Sewage into Energy

Brown signs law requiring 33% renewable energy

David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

San Francisco ChronicleApril 12, 2011 04:00 ACopyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.On Tuesday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new law which will require California's investor-owned utility companies to get at least 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The utilities are already required to get 20% of their power from renewable sources, a goal which has not been met yet, but which the new law will enforce by the end of 2013.

Speaking to a crowd gathered at a solar panel factory in Milpitas, Governor Brown framed the law in terms of maintaining California's lead in the green technology industry, improving the state's economy and increasing jobs over the long term.

Many clean-tech companies in Silicon Valley favored the law, saying that it will give investors confidence to continue building new factories and renewable power facilities in the state. PG&E, the state's largest utility, opposed the legislation on the grounds that it would restrict their ability to keep consumers' costs low. Southern California Edison, however, supported the law, expressing faith that prices for renewable energy such as solar power will continue to drop as worldwide production increases in response to increased demand.

Read the full article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/12/BUA91IVBDL.DTL#ixzz1JQaTfNlY

NREL's Top 10 List of Green Power Programs

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released its annual assessment of leading utility green power programs. Under these voluntary programs, consumers can choose to help support additional electricity production from renewable resources such as wind and solar.

According to the NREL analysis, more than 850 utilities across the US now offer green power programs. Utility green power sales in 2009 exceeded 6 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), and represent more than 5% of total electricity sales for some of the most popular programs. Wind energy represents approximately two-thirds of electricity generated for green energy programs nationwide.

Using information provided by utilities, NREL developed a Top 10 list of utility programs for 2009 in the following categories:

• total sales of renewable energy to program participants
• total number of customer participants
• percentage of customer participation
• green power sales as a percentage of total utility retail electricity sales
• lowest price premium charged for a green power program using new renewable resources

Ranked by renewable energy sales (kWh/year), Austin Energy in Austin, Texas sold the largest amount of renewable energy in the nation through its voluntary green power program. Rounding out the top five are Portland General Electric (OR), PacifiCorp (OR and five other states), the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (CA), and Xcel Energy (CO, MN, WI, and NM).

Ranked by the percentage of customer participation, the top utilities are City of Palo Alto Utilities (CA), Portland General Electric, Madison Gas and Electric Company (WI), the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and the City of Naperville (IL).

NREL analysts attribute the success of many programs to continued efforts to raise awareness of the availability of green power options and the decrease in the rate premium that customers pay for green power. The average net price premium for utility green power products has decreased from 3.48¢/kWh in 2000 to 1.75¢/kWh in 2009.

See additional rankings and read the full press release here.

How Green Is It?

Throughout August, All Things Considered (a program on National Public Radio) will examine some of the things Americans are doing — and buying — to help the environment, and if those steps really are as "green" as they seem.

Topics will include:

• Green cars and 'Cash for Clunkers' program
• Bring your own bags
• Green electricity and renewable energy
• Energy Star certification
• Replacement windows and weather-stripping
• Bamboo

Podcasts and transcripts available here.

Food Waste In --> Clean Water Out

Food waste helps power wastewater plant
Kelly Zito, San Francisco Chronicle, July 24, 2009

Under an innovative program touted as the first of its kind in the nation, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) collects about 100 tons of food scraps from restaurants and grocery stores each week, speeds up the decomposition process, and uses the resulting methane gases to fuel the energy-hungry pumps and pipelines at its 49-acre wastewater treatment plant. Leftover scraps are turned into compost.

If EBMUD hits its long-term goal of processing 100 to 150 tons of food waste each day, district officials hope to begin selling a steady, sizable amount of renewable energy to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

"This is a great opportunity, especially since our primary focus is public health and environment," said David Williams, director of wastewater at the utility. "Right now, we take a lot of carbon out of the ground and put it out into the air. In this case you're taking carbon that's already here and getting the energy out of it. That's a great thing."

The US Environmental Protection Agency, which awarded EBMUD $50,000 to study the food waste program, said it is the first wastewater system of its kind in the country. Williams expects more utilities to follow, given that treating wastewater consumes a huge amount of energy and that many facilities already have much of the necessary equipment.

