econews

Home	About Us	Search	Site Map	Contact Us
EcoTips
EcoNews
EcoKids
CoolTools
Your Home
Your Town
Your World

EcoNews

What’s EcoPath Been Doing?

Low Carbon Diet

Town Energy Committee

Other EcoNews

What’s EcoPath Been Doing?

We’re working on a few ideas and have started small groups of volunteers to—

· Participate in the “Low Carbon Diet,” where families try to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and their energy bills.

· Cooperate with our town officials on saving money by re-examining energy consumption in public buildings.

· Increase recycling among town residents.

· Minimize idling of vehicles at the transfer station and at Blanchard School. This includes staging “Idling Days” at the station, where volunteers distribute information on the negative impact of idling on air quality and gas mileage. Ask us for a copy of our flyer on the “Myths and Facts about Idling.”

· Create more public awareness of local energy and environmental issues. For example, EcoPath will help organize events to celebrate Earth Hour 2009 in March.

Low Carbon Diet

Three Boxborough families have reduced their carbon dioxide emissions significantly with little effort. Now EcoPath is exploring ways to get more families involved, possibly through an educational program with grade-school children.

People who have participated in the Low Carbon Diet are willing to guide small groups of 3-5 households who want to try their hand at it. All it takes is three meetings over a period of 4-6 weeks, plus some work at home. Besides cutting emissions, you could also reduce your utility bills.

Eventually, this program could evolve into an “Energy Smackdown” contest, where several families compete to see who can cut the most energy use or carbon emissions over a period of a few weeks or so. These community events are often video-recorded and broadcast over the town’s cable TV station or distributed by email to other residents.

Town Energy Committee

In 2008, Boxborough’s Board of Selectmen asked EcoPath volunteers to serve as the town’s Ad Hoc Energy Committee, and in 2009 the Selectmen formed a permanent Energy Committee. Our meetings are open to the public, and all interested citizens are welcome to participate without becoming a member (see our meeting Calendar or email Francie Nolde).

Return to top

Other EcoNews

New US Rooftop Wind Turbine Lab

RenewableEnergyWorld.com, June 1, 2009

In partnership with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, the Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Science, is installing a rooftop Wind Turbine Lab this summer. The museum has already started the installation of nine wind turbines from five different manufacturers, the largest of which is 40 feet tall (13 metres) and the smallest about seven feet (2 metres) with 5- to 18-foot (1.5 – 6 metres) diameters. The first two turbines are now in place on the Cambridge side of the museum's roof.

The machines featured are the 1.2-kW Mariah Power Windspire, a vertical-axis turbine about 10 metres high; the Southwest SkyStream 3.7 a downwind, horizontal-axis 1.9-kW machine with a 3.7-metre rotor diameter; a Cascade Engineering Swift with a 1.5-kW rated output using an upwind, horizontal-axis design with a 2.1-metre diameter; A bank of five AeroVironment AVX1000 1-kW turbines that have a directional design for building parapets to take advantage of higher speed winds rushing up and over buildings and have a 1.5-metre diameter; and, the Proven 6, a 6-kW downwind, horizontal axis machine with a 5.5-metre rotor diameter.

Designed to demonstrate turbines, the lab will generate valuable experience to help government officials and renewable energy professionals make informed decisions about projects and policy. David Rabkin, Farinon director for current science and technology at the museum explains: "No one has tested five different small turbines in a rooftop laboratory. Although there's lots of interest in small-scale wind turbines, we found little data on their performance and impact. Despite a year of collecting data on the wind at the museum, we still don't really know enough about the turbines to predict their performance."

In addition to obtaining variances and permitting for both Cambridge and Boston, the three-year project involved selecting and siting the turbines to maximize wind exposure, visibility and safety in five different "microclimates." Each turbine was its own engineering project. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry said: "This project will give us the information we need to debate the benefits of turbines in an urban environment and move forward on the technology front."

Third RGGI Auction Raises $117M for Renewables and Efficiency

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s (RGGI) third carbon allowance auction raised $117 million last week for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs in 10 Northeastern states. RGGI, the country's first greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system, officially began Jan. 1. Though the number of bids submitted was lower than in the second auction in December, the per-ton price inched up 13 cents.

