Our Green Streets Blog

From Environmental Leader

Auto farm graveyard in Nebraska Photo: GR Meyers

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have unveiled the first national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. The new proposed standards are for three categories of heavy trucks: combination tractors, heavy-duty pickups and vans, and vocational vehicles.

“The EPA and DOT sent draft rules to the White House in August.

“The program, proposed by EPA and DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is projected to reduce GHG emissions by about 250 million metric tons and save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the program’s first five years.

“For combination tractors, the agencies propose engine and vehicle standards that begin in the 2014 model year and achieve up to a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption by 2018 model year.

“For heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans, the proposal calls for separate gasoline and diesel truck standards, which phase in starting with 2014 model year and cut emissions and fuel consumption 10 percent for gasoline vehicles and 15 percent for diesel vehicles by 2018 model year (12 and 17 percent respectively if accounting for air conditioning leakage).

“For vocational vehicles, the agencies propose engine and vehicle standards starting in 2014 model year, which would reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption 10 percent by 2018 model year.

“Overall, the heavy-duty national program would provide $41 billion in net benefits over the lifetime of model year 2014 to 2018 vehicles, together with the potential for fuel efficiency gains, ranging from seven to 20 percent.”

Counting and measuring carbon, although a daunting and remarkably puzzling undertaking, is a fundamental skill an increasing number of people will need to garner in the effort to understand and mitigate the effect of greenhouse gases and global warming. Especially so, since the world population continues growing by quantum measures and all of those folks are going to need survival basics such as heat and refrigeration, plus multitudes of electrical extras, such as mobile phone and computer power, broadband Internet capacity, etc.

We applaud the development of alternative energies but add this caveat for all supporters: it will be an extraordinary feat if the percentage of alternative energy powering the world’s grid comes anywere close to reaching five percent of supply in the next 20 years.

That brings us to the subject of power plants. Here are some power plant facts, according to the PowerPlantCCS website: 

“There are over 50,000 power plants in the world. These power plants constitute the single largest emitting industry for CO₂ emissions.” Read more of this >>

I have not met Barry Cohen, executive director of the National Algae Association, based in Woodlands, Texas, nor discussed with him any of the challenges facing his nascent industry. But the challenge he made to his membership caught my attention:

“I am issuing a challenge for the year 2010: Build out a 100 acre turnkey algae production facility (growing, harvesting and extraction) without any local, state or federal grant funds.”

Mr. Cohen’s greeting to all for the beginning of 2010 is well worth reading, especially by all who want to see alternative fuels gain more solid footing on the American (and world) energy charts.

The accounting of his challenge ias worth the read:

“When this (American oil production) all started in 1859, nobody had all of the answers. 150 years later, the oil industry is still looking for answers. A 100 acre turn-key commercial-scale algae production facility will allow algae producers to look at real commercial algae production and operations as well as economies of scale issues. It will give algae researchers a much better understanding of commercial-scale algae production issues to work on as opposed to small raceway ponds and desk-top lab photobioreactors. It is, at this point, useless to continue to fund algae research without seriously funding commercial-scale algae production farms. As some have already learned, intellectual properties have no practical use if there is not an industry to use them. In order to create any value in existing algae technologies, we must have commercial-scale algae production facilities that can use them!

“Commercial-scale algae production is key to our industry and is one solution that helps to reduce dependence on foreign oil, to create new jobs and reduce CO2 emissions. The NAA challenges the algae industry to build a 100 acre commercial-scale algae production plant without any local, state or federal grants – this will be the true test of algae production farming and algaepreneurism at its finest!

“I would like to see the first 50 acres of production with proven benchmarked results – totally designed, developed and put into production without a single dollar of government money. The next 50 acres can be improved by making minor changes based on what was learned from the first 50 acres. I know it can be done, and you know it can be done – it´s time to do it!”

The entire document can be read at the association’s website .

Carbon Sciences (CABN), reported last week on Green Streets as a promising developer of technology to recycle CO2 emissions into fuels, has posted a video on its website and YouTube explaining its technology and nano-engineering innovations that CEO Byron Elton believes will lead to an industrial-scale process to produce fuels.
Read more of this >>

After developing a promising technology to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) into gasoline, Santa Barbara, CA – based Carbon Sciences, Inc. has announced developing key enzymes that will accelerate its biocatalytic process and significantly lower the cost of fuel production.

