credit to buy products and help feed the economy.
In almost any other economy, this would be true, but not at a time when an overextension of credit created the recession we are fighting.
More from MSN Money and MarketWatch
Bank crisis far from over
Stress tests to show all banks 'above average'?
Why the bank stress tests are bunk
Sobering picture of how to pay for pensions
When will bad bankers go to jail?
10 reasons Wall Street controls America
Credit cycles, by definition, are periods where banks overextend credit and then pull back to correct the imbalance. If the government forces banks to lend to at-risk borrowers, we're going to aggravate an already dire credit picture and require more government intervention.
You can easily see how lending to home buyers not worthy of credit would fuel the nation's housing woes and create more housing problems, but what about the loans most people assume are helpful to the economy: small-business loans?
It turns out that existing small-business loans are defaulting at an alarming rate. More than 4.4% of small-business loans were in 30-day default, up from 3.48% a year ago. And 1.29% were delinquent 90 days, up from 1.04% a year earlier, while 0.63% were 180 days delinquent, double the rate a year ago, according to PayNet, a small-business payment network.
It doesn't matter what type of loan; lending into an economic downturn is an invitation to trouble.
Video on MSN Money
The truth about bank profits
Some of the biggest US banks posted first-quarter profits that skeptics assert are based more on accounting gimmicks than healthy operations. Are the earnings legitimate? (April 22)The steep rise in defaults and nonperforming loans suggests that the economy will make it hard for banks to simultaneously set aside reserves and lend more money out. Small businesses will lay off workers before they start missing loan payments, and the unemployed can't pay off their credit cards and car loan payments.
Taxpayers fuming about the banks' unwillingness to loan government money into the system might reconsider, given that the banks are actually being prudent with taxpayer cash. Now that banks have been backstopped by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department, they have less incentive to scrutinize credit. The risk of bad loans has been shouldered by Washington.
Banks have made a lot of missteps in the financial crisis -- overreaching with credit, misusing taxpayer cash, imposing punitive interest costs on consumers, being insensitive -- but reining in credit is not one of them.
So, when Lewis and his counterparts at competing banks brag about how much lending they're doing, take it with a grain of salt. In most cases, this is posturing by CEOs looking to fend off criticism they're not doing enough to help the economy.
What critics fail to acknowledge is that we all benefit from banks adhering to lending standards. When that doesn't happen, we get financial collapses that compare to the darkest times in our history.
Well, I can see the banks being moire prudent in their loan policies, and that is welcomed, but what about those who still have good credit and are at minimal risk? I know of a car dealer who has 20 people wanting to buy a car from him but cant find any financing. Since the taxpayers are financing the banks recovery shouldn't the banks BE REQUIRED to loan out a certain percentage of the money we are giving them? Only to the best credit risks, mind you, and at rates that reflect the risk involved, but DO loan to those that qualify. How else are we going to get OUT of this recessionary period? Its NOT like the banks are going to be giving out FREE money - just loan it to us at reasonable rates when we need it! How many people would go to work IF they had dependable transportation? how many CANT work because their transportation isn't reliable?
Especially in the used car business, the downside risk has become minimal, as repossessing the vehicle has been automated and electronic. There are chips that can be placed in vehicles that will NOT allow them to be started when the payments fall behind. I know the guy who invented that chip and he says that business is brisk.
In addition most cars these days have a GPS unit, frequently installed by the dealer without the buyers knowledge, that allows the dealer to track the vehicle around town and pick it up quietly whenever a lack of payments makes it necessary. The dealer gives a spare key to the repo man he and just follows the car around town until its parked somewhere. The repo guy unlocks the door and hauls it away before any damage can be done. This minimizes the risk of any any malicious damage being done to the vehicle and facilitates the pickup process. The car is washed, cleaned, and processed and $300 later is back on the lot for sale.
Why banks (still) aren't lending
Taxpayers want bailed-out banks to make loans and goose the economy. But given the depths of the economic mess, that's the last thing the banks should do.
[Related content: banks, loans, recession, Treasury, financial crisis]
By David Weidner, MarketWatch
Banks need to stop the charade, ignore the political and public pressure and admit they're not lending.
It's not because they don't want to, but because it's bad business.
Don't think so? Take this pop quiz. Bank of America (BAC, news, msgs) posted smashing first-quarter profits and its chief executive, Ken Lewis, said the Charlotte, N.C., company is lending as if the good times never ended. So, in the bank's conference call, which of the following statements did Lewis make?
A. "Credit is bad, and we believe credit is going to get worse before it will eventually stabilize and improve."
B. "Even our internal economists are a little at odds as to the timing (of the recovery), with some seeing recovery earlier (than year's-end)."
C. "We believe unemployment won't peak until next year at somewhere in the high single digits."
D. All of the above.
E. None of the above.
For a CEO whose bank is lending as if it's 2006, you might be surprised that the Lewis who proclaims to be bullish on loans is bearish on the economy. The answer is D.
There's only one problem. No bank CEO can reconcile more lending with a deteriorating economy -- especially one in which economic conditions are the worst they've been in generations. But that's exactly the claim the bank chief is making.
Talk back: Do you see signs the economy is improving?
Lewis described a deep recession that's going to be here for months. Still, Bank of America touts that it's "helping" homeowners and small businesses with new loans. It claims to have added 45,000 customers and provided them credit. The reality, however, is less impressive: Bank of America loaned $183 billion during the quarter, up just 1.6% from the last quarter of 2008, when lending took a big dive industrywide.
This isn't to single out Bank of America. All of the major big banks, including Wells Fargo (WFC, news, msgs), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, news, msgs) and Citigroup (C, news, msgs) have been doing the credit double-talk that goes something like this: These are terrible conditions to be lending in, but we're lending in them without risk.
If those claims sound a little too good to be true, it's because they are. Almost all the big banks that have taken cash from the Troubled Asset Relief Program have curtailed lending, according to The Wall Street Journal.
One of the intentions behind TARP was for it to be a kind of stimulus program made through the banks. After plugging holes on each bank's balance sheet, the TARP cash was supposed to flow into new mortgages, auto loans, credit card lines and corporate lending. Six months later, it's fair to say TARP money has helped prop up some banks, but it hasn't flowed into the consumer credit markets the way the framers intended.
Now, critics have argued that the banks should be loaning this money to help stimulate the economy. Companies need credit to expand and hire, they say, and consumers need credit to buy products and help feed the economy.
In almost any other economy, this would be true, but not at a time when an overextension of credit created the recession we are fighting.
More from MSN Money and MarketWatch
Bank crisis far from over
Stress tests to show all banks 'above average'?
Why the bank stress tests are bunk
Sobering picture of how to pay for pensions
When will bad bankers go to jail?
10 reasons Wall Street controls America
Credit cycles, by definition, are periods where banks overextend credit and then pull back to correct the imbalance. If the government forces banks to lend to at-risk borrowers, we're going to aggravate an already dire credit picture and require more government intervention.
You can easily see how lending to home buyers not worthy of credit would fuel the nation's housing woes and create more housing problems, but what about the loans most people assume are helpful to the economy: small-business loans?
It turns out that existing small-business loans are defaulting at an alarming rate. More than 4.4% of small-business loans were in 30-day default, up from 3.48% a year ago. And 1.29% were delinquent 90 days, up from 1.04% a year earlier, while 0.63% were 180 days delinquent, double the rate a year ago, according to PayNet, a small-business payment network.
It doesn't matter what type of loan; lending into an economic downturn is an invitation to trouble.
Video on MSN Money
The truth about bank profits
Some of the biggest US banks posted first-quarter profits that skeptics assert are based more on accounting gimmicks than healthy operations. Are the earnings legitimate? (April 22)The steep rise in defaults and nonperforming loans suggests that the economy will make it hard for banks to simultaneously set aside reserves and lend more money out. Small businesses will lay off workers before they start missing loan payments, and the unemployed can't pay off their credit cards and car loan payments.
Taxpayers fuming about the banks' unwillingness to loan government money into the system might reconsider, given that the banks are actually being prudent with taxpayer cash. Now that banks have been backstopped by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department, they have less incentive to scrutinize credit. The risk of bad loans has been shouldered by Washington.
Banks have made a lot of missteps in the financial crisis -- overreaching with credit, misusing taxpayer cash, imposing punitive interest costs on consumers, being insensitive -- but reining in credit is not one of them.
So, when Lewis and his counterparts at competing banks brag about how much lending they're doing, take it with a grain of salt. In most cases, this is posturing by CEOs looking to fend off criticism they're not doing enough to help the economy.
What critics fail to acknowledge is that we all benefit from banks adhering to lending standards. When that doesn't happen, we get financial collapses that compare to the darkest times in our history.
Well, I can see the banks being moire prudent in their loan policies, and that is welcomed, but what about those who still have good credit and are at minimal risk? I know of a car dealer who has 20 people wanting to buy a car from him but cant find any financing. Since the taxpayers are financing the banks recovery shouldn't the banks BE REQUIRED to loan out a certain percentage of the money we are giving them? Only to the best credit risks, mind you, and at rates that reflect the risk involved, but DO loan to those that qualify. How else are we going to get OUT of this recessionary period? Its NOT like the banks are going to be giving out FREE money - just loan it to us at reasonable rates when we need it! How many people would go to work IF they had dependable transportation? how many CANT work because their transportation isn't reliable?
Especially in the used car business, the downside risk has become minimal, as repossessing the vehicle has been automated and electronic. There are chips that can be placed in vehicles that will NOT allow them to be started when the payments fall behind. I know the guy who invented that chip and he says that business is brisk.
In addition most cars these days have a GPS unit, frequently installed by the dealer without the buyers knowledge, that allows the dealer to track the vehicle around town and pick it up quietly whenever a lack of payments makes it necessary. The dealer gives a spare key to the repo man he and just follows the car around town until its parked somewhere. The repo guy unlocks the door and hauls it away before any damage can be done. This minimizes the risk of any any malicious damage being done to the vehicle and facilitates the pickup process. The car is washed, cleaned, and processed and $300 later is back on the lot for sale.