About 50 buyers snatched up 31.5 million 2009 allowances at $3.51 per ton of carbon dioxide, compared to $3.38 per ton in the second auction and $3.07 in the first. A parallel offering of nearly 2.2 million allowances for the next RGGI control period that begins in 2012 sold for $3.05 per ton. All told, the three auctions have generated more than $262 million in revenue distributed among the states, which include Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Delaware.

The majority of bidders for both types of allowances in Wednesday’s auction were electricity generators buying the permits for compliance purposes. The next auction is scheduled for June. The system’s cap is set at 188 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which will be ratcheted down incrementally through 2018 for a 10 percent total reduction. Several reports, however, indicate emissions in 2008 were between 16 percent and 17 percent lower than the cap.

New England Firm Says Its New Waste-to-Energy System is a GEM

The IST Energy Corporation has launched a mobile green waste-to-energy conversation system and says its new GEM can serve any site that produces at least two tons of trash a day. The GEM processes a range of post-consumer rubbish – paper, plastic, food, wood and agricultural materials – and converts them into “energy pellets.” The resulting pellets are gray and somewhat cylindrical. They’re what’s left after the GEM, which stands for Green Energy Machine, eliminates 95 percent of the trash. The pellets are then chemically converted to gas that can be used to power a generator that runs on natural gas, or with some conversion one that runs on diesel. The product resulting from the gasified pellets is generally comparable to natural gas, but has a lower energy content.

By processing as much as three tons of trash a day, the GEM can create enough energy to heat and power a 200,000-square-foot building occupied by some 500 people, according to the company, which estimates the energy savings as $250,000. The GEM runs on the energy it produces. It is eight feet high, about the length of three standard parking spaces, and can be installed at a property or moved on a flatbed trailer from site to site, if an owner wants to use it at multiple locations. The full unit with the processor and the generator costs about $850,000, and the company says the system pays for itself in three to four years based on energy savings. Firms also eliminate the cost and release of greenhouse gases that result from having their rubbish hauled off.

Turning trash to energy isn’t a new idea in Massachusetts, but for the most part trash is burned to produce power, rather than consumed in an eco-friendly fashion.

IST’s GEM is in use at its parent firm, Infoscitex Corp., in Waltham. Potential customers are expected to start visiting next week. Those who attend the demos will find an info tent near the unit with space heaters and a monitor with an animated display that shows how the system works, according to spokesman Ben Haber. All the devices in the tent will be powered by energy produced by the GEM, he said.

Out of the Fryer & Into the Vegawatt: Used Cooking Oil Helps Power Restaurant

A Massachusetts firm says its new device called the Vegawatt can help restaurants save money by converting used vegetable oil from fryers into fuel to produce electricity and hot water. The Owl Power Company of Boylston, Mass., hopes its Vegawatt (pronounced with a soft “g,” like the word vegetable) will become the next big thing among restaurants and other businesses with commercial or industrial kitchens that use fryers.

President and CEO James Peret, the founder of Owl Power Company, engineered and developed the Vegawatt after batting around the idea of using waste oil at its source and devising a way to make that possible, according to Ben Prentice, the firm’s vice president of sales. “He figured out a way to create a direct benefit for restaurants,” said Prentice, a veteran of the hospitality industry who had operated the first green fast food restaurant in the country. “Restaurants operate on a very low margin and the Vegawatt presents an exciting opportunity to save huge money.”

The Vegawatt waste oil cogeneration system is six feet high, six feet wide and about two feet deep. It’s designed to be installed outside a building and hooks up to the building’s electric system through an electrical cable. The Vegawatt also has a hot water feed and return system. Details on the workings of the Vegawatt can be found here. Instead of having used fryer oil hauled away, it’s placed in the Vegawatt, which cleans it through an automated four-step process, then converts the waste oil into fuel that’s used to produce electricity and hot water. The system provides about 10 to 25 percent of the power used by a restaurant, creating a savings in energy costs while recycling waste oil in a process that is nontoxic and nonflammable and produces no liquid byproducts, the company says.

