Change is… green: a year in renovations

Many of the buildings we live and work in are in need of serious changes in order to meet the challenges of a more environmentally and energy-conscious world. Commercial buildings alone, for example, are responsible for 13 per cent of Canada’s carbon emissions. And with new tools like a simulation program designed to improve a building’s efficiency and government incentives, it’s no wonder that many Canadian locations saw green renovations in 2009. Among the many high profile green renovations of 2009, Flow took a look at…

Google’s Canadian headquarters and a pair of Canadian hospitals that included technologies as progressive as a solar heating system and familiar as triple-glazed windows. And while it hasn’t been a renovation per se, the construction of Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business goes to show that green buildings are starting out fresh as well.

Internationally, Flow covered the undergo $350 million green renovations on the Sears Tower and the Utopian plan for the headquarters of The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The need for efficiency and a lower carbon footprint, after all, is a global issue. But not every green renovation is taking place in buildings.

Some of the most important green renovation projects are currently happening inside the minds of Canadian students and working professionals. As we outlined with the five top green careers for 2009, a growing “green collar” sector is emerging to fill the gap left as eco-professionals begin to retire.

Specific programs like Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy and Canada’s Green Energy Action Fund are designed to promote green careers in energy and the technology to enable them. These programs are part of a general trend toward education that reflect a broader awareness of energy as it impacts the daily world.

And if 2009 is any indication, the message is already resonating with young people across North America who invent energy innovations. If a 15-year-old Texan can create an algae-powered energy system or a 17-year-old Calgarian can invented a solar powered tracking system, there’s hope that the changes we’re making in our buildings and our ways of thinking really can change the world.

A month of Wednesdays: The best of 2009’s Wednesday Words

We all use energy, but don’t necessarily speak it. Every energy industry has its own set of technical terms and downright nonsensical jargon, so Flow’s Wednesday Words provide the definitions for energy’s complicated language.

Here are 30 of the most important energy terms we highlighted for our readers in 2009.

1. Abiogenic theory | theory of petroleum formation in which petroleum is thought to have formed from hydrocarbons trapped inside the earth while the planet was forming
2. Absorber | blackened surface in a collector that absorbs solar radiation and converts it to heat energy
3. Anemometer | wind speed is usually measured using a cup anemometer, a device that has a vertical axis and three cups which capture the wind to record the number of revolutions per minute
4. Annulus | space between two concentric lengths of pipe or between pipe and the hole in which it is located
5. Backstopping | service that provides alternate supplies of natural gas in the event that a consumer’s gas is not delivered
6. Biogenic theory | theory of petroleum formation in which the petroleum is thought to have originated from plant and animal matter that has undergone transformation by heat and pressure resulting from deep burial
7. Btu | British thermal unit is a unit of heat energy equal to the heat needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere pressure (sea level)
8. Controller | device that starts up the turbine at wind speeds of above 13 kilometres per hour and shuts the machine down at speeds over 90 kilometres per hour for safety reasons
9. Diluent | liquid used to dilute bitumen to the point where it will flow; naptha (condensate) is the most commonly used diluent in the oil sands industry
10. Dosimeter | a pen-like device that measures the cumulative dose of radiation received by the device
11. Fast breeder reactor | process that allows the extraction of up to 100 times the amount of energy from uranium than is possible using a light water reactor
12. Geophone | sensitive vibration detecting instruments used in conducting seismic surveys; marine versions are known as hydrophones
13. Green credit | new way to purchase renewable electric generation that divides the generation into two separate products: the commodity energy and the renewable attributes
14. Grid | electric utility´s system for distributing power.
15. Hog fuel | wood residues like bark, sawdust, planer shavings, wood chunks processed through a chipper or mill to produce coarse chips normally used for fuel
16. Hydrotransport | process that uses hot water to transport oil sand through a pipeline to a processing plant
17. LEED | Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the nationally accepted standard for designing and constructing green buildings with a focus on sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality
18. Mousehole | hole drilled to the side of a wellbore to hold the next joint of a drill pipe to be used; when this joint is pulled out and screwed onto the drill string, another joint of pipe is readied and slipped into the mousehole to await its turn
19. N0x | potent greenhouse gas which has a large number of natural sources and is a secondary product of the burning of organic material and fossil fuels
20. Organic theory | most widely accepted theory explaining the origins of petroleum: as organic materials become deeply buried over time, heat and pressure transform them into hydrocarbons
21. Pitch | angle of the blades on a wind turbine in such a way to keep the rotor from turning in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity
22. Plug load analysis | method of understanding the energy needs of an individual, family or group; an essential part of selecting, sizing, and designing an appropriate renewable energy system for a building
23. Range anxiety | specific to electric car operators who don’t venture past half of their car’s available range or fear to venture more than 10 miles from the closest available charger
24. Slow pyrolysis | thermal conversion of biomass to fuel by slow heating to less than 450°C in the absence of oxygen
25. Smart grid | innovations to the energy network, such as the addition of electronics and “intelligence” to the generation, distribution and consumption of electricity
26. Sour gas | raw natural gas with a relatively high concentration of sulphur compounds, such as hydrogen sulphide, and about 30 per cent of Canada’s natural gas production is sour, most of it found in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia
27. Step-up gearbox | increases turbine electricity production in stages by increasing the number of generator revolutions produced by the rotor revolutions
28. Sweet gas | raw natural gas with a relatively low concentration of sulphur compounds, such as hydrogen sulphide
29. WECS | Wind Energy Conversion System converts wind energy to mechanical energy, making it available for powering machinery and operating electrical generators
30. Wet gas | raw natural gas with a relatively high concentration of natural gas liquids (ethane, propane, butane, pentanes and condensates)