Recession Underwear Indicator
Company Focus5/27/2009 12:01 AM ET
How your undies track the recession
To help predict a recovery, economists such as Alan Greenspan look to men's underwear sales. Here's what those and other unusual economic indicators say about the road ahead.
[Related content: stocks, retail, Wal-Mart, recession, Michael Brush]
By Michael Brush
MSN Money
Guys, if you want to know where the economy is headed next, look in your underwear drawer.
If you're like most men, you've got more than a few skivvies in, well, less than perfect condition.
If you're put off buying replacements -- and your significant other hasn't done it for you -- then guess what? The recession probably ain't over yet.
In fact, right now men's underwear sales suggest that things have bottomed but not started to recover.
Sure, this sounds trivial. But no less an economist than former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan is a fan of men's underwear sales as an important economic indicator.
It's one of several unusual indicators economists turn to in hard times. We went looking through them in a quest for the much-discussed "green shoots" of an imminent recovery.
Underneath the underwear indicator
Greenspan reasons that because hardly anyone actually sees a guy's undies, they're the first thing men stop buying when the economy tightens. (He told this to National Public Radio's Robert Krulwich years ago.)
By extension, pent-up demand means underwear sales should be among the early risers when growth returns and consumers feel confident enough to shrug off "frugal fatigue," says Marshal Cohen, the chief industry analyst with NPD Group, which tracks consumer behavior.
After a 12-month, 12% decline through the end of January, men's underpants sales leveled off during February and March, according to NPD. That suggests the economic was stabilizing, Cohen says.
More from MSN Money
What's still being built in the USA
Harry Potter and Mr. Spock versus the recession
The recession? It's over, says economist
CEOs earn big bonuses for bad year
Stop sinning, save your retirement
For a recovery, we'd need to see a return to 2% to 3% annual growth in underwear sales. And that's not in the cards, believes Bill Patterson, an analyst at consumer research company Mintel. Based on market research and surveys, Mintel predicts a 2.3% decline this year in men's underwear sales and no recovery until 2013.
That's four more years of saggy elastic and threadbare cotton.
Bra sales headed up?
Folks such as Greenspan don't seem to look as closely at women's lingerie -- reasoning, perhaps, that women are more sensitive about wearing worn undergarments.
But Cohen says a pickup in sales of bras, as well as denim and footwear, will indicate the economy is on the mend.
Video: 'Green shoots' aren't in the numbers
These are the sorts of items consumers wear longer in a recession, then replace when they feel confident enough to shop again.
Bra sales were up 4% during the first quarter, a key reversal given that women turned more frugal this recession than men did. Usually men pull back on spending more.
But denim and footwear sales remain sluggish, which suggests only stabilization, not recovery.
Watch those hemlines and midriffs
While economists now track sales, hemlines served as an oddball indicator for much of the previous century. In tough times, the experts muse, hemlines drop as an expression of conservatism, only to rise again as the markets hit go-go mode. During the late-1990s boom, the hemline indicator was supplanted by a midriff meter, as more women bared their stomachs as the popularity of tech stocks (and Britney Spears) peaked.
Readers talk: Which economic reports should I watch?
When the financial mess hit two years ago, blouses began replacing halter tops, and midriffs started to vanish, observes Jeffrey Hirsch of the Stock Trader's Almanac, which looks for seasonal and other patterns that traders can play.
If you believe this indicator, Hirsch says to watch for bellybuttons, plunging necklines and higher hemlines to confirm that we are in recovery mode. As I write this, looking around the streets of New York City on a warm spring day, it doesn't seem we are there yet.
How your undies track the recession
To help predict a recovery, economists such as Alan Greenspan look to men's underwear sales. Here's what those and other unusual economic indicators say about the road ahead.
[Related content: stocks, retail, Wal-Mart, recession, Michael Brush]
By Michael Brush
MSN Money
Guys, if you want to know where the economy is headed next, look in your underwear drawer.
If you're like most men, you've got more than a few skivvies in, well, less than perfect condition.
If you're put off buying replacements -- and your significant other hasn't done it for you -- then guess what? The recession probably ain't over yet.
In fact, right now men's underwear sales suggest that things have bottomed but not started to recover.
Sure, this sounds trivial. But no less an economist than former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan is a fan of men's underwear sales as an important economic indicator.
It's one of several unusual indicators economists turn to in hard times. We went looking through them in a quest for the much-discussed "green shoots" of an imminent recovery.
Underneath the underwear indicator
Greenspan reasons that because hardly anyone actually sees a guy's undies, they're the first thing men stop buying when the economy tightens. (He told this to National Public Radio's Robert Krulwich years ago.)
By extension, pent-up demand means underwear sales should be among the early risers when growth returns and consumers feel confident enough to shrug off "frugal fatigue," says Marshal Cohen, the chief industry analyst with NPD Group, which tracks consumer behavior.
After a 12-month, 12% decline through the end of January, men's underpants sales leveled off during February and March, according to NPD. That suggests the economic was stabilizing, Cohen says.
More from MSN Money
What's still being built in the USA
Harry Potter and Mr. Spock versus the recession
The recession? It's over, says economist
CEOs earn big bonuses for bad year
Stop sinning, save your retirement
For a recovery, we'd need to see a return to 2% to 3% annual growth in underwear sales. And that's not in the cards, believes Bill Patterson, an analyst at consumer research company Mintel. Based on market research and surveys, Mintel predicts a 2.3% decline this year in men's underwear sales and no recovery until 2013.
That's four more years of saggy elastic and threadbare cotton.
Bra sales headed up?
Folks such as Greenspan don't seem to look as closely at women's lingerie -- reasoning, perhaps, that women are more sensitive about wearing worn undergarments.
But Cohen says a pickup in sales of bras, as well as denim and footwear, will indicate the economy is on the mend.
Video: 'Green shoots' aren't in the numbers
These are the sorts of items consumers wear longer in a recession, then replace when they feel confident enough to shop again.
Bra sales were up 4% during the first quarter, a key reversal given that women turned more frugal this recession than men did. Usually men pull back on spending more.
But denim and footwear sales remain sluggish, which suggests only stabilization, not recovery.
Watch those hemlines and midriffs
While economists now track sales, hemlines served as an oddball indicator for much of the previous century. In tough times, the experts muse, hemlines drop as an expression of conservatism, only to rise again as the markets hit go-go mode. During the late-1990s boom, the hemline indicator was supplanted by a midriff meter, as more women bared their stomachs as the popularity of tech stocks (and Britney Spears) peaked.
Readers talk: Which economic reports should I watch?
When the financial mess hit two years ago, blouses began replacing halter tops, and midriffs started to vanish, observes Jeffrey Hirsch of the Stock Trader's Almanac, which looks for seasonal and other patterns that traders can play.
If you believe this indicator, Hirsch says to watch for bellybuttons, plunging necklines and higher hemlines to confirm that we are in recovery mode. As I write this, looking around the streets of New York City on a warm spring day, it doesn't seem we are there yet.
Why Hes Giving Away One Billion Dollars
In 2007 the company I cofounded, the Blackstone Group, held a most successful public offering. I found myself, at 81, an instant billionaire. I wish I could've called my father, a Greek immigrant who had spent most of his life running a 24-hour diner in Kearney, Neb. The news might have pleased him as much as my being the first Greek cabinet officer, which he never hesitated to tell perfect strangers. In the 1930s, when I was growing up, there was all this talk about millionaires like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. Now I was a millionaire 1,000 times over.
But immediately I began wondering: what do I do with $1 billion? The idea of trying to make the money grow felt empty to me. For my father, who saved or gave away so much of his modest income, the ultimate pejorative was "big spender." So buying a yacht was out of the question. I was also struggling over what to do with myself. I would be retiring from Blackstone, but my mind was still sharp and my energy was good. As my work commitments diminished, the phones gradually stopped ringing. The e-mails slowed. My schedule had too many blank spots. I was liberated. I was free. But I was joyless. I found my new life to be a kind of metaphor for my declining years—one might say a slow dying. I missed the frequent interactions with people I respected and enjoyed. I missed being needed. So I started looking at the lives of other billionaires. Almost all the ones I most admired were major philanthropists: Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, George Soros, Eli Broad—each with a passion to do good, each getting so much pleasure from giving their money away. I decided that's what I wanted to do. But to which worthy cause would I direct my money?
For the first time in my memory, the majority of the American people join me in believing that, on our current course, our children will not do as well as we have. For years, I have been saying that the American government, and America itself, has to change its spending and borrowing policies: the tens of trillions of dollars in unfunded entitlements and promises, the dangerous dependence on foreign capital, our pitiful level of savings, the metastasizing health-care costs, our energy gluttony. These structural deficits are unsustainable. Herb Stein, who served alongside me in the Nixon White House as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, once drily observed, "If your horse dies, I suggest you dismount." And yet, we keep trying to ride this horse.
Underlying these challenges is our broken political system. Our representatives, unlike our Founding Fathers, see politics as a career. As a result, they are focused not on the next generation, but on the next election. When the long-term problems are large and real, they anesthetize us, mislead us, divert us—anything to keep us from giving up something or having to pay for it. Too often, our political leaders are just enablers, co-conspirators in a disingenuous and greedy silence. Our children are unrepresented. The future is unrepresented. The moment is long overdue for us to become moral and worthy ancestors. So I decided to set up a different kind of foundation, one that would focus on America's key fiscal-sustainability challenges. The fact is, for most of these challenges, there are workable solutions. Our problem is not a lack of such options. It is a lack of will to do something about them.
Ultimately, I decided to commit $1 billion to the Peter G. Peterson foundation—the vast majority of my net proceeds from Blackstone. Why so much? Kurt Vonnegut once told a story about seeing Joseph Heller at a wealthy hedge-fund manager's party at a beach house in the Hamptons. Casting his eye around the luxurious setting, Vonnegut said, "Joe, doesn't it bother you that this guy makes more in a day than you ever made from Catch-22?" "No, not really," Heller said. "I have something that he doesn't have: I know the meaning of enough." I have far more than enough.