The first Vegawatt is in operation at Finz Seafood & Grill in Dedham, Mass., where owner George Carey says utility costs make up the greatest line-item expense for his business. Carey told GreenBiz he happened to hear of the Vegawatt last spring at a green restaurant conference, where he sat a table with a principal from the Owl Power Company. “It’s working great,” said an enthusiastic Carey, who had the Vegawatt installed in early December. Previously, Finz had its waste oil hauled away to be recycled into biofuel. “This is a better, more green option — the oil never leaves the building,” Carey said. “We’re very pleased with the impact, or lack of impact (on the environment).”

The restaurant in Dedham and its sister location in Salem emphasize locally grown produce and locally caught seafood, and are always looking for ways to reduce waste, recycle and use energy more efficiently, according to Carey. And while much of its menu is grilled seafood, chips or fries are popular items, he said. “So this was just a layup for us,” Carey said of putting the Vegawatt to work at the Dedham restaurant, which opened in 2007 and is the newer of the two. “It’s not hard for a restaurant operator to use whatsoever.”

According to Prentice, the basic Vegawatt, a 5-kilowatt unit, costs $22,000, is eligible for a 10 percent tax credit, and has an estimated return on investment of two to three years for a business processing 50 to 80 gallons of waste cooking oil a week. For example, if a restaurant used the system to process at least 50 gallons of oil a week the payback period would be about three years; at 80 gallons per week the projected payback would be in two years. The firm is developing 12 to 15 kilowatt units capable of processing 140 to 180 gallons a week, Prentice said.

Hawaii to be 1^st state with electric car stations

Hawaii has unveiled plans to be first in the nation to roll out electric car stations statewide – a move the governor hailed as a major step toward weaning the islands off oil. Hawaii imports foreign oil for almost 90 percent of its energy needs. One-third of that oil is used to power cars and buses on island streets. Gov. Linda Lingle said the program would help Hawaii meet its goal of slashing fossil fuel use 70 percent by 2030. "This is the preferred future," Lingle said at a press conference. "Today is a part of the execution of our energy independence, and our getting off the addiction to oil."

Better Place, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company, will build the car recharging stations and provide recharged batteries for electric cars. The company will purchase renewable energy – such as wind power – from Hawaiian Electric Co., the state's largest utility. Better Place plans to have the stations open for the mass market by 2011. It expects to build between 50,000 to 100,000 charge spots – in parking lots, downtown streets, and neighborhoods – across the state by early 2012.

Other communities, like the San Francisco Bay area, have announced plans to host Better Place recharging stations. But Hawaii aims to be the first to have the stations statewide. Better Place also has deals to create electric vehicle infrastructures in Israel, Denmark and Australia. Shai Agassi, Better Place's founder and chief executive officer, said the Nissan Motor Co.-Renault SA auto alliance has agreed to make electric cars that would be recharged at the stations. Better Place is also talking to other automakers, including the U.S. Big Three: Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co., and General Motors Corp. Ford is planning to accelerate the roll-out of electric vehicles as part of its restructuring plan.

The first plug-in vehicle will be a Transit Connect small van for commercial use in 2010 and a car the size of the Ford Focus compact the following year. Ford also said it will accelerate plans for hybrid gas-electric vehicles. Lingle said other carmakers have an incentive to follow Nissan/Renault because they would want to sell cars in the new markets Better Place is creating. "Nobody will want to be left on the sidelines once these networks are up," Lingle said. Agassi said the electric cars will cost the same as gasoline powered vehicles. Over time, however, they will be cheaper to make because they will use half as many parts as cars with internal combustion engines.

Better Place picked Hawaii for the first statewide rollout in part because the islands are a contained environment, with few vehicles coming in and out, Agassi said. Better Place would need to build a bigger network across several states to serve some mainland markets. Hawaii also has abundant renewable energy resources, including wind, solar, geothermal and wave power. This is important because Better Place won't use oil, and aims to have a "zero carbon footprint." For example, Agassi said Better Place plans to recharge its batteries at night with power from Hawaii's wind farms. That power normally goes unused because of Hawaii's low nighttime energy needs.

Agassi sees Hawaii as an ideal place to show off Better Place technology because the state welcomes over five million tourists each year from the U.S. mainland, Japan, Canada, and the rest of the world. "If we can get them into electric cars when they rent, we do two great things," Agassi said. "One, we avoid emissions and, two, we use the opportunity to educate them, to teach them in Hawaii how it needs to be done in the rest of the world." Lingle said the state doesn't expect to spend any money to facilitate the network. However, she said the state may need to offer tax breaks or other incentives to encourage people to buy electric vehicles when they are first offered.