Read the complete story here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/23/BAS618T9N9.DTL

Turning Waste Into Energy

Onion company is one of a growing number of businesses that use their waste to produce electricity.
Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2009

Steve Gill recently began using juice from his onion crop to create energy to run his refrigerators and lighting, slicing $700,000 annually off his electric bill and saving $400,000 a year on disposal costs at his 14-acre plant in Oxnard. Gill figures the $9.5 million system will pay for itself in less than six years while eliminating up to 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions a year.

"It's a great sustainability story, but it was first a business decision to solve a waste problem," said Gill, 59, who co-owns the company with his brother David. "But in doing so, we solved a lot of environmental problems too."

Gills Onions is one of a small but growing cadre of US companies generating their own electricity on site with waste from their production processes. In addition to plant material, firms are using a variety of feedstocks, including animal manure, vegetable oil, whey -- even beer.

Farmers and processors in California's $37 billion agricultural industry are looking for ways to save money and reduce their environmental footprint, said Sonia Salas, science and technology manager for the Western Growers Association. "Many growers want technology that helps them handle waste," she said. "This is a concept that other operations can definitely use."

Read the complete story here: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-onions-fuel17-2009jul17,0,5226835.story

Clean Energy to the (Economic) Rescue

UC Berkeley economics professor David Roland-Holst's economic assessment, conducted on behalf of Next 10, predicts that a new California energy agenda--emphasizing efficiency, renewables, and infrastructure--can be a potent catalyst for economic growth, create a new clean energy market, and spur innovation in renewables.

Energy Pathways for the California Economy evaluates the state’s energy demand and supply horizons, as well as the economic impact of accelerating deployment of renewable energy resources and energy efficiency trends in California.

• From electricity to transportation, projecting status quo demand and supply horizons portends ever greater reliance on out-of-state fuel sources, and therefore greater exposure to fuel price volatility.
• The faster and farther California can improve household and enterprise energy efficiency, while accelerating deployment of renewable energy resources, the faster the state economy will grow and create jobs. The most ambitious scenario (50% renewable energy, 1.5% annual efficiency increases) produces the largest number of additional jobs and income -- generating half a million new FTE jobs with over $100 billion in cumulative payrolls over 40 years.
• Renewable energy generation is more job-intensive than the traditional carbon fuel supply chain, captures more benefits within the state economy, and reduces our vulnerability to uncertain global energy markets.
  

Click here to read or download the complete report.

Catch the Wave

Will California's Quest for Wave Power Sink or Sail?
Josie Garthwaite, NY Times, February 27, 2009

Having completed a wave power study, San Francisco submitted a preliminary application to federal regulators on February 27 for a permit to develop a 10 to 30 megawatt (MW) project to tap ocean energy eight miles off the city’s west coast. The proposed project has the potential to generate up to 100 MW. But while the technology has a big fan in Mayor Gavin Newsom, regulatory hurdles may prove a show-stopper. Last year state commissioners decided the technology was too new and the prices too high, and denied approval for PG&E and Finavera Renewables to develop what would have been the country’s first commercial wave power project.

Research and development of wave power technologies has rapidly expanded in recent years. The first commercial units are scheduled to go online in Portugal this year, producing 2 MW of energy. Despite several studies, no commercial operations are online in the US.

San Francisco is hoping to change that.

Read more in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2009/02/27/27gigaom-will-calis-latest-wave-power-project-sink-or-sail-24696.html
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/wave-power-for-san-francisco/

Green Stimulus

Environmental Defense Fund
February 11, 2009

Summarized by EDF, these are the primary ways how green initiatives fared in the stimulus bill:

• By far the largest funding ever for clean energy and energy efficiency
• The Manufacturing Extension Partnership will get funding
• High-speed rail will get $8 billion dollars
• Very large investment in transit ($8.4 billion); includes funds for new construction of commuter and light rail, modernizing existing transit systems, and purchasing buses and equipment to needed to increase public transportation and improve intermodal and transit facilities (states have 787 ready-to-go transit projects totaling about $16 billion)

Read more from EDF here: http://blogs.edf.org/greenroom/2009/02/11/stimulus-deal-reached-how-did-we-do/

What Will it Take to Make the Bay Area the Electric Vehicle Capital of the US?