Peterson's memoir, The Education Of An American Dreamer, will be published by Twelve this month.
But immediately I began wondering: what do I do with $1 billion? The idea of trying to make the money grow felt empty to me. For my father, who saved or gave away so much of his modest income, the ultimate pejorative was "big spender." So buying a yacht was out of the question. I was also struggling over what to do with myself. I would be retiring from Blackstone, but my mind was still sharp and my energy was good. As my work commitments diminished, the phones gradually stopped ringing. The e-mails slowed. My schedule had too many blank spots. I was liberated. I was free. But I was joyless. I found my new life to be a kind of metaphor for my declining years—one might say a slow dying. I missed the frequent interactions with people I respected and enjoyed. I missed being needed. So I started looking at the lives of other billionaires. Almost all the ones I most admired were major philanthropists: Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, George Soros, Eli Broad—each with a passion to do good, each getting so much pleasure from giving their money away. I decided that's what I wanted to do. But to which worthy cause would I direct my money?
For the first time in my memory, the majority of the American people join me in believing that, on our current course, our children will not do as well as we have. For years, I have been saying that the American government, and America itself, has to change its spending and borrowing policies: the tens of trillions of dollars in unfunded entitlements and promises, the dangerous dependence on foreign capital, our pitiful level of savings, the metastasizing health-care costs, our energy gluttony. These structural deficits are unsustainable. Herb Stein, who served alongside me in the Nixon White House as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, once drily observed, "If your horse dies, I suggest you dismount." And yet, we keep trying to ride this horse.
Underlying these challenges is our broken political system. Our representatives, unlike our Founding Fathers, see politics as a career. As a result, they are focused not on the next generation, but on the next election. When the long-term problems are large and real, they anesthetize us, mislead us, divert us—anything to keep us from giving up something or having to pay for it. Too often, our political leaders are just enablers, co-conspirators in a disingenuous and greedy silence. Our children are unrepresented. The future is unrepresented. The moment is long overdue for us to become moral and worthy ancestors. So I decided to set up a different kind of foundation, one that would focus on America's key fiscal-sustainability challenges. The fact is, for most of these challenges, there are workable solutions. Our problem is not a lack of such options. It is a lack of will to do something about them.
Ultimately, I decided to commit $1 billion to the Peter G. Peterson foundation—the vast majority of my net proceeds from Blackstone. Why so much? Kurt Vonnegut once told a story about seeing Joseph Heller at a wealthy hedge-fund manager's party at a beach house in the Hamptons. Casting his eye around the luxurious setting, Vonnegut said, "Joe, doesn't it bother you that this guy makes more in a day than you ever made from Catch-22?" "No, not really," Heller said. "I have something that he doesn't have: I know the meaning of enough." I have far more than enough.
Peterson's memoir, The Education Of An American Dreamer, will be published by Twelve this month.
Monday, June 1, 2009
world’s most efficient solar hot water panel
An Irish company called Surface Power has launched what it claims is the world’s most efficient solar hot water panel. Certification by testing house TUV Rhineland has shown that the innovative product is up to 131% more efficient in morning and evening time and 76% more efficient at midday than other panels.
» See also: TIEcon Wrap-Up for Cleantech: The Mundane Matters
» Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
Surface Power also believes its product could reduce domestic and commercial hot water bills by up to 70%. While the company’s panel was designed specifically for the retrofit market, it is also suitable for new installations.
So far, the solar hot water panel is a big hit. ““We received over 400 inquiries from the US alone last month after the specifications were released during the Christmas period. We also expect the international home renovation market to be very strong during the next three years, as our collector is the only pre-packaged vacuum collector on the world market,” said John Quinn, the company’s founder.
Surface Power will create 20 new jobs over the next 12 months in anticipation of international distribution for its solar panel.
» See also: TIEcon Wrap-Up for Cleantech: The Mundane Matters
» Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
Surface Power also believes its product could reduce domestic and commercial hot water bills by up to 70%. While the company’s panel was designed specifically for the retrofit market, it is also suitable for new installations.
So far, the solar hot water panel is a big hit. ““We received over 400 inquiries from the US alone last month after the specifications were released during the Christmas period. We also expect the international home renovation market to be very strong during the next three years, as our collector is the only pre-packaged vacuum collector on the world market,” said John Quinn, the company’s founder.
Surface Power will create 20 new jobs over the next 12 months in anticipation of international distribution for its solar panel.
Hawaii Recycles Derelict Fishing Nets For Power
Now that Oprah has turned her spotlight on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, that great mass of garbage floating in the ocean has finally caught the public eye. An upcoming ocean garbage expedition to the patch, dubbed Project Kaisei, should draw even more attention when it launches this summer. Project Kaisei’s aim is to explore the feasibility of collecting and recycling the garbage patch, which mainly consists of plastics, into diesel fuel. How feasible is it? A modest derelict fishing net recycling program in Hawaii provides some tantalizing clues.
» See also: DARPA HEDLight Program Saves Up to 87% with New Lights for U.S. Navy
» Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
Recycling Derelict Fishing Nets in Hawaii
Roger Mari of KHNL- Hawaii has been reporting on The Honolulu Derelict Net Recycling Program, in which abandoned fishing nets are brought into port, chopped into pieces, crushed, sorted, and recycled as fuel at HPower, a waste-to-electricity plant. The plant provides electricity to 40,000 homes, and it’s estimated that the recycled nets account for about 280 of them.
The first thing Mari points out is the key role played by volunteers. The Hawaiian fishing industry has a longstanding policy of voluntarily collecting derelict nets. In partnership with the fishing industry and other volunteer stakeholders, NOAA used this foundation to start the Net Recycling Program as a more environmentally sound alternative to the past practice of dumping the recovered nets into Hawaii’s stressed landfills.
So far about 660 tons of nets have been sent to HPower since 2006, including nets that were dropped off directly for recycling and not recovered from the ocean. Even including the non-derelict nets, that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated 4 million tons of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The takeaway: volunteers can kick-start a great program, and Project Kaisei is relying on sponsorships and donations to get in gear. But the clock is ticking, and it will take more than volunteers to collect 4 million tons of garbage before it disintegrates and becomes harder to recover.
Ocean Garbage and Derelict Nets-to-Energy
Project Kaisei will be taking a look at converting The Great Pacific Garbage Patch into diesel fuel, and this is where The Honolulu Derelict Net Recycling Program also offers some insights. Again relying on the kindness of strangers, the net recycling program works because a metal recycling company, Schnitzer Steel, volunteered to service a net collection bin, retrieve the nets, cut them into one-foot lengths at its nearby facility, and take them to HPower.
Cutting the nets into a manageable size is just one step in the recycling process. At the HPower plant, the nets are bulldozed to the required thinness, then exposed to a magnet before being burned. That’s a lot of processing just for one type of waste, the nets. Multiply that by the different kinds of plastic waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and that’s a challenge likely beyond the reach of a volunteer recycler.
Derelict Nets and Location, Location, Location
The Derelict Net Recycling Program works on a volunteer basis because it addresses key local issues: the high cost of conventional fuel, the squeeze on landfill space, and the survival of a major local employer, the fishing industry. These are powerful forces that pull diverse stakeholders together and keep them engaged for the long run, but it still wouldn’t have been enough without an element of chance: it just so happened that a local recycling company with a conscience was situated nearby.
Robots to the Rescue
Like the Derelict Net Recycling Program, Project Kaisei is a good beginning, but it will take a strategy far greater in scope to make a dent in the Great Ocean Garbage Patch. One promising avenue is suggested by Project Kaisei’s plan to deploy robotic surface explorers and unmanned drones, similar to those used to measure ice sheets. Robot technology offers some interesting solutions to thorny logistical problems like those involved in recovering derelict nets and other ocean garbage, so this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship
» See also: DARPA HEDLight Program Saves Up to 87% with New Lights for U.S. Navy
» Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
Recycling Derelict Fishing Nets in Hawaii
Roger Mari of KHNL- Hawaii has been reporting on The Honolulu Derelict Net Recycling Program, in which abandoned fishing nets are brought into port, chopped into pieces, crushed, sorted, and recycled as fuel at HPower, a waste-to-electricity plant. The plant provides electricity to 40,000 homes, and it’s estimated that the recycled nets account for about 280 of them.
The first thing Mari points out is the key role played by volunteers. The Hawaiian fishing industry has a longstanding policy of voluntarily collecting derelict nets. In partnership with the fishing industry and other volunteer stakeholders, NOAA used this foundation to start the Net Recycling Program as a more environmentally sound alternative to the past practice of dumping the recovered nets into Hawaii’s stressed landfills.
So far about 660 tons of nets have been sent to HPower since 2006, including nets that were dropped off directly for recycling and not recovered from the ocean. Even including the non-derelict nets, that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated 4 million tons of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The takeaway: volunteers can kick-start a great program, and Project Kaisei is relying on sponsorships and donations to get in gear. But the clock is ticking, and it will take more than volunteers to collect 4 million tons of garbage before it disintegrates and becomes harder to recover.
Ocean Garbage and Derelict Nets-to-Energy
Project Kaisei will be taking a look at converting The Great Pacific Garbage Patch into diesel fuel, and this is where The Honolulu Derelict Net Recycling Program also offers some insights. Again relying on the kindness of strangers, the net recycling program works because a metal recycling company, Schnitzer Steel, volunteered to service a net collection bin, retrieve the nets, cut them into one-foot lengths at its nearby facility, and take them to HPower.
Cutting the nets into a manageable size is just one step in the recycling process. At the HPower plant, the nets are bulldozed to the required thinness, then exposed to a magnet before being burned. That’s a lot of processing just for one type of waste, the nets. Multiply that by the different kinds of plastic waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and that’s a challenge likely beyond the reach of a volunteer recycler.
Derelict Nets and Location, Location, Location
The Derelict Net Recycling Program works on a volunteer basis because it addresses key local issues: the high cost of conventional fuel, the squeeze on landfill space, and the survival of a major local employer, the fishing industry. These are powerful forces that pull diverse stakeholders together and keep them engaged for the long run, but it still wouldn’t have been enough without an element of chance: it just so happened that a local recycling company with a conscience was situated nearby.