One potential large supplier of such captured CO2 might be coal-fired electrical power generating plants.  The impact could be  significant, said Carbon Sciences CEO, Byron Elton. “We strongly believe we are developing the most efficient and viable renewable fuel technology in the world. We estimate tat that with less than half of the the CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants, we can produce 30 percent of the world’s fuel supply.”

The conversion of captured CO2 to liquified fuels Source: Carbon Sciences

Read more of this >>

PRESS RELEASE

Washington, DC — A major new national youth organizing campaign on clean energy and climate will launch with a national press teleconference on Wednesday.  The new effort, called Consequence, will organize young people across America to demand urgent Congressional action to unleash investment in clean energy sources like wind and solar, increase energy efficiency to save consumers money, and set firm limits on the carbon pollution that causes global warming.

The Consequence campaign, a new national grassroots organizing effort, kicked off today with a nationwide online advertising campaign, print and radio advertisements in targeted states, and the launch of an innovative social networking site, www.consequence09.org, that will lie at the heart of the youth-focused campaign. Consequence will organize young people in states across America to demand urgent Congressional action on a comprehensive clean energy and climate plan that will unleash investment in clean energy sources like wind and solar, creates millions of clean energy jobs, reduces our dependence on oil and place firm limits on the carbon pollution that causes global warming.

“Young people have an incredibly important role to play in demanding a clean energy future,” said Jessy Tolkan, Energy Action Coalition Executive Director.  “They understand that we must pursue a ‘Yes We Can’ approach to our nation’s climate and energy challenges and that there are real consequences—for our economy, our security and the future of our planet—if Congress fails to act. Through an intensive effort to organize and mobilize these young people, the Consequence campaign and its partners will ensure that our elected officials know that young people demand a commitment to a clean energy economy that creates millions of clean energy jobs, reduces our dependence on oil and curbs dangerous global warming pollution.”

Consequence will include a major national online advertising campaign commencing this week, as well as radio and print advertising in Arkansas, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

California LNG Plant at Altamont Source: Len Butler, Waste Management

According to joint venture partners, Linde North America and Waste Management, construction on the world’s largest plant to convert landfill gas into clean vehicle fuel is nearing completion.  Project details were shared today during a presentation at the National Biomethane Summit in Sacramento, Calif. The joint venture partners are installing systems to purify and liquefy landfill methane gas.
Read more of this >>

The future for E-fuel is now looking brighter

E-Fuel Corp. has unveiled the final production model of the E-Fuel MicroFueler, a portable micro-refinery fuel system for consumer use. The State of California’s Department of General Services is also exploring a pilot program to test the MicroFueler with its flex-fuel vehicles. Video information of today’s press conference with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and San Diego-based GreenHouse is available at www.GreenHouseEnergy.com.

“We are making our state a cleaner, greener and healthier place for everyone, but our goals require revolutionary technologies and low-carbon fuels,” said Schwarzenegger. “ It’s great news for our economy, our environment and our energy future.”

GreenHouse Energy, a division of GreenHouse, will be the exclusive distributor of the E-Fuel MicroFueler in California and Arizona.

GreenHouse is developing its business of distributing affordable alternative fuel by the end of 2009, said Chris Ursitti, GreenHouse CEO.
Read more of this >>

For us sneering at the notion of plastics and biodegradability, it is time to stand back and jump up!

Biodegradable plastic bottles will soon be on grocery shelves. Source: Enso Bottles, LLC

What’ll it be: 10,000 years, or two years? That is the question when it comes to the life expectancy of the plastic bottle you drink from.

For those of us looking for the next level of plastic – something that’s not going to be around for eternity – even compostable – we may need to look no further than Arizona.
That’s where ENSO Bottles, LLC is making plastic drinking bottles that are – yes – biodegradable. Not only biodegradable, but when they go to the landfill, digestible to microbes making methane, which can be captured and converted to energy.

This is exactly the kind of cycle in waste-to-energy that ENSO Bottle co-founder and president, Danny Clark, wants. “When our bottles go into the landfill, the idea is that the bottled will break down and create methane.”

Thus Clark can proudly list one of his company’s operating mantras that it develops products that can create value when they are discarded. Clark says there is no exact time for how long it takes his bottles to break down, but estimated the time to be about two years.

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