N-e-at! The coolest new technology of 2009

Some of them are likely to find their way into your home; others are just nice to have around. In either case, here are some of the most interesting technologies that Flow covered in 2009.

Turning sea water into jet fuel

US Navy scientists have found a way to turn sea water into jet fuel by extracting carbon dioxide and then refining the resulting product. Not exactly a water-powered car, but there’s always 2010, right?

Software

Science fiction’s taught us to be wary of robot intelligences, but a little help in being more energy efficient can’t get too evil, right? Take PecoBOO, a program that uses face detection software to turn off your monitor when you’re not at your desk, or Microsoft’s Hohm, a more general home energy monitoring tool. So long as neither of them starts saying “I’m sorry, Dave,” it’s just a good idea.

Biodegradable computers

We looked at iameco’s biodegradable computers as part of a larger trend toward more environmentally responsible systems. With most computers full of (often toxic) components that otherwise end up mouldering in landfills, it’s comforting to know that our web-surfing ways can also be more eco-friendly. And while those greener computers are still operating, this algorithm will allow smart power strips to shut off electronic devices in standby mode. Double smart.

Low carbon ice cream

Lower your carbon footprint by increasing your calorie intake. Ben & Jerry’s has created an ice cream that doesn’t have to be frozen until it’s brings home, meaning it needs less time being cooled in store freezers. If only all new technology were delicious.

Smart fridges

If you need a place to store your many, many cartons of low-carbon ice cream, consider a smart fridge capable of using “dynamic demand” technology to “automatically adjust [its] power consumption to account for second-by-second changes in demand on the national grid.” Of course, the fridges in question are still being used on a trial basis in the UK, but it’s only a matter of time before every appliance we use here gets smarter.

Air conditioning with ice

Speaking of keeping cool, Canadians should appreciate an air conditioning unit that uses dynamic changes in the electricity grid’s to keep a block of ice frozen as a kind of frigid backup (you can’t store “cold,” of course, but it’s close enough). After all, what’s more Canadian than spending half your time freezing and the other half thawing out?

