Brave New Leaf

Progress being made on see-through solar panel windows

Windows are always a problem for a sustainable builder because they take energy from the home. Which led a company called Dyesol to wonder what they could do to flip that, and make windows give back to the home, possibly powering it completely.

The panels are made of interlocking solar cells, that use a colored dye to capture light. Not only are they cheaper to make than standard solar panels, but theoretically are more efficient. The dyes used right now are orangish, but they are working on blue, green, and grey.

Imagine this as the norm for skyscrapers in just a few short years.

Link [Inhabitat.com]

Bahrain World Trade Center Activates Windmills

The Bahrain World Trade Center is going to look really cool when it's done. Two towers, 50 stories each, will house hotels, shopping, and dozens of businesses.

However, what makes it unique is the three integrated wind turbines revolving around the center of its construction. This is the first time anywhere in the world that large-scale turbines have been integrated in such a way.

The three massive turbines are 29 meters in diameter. That's 95 feet for those of us in the States. When turning they will generate 15% of the power that the building requires.

National Geographic was there to film the installation of the turbines and their inaugural test. It is spectacular footage. If you want to see them spinning, skip to about 5:10 in the video.

Some things are always a bad idea, no matter how green

It's true. Some things are always a bad idea, no more how great for the environment they are.

I present to you exhibit A -- a hybrid running/walking contraption that not only looks like an accident waiting to happen, but also appears to be the most undignified way to get around I've ever seen, cool-sounding music in the video notwithstanding.

The Electric Bill He's Been Waiting For...

Congratulations to Tom at Fractals of Change who succesfully installed his solar panels and received his first 0 kWh electric bill! We are all envious!

Two year backlog on wind turbines?

Apparently wind power is growing so quickly, particularly in Europe, there is now a 2 year waiting period on wind turbines. This is great news for the wind manufacturing industry (which is pretty much GE), but bad news for the burgeoning wind farmers trying to spur renewable energy growth.

Micro-wind devices are more widely available with a few start-ups beginning to provide small turbines, but the market demand isn't there yet.

Many agencies predict that wind power demand will continue to grow rapidly, with it providing 25% of Europe's power by 2030. Many of Europe's wind farms are even starting to break even financially these days, as wind continues to out pace solar as the cheapest renewable source around. The problem with solar continues to be silicon, which is a mineral in heavy demand and diminishing supplies.

Algae 101

Algae has been making the news a lot lately, and is a fairly new topic in environmental circles. Let's take a step back for a moment and talk about why algae is interesting and important.

What is algae?
It's a big, giant, diverse set of plants. You probably know them best as seaweed. They have no leaves or roots like plants you find on land, but they perform photosynthesis all the same. Generally, algae grows in water.

What makes algae a good candidate for biofuel production?
Several things. For starters, it is the fastest growing plant in the world. That's right, bamboo has nothing on algae when conditions are right. Algae has been known to double its volume overnight.

Next, it has a significantly higher oil content than any other plant in the world. 50% of the plant is oil, vs. the next best plant, palm trees, which contain 20% oil.

If you combine both of these facts, algae has amazing potential to produce vegetable oils that can be converted into fuel. Take a look at this comparison of gallons of fuel produced per acre per year for each of these plant sources:

• Algae: 5000-20000 gpa/year
• Palm oil: 650 gpa/year
• Coconut: 230 gpa/yeer
• Rapeseed: 102 gpa/year
• Soy: 98.6 gpa/year (Soy is used in 80% of USA biodiesel)
• Peanut: 90 gpa/year
• Sunflower: 82 gpa/year
• Corn: 77 gpa/year

Yeah, that's right. Corn can only produce 77 gallons of fuel from an entire acre every year. Pathetic. That would barely run my car for a month. Algae has the potential to produce 250x that amount.

Another great thing about algae is that you can grow it anywhere. All you need is salt water, light and carbon dioxide. This eliminates the need to commandeer precious farmland to produce our fuel needs, unlike corn and soybeans.

Cool! So, why aren't we making a bunch of fuel already?
Growing algae is a bit tricky. The conditions have to be exactly right for it to grow quickly and to have the right amount of oil.

People started out trying to grow it in big ponds out under the open sky. This hasn't worked very well because the weather continually alters humidity and PH conditions.

Lately, companies have started growing algae in closed conditions, like in big tubes. But, algae needs an enormous surface area on which to grow. The light algae needs for growth only penetrates the water 3-4 inches deep, so the layer of algae harvested is usually relatively thin. Keeping an enormous shallow pool in a controlled environment is a bit tricky.

Many have pointed out that there's plenty of algae already in the oceans that we could start using. In fact, during the winter months, harmful algae blooms emerge that are so thick they strangle other sea life out of the area. In Seattle, some guys have retrofitted a boat that they think will zoom around to these algae blooms and harvest the existing algae out of the water.

Others suggest we just use the ocean to grow algae for us. Proposals range from giant tube-based algae farms floating in the seas around the equator to companies that want to throw huge quantities of iron in the ocean to force algae to spread, then harvest it.