Robots to the Rescue
Like the Derelict Net Recycling Program, Project Kaisei is a good beginning, but it will take a strategy far greater in scope to make a dent in the Great Ocean Garbage Patch. One promising avenue is suggested by Project Kaisei’s plan to deploy robotic surface explorers and unmanned drones, similar to those used to measure ice sheets. Robot technology offers some interesting solutions to thorny logistical problems like those involved in recovering derelict nets and other ocean garbage, so this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship
Compressed Natural Gas
Gas for $1.80 Per Gallon In Seattle????
Well, sort of. Compressed Natural Gas, that is.
Okay, I know this is a bit "niche" and I'll admit that I don't know how many CNG vehicles are currently running around the street of Seattle. That being said, even a casual reader of my blog knows what a HUGE fan I am of alternative fuels. Bottom line, we HAVE to get off of our "oil addiction" if this planet is going to survive for our children- so I am in favor af anything and everything that has even a promise of moving us in that direction. And hey, gas at $1.80 a gallon in a Honda Civic is pretty darn attractive.
Here's the story from Environmental Protection:
PetroCard, a fuels distributor, and Waste Management announced on May 1 the grand opening of a "Clean N' Green Fuel" compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in South Seattle, the first public-access CNG facility in the city. For businesses and consumers with CNG-compatible vehicles, the facility offers a readily available and affordable fuel. The station sells CNG at prices typically one-third below gasoline and diesel.
There are currently more than 120,000 CNG vehicles in the United States and more than 8 million worldwide. Locally, several municipalities, airport shuttles and taxis run fleet vehicles on CNG including vehicles from the King County Government fleet and STITA airport taxis. The Honda Civic GX is currently the only consumer CNG vehicle on the American car market, however many standard engines can be converted to use CNG.
CNG is sold in gasoline gallon equivalents (GGEs), with each GGE having the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline. Vehicles using CNG typically have similar or better fuel economy ratings than standard gasoline or diesel vehicles, and today CNG is approximately one-third lower in price. Current pricing at the station is in the range of $1.70-$1.80/GGE.
CNG produces 17-80 percent less nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, 25 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and provides up to 85 percent reduction in toxic soot associated with conventional diesel engines.
PetroCard, based in Kent, Wash., sells fuel to commercial fleets through a chain of unattended cardlocks and provides mobile fueling services. Today the company has 66 cardlocks – 27 sites in the greater Seattle area, 3 sites in Spokane, Wash., and 36 sites in Oregon
Well, sort of. Compressed Natural Gas, that is.
Okay, I know this is a bit "niche" and I'll admit that I don't know how many CNG vehicles are currently running around the street of Seattle. That being said, even a casual reader of my blog knows what a HUGE fan I am of alternative fuels. Bottom line, we HAVE to get off of our "oil addiction" if this planet is going to survive for our children- so I am in favor af anything and everything that has even a promise of moving us in that direction. And hey, gas at $1.80 a gallon in a Honda Civic is pretty darn attractive.
Here's the story from Environmental Protection:
PetroCard, a fuels distributor, and Waste Management announced on May 1 the grand opening of a "Clean N' Green Fuel" compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in South Seattle, the first public-access CNG facility in the city. For businesses and consumers with CNG-compatible vehicles, the facility offers a readily available and affordable fuel. The station sells CNG at prices typically one-third below gasoline and diesel.
There are currently more than 120,000 CNG vehicles in the United States and more than 8 million worldwide. Locally, several municipalities, airport shuttles and taxis run fleet vehicles on CNG including vehicles from the King County Government fleet and STITA airport taxis. The Honda Civic GX is currently the only consumer CNG vehicle on the American car market, however many standard engines can be converted to use CNG.
CNG is sold in gasoline gallon equivalents (GGEs), with each GGE having the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline. Vehicles using CNG typically have similar or better fuel economy ratings than standard gasoline or diesel vehicles, and today CNG is approximately one-third lower in price. Current pricing at the station is in the range of $1.70-$1.80/GGE.
CNG produces 17-80 percent less nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, 25 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and provides up to 85 percent reduction in toxic soot associated with conventional diesel engines.
PetroCard, based in Kent, Wash., sells fuel to commercial fleets through a chain of unattended cardlocks and provides mobile fueling services. Today the company has 66 cardlocks – 27 sites in the greater Seattle area, 3 sites in Spokane, Wash., and 36 sites in Oregon
Green Parking
Kent's New ShoWare Performance Center Gets it right with LEED Certification and "Green" Parking!
Every once in a while somebody really gets it right.
Thursday, I had the opportunity to go check out the new "ShoWare Center" for the 38 Special, REO Speedwagon, Styx Concert. The 'ShoWare' is the new Events Center in Kent (about 18 miles South of Seattle). It was built by the City with anchor tenant the Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey Club - but is also available for other events including concerts, family shows, professional and exhibition sports, trade shows, and community gatherings.
The City of Kent not only built a beautiful building, they also hold the distinction of being the first sports & entertainment arena to achieve SILVER certification for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design by the US Green Building Council.
But it doesn't stop there. No only do they have FREE PARKING (when was the last time you didn't have to shell out $10 to $20 bucks to park at a concert - sheeze), but what really blew me away was this - FREE PREFERRED PARKING FOR FUEL EFFICIENT VEHICLES! Yep, hybrids, alternative fuel vehicles and carpools park right up front in one of "90 parking stalls in ShoWare Center's west lot for drivers of low-emission/fuel-efficient vehicles and/or carpools of four or more. Parking attendants and signage is in place to direct qualifying vehicles to the designated parking stalls."
As far as I know, this is the first venue to offer free preferred parking to fuel efficient vehicles. The closest thing I think I've ever seen to this is in Vancouver, Canada, where they have small on-street parking "half spots" in preferred locations just big enough for a Smart Car, Mini or motorcycle.
Think of the ramifications if all government venues or even private employers starting offering this!
Would it stimulate YOU to go get a more fuel efficient vehicle if you knew there was a FREE parking space waiting for you right up front?
Sounds like a GREAT concert too!!!
Every once in a while somebody really gets it right.
Thursday, I had the opportunity to go check out the new "ShoWare Center" for the 38 Special, REO Speedwagon, Styx Concert. The 'ShoWare' is the new Events Center in Kent (about 18 miles South of Seattle). It was built by the City with anchor tenant the Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey Club - but is also available for other events including concerts, family shows, professional and exhibition sports, trade shows, and community gatherings.
The City of Kent not only built a beautiful building, they also hold the distinction of being the first sports & entertainment arena to achieve SILVER certification for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design by the US Green Building Council.
But it doesn't stop there. No only do they have FREE PARKING (when was the last time you didn't have to shell out $10 to $20 bucks to park at a concert - sheeze), but what really blew me away was this - FREE PREFERRED PARKING FOR FUEL EFFICIENT VEHICLES! Yep, hybrids, alternative fuel vehicles and carpools park right up front in one of "90 parking stalls in ShoWare Center's west lot for drivers of low-emission/fuel-efficient vehicles and/or carpools of four or more. Parking attendants and signage is in place to direct qualifying vehicles to the designated parking stalls."
As far as I know, this is the first venue to offer free preferred parking to fuel efficient vehicles. The closest thing I think I've ever seen to this is in Vancouver, Canada, where they have small on-street parking "half spots" in preferred locations just big enough for a Smart Car, Mini or motorcycle.
Think of the ramifications if all government venues or even private employers starting offering this!
Would it stimulate YOU to go get a more fuel efficient vehicle if you knew there was a FREE parking space waiting for you right up front?
Sounds like a GREAT concert too!!!
MIT Battery Breakthrough
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed battery cells capable of charging in under a minute, an astonishing 100 times faster than a regular rechargable battery.
The breakthrough could revolutionize electric car battery technology and pave the way for ultra-fast charging electric vehicles in as little as two years.
The discovery came when MIT researchers Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder found out how to get a common lithium compound to release and take up lithium ions in a matter of seconds. According to Ceder, the compound, known as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), has a crystal structure that creates “perfectly sized tunnels for lithium to move through,” allowing the team to reach “ridiculously fast charging rates.”
» See also: Peter Trepp Becomes First Person in US to Own All Electric MINI E
» Get Gas 2.0 by RSS or sign up by email.
Ceder and Kang theorized that the lithium ions were having difficulty finding their way to the crystal structure’s ‘express tunnels’ and devised a way to assist the ions by coating the surface of the cathode with a thin layer of lithium phosphate glass, known to be an excellent lithium conductor. When the team tested the newly-coated cathode, they discovered it could be charged and discharged in as little as 9 seconds.
According to Peter Bruce, a chemist at the University of St Andrews, UK, “As far as I know, this is the fastest yet for this material.”
Speaking about the process, outlined in this weeks edition of Nature, Ceder has speculated that further improvements in modelling will enable the discovery of other candidates for ultra-fast batteries. “My guess is that there are more materials like this out there,” he says.
[Source: NatureNews]
The breakthrough could revolutionize electric car battery technology and pave the way for ultra-fast charging electric vehicles in as little as two years.
The discovery came when MIT researchers Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder found out how to get a common lithium compound to release and take up lithium ions in a matter of seconds. According to Ceder, the compound, known as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), has a crystal structure that creates “perfectly sized tunnels for lithium to move through,” allowing the team to reach “ridiculously fast charging rates.”
» See also: Peter Trepp Becomes First Person in US to Own All Electric MINI E
» Get Gas 2.0 by RSS or sign up by email.
Ceder and Kang theorized that the lithium ions were having difficulty finding their way to the crystal structure’s ‘express tunnels’ and devised a way to assist the ions by coating the surface of the cathode with a thin layer of lithium phosphate glass, known to be an excellent lithium conductor. When the team tested the newly-coated cathode, they discovered it could be charged and discharged in as little as 9 seconds.