General Electric Introduces “Smart” Appliances to Reduce Peak Demand Load

By Megan Toth, November 5, 2008

General Electric Consumer & Industrial (GE) recently announced its upcoming line of “smart” appliances, or Energy Management Enabled Appliances, which will help consumers to shift energy load from peak hours to other parts of the day. Kevin Nolan, Vice President of Technology for GE, identifies the appliances as the next step in home energy cost savings. He explains, “Now that ENERGY STAR appliances are recognized by 75 percent of American consumers, the next step is to reshape when energy is being used. It is imperative that we begin to shift some of the energy load from peak hours to other parts of the day, helping to avoid the need to build new power plants to meet the demand.”

The “smart” appliances work by reading a signal from their local utility and adjusting power usage accordingly. For example, the new GE refrigerators would be able to delay the energy-intensive defrost cycle from occurring during peak energy usage hours. Consumers will save money by paying for the same amount of energy later in the day and at a lower rate. Other smart appliances, such as laundry pairs and dishwashers, will enable consumers to view rate changes on a display screen, letting them know when higher rates are in effect and giving consumers ultimate control. GE plans to introduce the “smart” appliances sometime during the first quarter of 2009.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which includes Massachusetts, successfully conducted the first-in-the-nation auction of carbon dioxide emission allowances in late September. More than $38.5 million was raised from the sale of 12.5 million allowances to bidders from the energy, financial, and environmental sectors. The allowances were sold at a clearing price of $3.07, with demand exceeding the offerings by more than four times the available amount. Six of the ten RGGI states offered allowances for sale in the first auction.

Massachusetts, along with Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Vermont, will invest the proceeds from the auction in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and other programs that benefit energy consumers. The allowances can be used for compliance in any of the ten states participating in RGGI, including the four states (Delaware, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York) that did not offer allowances in this first auction.

RGGI aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through a cap-and-trade program. Under the initiative, the ten participating states will stabilize carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector at capped levels. The states will then reduce the cap 10% by 2018, with 2.5% decreases each year between 2015 and 2018. Auctioning the allowances allows the states to invest the revenues in programs that reduce energy demand and the use of fossil fuels. The next auction will be held in December 2008. All ten states are expected to offer allowances for sale in the first 2009 auction and in quarterly auctions thereafter. See the RGGI press release detailing the results of the auction.

Boston Architectural College has added new classes and expanded course offerings in its Online Sustainable Design Certificate Program in response to increasing demands for green building education. Industry and market demands for environmentally friendly, energy efficient structures — and for professionals capable of planning and providing them — are fueling growth in education programs around the country.

At Boston Architectural College, whose Online Sustainable Design Certificate Program was the first in the U.S., the demand has resulted in a program that has more than doubled its size in the past two years. “Our rate of growth has been pretty intense,” Davina Danian, the college’s manager for online education, told GreenerBuildings.

This semester the college’s online Sustainable Design program, conducted in partnership with BuildingGreen Inc., will offer 30 courses in two eight-week blocks. The continuing education classes range from the introductory to the advanced level and can be taken individually or as part of the certificate program. New offerings include a Sustainable Planner’s track and a prep course for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accreditation exam.

Some 200 people are now enrolled in the online certificate program, said Danian. U.S. participants predominate among the enrollees, who include people in Canada, Costa Rica, India, Ireland, Japan, and Mexico.

The online program began with a handful of courses in 2004. The intent was to address the needs of people who wanted to know more about environmentally responsible design to enhance their professional development, and to help those transitioning into the field from another career, Danian said. Providing the courses online enabled busy professionals living in Boston or elsewhere to attend the college without leaving their office or locale.

The college soon found that it had tapped a great interest for online continuing education in the growing field of eco-friendly design. “We've been growing really fast ever since,” Danian said. The college also offers a Bachelor of Design Studies degree with a concentration in Sustainable Design.

Disclaimer: Boxborough EcoPath does not endorse or sponsor other websites. If a link fails to open a website, please let us know by email . You can try going to the website’s home page to search for the information.