Solar, solar and more solar

There’s always a flurry of interesting solar gizmos being released, and this year we looked at a few including the smallest ever solar cells, a method of solar cooking that you can potentially build yourself and using molten salt to store solar energy. In fact, let’s go a step further and design the world’s smallest solar oven that stores its energy in the same seasoning you use to cook your tasty treats. We have the technology!

Computer programs that mimic genetics to provide the optimal solvent-steam recipe

All right, the heading doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is an essential part of the heavy oil extraction process. The carbon intensity of the process, though, is a consistent sticking point. By improving the efficiency of the process, Genetic Algorithms (GA) programs reduce the carbon footprint of the process while also making the process more cost-effective. Cheap and efficient: now that does roll off the tongue.

What’s new in tidal power?

Canada currently has North America’s only tidal generating station, but the possibilities of Dartmouth Wave Energy’s Searaser, which is designed to make the intermittent power source more predictable, are still exciting. Add to that the possibilities of integrated wind and tidal generation and you’ve got one exciting set of technologies.

A piezoelectric cell phone

We didn’t know what “piezoelectricity” meant either until we tackled this story on technologies that can covert kinetic energy into electricity. Is your battery indicator only showing a few bars remaining? Just talk up a storm.

2009: A Year in Waste

When it comes to energy there’s just something fascinating about waste products. Sure, the material’s almost always gross, but the idea of using garbage that would otherwise lay in piles or puddles makes great economic and environmental sense. Vancouver, for example, has plans to build six new waste-to-energy plants, dealing with the problems of residential garbage burning and reduced landfill capacity in one fell swoop.

So, in the spirit of sifting through piles for the best and brightest ideas, here’s a review of some of the icky, useful subjects that Flow waded through in 2009.

Banana peels

As it turns out, banana peels aren’t just for slapstick anymore. Like other cellulosic materials, bananas’ fibrous peels aren’t worth eating, which makes them a perfect source of biomass. The skins and leaves are mashed into a pulp and mixed with saw dust, which eventually hardens into bricks that can be burned as fuel.

Mountain pine beetle-killed wood

With mountain pine beetles spreading as fast as warmer winters will let them, the amount of wood destroyed by their infestation is growing. But while wood that’s been chomped on by the beetle’s larvae is useless as building material, it can still be packed into dense pellets for use as fuel. In fact, British Columbia has already integrated these wood pellets into its energy strategy through the BC Bioenergy Strategy.

Lumber mills

There are several ways to use the waste from lumber mills to create biofuels, from extract sugars from waste wood that can eventually be refined into ethanol, to the less tested bio-butanol, which has a more difficult refining process. Either way, in a country where “timber” is practically as important a phrase as “hello,” there’s no sense in letting wood waste go, well, to waste.

Manure

Manure, droppings or plain ol’ poop: call it what you will, but in the right hands the brown stuff is practically golden. Stories about the use of animal droppings as a fuel source were always cropping up in 2009, from a German town using its cows’ manure to produce biogas to chicken droppings as a source of heat to burning the methane from pig manure to produce electricity, no source is to smelly to be useful.

Shrimp shells

It takes a catalytic agent to turn biomass like canola oil into viable biofuel. As it turns out, an ideal source for that catalyst might be the chitinous shells of shrimp, which can not only increase the efficiency of biofuel production but, unlike other catalysts, is reusable. Hand it to researchers in Wuhan, China for turning a cocktail appetizer into a cleaner source of energy.

Finnish fish

All right, they don’t technically have to Finnish fish, but scientists in Finland are looking at the possibilities of fish waste in biodiesel. Between using fish’s chopped-off bits as an energy source or oceanic pollution, which would you choose?

Coffee grounds

Have you ever spilled a hot drink and watched a dark stain ruin the page you’d been reading? As it turns out, coffee’s (or tea’s) staining power can actually work to your advantage in a refillable ink cartridge fed by old grounds.