According to Peter Bruce, a chemist at the University of St Andrews, UK, “As far as I know, this is the fastest yet for this material.”
Speaking about the process, outlined in this weeks edition of Nature, Ceder has speculated that further improvements in modelling will enable the discovery of other candidates for ultra-fast batteries. “My guess is that there are more materials like this out there,” he says.
[Source: NatureNews]
GreenlightAC Launches with Electric Car Charging Station Infrastructure
GreenlightAC Launches with Electric Car Charging Station Infrastructure
Written by Ruedigar Matthes
Published on June 1st, 2009
Posted in Cars, Electric Cars (EVs), Emissions, Energy, Plug-in hybrid EVs, Technology
Washington D.C. - On May 14, 2009, GreenlightAC, one of the pioneers in the creation of EV charging stations, launched its own infrastructure last month with the release of the Chargebar(TM). The company claims that this innovative charger is easy, safe, and, importantly, cost-effective.
The Chargebar will make charging your EV or Plug-in Hybrid easy because it charges both 120v and 240v vehicles, is simple to use and does not require membership, proprietary technologies, or specialized knowledge. It is the EV/PHEV charger for everyone. David King, a co-founder of GreenlightAC said, ”Our goal was to make it as easy and convenient to use our charging unit as it is to use a gas pump. And with our GreenlightAC ChargeBarTM we believe that we have succeeded in meeting that goal.”
» See also: Cop Cars Get Solar Panels
» Get Gas 2.0 by RSS or sign up by email.
GreenlightAC is beginning by selling its product to commercial building owners, parking garage managers, and sports arenas and more in the Mid-Atlantic region. In anticipation of launching the GreenlightAC infrastructure, co-founder Max Brown added, “We are extremely excited to be rolling out our new company here in our nation’s capital. The demographics of this region coupled with the emergence of alternative fuel transportation provide a great market in which to sell our ChargeBarTM unit.”
GreenlightAC also anticipates that their new infrastructure will create green collar jobs that will stimulate the economy in the coming decades while reducing greenhouse emissions, both of which are a part of the GreenlightAC philosophy.
The hope is that the ChargebarTM will “allow PHEV drivers to go further and to more places” says David King – in essence, extending the range of electric drive vehicles. If all goes as planned, King states that, “Drivers will know that they can always find a safe place to charge their cars because our products will be in place throughout plug-in ready communities.”
The user-friendly face of the ChargebarTM could be the start of an EV revolution. The question now is “when?” With the current administration pushing the green frontier, it is easy to say that within the next decade, EV will flood the streets. But that is far easier said than done. Will GreenlightAC have the power to spark the interest of the consumer, changing the face of transportation forever? One can only hope
Written by Ruedigar Matthes
Published on June 1st, 2009
Posted in Cars, Electric Cars (EVs), Emissions, Energy, Plug-in hybrid EVs, Technology
Washington D.C. - On May 14, 2009, GreenlightAC, one of the pioneers in the creation of EV charging stations, launched its own infrastructure last month with the release of the Chargebar(TM). The company claims that this innovative charger is easy, safe, and, importantly, cost-effective.
The Chargebar will make charging your EV or Plug-in Hybrid easy because it charges both 120v and 240v vehicles, is simple to use and does not require membership, proprietary technologies, or specialized knowledge. It is the EV/PHEV charger for everyone. David King, a co-founder of GreenlightAC said, ”Our goal was to make it as easy and convenient to use our charging unit as it is to use a gas pump. And with our GreenlightAC ChargeBarTM we believe that we have succeeded in meeting that goal.”
» See also: Cop Cars Get Solar Panels
» Get Gas 2.0 by RSS or sign up by email.
GreenlightAC is beginning by selling its product to commercial building owners, parking garage managers, and sports arenas and more in the Mid-Atlantic region. In anticipation of launching the GreenlightAC infrastructure, co-founder Max Brown added, “We are extremely excited to be rolling out our new company here in our nation’s capital. The demographics of this region coupled with the emergence of alternative fuel transportation provide a great market in which to sell our ChargeBarTM unit.”
GreenlightAC also anticipates that their new infrastructure will create green collar jobs that will stimulate the economy in the coming decades while reducing greenhouse emissions, both of which are a part of the GreenlightAC philosophy.
The hope is that the ChargebarTM will “allow PHEV drivers to go further and to more places” says David King – in essence, extending the range of electric drive vehicles. If all goes as planned, King states that, “Drivers will know that they can always find a safe place to charge their cars because our products will be in place throughout plug-in ready communities.”
The user-friendly face of the ChargebarTM could be the start of an EV revolution. The question now is “when?” With the current administration pushing the green frontier, it is easy to say that within the next decade, EV will flood the streets. But that is far easier said than done. Will GreenlightAC have the power to spark the interest of the consumer, changing the face of transportation forever? One can only hope
Cops 5 watt solar panels to improve battery peformance and reduce fuel consumption.
Ohio state trooper cruisers are getting small solar panels to assist in the powering of their onboard equipment. 1,150 Ford Crown Victoria cruisers will get 5 watt solar panels to improve battery peformance and reduce fuel consumption.
» See also: Peter Trepp Becomes First Person in US to Own All Electric MINI E
» Get Gas 2.0 by RSS or sign up by email.
The solar panels will help power the radio and other electronics when the cars’ engines are turned off. Currently electronics drain batteries when the cars are not running. The official press release states the solar panels will decrease the chance of an officer being unable to respond to an incident due to her or his car having a dead battery. The panels will be installed in the rear deck area, and their brackets have been made from recycled license plates. Each panel costs $37 and could last five years.
» See also: Peter Trepp Becomes First Person in US to Own All Electric MINI E
» Get Gas 2.0 by RSS or sign up by email.
The solar panels will help power the radio and other electronics when the cars’ engines are turned off. Currently electronics drain batteries when the cars are not running. The official press release states the solar panels will decrease the chance of an officer being unable to respond to an incident due to her or his car having a dead battery. The panels will be installed in the rear deck area, and their brackets have been made from recycled license plates. Each panel costs $37 and could last five years.
DARPA HEDLight Program Saves Up to 87% with New Lights for U.S. Navy
DARPA HEDLight Program Saves Up to 87% with New Lights for U.S. Navy
Written by Tina Casey
Published on May 31st, 2009Posted in technology
You might also Digg:
After a year-long demonstration project, the U.S. Navy is poised add its own contribution to reducing the military’s carbon bootprint - or carbon wake, as the case may be. The Navy stands to gain up to 87% in savings for shipboard lighting, by switching from conventional light bulbs to high efficiency LED and HID systems developed through DARPA under the HEDLight (High Efficiency Distributed Lighting) program. One recent retrofit has been accomplished by Ohio-based Energy Focus, Inc. Saving energy is just part of the picture: the quantum leap to HEDLight is also expected to yield significant gains in the Navy’s strategic efficiency.
» See also: Hawaiian Garbage-to-Energy Plant Recycles Derelict Fishing Nets for Electricity
» Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
DARPA’s HEDLight and U.S. Navy Supply Logistics
There’s a hidden benefit to high efficiency lighting. Along with shaving some points off your electricity bill, they cut down on the irritating household chore of light bulb replacement. When your house is a U.S. Navy ship at sea, replacing a light bulb is more than irritating. Writer Jennifer Kho reports that during a typical aircraft carrier deployment, every one of up to 18,000 bulbs will blow out and have to be replaced. The logistics of storing, replacing, and disposing thousands of light bulbs are complicated enough, and many of the fixtures are in locations that are difficult or even dangerous to reach - especially while contending with storms, naval maneuvers and exercises, and the possibility of an engagement.
HEDLight and Safety
DARPA’s stated goal for HEDlight is to increase survivability, deployability, and maintainability through a fundamental change in lighting design. Instead of conventional lighting, which originates at the fixture, the light in a HEDLight system comes from a central source. HEDLight uses optical fibers and acrylic rods to distribute the light to each point of use, using metal halide high intensity discharge (HID) and light emitting diode (LED) technology. Aside from the logistical improvements and energy savings, HEDLight also improves safety on board the shop, reducing risks related to electric hazards, glass, and hazardous materials.
Energy Focus, Inc.
The Energy Focus installation involves replacing all of the high-bay lighting in a hangar deck on an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, using HEDLight fixtures and technology developed under DARPA. Based on the demonstration project, the company estimates that LED globe fixtures are an impressive 87% more efficient than the conventional fixtures they replace. Other HEDLight improvements yield more modest gains in efficiency but are still worthwhile considering the logistical and safety improvements.
HEDLight for Landlubbers
At first glance, Energy Focus might seem an unlikely match for a DARPA program. Through its architectural lighting division Fiberstars, the company is best known for its startlingly modern commercial, pool, and spa installations, such as the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. But when you consider the long-neglected design challenges of naval lighting, creativitiy and innovation are the way to go. The lessons learned from designing HEDLight systems for the Navy’s massive ships have enormous potential for a nation packed with buildings that are still lit according to principles that were popular in gaslight days. Cities from New York to Los Angeles, and Anchorage, are already replacing outdoor lighting with LED’s, so indoor lighting along HEDLight principles can’t be too far behind. The final nail in the conventional light bulb coffin? GE recently announced that it’s dropping plans to revitalize its incandescent light bulb technology, and is going full speed ahead on LEDs.
The military is the biggest user of energy, so whatever gains they can achieve is welcomed.
Written by Tina Casey
Published on May 31st, 2009Posted in technology
You might also Digg:
After a year-long demonstration project, the U.S. Navy is poised add its own contribution to reducing the military’s carbon bootprint - or carbon wake, as the case may be. The Navy stands to gain up to 87% in savings for shipboard lighting, by switching from conventional light bulbs to high efficiency LED and HID systems developed through DARPA under the HEDLight (High Efficiency Distributed Lighting) program. One recent retrofit has been accomplished by Ohio-based Energy Focus, Inc. Saving energy is just part of the picture: the quantum leap to HEDLight is also expected to yield significant gains in the Navy’s strategic efficiency.
