Australia and Malaysia to protect forests as carbon offsets

An Australian company, Shift2neutral, has signed a deal with Malaysian tribal leaders to protect forests as carbon offsets, a deal that will benefit both parties. The deal, set for 100,000 hectares of forest on the Island of Borneo, will allow tribes to earn a share of the proceeds from the sale of carbon offsets, potentially worth millions of dollars.

The project is part of the United Nations-backed reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). It aims to improve the lives of some 10,000 Malaysians across 24 tribes living near diminishing tropical forest. The deal adds an incentive to protect the forest, as preserving the remaining tropical forest in developing countries is key to mitigating the effects of climate change.

REDD also is involved in neighboring Indonesia. People are awarded carbon-credit payments in return for protecting native forest. In the future, long-term management plans will be developed to ensure the success of the programs. Illegal logging activities, among others, are threats to the future of these forests.

Full story at Ecoseed

Next-generation microbial fuel cell turns sewage into electricity

Until recently, conventional microbial fuel cells lacked the ability to generate enough current to be useful in household applications. But thanks to research conducted at Oregon State University (OSU), that fact is about to change. With the use of newly-developed fuel cells that feature electrodes coated in gold nanoparticles, homes in developing countries will soon be able to generate electricity while they clean their sewage. The gold-enhanced electrodes work by helping to capture additional electrons from bacteria, which are added to raw sewage in a small unit designed for home use. As the bacteria break down the organic matter, protons and electrons are released. When the electrodes are placed around the mixture of sewage and bacteria, an electrical current is generated: enough to power a light bulb or even a small fan.

Explains OSU researcher and co-author of the study Hong Liu, “I envisage small devices placed in households, instead of sewage plants, at least in the near future." Though peer review of the new fuel cell raises concerns about its limitations, the OSU team plans to first increase its efficiency and then develop it for commercial use within three to five years.

Full story at Environmental News Network.

New York’s Empire State Building gets a green makeover

The world-famous Empire State Building in New York City is going green. Its owners have invested $13 million in support of green-building technologies, which will increase energy efficiencies by up to 40 percent and reduce expenses by $4 million annually. The makeover will also decrease the building’s carbon footprint by more than 100,000 metric tons over the next 15 years, a reduction that is equivalent to cutting the number of cars on the road by 20,000. Among the improvements to be made will be the retrofitting of windows and arranging furniture to reduce energy requirements.

Full story at GreenTechies.

Forging a way to better rooftop gardens

David Marlow, President of Trenton Forging, says rooftop gardens can help city buildings save energy. Much like typical rooftop greenhouses, gardens can help absorb heat for the buildings, and are also proven to reduce storm water runoff into the city. More gardens producing fresh produce in cities can also improve public health.

Trenton Forging’s mission is to make rooftop gardens and greenhouses more efficient. Using a forge, like a blacksmith or car part manufacturer does, the Trenton Forging system heats metal up to 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit. These metal parts are then out into bins to roll under a 4,000 gallon water tank in the plants to heat the green house. This system would make it much easier for the northern states to save money on heating in the winter and keep up their greenhouses all year round.

There are other companies making technology for rooftop gardens and greenhouses. Sky Vegetables, a company from Massachusetts, is creating hydroponic systems for the rooftop gardens. The system uses solar panels to absorb heat for the greenhouse. This will reduce utility costs in the summer because the garden will be absorbing extra sunlight and in the winter the greenhouse will help keep the building a little more insulated. Sky Vegetables has not licensed its technology yet, but plans on renting roofs in New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC and San Francisco and selling its produce to city grocery stores.

DOE releases annual wind market report

The "2009 Wind Technologies Market Report" was released today by the U.S. Department of Energy. The report, mainly authored by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is an overview of trends in the U.S. wind power market.

For the first time, the 2009 report incorporates information about the source of wind turbine equipment, determining the amount of domestic and international equipment being used in U.S. wind turbines. The report determined that, roughly, the amount of U.S. content increased from 50 percent in 2008 to 60 percent in the 2009 report.

Furthermore, 2009 was a record-breaking year, with fully 10 gigawatts of power capacity added. The new additions cost a total of $21 billion in investments, with a capacity of powering approximately 2.4 million new homes. Wind generation capacity accounted for an overall 39 percent market share of new U.S. electric-generating capacity, bringing the overall percentage of power in the U.S. from wind to 2.5 percent.

For more information and results from the report, visit Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy News at the U.S. Department of Energy.

China traffic-beating bus system

China has displayed some creative ways for reducing emissions while increasing efficiency on its way to becoming the world's number one energy consumer over the United States. Now, China plans to develop one of the more impressive systems to help with pollution: a bus that can drive over traffic.