In November 2008, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed announced a plan to position the region’s economic and environmental future around electric transportation. They hope to make they Bay area the so-called "Electric Vehicle Capital of the US".

City Visions Radio - Mondays from 7:00-8:00 pm on KALW 91.7 San Francisco - discusses the plans to make the Bay Area more friendly to electric cars.

Guests on the February 9, 2009 show included:

• Sherry Boschert, journalist and author of the book “Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars That Will Recharge America”; president, San Francisco Electric Vehicle Association; vice-president, Plug-In America
• Richard Lowenthal, founder & CEO, Coulomb Technologies
• Nick Rothman, lead technician, Green Gears; http://greengearhead.blogspot.com/; http://www.a123systems.com/hymotion/home

Here's a link to the program: http://www.cityvisionsradio.com/

And learn more about electric vehicles here:
http://www.sfeva.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.gogreenmotors.com/
http://www.teslamotors.com/
http://www.lusciousgarage.com/

New ASTM Standards to Support Global Sustainability

ASTM Committee E60 to Develop Standards That Will Drive Mainstream Market Implementation
Market Watch, Wall Street Journal Digital Network, November 10, 2008

ASTM International, one of the world's largest voluntary standards development organizations, announced the formation of ASTM Committee E60 on Sustainability. This new standards development initiative results from the cooperative efforts of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry stakeholders who share mutual goals for global sustainable development.

Diverse stakeholders will come together for the newly formed ASTM International Committee E60 to create the consensus standards that will promote and integrate sustainable development across multiple industry sectors. Dr. Mary C. McKiel, EPA Standards Executive, commented, "ASTM's proven ability to produce globally-used consensus based standards in environmental and sustainability areas make it well-suited to support the goals of this new standards writing activity and the open process needed to ensure its utility."

ASTM Committee E60 will build upon previous ASTM technical committee work, including the efforts of ASTM Subcommittee E06.71 on Sustainability, which has contributed numerous standards that support sustainability in the building industry. The initial scope of Committee E60 will focus on Building and Construction, Hospitality, and General Sustainability Standards.

Read the complete article here: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/New-ASTM-Standards-Initiative-Support/story.aspx?guid={6F34D3B9-4EEC-4C1E-AF9D-4A9642726CC2}

Learn more about ASTM Committee E60 here: http://www.astm.org/COMMIT/COMMITTEE/E60.htm

Green Building Standards

California Adopts Voluntary Green Building Standards
Alyson Wendt, GreenSource Magazine, September 15, 2008

California has become the first state to adopt green building standards into its building codes. The standards, adopted by the California Building Standards Commission, will become part of Title 24, the state’s building and energy-efficiency regulations, in July 2009. Although currently voluntary, the standards will become mandatory in 2011 after another round of code reviews.

The highlights:
- Commercial buildings must use 15%–30% less energy compared with current code requirements
- Commercial buildings must meet 1% of their total energy use with onsite renewable generation
- Residential buildings must meet energy code requirements and include air-sealing measures
- New buildings must demonstrate 20% savings in indoor potable water use compared with current code requirements
- Residential standards limit the use of multiple showerheads in a single shower
- Outdoor water use in commercial buildings must be reduced by 50% compared with current code requirements
- Requires 2.5%, by cost, of the materials used in new commercial buildings to be biobased materials

The standards also contain provisions for rainwater collection and graywater irrigation, as well as dual plumbing in commercial buildings for potable and recycled water. And they include extensive indoor environmental quality requirements for commercial buildings. The green building standards add increased ventilation, daylighting, and occupant control of thermal and lighting comfort to the equation for commercial buildings (California already has limits on formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products). The standards for residential buildings require that homes meet the formaldehyde regulation and avoid paints, adhesives, carpets, and other materials with high levels of VOCs.

Read the complete article here: http://greensource.construction.com/news/080915CaliforniaAdopts.asp