» See also: Hawaiian Garbage-to-Energy Plant Recycles Derelict Fishing Nets for Electricity
» Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
DARPA’s HEDLight and U.S. Navy Supply Logistics
There’s a hidden benefit to high efficiency lighting. Along with shaving some points off your electricity bill, they cut down on the irritating household chore of light bulb replacement. When your house is a U.S. Navy ship at sea, replacing a light bulb is more than irritating. Writer Jennifer Kho reports that during a typical aircraft carrier deployment, every one of up to 18,000 bulbs will blow out and have to be replaced. The logistics of storing, replacing, and disposing thousands of light bulbs are complicated enough, and many of the fixtures are in locations that are difficult or even dangerous to reach - especially while contending with storms, naval maneuvers and exercises, and the possibility of an engagement.
HEDLight and Safety
DARPA’s stated goal for HEDlight is to increase survivability, deployability, and maintainability through a fundamental change in lighting design. Instead of conventional lighting, which originates at the fixture, the light in a HEDLight system comes from a central source. HEDLight uses optical fibers and acrylic rods to distribute the light to each point of use, using metal halide high intensity discharge (HID) and light emitting diode (LED) technology. Aside from the logistical improvements and energy savings, HEDLight also improves safety on board the shop, reducing risks related to electric hazards, glass, and hazardous materials.
Energy Focus, Inc.
The Energy Focus installation involves replacing all of the high-bay lighting in a hangar deck on an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, using HEDLight fixtures and technology developed under DARPA. Based on the demonstration project, the company estimates that LED globe fixtures are an impressive 87% more efficient than the conventional fixtures they replace. Other HEDLight improvements yield more modest gains in efficiency but are still worthwhile considering the logistical and safety improvements.
HEDLight for Landlubbers
At first glance, Energy Focus might seem an unlikely match for a DARPA program. Through its architectural lighting division Fiberstars, the company is best known for its startlingly modern commercial, pool, and spa installations, such as the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. But when you consider the long-neglected design challenges of naval lighting, creativitiy and innovation are the way to go. The lessons learned from designing HEDLight systems for the Navy’s massive ships have enormous potential for a nation packed with buildings that are still lit according to principles that were popular in gaslight days. Cities from New York to Los Angeles, and Anchorage, are already replacing outdoor lighting with LED’s, so indoor lighting along HEDLight principles can’t be too far behind. The final nail in the conventional light bulb coffin? GE recently announced that it’s dropping plans to revitalize its incandescent light bulb technology, and is going full speed ahead on LEDs.
The military is the biggest user of energy, so whatever gains they can achieve is welcomed.
Colony collapse disorder (CCD)
Honey bees are disappearing. The story has been in the news on and off since 2006, but for one reason or another, most people have paid little attention. And the situation is significantly dire.
» See also: Can Sustainability be a Brand?
» Get The Inspired Economist by RSS or sign up by email.
Colony collapse disorder (CCD), also known as honey bee colony depopulation syndrome, is essentially the sudden disappearance of honey bees from their colony. As more and more bees disappear, the colony fails and ultimately dies.
CCD has been taking its toll on commercial beekeeping worldwide. The first reports came from multiple locations within the U.S., but the phenomenon has spread across Europe and has even been reported in such far-flung locations as Taiwan and New Zealand.
Haagen-Dazs, a maker of high end ice cream, sounded the alarm early in 2008, going so far as to donate $250,000 to CCD research and launch a new flavor, Vanilla Honey Bee, to raise awareness and more research funding. Their spokeswoman said that 40% of their 60 flavors, not to mention approximately one third of the U.S. food supply, is dependent on pollination by bees. If the bees die, so, ultimately, will the crops, and then everyone will be in trouble.
The problem is, even after three years and some intensive focus and funding by concerned groups, we still don’t really know what causes CCD. Numerous causes have been advanced – from insecticides to parasites to genetically modified crops to stress due to environmental changes. In April, Spanish scientists identified a type of fungus, Nosema ceranae, that appeared to be causing CCD in two commercial colonies they were studying. The researchers managed to cure them with the application of an antibiotic drug – thus identifying and curing at least one cause of CCD. But even this advance does not appear to be the panacean answer the agricultural and apiarian industries are desperately searching for.
There is a little good news, such as it is. From September 2008 to April 2009, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, overall U.S. honey bee colony losses from all sources, including CCD, were 30%. This figure is a slight improvement over the 36% of last season and the 32% the season before that. Unfortunately, such losses still bode ill for the economic stability of commercial crops that rely on honey bees for pollination and the $15 billion alone they add to the value of American crops each year.
This was on Sixty Minutes a while back, and is apparently very important to our crops.
» See also: Can Sustainability be a Brand?
» Get The Inspired Economist by RSS or sign up by email.
Colony collapse disorder (CCD), also known as honey bee colony depopulation syndrome, is essentially the sudden disappearance of honey bees from their colony. As more and more bees disappear, the colony fails and ultimately dies.
CCD has been taking its toll on commercial beekeeping worldwide. The first reports came from multiple locations within the U.S., but the phenomenon has spread across Europe and has even been reported in such far-flung locations as Taiwan and New Zealand.
Haagen-Dazs, a maker of high end ice cream, sounded the alarm early in 2008, going so far as to donate $250,000 to CCD research and launch a new flavor, Vanilla Honey Bee, to raise awareness and more research funding. Their spokeswoman said that 40% of their 60 flavors, not to mention approximately one third of the U.S. food supply, is dependent on pollination by bees. If the bees die, so, ultimately, will the crops, and then everyone will be in trouble.
The problem is, even after three years and some intensive focus and funding by concerned groups, we still don’t really know what causes CCD. Numerous causes have been advanced – from insecticides to parasites to genetically modified crops to stress due to environmental changes. In April, Spanish scientists identified a type of fungus, Nosema ceranae, that appeared to be causing CCD in two commercial colonies they were studying. The researchers managed to cure them with the application of an antibiotic drug – thus identifying and curing at least one cause of CCD. But even this advance does not appear to be the panacean answer the agricultural and apiarian industries are desperately searching for.
There is a little good news, such as it is. From September 2008 to April 2009, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, overall U.S. honey bee colony losses from all sources, including CCD, were 30%. This figure is a slight improvement over the 36% of last season and the 32% the season before that. Unfortunately, such losses still bode ill for the economic stability of commercial crops that rely on honey bees for pollination and the $15 billion alone they add to the value of American crops each year.
This was on Sixty Minutes a while back, and is apparently very important to our crops.
Brazil Could Produce 8B Liters of Biofuel from Bagasse by 2020
Report: Brazil Could Produce 8B Liters of Biofuel from Bagasse by 2020
1 June 2009
A new report from Novozymes describes how Brazil could produce up to 8 billion liters (2.1 billion gallons US) of biofuel from sugarcane residues (bagasse) by 2020, representing additional export revenue for Brazil of up to US$4 billion.
According to the report, within two to three years Brazil could start large-scale production of biofuel made from sugarcane residues, in addition to the existing production from sugar itself. By 2020, Brazil could produce 4.6-8.2 billion liters of biofuel from bagasse.
Novozymes is presenting the report at the Ethanol Summit in São Paulo, 1-3 June.
Last year, the EU doubled its import of biofuel, with the majority of supplies coming from Brazil. The export market for biofuels is growing rapidly due to political commitments in the US and the European Union to create a cleaner transportation sector, backed by legislation that creates global demand and gives Brazil a unique position in the market.
US and EU legislation favors biofuels made from residues instead of food stocks. Novozymes and its Brazilian partner CTC are investing heavily in developing biofuels from residues, and in March this year they received a €1.6 million (US$2.3 million) grant from the European Union in support of this important work. The EU contract is aimed at achieving lower costs in the conversion of biomass into ethanol.
In Brazil, the proportion of bioethanol used in transport fuel is already at 50%; by comparison, the proportion is 7% in the US, 2% in China, and 1% in Europe, according to Novozymes.
1 June 2009
A new report from Novozymes describes how Brazil could produce up to 8 billion liters (2.1 billion gallons US) of biofuel from sugarcane residues (bagasse) by 2020, representing additional export revenue for Brazil of up to US$4 billion.
According to the report, within two to three years Brazil could start large-scale production of biofuel made from sugarcane residues, in addition to the existing production from sugar itself. By 2020, Brazil could produce 4.6-8.2 billion liters of biofuel from bagasse.
Novozymes is presenting the report at the Ethanol Summit in São Paulo, 1-3 June.
Last year, the EU doubled its import of biofuel, with the majority of supplies coming from Brazil. The export market for biofuels is growing rapidly due to political commitments in the US and the European Union to create a cleaner transportation sector, backed by legislation that creates global demand and gives Brazil a unique position in the market.
US and EU legislation favors biofuels made from residues instead of food stocks. Novozymes and its Brazilian partner CTC are investing heavily in developing biofuels from residues, and in March this year they received a €1.6 million (US$2.3 million) grant from the European Union in support of this important work. The EU contract is aimed at achieving lower costs in the conversion of biomass into ethanol.
In Brazil, the proportion of bioethanol used in transport fuel is already at 50%; by comparison, the proportion is 7% in the US, 2% in China, and 1% in Europe, according to Novozymes.
India's "solar mission"
A year ago India announced that solar power would be a major part of its climate action plan but between then and now, other than some project announcements, we haven't heard all that much. But now Worldwatch Institute reports that Indian newspaper The Hindu has seen a draft copy of a national solar power plan which seriously ups the ante:
According to the leaked document, India's "solar mission" will include measures for rapidly expanding the use of small-scale photovoltaic panels, solar lighting systems, and commercial-scale solar plants, in order to drive down costs and encourage domestic solar manufacturing. The efforts would occur in both rural and urban areas and target residential as well as commercial users. The plan also proposes scaling-up centralized solar thermal power generation, with the aim of achieving cost parity with conventional grid power by 2020 and the full necessary energy infrastructure by 2050.
With India's installed solar capacity currently at only 3 megawatts, this would be the most ambitious solar plan that any country has laid out so far. The scope of the initiative would also match and ultimately far exceed India's plans for nuclear power generation.