The top energy trend of 2009: Consumer Power

There might have been a time when the 13.8 quadrillion Btu of energy that Canadians consume every year seemed to magically appear in our electrical outlets, gas tanks and heaters. But in 2009, Canadian consumers proved they were starting to take a closer look at all those quadrillions of British thermal units and, more importantly, that they’re ready to manage their energy themselves.

Canadians are increasingly seeking out information on their energy at events like the Alberta Conference on Energy Literacy, and voicing their opinions at events like CanWEA’s annual conference. The Centre for Energy even took a virtual Canadian road trip with Norm to see how energy is produced and consumed in places across the country. Educated consumers make better energy choices, and Ontario proved the point during its Count Me In! Community Challenge where awareness did for energy use what diet does to those few extra pounds. Canadian consumers are taking control of their energy, and that often means finding ways to use less.

Over the last year, Flow has looked at a range of ways to improve your energy efficiency at home, from “spring cleaning” to laundry. Where consumers used to only interact with their electricity meters on a monthly bill, the increasing use of smart meters in Canadian provinces like Ontario, where the government hopes to have one installed in every home and business, provides a set of tools for energy-conscious Canadians. Even the way we get from point A to point B is getting more efficient, with both car and bike sharing programs reducing the energy required in the transportation sector, where 31 per cent of our country’s energy is consumed. Add in “hypermilling” driving practices and it’s clear that increasing control over Canada’s energy spreads from our homes onto our streets. Canadians aren’t always “warm” to energy efficiency, but the future still looks bright.

In the future, we can also expect energy to get even closer to home with microgeneration. Vancouver’s mandatory electric car chargers in new condo developments are will bring energy Vancouverites usually buy at gas stations directly into their homes. And as projects like the Enmax Solabode, a hyper-efficient home built using already available technology, show: we’re a lot closer than we realize to that future. That’s good news for a national consumer base hungry for more control.

In a national Canadian Centre for Energy Information survey conducted this year (376KB PDF) 92 per cent of respondents said the energy sector was important to the Canadian economy and 73 per cent said the energy sector was important to them. A full 59 per cent also felt disconnected from decision making on energy policies, but this year’s Flow articles showed that energy decisions are increasingly driven by Canadians themselves, sometimes one backyard at a time.

Yes, in my backyard

Decentralized power is one of the most fundamental ways that Canadian energy is changing. Instead of relying entirely on distant power plants and the thousands of kilometres of wire that connects their grid, Canadians are finding ways to literally generate power in their own backyards.

Because it can be installed on many of the surfaces that otherwise go unused on a home, solar power has provided early signs of the potential for decentralized power, such as in solar thermal technology designed to heat your water. Potential sites for solar power include otherwise unused rooftops and even mausoleums and outhouses. But it’s not just about putting existing technology to work in new places.

Newer technologies include paintable solar panels, panels designed for microscopic machines and, of course, a range of gadgets, gadgets and still more gadgets. Meanwhile, urban wind turbines might eventually transform the way our cities look, even while inventions like kinetic plates take advantage of the ways we already live by using of North America’s beloved drive-throughs.

The fight to bring energy even more completely into Canadian homes hasn’t always been an easy one, but with an increasing array technologies for power generation in our daily lives, it’s safe bet that the energy we use will increasingly be the energy we produce.

Cutaway your Christmas list

BibliOdyssey has the perfect gift idea for those impossible-to-buy-for people on your Christmas list. We bet they don’t have these.

Nuclear reactor wall charts.

Beautiful cutaway illustrations of the Super Phénix, the Snupps, the Fulton, a Canadian classic the Candu 3, the Douglas Point BRW/6, the Grand Gulf, the Guangdong and last but not least the Oskarshamn.

With this much choice, there is no excuse for not wrapping up you Christmas gift shopping today.

