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 More than 400 solid-state lighting (SSL) technology leaders from the R&D community, lighting designers, and architects gathered in San Francisco, CA to participate in the "Transformations in Lighting" Solid-State Lighting Workshop on February 3-5, 2009. The workshop, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), was the sixth annual DOE meeting to accelerate SSL technology advances and guide market introduction of quality SSL products. The workshop brought together a diverse gathering of participants from industry, research organizations, universities, national laboratories, manufacturing, energy efficiency organizations, utilities, and municipalities to share insights, ideas, and updates on the rapidly evolving SSL market.
After receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded bailouts over the last few months, General Motors and Chrysler returned to Washington on Tuesday to shake their chrome-plated tin cups again. But at a time when boldness is demanded, the plans lack innovation. They call for laying off more workers, cutting pay and benefits, and reducing the number of models that are manufactured. And GM even had the chutzpah to cut its projected fuel economy by 10% from what it promised in the survival plan it submitted to Congress in December. What the automakers don't get is this: What's good for America is good for GM (and Chrysler), and not the other way around. With billions of dollars of taxpayer cash in their bank accounts and billions more coming, GM and Chrysler work for us now. And they have to start thinking about how to serve the country. Americans need cars that go farther on a gallon of gasoline, pollute less and save money at the pump. ... automakers reacted to the law by launching an all-out attack on it. They successfully pressured the Bush administration not to grant an Environmental Protection Agency waiver necessary for states to enforce the (high MPG) law. It was bad enough when automakers teamed up with dealers to fight laws that benefited the country. But now that the companies have bailout money from the taxpayers, their pursuit of legal and political challenges is abhorrent. GM and Chrysler should forgo these credits and meet the law without them. Automakers boast that they have improved the energy efficiency of their cars. But most of these gains have gone to making cars bigger and faster rather than less-polluting and cheaper to run. According to a recent study presented to the Society of Automotive Engineers, if all the efficiency improvements developed since 1988 had been directed at getting more miles per gallon, cars would now average 45 mpg instead of 30.3 mpg. Congress should require that in exchange for any new bailout, automakers raise their average fuel economy to 42 mpg by 2020, rather than the 35-mpg standard now set as a minimum for that year. Detroit's survival depends on a change in mind-set.
Some people are truly concerned environmentalists. Some people are eco-scammers. The examiner has some examples of environmentalism or eco-flimflamism? Fire up your facts and figures and stats and arguments and counterarguments and “yeah, buts” and let the din of the spin begin. Everyone has an opinion but few have the facts. Most people just keep recycling other people's opinions of other people's opinions of other people's opinions. To most people, ideology means more than actual science when it comes to environmentalism. WARNING - It will be hard to read for a few of you... examiner
Steering group to update advertising guidelines on how to make accurate green claims
The government has today unveiled plans to help make it easier for firms to avoid the dreaded accusation of "greenwashing" by updating the guidance it issues for green marketing and advertising claims. "Consumers are often confronted with all sorts of 'green' claims by companies and products," said Lord Hunt. "Working with industry and updating the Green Claims Code will support business to ensure that their claims are genuine and meaningful. It will also reassure consumers that when a green claim is made, they can feel confident it is truthful."
Manure, slurry and food could be used to create enough energy to heat and power more than two million homes in Britain, the Government will claim.  The UK produces more than 100 million tonnes of organic material per year that could be used to produce biogas The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is launching a task force to help sectors including farming and the water industry meet goals to produce energy from anaerobic digestion, which generates gas from the break down of organic material without oxygen. According to Defra, the UK produces more than 100 million tonnes of organic material per year that could be used to produce biogas, 90 million tonnes of which comes from manure and slurry. Speaking at the NFU conference in Birmingham today, Farming and Environment Minister Jane Kennedy is expected to say: "We're producing more organic waste in this country than we can handle, over 12 million tonnes of food waste a year - and farmers know too well the challenges of managing manure and slurry. "There are alternatives to sending organic waste to landfill. Anaerobic digestion is a true solution." "This material could produce enough heat and power to run more than two million homes - helping to prevent dangerous climate change by providing a renewable energy source as well as reducing our reliance on landfill.
Scottish Power Renewables last Friday released data showing that it had doubled its installed base of renewable power, from 382 MW to 665 MW in 2008. Renewable power generation more than doubled, rising 118% to 1,227 Gwh year-to-year.  The company erected more than 100 turbines at the Whitelee wind farm project near Glasgow and expects to have another 38 up and running this summer. If a second, recently filed expansion is approved by the Scottish government what's already the largest wind farm project in Europe will grow to include 221 turbines with a rated capacity of 614 MW, some 55,800 MW more than is required to supply all of Glasgow's 340,000 households, according to the company.
