EPA releases toolkit for sustainable design and green building

Local governments have a new resource for facilitating the design of sustainable, green buildings within their communities. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recently released Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit provides community leaders with the information they need to evaluate and modify local codes and ordinances, with the ultimate goal of promoting the development of a green environment—from design and construction through operation and maintenance.

The Toolkit is conveniently divided into three sections. The first contains an assessment guide that helps users compare their codes and ordinances with those of LEED building standards. The second section aids communities in assessing how well they are currently promoting green building practices, looking specifically at whether each practice is incentivized, allowed, or prohibited. The final section guides users in creating an action plan, including next steps for how to change the regulatory environment. Explains EPA Environmental Scientist Karen Bandhauer, “In no way is EPA trying to tell localities how to do their permitting process, but to give them resources to help them look at their codes and ordinances, and save some time and money in the process…We hope it [the Toolkit] will provide a resource for communities to bring their codes and ordinances in line with sustainable policy efforts.”

Rocket science and waste treatment

Engineers at Stanford University are researching new methods for treating wastewater by increasing the production of two greenhouse gases: nitrous oxide (NOx) and methane. Typically, these gases are discouraged from forming. Both are harmful to the earth's atmosphere, with NOx 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2). However, encouraging the formation of the gases allows for the removal of nitrogen, a harmful susbtance in wastewater, while simultaneously producing methane for fuel production.

This process of treating wastewater is adopted from rocket science. Brian Cantwell, one of the Stanford researchers, is a professor in aeronautics and astronautics who has spent the past five years studying rocket thrusters powered by NOx. This background allows the researchers to approach wastewater treatment as a resource rather than waste material to be disposed of. While the world is facing contamination from waste nitrogen, the introduction of a process that removes nitrogen from waste could help restore the earth's nitrogen cycle and create a sustainable form of energy.

Study indicates up to 12 percent of global greenhouse gases can be offset through production of biochar

A recent study published in the scientific journal Nature Communications has determined that the production of a unique type of charcoal called biochar could help to sustainably offset as much as 12 percent of the greenhouse gases produced by human activities. The study looked at the global supply of biomass that is not consumed by humans for food, such as corn leaves, livestock manure, and yard trimmings. Using a mathematical model, researchers then calculated three different scenarios for the production of biochar: from a maximum amount, which would convert all non-edible biomass around the world into the material, to a minimum amount, which would utilize significantly less biomass.

The results for all three scenarios revealed significant findings. Depending on the level of biochar produced, carbon offsets of between 1.8 billion metric tons and roughly 1.0 billion metric tons annually are possible. This includes capturing and sequestering such potent greenhouse gases as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Researches also found that a combination of burning some biomass as fuel while converting the rest into biochar could potentially create optimal greenhouse gas offsets.

Biochar is created utilizing a process called pyrolysis, in which biomass undergoes direct thermal decomposition in the absence of oxygen. Instead of releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, as when plant material decomposes naturally in the presence of oxygen, the production of biochar removes these circulating gases and stores them in a high-carbon, fine-grained residue. The result is a stable, soil-like form that is carbon negative.

California farmers sell land for solar plant

Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley’s Westlands Water District are selling 12,000 acres for the creation of Westlands Solar Park. The park, when completed, will be a 5,000-megawatt photovoltaic power complex. Over the past few decades the land has had an abundant amount of salt build-up, not ideal for growing crops.

“Last year, we had over 250,000 acres in the district that didn’t get farmed,” explains Sarah Woolf, a Westlands spokeswoman. “Then you have drainage issues coupled with the long-term reliability of the water supply.” So instead of spending millions to fix the problem, farmers have opted to sell the land to Westside Holdings. Not only will this change generate a lot of energy for the Valley, but it will also help the neighbors and water resources. By giving up water normally allocated to crops, the rest of the Valley will have access to this resource at a much more affordable rate.

In other parts of California, there have been protests against replacing farm land with solar farms, but because of the bad soil condition and re-routing of water, it appears the San Joaquin Valley residents will be supportive.

For the full story, click the title to be linked to New York Time's Green Blog.

Asia's smart-grid market surpassing United States

Asia is focusing on developing a smart-grid market centered around several key players. China, India, South Korea, and Japan are at the head of the class in Asia's smart-grid market, with China and India projected to take up 75 percent of the market by 2015. In fact, China will soon overtake the United States as the leading smart-grid investor in 2010.

The funding will go towards projects such as renewable-energy storage technologies, power-transmission monitoring systems and intelligent substations. It will also fund other technologies such as electric-vehicle charging, automatic-power distribution, smart meters, and information systems for electricity use.


Asia demands a smart-grid capability that is quite diverse in nature. The Asian market displays a wide range of smart-grid activities, from reflecting the sophisticated nature of electricity demand in developed nations such as Japan and South Korea, to the need for first deployment of grids and massive grid upgrades in the developing economies of India and China. The massive upgrades, however, are mostly emblematic of the need to updgrade the entire energy grid in Asia, meaning even the more sophisticated grids. These are believed to be in need of further improvements to keep up with energy demand in developed Asian nations.

Global desalination projects expected to double by 2016

As the world’s population continues to grow exponentially, so too does the demand for fresh water. A multitude of industrial, agricultural and domestic uses call for the resource, straining supplies and depleting reserves. The process of desalination, in which salt and other minerals are removed from sea water, is a crucial remedy for this dilemma, and a recent study indicates a rapid increase in such projects around the world.

According to Pike Research, a global market-analysis firm in Boulder, Colorado, worldwide investments in desalination projects are projected to double by 2016, rising from $8.3 billion to $16.6 billion annually. The projects are fueled in part by steadily decreasing costs to operate the plants. Not surprisingly, the hottest, driest regions of the globe will continue to lead the way in construction, with the Middle East and North African countries topping the list. Methods of removing salt from sea water include reverse osmosis, heat distillation, and ion extraction.

Full story at EcoSeed.

MBTA spends $2 Million to reduce air pollution emissions

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has had an excessive amount of diesel trains idling. Trains are only allowed to be idling for thirty minutes. In 2008, MBTA had thirty-three violations. As a result, they will be forced to pay a $225,000 fine. Furthermore, because of federal laws and regulations, they will have to spend two million dollars to reduce emissions. One million will be spent on anti-idling equipment, while the other million will be spent on ultra-clean diesel fuel for all trains in the commuter rail system for two years.

The money will be spent to put an electric plug-in at the end of every station to supply all commuter locomotives with electric auxiliary power to prevent excess idling during train layovers. Also, trains will only be allowed to have layovers at these locations with correct electric plug-ins.

In the long run, MBTA will have to replace the trains’ engines with cleaner, more efficient engines. All of these changes are aimed at reducing air pollution. A reduction in commuter locomotive idling coupled with more efficient equipment could result in massive yearly carbon dioxide emission reductions. The EPA estimates reductions of 800 tons of CO2, nitrogen oxides reductions of nearly 170 tons, carbon monoxide reductions of about 80 tons, particulate reductions of 23 tons, and sulfur dioxide reductions of 1-2 tons. Reducing concentrations of these chemicals can help improve air quality, which will benefit all plant and animal species, including humans.

story from: EPA