Image: UNM CSEL Nuclear Engineering Wall Chart Collection

Dispatch from Copenhagen: The Final Day Countdown

Last day at COP15 to reach an agreement on climate change

Full Story [BusinessWeek]

COP15 Day 12

To make sense of all the information coming out of the COP15 conference in Copenhagen, Flow will be running a series of daily blog entries to keep you up-to-date on the latest news from the largest climate change event in the world. Today is the final day of the 12-day conference. 

The final day of the COP15 negotiations is certainly the one with the highest (or lowest) expectations. With more than 110 world leaders assembled at Copenhagen, and with deadlocks having already become commonplace, the pressure to produce an agreement in the hours remaining has been coupled with growing cynicism over repeated clashes between negotiators of the developed and developing world. Schedules have been re-arranged and new meetings, such unscheduled talks between American President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, will ultimately shape the final hours of the largest climate change conference in recent memory. 

Today’s proceedings didn’t open on a positive note, with the plenary session being delayed a full two-hours. But today did see Brazil making one of the first substantial financial commitments to climate change from the developing world, albeit one that came with a caveat about respecting the sovereignty of other nations in emissions reduction monitoring. This question of sovereignty has been a major sticking point between China and the US throughout negotiations, with the US insisting that China make itself more transparent. China has consistently rebuffed the demand, but along with India has recently announced that it may be more open to transparency than previously revealed. 

As of this writing, The “Copenhagen Accord,” which drops 2010 as the required year for a legally binding climate change treaty, has been the only document to emerge on the final day of negotiations. This is a different document than the earlier released “Copenhagen Agreement,” whose emphasis on the role of developing nations in climate change funding was a source of great contention. However, it is widely suspected that, despite today being the last official day of negotiations, COP15 will continue into the weekend. 

While today is technically COP15’s final day, there is a real chance that the story has at least another day left in the world’s discussion on climate change. And with the potential elimination of a concrete deadline in 2010, that discussion could continue into the foreseeable future.

COP15 Day 11

To make sense of all the information coming out of the COP15 conference in Copenhagen, Flow will be running a series of daily blog entries to keep you up-to-date on the latest news from the largest climate change event in the world. Today is day 11 of the 12-day conference.

With only two days of the conference remaining, the largest announcement on long-term climate change funding came with the United State’s announcement of a $100 billion fund. Though details on the exact nature of the fund — US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton avoided specifics in the announcement —the size of the fund is of critical importance to the negotiations, where previous declared amounts have been derided as inadequate. The announcement, however, comes with a contentious condition: that China open itself to international monitoring of emissions reductions. Given China’s protests on the basis of sovereignty, the US push toward transparency has been one of the public sticking points in COP15 negotiations. With all leaders are still scheduled to attend with 24 hours, the pressure to resolve the dispute is considerable.

Another contentious issue has been the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, seen by developing nations as ensuring their relatively protected position on emission reduction. Previous symptoms of the divide were seen in a walk-out and ultimately an inability to create a single draft agreement. Recently, however, COP15 delegates addressed the paralyzing nature of the dispute directly by creating two negotiation “tracks”, one on Kyoto and one for the Climate Change Convention proper. Whether this and the ongoing negotiations on international monitoring will ultimately produce an agreement in time for the arrival of all world leaders remains to be seen, but Kyoto’s prospects are beginning to look more promising.

Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has already arrived at COP15 but, as The Globe and Mail reported, has made a point of maintaining a low profile. Given the flak taken over Canada’s current emission reduction pledges and the international attention on projects like Alberta’s oil sands, the move is hardly surprising. There had been rumours that US President Barak Obama might not attend at all, but while American officials have reiterated that he would appear on Friday, they have suggested that observers should restrain their expectations. High or low, a leader’s profile can’t always match up to expectations.

Obama Promotes Insulation as ‘Sexy’

According to Obama, saving money with insulation is ‘sexy’
Full Story [GreenInc.]

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