Specifically the plan aims to have 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020, expanding to 100,000 MW by 2030 and 200,000 by 2050.
Funding This All Might be the Most Ambitious Part
Which not only is "ambitious" but also going to be expensive to implement: Worldwatch cites Greenpeace's Energy [R]evolution report in saying that by 2050 India could generate 69% of its electricity and 70% of its heating and cooling needs from renewable sources, but that will require an investment of $154 billion.
In the leaked draft, government investment would amount to $18-22 million, with presumably the balance to be made up through international financing mechanisms.
More: Worldwatch Institute, The Hindu
Solar Power
Solar Power Loan Program Brings Clean Light to India
World's Largest Solar Energy Project (5GW!) Planned for Gujarat, India
250 Megawatt Integrated Solar Power Facility Planned for West Bengal
Solar-Powered Electric Cycle Rickshaw Debuts in Delhi
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
$467 Million in Stimulus Money Released for Solar Power & Geothermal
Mon Dieu! France to Quadruple Solar Power Capacity by 2011
Solar Power and Bluetooth Bring Coolness to Gigantic Headphones
Duke Power Investing In Distributed Solar Generation Scheme
According to the leaked document, India's "solar mission" will include measures for rapidly expanding the use of small-scale photovoltaic panels, solar lighting systems, and commercial-scale solar plants, in order to drive down costs and encourage domestic solar manufacturing. The efforts would occur in both rural and urban areas and target residential as well as commercial users. The plan also proposes scaling-up centralized solar thermal power generation, with the aim of achieving cost parity with conventional grid power by 2020 and the full necessary energy infrastructure by 2050.
With India's installed solar capacity currently at only 3 megawatts, this would be the most ambitious solar plan that any country has laid out so far. The scope of the initiative would also match and ultimately far exceed India's plans for nuclear power generation.
Specifically the plan aims to have 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020, expanding to 100,000 MW by 2030 and 200,000 by 2050.
Funding This All Might be the Most Ambitious Part
Which not only is "ambitious" but also going to be expensive to implement: Worldwatch cites Greenpeace's Energy [R]evolution report in saying that by 2050 India could generate 69% of its electricity and 70% of its heating and cooling needs from renewable sources, but that will require an investment of $154 billion.
In the leaked draft, government investment would amount to $18-22 million, with presumably the balance to be made up through international financing mechanisms.
More: Worldwatch Institute, The Hindu
Solar Power
Solar Power Loan Program Brings Clean Light to India
World's Largest Solar Energy Project (5GW!) Planned for Gujarat, India
250 Megawatt Integrated Solar Power Facility Planned for West Bengal
Solar-Powered Electric Cycle Rickshaw Debuts in Delhi
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
$467 Million in Stimulus Money Released for Solar Power & Geothermal
Mon Dieu! France to Quadruple Solar Power Capacity by 2011
Solar Power and Bluetooth Bring Coolness to Gigantic Headphones
Duke Power Investing In Distributed Solar Generation Scheme
TreeHugger: Water
During the month of June, TreeHugger is taking an extra avid interest in water issues. We're following everything about fresh water, from the ecology to the economy, from pollution to politics. The issues are countless, but the bottom line is we need to conserve. So we want to kick off the month by showing you the myriad ways you can conserve water on a daily basis. Check out all the ways from reasonable to radical that you can make every drop count.
Water Basics
Start with a primer. Planet Green's How to Go Green: Water guide will give you many of the facts and figures that will inspire you to take action, plus give you a ton of tips to get started.
Conserve Water Outside
The average American uses 100 gallons of water a day, and about 30 gallons of that goes to outdoor activities like watering the lawn. When it comes to saving water outdoors, there are quite a few easy ways to conserve. Cutting down water use in the garden is easy, using simple techniques like drip irrigation.
Conserve Water Inside
As for indoor use, the ways to conserve are too many to count. But we can certainly get you started with a few dozen ideas. Start by asking yourself these 7 important questions. Then, take a look at your water use. Bath time might be a necessity, but there are ways to cut down on water use and make what you do use go much farther.
There are also basics like learning how to check for leaks, and fixing the faucets and pipes that are drip, drip, dripping. Also, daily chores like laundry and dish washing are ripe with ways to conserve. If you're feeling the bug for fixing up your home, check out installing a greywater system, which is easier than you might think. Even the somewhat more interesting ideas like peeing in the garden rather than the toilet can help.
And there is looking at how much water we drink and eat. Even when we travel, we can conserve more water
Learning About Water Scarcity
When we look at all the ways we use water, we could save as much as 60 gallons a day with just a few simple steps. It pays to get educated about water issues, from catching the latest documentaries to testing our knowledge to getting familiar with what water scarcity looks like.
For a steady stream of water conservation ideas, check out the Planet Green water conservation page, and keep an eye on TreeHugger's water crisis page for news, updates, and inspiration.
More resources for water issues
How to Go Green: Water
Water Conservation
Peak Water: Exploring the Water Crisis
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
Vote for Your 2009 Ocean Hero (and More!) for World Ocean's Day
Did You Know Saving Water = Saving Electricity?
Blanchett to Corporations: Time to Change Climate Change
Water Crisis Leading to Wife Abuse in Some Areas
Water Basics
Start with a primer. Planet Green's How to Go Green: Water guide will give you many of the facts and figures that will inspire you to take action, plus give you a ton of tips to get started.
Conserve Water Outside
The average American uses 100 gallons of water a day, and about 30 gallons of that goes to outdoor activities like watering the lawn. When it comes to saving water outdoors, there are quite a few easy ways to conserve. Cutting down water use in the garden is easy, using simple techniques like drip irrigation.
Conserve Water Inside
As for indoor use, the ways to conserve are too many to count. But we can certainly get you started with a few dozen ideas. Start by asking yourself these 7 important questions. Then, take a look at your water use. Bath time might be a necessity, but there are ways to cut down on water use and make what you do use go much farther.
There are also basics like learning how to check for leaks, and fixing the faucets and pipes that are drip, drip, dripping. Also, daily chores like laundry and dish washing are ripe with ways to conserve. If you're feeling the bug for fixing up your home, check out installing a greywater system, which is easier than you might think. Even the somewhat more interesting ideas like peeing in the garden rather than the toilet can help.
And there is looking at how much water we drink and eat. Even when we travel, we can conserve more water
Learning About Water Scarcity
When we look at all the ways we use water, we could save as much as 60 gallons a day with just a few simple steps. It pays to get educated about water issues, from catching the latest documentaries to testing our knowledge to getting familiar with what water scarcity looks like.
For a steady stream of water conservation ideas, check out the Planet Green water conservation page, and keep an eye on TreeHugger's water crisis page for news, updates, and inspiration.
More resources for water issues
How to Go Green: Water
Water Conservation
Peak Water: Exploring the Water Crisis
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
Vote for Your 2009 Ocean Hero (and More!) for World Ocean's Day
Did You Know Saving Water = Saving Electricity?
Blanchett to Corporations: Time to Change Climate Change
Water Crisis Leading to Wife Abuse in Some Areas
More Evidence We’ve Entered the End of Oil
More Evidence We’ve Entered the End of Oil
By Chuck Squatriglia November 19, 2007 | 7:30 pm | Categories: Alt Fuel
There is growing concern within the petroleum industry that we are approaching a limit to the amount of oil that can be pumped each day, and it might arrive before alternative fuels can be adopted on a large enough scale to avert severe energy shortages, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The story offers what the Journal calls "a significant twist" on the theory of peak oil while underscoring the urgent call to move beyond oil that the International Energy Agency made earlier this month in its annual World Energy Outlook. Taken together, they make a convincing argument that we’ve entered the end of oil and must move quickly, boldly and decisively to supplant oil as our primary source of energy.
No one, least of all the oil industry executives quoted by the Journal or the analysts who wrote the World Energy Outlook, is saying the wells will run dry in our lifetime, or even our children’s lifetimes. There’s still a lot of oil left to be pumped. But there is a growing belief that several factors are converging to create a practical limit to how much we can pull from the earth each day.
In other words, after seeing worldwide production rise an average of 2.3 percent annually since 1965, we may be approaching a plateau beyond which production will not climb. According to the Journal, that ceiling could be 100 million barrels a day, and said we could hit it as early as 2012.
That isn’t nearly enough, and it is entirely too soon. Find out why after the jump…
As we noted in "The End of Oil Is Upon Us. We Must Move on - Quickly", the World Energy Outlook says worldwide demand for energy will climb 55 percent by 2030, with the burgeoning economies of China and India driving almost half the increase. The IEA said that "alarming" growth will within a generation threaten energy security, accelerate global climate change and possibly bring worldwide shortages and conflict if we do not adopt sustainable energy in a big way, and soon.
"All countries must take vigorous, immediate and collective action to curb runaway energy demand," Nobuo Tanaka, head of the IEA, said. "The next ten years will be crucial for all countries… We need to act now to bring about a radical shift in investment in favor of cleaner, more efficient and more secure energy technologies."
That said, fossil fuels will remain the leading source of energy, providing 84
percent of our needs, and oil will continue to dominate the picture as daily demand rises from 85 million barrels today to 116
million in 2030, according to the report. The IEA - an energy watchdog group representing 26 nations, including the United States - says we’ve got enough oil to meet demand even if we don’t do anything to change course. That may be so, but as the Journal notes, producing it is another story entirely.
In the past three weeks, the Journal reports, Christophe de Margerie (chief executive of the French oil company Total SA, the world’s fourth-largest petroleum company), James Mulva (chief executive of ConocoPhillips, the third-largest energy company in the U.S.) and Shokri Mohamed Ghanem (chairman of the Libya National Energy Corp.) all have said publicly that they don’t see worldwide production topping 100 million barrels a day, and we could hit that ceiling as early as 2012.
(UPDATE: You can add Lee R. Raymond, a career oilman, former chief executive of ExxonMobil Corp. and current head of the National Petroleum Council to the list of industry insiders who say it will be a whole lot harder to keep extracting oil. He expressed his concerns during a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earlier this month.)