Following close on the heels of that announcement, management announced that it had been granted an “exclusivity agreement” by the Crown Estate to assess the potential for an offshore wind farm to be built west of Argyll and the island of Tiree. The site's potential wind power resources have been estimated to be anywhere from 500 MW to 1,800 MW, enough to run the lights, appliances and electrical equipment at 270,000 to 1,000,000 homes, according to a news report. “Offshore wind power has massive potential, and the UK Government has already outlined ambitions to generate up to 33,000 MW of power off the UK coastline,” ScottishPower Renewables' director Keith Anderson said. "Scotland has the best onshore wind resources in Europe, and now it is taking its first steps towards harnessing its offshore potential, which will play a major role in helping to achieve renewable energy targets.” Scottish Power Renewables was one of nine companies selected by the Scottish Crown Estate to assess and develop 10 offshore wind power projects. It's estimated that these could generate as much as 6 gigawatts of electrical power. Overall, the Scottish government has set an interim target of renewable sources accounting for 31% of total electricity demand by 2011 and 50% by 2020.
Spain's Iberdrola is well set to take advantage of the renewable energy and clean technology incentives and support included in the US's latest economic stimulus package. It's already the second-largest operator of wind farms in the States. More than 40% of the projects it's looking to develop are located here. PPM Energy, its US energy subsidiary, commissioned the 223.6-megawatt Klondike III wind farm Oregon this past March. Another five wind farms capable of generating as much as 460-megawatts of electrical power came on-line in December alone.  Iberdrola invested 3,803 billion euros in renewable power projects last year, increasing installed capacity by 2,204 megawatts to 9,302 MW. Net profits more than tripled to 390.2 million euros. What's more, the company's producing assets are throwing off a healthy, positive cash flow—earnings before interest and taxes rose 104.5% to 709.6 million euros. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA doubled to 1,185 billion euros. With a debt ratio of 22.4%, the company is keeping its balance sheet healthy and its financing powder dry during the most uncertain and problematic financial times seen since the Great Depression. Iberdrola can boast of the renewable power industry's largest installed base and project pipeline. With renewable power plants now up and running in 23 countries, power generation increased 71.1% to 17,000 gigawatt-hours last year, avoiding 7.5 million metric tons worth of carbon dioxide emissions, according to company calculations. Among those commissioned in 2008 were Andalusia's largest wind farm, El Marquesado in Granada, Klondike III in the US and a first wave energy buoy at Santoňa. Kicking off 2009, it anticipates commissioning initial capacity at the Whitelee wind farm in Scotland—expected to be the largest in Europe—a solar thermal plant in Puertollano, and a biomass plant in Corduentes (Guadalajara). Management's increasingly looking at the US, other EU and overseas markets as growth engines. Forty-one percent of projects in its pipeline are in the US, 24.6% are in Spain, 9.6% are in the UK with the remaining 24.7% spread out around the rest of the world. Read more by Andrew Burger on Triplepundit
autobloggreen ...the day is coming when there will be two billion cars on the roads. So says author and California Air Resources Board member Daniel Sperling. Sperling was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week to discuss his new book and to give his predictions about which technologies would power these two billion cars. He said that "eventually" the "vast majority" of the two billion cars will be alternative-energy (pure electric, plug-in hybrids, biofueled, and hydrogen fuel cell) vehicles.
Sperling also claimed that we'd need "tens of billions" of dollars in government aid to make the large-scale shift to plug-ins and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Stewart, for his part, said that the automakers represent the past, and he wondered why we don't just let them fiddle with the deck chairs while others get fuel cell and electric vehicles on the road. Watch the full interview at The Daily Show Continue reading Jon Stewart talks to "Two Billion Cars" author Daniel Sperling
The FT has a report on a peak oil prediction from French oil company Total - Total says oil output near peak.
The world will never be able to produce more than 89m barrels a day of oil, the head of Europe’s third largest energy group has warned, citing high costs in areas such as Canada and political restrictions in countries like Iran and Iraq.
Christophe de Margerie, chief executive of Total, the French oil and gas company, said he had revised his forecast for 2015 oil production downward by at least 4m barrels a day because of the current economic crisis and the collapse in oil prices.
He noted that national oil companies, which control the vast majority of the world’s oil, and independent producers, which play a key role in finding new sources, were “substantially limited in their ability to fund investments in the current [financial] environment”.
Oil prices have fallen from a record $147 a barrel in July to about $35 a barrel on Monday, with the world consuming 84m barrels of oil a day. This year oil consumption is expected to fall from 2008 levels.