The plan is set for Beijing, where traffic congestion is a major problem. Everyone remembers the 2008 Summer Olympics, where poor air quality was a reason for concern over hosting certain events. The "3D Express Coach," as the Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment company is calling it, will run on a combination of electricity and solar power. The bus will be connected to a track, and have a 2 meter clearance in the middle with 6 meter width. This will allow for 2 lanes of traffic to pass under the bus, while allowing some 1,200-1,400 passengers to be seated within the cabin above the street.

You may think that this is a far-fetched idea that will take years to develop. You'd be wrong! The first 115 miles of track is set for construction in the fall of 2010. The Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment company says that the total time for completing the project will be only 1 year, and at 500 million yuan, or $73 million.

Full story at Huffington Post

Advances in solar cells modeled on the eyes of an insect

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University are working to improve the design of solar cells by utilizing insect eyes as a model, specifically those of the common blowfly. Like all insects, the flies’ eyes are compound, meaning that there are many, individual macroscale eyes covering the surface of each larger eye. However, the particular shape of the blowflies’ eyes—a large hemisphere with numerous, smaller hexagonal-shaped eyes—appears to be an ideal design for improving the efficiency of solar cells. For this reason, the Penn scientists are using them as a model to develop biomimetic surfaces (surfaces that imitate the properties of biological tissues). Explains Akhlesha Lakhtakia, Godfrey Binder professor of engineering science and mechanics, “These eyes are perfect for making solar cells because they would collect more sunlight from a larger area rather than just light that falls directly on a flat surface.” The team has succeeded in producing template molds containing a limited number of blowfly corneas. Its next challenge will be to tile these templates together to form much larger surfaces, which can then be used to construct a new generation of solar cells.

Full story at EcoSeed.

Charging electric vehicles, wireless

Electric vehicles may be able to utilize what is known as 'induction', or wireless charging. The technology, under research by the company Evatran, would be able to keep a car at full charge overnight. This could avoid the frustration of waking up to use your car only to find it uncharged having forgotten to plug it in the night before. The ease of use would be a huge benefit to electric car users.

The induction charger would be a hub sitting on the garage floor. A vehicle would drive and rest over the hub, where it would enter the induction charger's electromagnetic field. This field would be recognized by a coil in the vehicle, which would convert it to electricity and help store the vehicle batteries at full charge.

Wall to vehicle charging of electric vehicles creates another dilemma: the use of electricity for charging vehicles comes mostly from coal-fired power plants. This is why, currently, efficient diesel-powered vehicles are still much more popular. The induction charger would actually be 10% less efficient that wall charging, wasting much energy, but proponents believe that the peace of mind would force people to buy electric vehicles and spur these same people into investment in wind and solar renewable energy sources.

Full story at ENN

Cape Wind at a reduced rate

Cape Wind and the state of Massachusetts have made an initial agreement to reduce the rates of the electricity that the project will supply in the first years of deployment. The agreement, reached by proponents of Cape Wind and Massachusetts' attorney general, means the initial price of electricity in the first year will be reduced from 20.7 cents to 18.7 cents, with an annual increase of 3.5 percent each year.

Cape Wind, as mentioned in an earlier blog post, was approved as the first offshore wind project to be built in the United States earlier this year. The project, as with most large construction projects of its scale, was met with opposition from many different critics, including environmentalists. Nonetheless, the Cape Wind project will be built and eventually will supply Massachusetts with power from wind energy harnessed at the large wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

This agreement is expected to ease the tension over the Cape Wind project but making electricity prices affordable for ratepayers. However, increases are to be expected. Cape Wind proponents argue that the increase is not the same level as fossil fuel price increases. Cape Wind proponents expect the project to help achieve the 3 percent renewable energy requirement for the state of Massachusetts.

Full story at Ecoseed

Britain aspires to cut emissions 80 percent by 2050

In his inaugural energy statement to Parliament, Britain's Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne outlined a plan to significantly reduce the country's carbon footprint and dependence of fossil fuels. By doing so, he believes it is possible to decrease Britain's emission of greenhouse gasses fully 80 percent by 2050.

Secretary Huhne's plan calls for a considerable increase in the use of renewable energy as well as promoting and incentivizing energy efficiencies, such as the use of smart meters and proper insulation by households. Marine energy, biomass, and energy generated via waste and anaerobic digestion will also be embraced. The Secretary explains his country's push for sustainability with an eye to Britain's present energy situation: "We are not claiming to be able to see the future with certainty. But we cannot continue on the current pathway: high-carbon, highly dependent on imports, highly volatile prices."

Full story at EcoSeed.