Of course, that’s by no means a consensus within the industry, and the Journal quotes two high-ranking oil industry executives who say, essentially, there’s nothing to worry about. And, the Journal points out, "the industry has long been beset by doom and gloom scenarios, which so far haven’t panned out." But most of those scenarios have revolved around the idea that worldwide production would peak, then begin a long, slow and irreversible decline. That theory, called peak oil, was first put forth by geophysicist M. King. Hubbert in 1956, and remains a subject of no small debate that we won’t delve into here.
The question, according to the Journal, isn’t one what’s available, but what can be pumped and how quickly. It quotes Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell, who says:
We know that the world is not running out of energy resources, but nonetheless, above-ground risks like resource nationalism, limited access and infrastructure constraints may make it feel like peak oil just the same, by limiting production to something far less than what is required.
The Journal lists several factors that are converging to create the plateau, not the least of which is the widespread belief that the world’s giant oilfields have already been discovered and are being tapped out, and most of the promising fields yet to be developed are inhospitable for reasons of geography, geology or political instability.
Moreover, a labor pool that is shrinking even as it is aging, construction bottlenecks and skyrocketing equipment costs are making it harder, and more expensive, to develop new oil fields and move the oil once it’s pumped. And, the Journal notes, the industry simply isn’t spending enough to meet future need. You have to wonder - how can it? According to the IEA, $22 trillion dollars of investment must be made in the supply infrastructure alone just to meet projected demand.
Most of the world’s biggest oil fields are aging, and their production is falling. There is widespread speculation that the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest, is petering out, which is significant because it likely has produced more than half the oil that has flowed out of the kingdom. At the rate oil fields are being depleted, simply maintaining our current production of 85 million barrels a day will require producing at least another 4 million daily barrels every year. That, according to the Journal, is roughly five times the daily production in all of Alaska, and doesn’t account for any increase in demand at all. So it might already be too late, Matthew Simmons, a peak oil proponent who wrote "Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy" and chairman of energy investment banking at Simmons & Co. International, told the Journal:
Peak oil is likely already a crisis that we don’t know about. At the furthest out, it will be a crisis in 2008 to 2012. Global warming, if real, will not be a problem for 50 to 100 years.
So what’s the answer?
Well, oil companies are increasingly looking beyond petroleum. The Journal says Total is taking a hard look at going into nuclear energy and ConocoPhillips may begin using coal to produce natural gas. There’s been a lot of talk about Canada’s oil sands helping out, with proponents saying they could hold as much as 180 billion barrels of oil. But despite years of effort and tens of billions of dollars of investment, we’re only getting 1.1 million barrels of crude a day - and few expect to pull more than 3 million a day by 2015, the Journal notes. Nuclear’s a tough sell in many quarters, but it will undoubtedly grow more attractive as oil prices climb. But using coal, oil sands and other fossil fuels does nothing to address the problem of global climate change.
Of course, as crude oil prices continue climbing - the IEA, in the World Energy Outlook, says we could see it hit $159 a barrel by 2030 - it will make alternative sources of energy more appealing and more viable and more cost-effective. We pointed this out in "Why $5 Gas Is Good For America" and outlined in "How Hydrogen Can Save America" and "Cellulosic Ethanol: How One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil" how those fuels might move us beyond petroleum.
The Jounal notes that oil production may reach its plateau before these alternatives can be adopted on a scale sufficient to head off "energy shortages, high prices and bare-knuckled competition for fuel." The time has come to act. The IEA says we’ve got 10 years to figure it out and begin moving, once and for all, beyond oil.
Will it be enough?
By Chuck Squatriglia November 19, 2007 | 7:30 pm | Categories: Alt Fuel
There is growing concern within the petroleum industry that we are approaching a limit to the amount of oil that can be pumped each day, and it might arrive before alternative fuels can be adopted on a large enough scale to avert severe energy shortages, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The story offers what the Journal calls "a significant twist" on the theory of peak oil while underscoring the urgent call to move beyond oil that the International Energy Agency made earlier this month in its annual World Energy Outlook. Taken together, they make a convincing argument that we’ve entered the end of oil and must move quickly, boldly and decisively to supplant oil as our primary source of energy.
No one, least of all the oil industry executives quoted by the Journal or the analysts who wrote the World Energy Outlook, is saying the wells will run dry in our lifetime, or even our children’s lifetimes. There’s still a lot of oil left to be pumped. But there is a growing belief that several factors are converging to create a practical limit to how much we can pull from the earth each day.
In other words, after seeing worldwide production rise an average of 2.3 percent annually since 1965, we may be approaching a plateau beyond which production will not climb. According to the Journal, that ceiling could be 100 million barrels a day, and said we could hit it as early as 2012.
That isn’t nearly enough, and it is entirely too soon. Find out why after the jump…
As we noted in "The End of Oil Is Upon Us. We Must Move on - Quickly", the World Energy Outlook says worldwide demand for energy will climb 55 percent by 2030, with the burgeoning economies of China and India driving almost half the increase. The IEA said that "alarming" growth will within a generation threaten energy security, accelerate global climate change and possibly bring worldwide shortages and conflict if we do not adopt sustainable energy in a big way, and soon.
"All countries must take vigorous, immediate and collective action to curb runaway energy demand," Nobuo Tanaka, head of the IEA, said. "The next ten years will be crucial for all countries… We need to act now to bring about a radical shift in investment in favor of cleaner, more efficient and more secure energy technologies."
That said, fossil fuels will remain the leading source of energy, providing 84
percent of our needs, and oil will continue to dominate the picture as daily demand rises from 85 million barrels today to 116
million in 2030, according to the report. The IEA - an energy watchdog group representing 26 nations, including the United States - says we’ve got enough oil to meet demand even if we don’t do anything to change course. That may be so, but as the Journal notes, producing it is another story entirely.
In the past three weeks, the Journal reports, Christophe de Margerie (chief executive of the French oil company Total SA, the world’s fourth-largest petroleum company), James Mulva (chief executive of ConocoPhillips, the third-largest energy company in the U.S.) and Shokri Mohamed Ghanem (chairman of the Libya National Energy Corp.) all have said publicly that they don’t see worldwide production topping 100 million barrels a day, and we could hit that ceiling as early as 2012.
(UPDATE: You can add Lee R. Raymond, a career oilman, former chief executive of ExxonMobil Corp. and current head of the National Petroleum Council to the list of industry insiders who say it will be a whole lot harder to keep extracting oil. He expressed his concerns during a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earlier this month.)
Of course, that’s by no means a consensus within the industry, and the Journal quotes two high-ranking oil industry executives who say, essentially, there’s nothing to worry about. And, the Journal points out, "the industry has long been beset by doom and gloom scenarios, which so far haven’t panned out." But most of those scenarios have revolved around the idea that worldwide production would peak, then begin a long, slow and irreversible decline. That theory, called peak oil, was first put forth by geophysicist M. King. Hubbert in 1956, and remains a subject of no small debate that we won’t delve into here.
The question, according to the Journal, isn’t one what’s available, but what can be pumped and how quickly. It quotes Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell, who says:
We know that the world is not running out of energy resources, but nonetheless, above-ground risks like resource nationalism, limited access and infrastructure constraints may make it feel like peak oil just the same, by limiting production to something far less than what is required.
The Journal lists several factors that are converging to create the plateau, not the least of which is the widespread belief that the world’s giant oilfields have already been discovered and are being tapped out, and most of the promising fields yet to be developed are inhospitable for reasons of geography, geology or political instability.
Moreover, a labor pool that is shrinking even as it is aging, construction bottlenecks and skyrocketing equipment costs are making it harder, and more expensive, to develop new oil fields and move the oil once it’s pumped. And, the Journal notes, the industry simply isn’t spending enough to meet future need. You have to wonder - how can it? According to the IEA, $22 trillion dollars of investment must be made in the supply infrastructure alone just to meet projected demand.
Most of the world’s biggest oil fields are aging, and their production is falling. There is widespread speculation that the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest, is petering out, which is significant because it likely has produced more than half the oil that has flowed out of the kingdom. At the rate oil fields are being depleted, simply maintaining our current production of 85 million barrels a day will require producing at least another 4 million daily barrels every year. That, according to the Journal, is roughly five times the daily production in all of Alaska, and doesn’t account for any increase in demand at all. So it might already be too late, Matthew Simmons, a peak oil proponent who wrote "Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy" and chairman of energy investment banking at Simmons & Co. International, told the Journal:
Peak oil is likely already a crisis that we don’t know about. At the furthest out, it will be a crisis in 2008 to 2012. Global warming, if real, will not be a problem for 50 to 100 years.
So what’s the answer?
Well, oil companies are increasingly looking beyond petroleum. The Journal says Total is taking a hard look at going into nuclear energy and ConocoPhillips may begin using coal to produce natural gas. There’s been a lot of talk about Canada’s oil sands helping out, with proponents saying they could hold as much as 180 billion barrels of oil. But despite years of effort and tens of billions of dollars of investment, we’re only getting 1.1 million barrels of crude a day - and few expect to pull more than 3 million a day by 2015, the Journal notes. Nuclear’s a tough sell in many quarters, but it will undoubtedly grow more attractive as oil prices climb. But using coal, oil sands and other fossil fuels does nothing to address the problem of global climate change.
Of course, as crude oil prices continue climbing - the IEA, in the World Energy Outlook, says we could see it hit $159 a barrel by 2030 - it will make alternative sources of energy more appealing and more viable and more cost-effective. We pointed this out in "Why $5 Gas Is Good For America" and outlined in "How Hydrogen Can Save America" and "Cellulosic Ethanol: How One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil" how those fuels might move us beyond petroleum.
The Jounal notes that oil production may reach its plateau before these alternatives can be adopted on a scale sufficient to head off "energy shortages, high prices and bare-knuckled competition for fuel." The time has come to act. The IEA says we’ve got 10 years to figure it out and begin moving, once and for all, beyond oil.
Will it be enough?
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