Meanwhile, Mr de Margerie now expects a faster decline in production at older fields, such as those in the North Sea. At lower price levels, companies will find it harder to justify the greater cost of keeping such fields pumping.
FROM: altenergystocks Last month the DOE released its 2008 Annual Progress Report for the Energy Storage Research and Development Vehicle Technologies Program. This report is a frank and relatively upbeat assessment of the current status of Li-ion battery research and development that also provides a stark wake-up call for investors in energy storage stocks. The reality check has been done and the DOE’s verdict is clear: Lithium-ion batteries are not ready for prime time. And like all the Billions thrown into fleeting bad vehicle ideas we have just put $2 billion in loans to manufacture these batteries....  In its description of ongoing research efforts to develop high-power batteries for HEVs, the DOE said: “High-power energy storage devices are among the critical technologies essential for the development and commercialization of HEVs. This effort is focused on overcoming the technical barriers associated with commercialization of high-power batteries, namely:
Cost, Performance, Abuse Tolerance, Life.... ouch.
I’m a simple-minded creature and I believe that little things like costs and benefits matter, particularly in the midst of the worst recession since the 1930s. When the Annual Progress Report from the DOE group responsible for supporting Li-ion battery research and guiding national policy concludes that: - Li-ion batteries will not be a cost-effective solution for HEVs unless and until somebody finds a way to slash manufacturing costs by 50%; and
- Li-ion batteries will not be a cost-effective solution for PHEVs unless and until somebody finds a way to slash manufacturing costs by 67% to 80%;"
America’s energy problems are too urgent to overlook and its economy is too stressed to invest billions in technologies that may never become cost effective. Our only rational choice is to go to work today with the tools we have and be ready to embrace newer and better tools when they prove to be cost effective.
Read full at altenergystocks
"Post correction" While it sounds as if I am 'poo, pooing' Li-ion batteries... I would much rather see 40 billion of my tax dollars 'invested' in this area than 'burned by G.M. and other automakers'. The DOE and I have 'optimistic hope' in a viable future with Li-ion batteries, I am not sure we would say the same for G.M.
Only 'investing' in America will bring back America.
PREPARE FOR THE BEST - In his post hippy prospective , Paul Glover gets a little 'side tracked' and lost me with the 'free love and drugs crap'... but, he makes some valid and insightful points on building communities and prosperity. VIA Rachel's ...through the terrible Depression years without jobs or dollars, while crime and hunger rose. Some districts here never escaped that Depression -- they're still choosing between heating and eating. As usual, the future will be different... responses to global warming and market cooling, high fuel and food prices, health insurance, mortgages, student debt and war will decide whether our future here becomes vastly better or vastly worse. But to hell with tragedy. Let's quit dreading news. Imagine instead that, 20 years from now, green economy enables everyone to work a few hours creatively daily, then relax with family and friends to enjoy top-quality local, healthy food. To enjoy clean low-cost warm housing, clean and safe transport, high-quality handcrafted clothes and household goods. To enjoy creating and playing together, growing up and growing old in supportive neighborhoods where everyone is valuable. And to do this while replenishing rather than depleting the planet. Pretty wild, right? From Hope to Nonviolent Revolution A few ideas from Paul Glover FOOD: Grow it here Build urban food army using vacant lots for growing fruits, berries and veggies... abandoned factories for vertical and roof farms, hydroponics, aquaculture, mushrooms. Plant the parks, too. Greenhouses extend seasons. Land breathes again when abandoned parking lots are depaved. Edible landscaping blooms meals. Edible community centers process neighborhood yields. Fallen leaves stay in neighborhoods to become new soil. Feeding kitchen scraps to worms (vermiculture) builds the food of food. FUEL: Establish independent neighborhood utilities with wind, passive solar and micro-geothermal. Employ thousands to build and install these. Employ multitudes more to manufacture and install insulation made with newsprint and fly ash (a residue of coal combustion). We'll get free winter warmth from 500,000 solar windowbox heaters. District heating and cogeneration reduce fuel need. Municipal utilities reduce grid costs. Tree shade reduces cooling costs: Plant a million. WATER: Amend code to permit filtered graywater use and waterless compost toilets. Install watersaving devices. Collect rainwater in rooftop tanks, barrels and swales. Plant xeriscapes. Depave driveways and abandoned parking lots. Start Progressive Street Reclamation, converting least-used streets and alleys to playgrounds and gardens. Big picture: Clean water is becoming more valuable than gold. Nobody shits on gold. Some of the proposals sketched here can be easily ridiculed, because they disturb comfortable work habits, ancient traditions and sacred hierarchies. Yet they open more doors than are closing. They help us get ready for the green economy, and get there first. Big changes are coming so we might as well enjoy the ride. You have good ideas, too -- bring 'em on. Entirely realistic? Not a pipe dream? And more practical than cynical? Read more of this giddy and optimist essay By Paul Glover focuses via Rachel's
I crawl into a regulatory cave of solitude to help our companies and clients meet regulatory deadlines this month. Here are some dates to remember and other annual ones. January: Collect last year's fuel, waste, VOC, solvent, raw material consumption and other operating data needed to prepare annual inventories, reports and registrations noted below. Note any changes to the quantities and types of equipment used since the year before last(source). February: Solvent degreaser annual reports
February: Surface coater annual registrations
February: Automobile refinishers annual registrations
March: Biennial hazardous waste generator reports
March: "Tier II" hazardous chemical inventories
March: Waste recycling reports for commercial businesses
April: Earliest deadline for major air pollution source annual reports to EPA
April: air emissions inventories due
May 1: Annual underground tank precision testing where required (pipes and leak monitoring devices also)
May 1: Begin DEM May-October asphalt plant records
June: Annual US DOT registration fee for anyone offering hazardous materials for transportation
June: Underground Storage Tank Environmental Results Program (ERP) Checklists Due 2005, 2007, 2009, etc.