Progress is slowly being made. In fact, the first commercial facility in the US just opened last month. But a few technical problems need to be solved before we can make full use of algae as a resource.

What's the relationship between algae and CO2?
Algae, like all plants, uses CO2 in its photosynthesis process to grow. And remember, it grows fast.

A few carbon offset companies have expressed a desire to capitalize on this fact by using iron to seed the oceans and force algae to bloom. They don't care about harvesting the algae, but would only do it to capture CO2 in the air. They theorize that once the CO2 is captured, it would then sink to the ocean's bottom, and over time we could cleanse our air this way.

Their proposals are extremely controversial. Most worry about the ecosystem impact of such a plan as large amounts of algae are dangerous to sealife. Others doubt that a carbon capture scheme ignoring natural processes will work as designed.

Another more helpful solution to capture CO2 has been proposed by Dr. Berzin at MIT, who suggests a system where each coal-fired plant feeds its CO2 to accompanying algae pools to be sucked up. In fact, these facilities can be installed directly on top of smokestacks.

What else is algae good for?
Lots of stuff:

• Once algae has been pressed for oil, the remaining algae can be fed to livestock for a nutritious, natural meal.
• Algae is a fantastic soil fertilizer
• Algae is the leading source in the hunt to produce hydrogen on the cheap. When algae is deprived of sulfur, it switches from a mode of producing oxygen to producing hydrogen. This could be the answer to cheap, clean hydrogen power!
• Algae are used in wastewater treatment facilities as a natural solution to clean up the water.

Emissions targets may not be enough. We need technology to bridge the gap.

Hello, my lovely readers! Sorry Brave New Leaf hasn't been updated in a few days. Life got a bit busy. And then I was trapped in the Washington State Legislative Caucus for nine hours yesterday. But I'm back, and am positively brimming over with green updates for us to discuss.

The first update comes to us from the New York Times.

They report that much of the efforts around global warming in recent years have focused on energy conservation and energy efficiency. Yet, despite great strides in these areas, energy consumption has still continued to increase worldwide.

Because of this, renowned world economist Jeffrey Sachs, head of the Earth Institute, has stated in a recent article that the cap and trade program, once imposed, may be too little, too late. He suggests that to ratchet back our emissions at the rate required is going to kill the economy, and will also be of little use: since the rise of China and India as powers in the East will negate Western efficiency gains.

Australia launches experiment to bury carbon dioxide underground

Australia's Energy Minister will open up a demonstration injection plant today that is capable of storing up to 100,000 tonnes of CO2 underground. The facility, the largest of its kind in the world, is designed to show that greenhouse gases can be captured, transported, and stored without leaking.

Representatives from all of the major greenhouse-gas-contributing nations will be present for the opening, with the exception of China. It is not immediately clear why China will not be attending.

It's a small, but important step for Australia, a strong leader on environmental issues. Australian coal plants emit 176 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, so installations like this one would only be capable of storing .05% of Australia's CO2. But should it succeed, larger scale installations will certainly be on the horizon.

Visualizing wind power with the Firewinder

Sometimes I run across products that don't serve a tremendous green purpose, but I have to mention because they have that "cool" factor.

So it is with the Firewinder.

The Firewinder could just be called a light that operates via wind power, but it's so much more than that. It's almost a piece of art that allows people to visualize the force of the wind, a visual reminder of the energy inherent in nature.

Realistically, it doesn't look as if the light is strong enough to provide any meaningful luminescence during the nighttime hours, but that doesn't stop me from thinking it's awesome. Learn more at Firewinder.com.

The frontline battle of coal vs. climate in Kansas

Something remarkable is happening in the heartland of America. One might even consider it a tipping point for the battle of coal vs. climate. The story goes like this:

Last year, Sunflower Electric proposed the development of three new coal-fired power plants in Kansas. While building these plants would significantly increase power production by Sunflower, only 8% of the power would go to Kansas residents, with the rest being exported to Colorado.

Worse still, the plants were forecasted to dump 13 million tons of CO2 a year into the atmosphere, making them the single biggest polluter in the United States.

In Kansas, the Health and Environment secretary makes the approval decisions on permits for new power plants. Typically, the review cycle for these permits looks at traditional air pollutant concerns like ozone, and doesn't consider the climate change implications. But this time, the Secretary felt that these considerations could not be ignored. He rejected the permit.

Sunflower responded by launching a negative ad campaign at the governor. They also lobbied the Republican-heavy state congress, resulting in a bill that overturned the permit rejection and would allow the power plants to be built. The bill passed easily.

Then last week, Kansas Governor Sebelius vetoed the bill. She stated she would consider approving a plan for coal only if Sunflower would develop a plan that was heavy on renewable sources.

Sunflower believes this is too expensive. They claim to serve a lot of low-income residents and senior citizens, and coal is the only low-cost power option available to them. They are mulling a lawsuit against the governor in the State Supreme Court. It seems the battle will continue to rage for some time. And while it does so, hundreds of governments and power companies in the U.S. will be watching it closely.