Green Energy News Items-2/10/2008
Lots of news about renewable energy this week, including this item from CarbonConservation.com. With the help of carbon offsets like the ones from 4offsets.com, Papua, Indonesia is saving its forests and supporting the local economy at the same time. Plans for palm oil plantations to feed the bio-diesel demand that would have stripped Papua of its forests were underway with the blessing of the Indonesian government. Now, however, those plans are on hold, because carbon trading with offsets appears to be a better way to help the economy and the rainforest without destroying the rainforest ecosystem.
Using corn to produce ethanol isn’t the way to reduce greenhouse gases, researchers from Science Magazine say, and would actually result in almost twice the emissions of the gasoline it replaces. The study shows that land-use changes, especially using good cropland to grow corn and later other crops for fuel, will only worsen global warming. This kind of data needs to be taken into account before we get too much farther down the road to the biodiesel rush.
By 2020, all new residential buildings in California will have to be net-zero-energy homes, according to new rules from the California Energy Commission. And by 2030, that will apply to commercial structures also. This applies to new construction only, although there are plans to require retrofitting at time of sale for existing structures, similar to the ones already in place in Berkely and San Francisco. Some of the energy-saving features that will be incorporated into the new homes such as photovoltaic panels for heat and hot water and energy efficient wall and cooling systems, have already been demonstrated in several model homes.
Solar farm projects in Ontario and PV manufacturing in British Columbia are proving that Canada is not too far north to benefit from the sun’s energy via the PV industry. Industry in Sault St Marie will be able to use power from “flat plate” panels that will feed power directly into the municipal grid. And in Burnaby, BC, Day4 Solar Power is producing solar panels for the German and European market. With one installation already in place in Germany and two more in production, Day4 is fueling the Burnaby economy with jobs and material procurement.
This last item might appeal to those of us who have trouble throwing anything away. Several green-lifestyle bloggers aren’t throwing away anything, including their trash. Instead, as reported in CNet.com, they’re stashing it in their basements, garages and even their houses, so that they can record it, videotape it and blog about it. Some of them even have worm bins to digest their food-waste, which could result in some nice compost for their gardens next spring.
Of course, this is all in an effort to reduce, reuse and recycle by being more aware of what products come into their homes and how the product or its wrapper impacts the environment as part of the waste-stream. They’re all trying to reduce the size of their carbon footprint, which is what we all need to do in anyway we can.