July: EPA "Form R" Toxic Release Inventories due
July: US EPA polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) annual document logs
Varies: Title V operating fees due (source)
October: Complete May-October DEM asphalt plant records
November: Annual DEM underground storage tank registration renewal and fee (date may vary)
November: Annual nitrogen oxide emissions testing for affected major sources
December(or sooner): Annual hazardous waste generator training
December(or sooner): (or sooner): 3-Year Underground Tank Corrosion Surveys
December(or sooner): Annual OSHA Hazard Communication (HAZCOM) employee training
December(or sooner): Annual DEM tank inspection reports
Varies: Annual Title V Operating Permit compliance certification submittals Just email me if you need more... I have a rather large data matrix of regulatory compliance dates.
OSHA's North Aurora, Ill., Area Office and the Illinois Safety Council, which formed an alliance with OSHA's Illinois area offices, will host combustible dust explosion inspection seminars Feb. 18 and March 26 in Naperville, Ill. The seminars will offer instructions on OSHA standards relating to combustible dust and best practices to protect employees against dust explosions. To register, visit www.ilsafetycouncil.org
Reported on SPIEGEL ONLINE: Wind Turbines in Europe Do Nothing for Emissions-Reduction Goals
Germany's renewable energy companies are a tremendous success story. Roughly 15 percent of the country's electricity comes from solar, wind or biomass facilities, almost 250,000 jobs have been created and the net worth of the business is 35 billion per year. Despite the boom in solar and wind energy, CO2 emissions haven't been reduced by even a single gram. Now, even the Green Party is taking a new look at the issue But there's a catch: The climate hasn't in fact profited from these developments. As astonishing as it may sound, the new wind turbines and solar cells haven't prohibited the emission of even a single gram of CO2. Under current EU law, German wind turbines aren't helping to reduce CO2 emissions. They simply allow Eastern European countries to pollute more.
Even more surprising, the European Union's own climate change policies, touted as the most progressive in the world, are to blame. The EU-wide emissions trading system determines the total amount of CO2 that can be emitted by power companies and industries. And this amount doesn't change -- no matter how many wind turbines are erected. Experts have known about this situation for some time, but it still isn't widely known to the public. Even Germany's government officials mention it only under their breath. No one wants to discuss the political ramifications. It's a sensitive subject: Germany is recognized worldwide as a leader in all things related to renewable energy. The environmental energy sector doesn't want this image to be tarnished. Under no circumstances does Berlin want the Renewable Energy Law (EEG) -- which mandates the prices at which energy companies have to buy green power -- to fall into disrepute. At the same time, big energy companies have an interest in maintaining the status quo. As a result, no one is pushing for change. Everyone involved is remaining silent. Not an Instrument against Climate Change In truth, however, even the Green Party has recognized the problem, as evidenced by an e-mail exchange last year between party energy experts and obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE. One wrote the following message to a colleague: "Dear Daniel, sorry, but the EEG won't do anything for the climate anyway." Ever since the introduction of the emissions trading system, the Renewable Energy Law had become "an instrument of structural change, but not an instrument to combat climate change." Read full on SPIEGEL ONLINE
KISS - Keep Is Simple Stupid Theory The Complexity Theory... erosion of environmentalism A discernible change is taking place in the forum of environmental awareness. As the subject matures and our insights deepen, specific concerns are now accompanied by a general uneasiness as leading philosophers and scientists begin to examine the structure of our modern civilization and question its viability. One of these new avenues of consideration is Complexity Theory. Complexity Theory argues that societies become progressively more unstable and vulnerable as the network of interconnections within them increases -- not particularly good news for a globalizing system in which increasing complexity is precisely the thrust of economics, finance, manufacturing, technology and almost everything else we do. The sobering implications may explain why many proponents of Complexity Theory preface their comments with an apology. "We don't want to tell you this," goes the essence of their message, "but we think you should know." When the New Scientist published two articles on Complexity Theory (Apr. 5/08), its editor anticipated some reader discomfort. "We are predisposed to pay attention to bad news," noted the editorial. "There is a good reason for this. We need to be warned of difficulty and danger so we can protect ourselves.... [But] if the warning is too scary or distressing, we attack the messenger as a doom monger." Complexity Theory comes with its hint of doom, ominously reminding us that no civilization has ever survived the stresses of history, The Collapse of Complex Societies, explains that "For the past 10,000 years, problem solving has produced increasing complexity in human societies" (Ibid.). Food production is a classical example. Each time people find the solution to a food shortage -- irrigation, fertilizer or plants with higher yields-- the population rises to meet the food supply and the next problem to solve is more complicated and challenging. Every solution adds extra levels of organization, complexity and interdependence, which adds inefficiency and diminishing returns for the total amount of energy expended. Progress is a process of perpetual problem solving, with each new solution adding more specialists and more layers of peripheral tasks that don't directly address the problems being solved. A civilization finally peaks at its maximum level of complexity when all its efforts are being used just to maintain its equilibrium. Then an unusual adversity arises: invaders, crop failure, disease, climate change, depletion of a critical natural resource, or anything that stresses a structure already precariously balanced. Then the civilization collapses and reorganizes itself at a simpler level. Complexity Theory makes us more aware of our vulnerabilities. And it does argue for simplification and local self-sufficiency, particularly for essentials such as food supply and energy production. The incentive to begin thinking and acting with foresight should compensate for the need to be apologetic.
These are all more costly that geothermal?
 BG , recently announced that their mass-produced electric vehicle the C100 has just been approved by the Department of Transportation! Perfect for commuting and daily urban driving, the sprightly vehicle gets an impressive 60-120 miles per charge and will be available for less than $20,000. (read more from inhabitat)
In this recent post from World Resources Institute preisdent Jonathan Lash he debates the merits of a carbon tax or a cap and trade system as the centerpiece of federal legislation to reduce emissions that fuel global warming. Q: WRI supports a cap and trade program over a carbon tax with the objective of federal climate legislation to control emissions of greenhouse gases that require Congress to put a price on carbon using one of two options: by mandating a specific price on carbon, via a tax... WRI therefore believes the most effective way to control greenhouse gases is through a cap and trade mechanism... All of the solutions for 'climate change' and 'peak energy' are both PROFITABLE and sustainable. A 'green' market SHOULD be driven by market investors utilizing EROI financial models and not the 'trading of credits for finite resources of third world countries who do not know any better than to trade these resources for the basic commodities for survival' Yet these greenwashing greed driven markets push unsustainable solutions to make the holy dollar on the backs of theses nations that have always suffered and will soon suffer on biblical levels as they rob these nations of the last of their finite natural resources. The reason big industry is 'pushing for a cap and trade' is that gain more by the control over manipulating markets than escaping taxes. As OECD countries begin to tax their own economies by charging growing fees on CO2 emissions, their their trading partners will diminish rapidly.... killing the GDP of those countries whose supply chains depend on OECD countries. FACT: Developing World - Principal Source of Emissions.
 Total global emissions have risen by a cumulative 25% since the beginning of the decade. But only a small fraction of those emissions came from North America, Western Europe and OECD economies. In fact, emissions in the most advanced economies of the world have grown by a paltry 5%, one-tenth the 50% increase seen of the developing world. This completey removes the aurguemnt of cap and trade measures being 'the most effective way to control greenhouse gases is through a cap and trade mechanism'. Who and what are we controlling and why? I would agree that the taxing of high carbon unsustainable commodities is a strong tool to fight for longterm conservation and sustainable communities... but blanket taxing the resources that economically sustain basic energy, health and infrastructure to non-OECD nations will only continue a sustainable economy for coffin makers. Trading markets for 'co2' and 'carbon' ideas of clean coal, biofuel harvested from rainforest's and food pools? Seriously, these are the same people who brought you the pet rock and bottled energy water. I don't feel sorry for the gullible until they invest the future of others on magic beans.
Here are just a few supporting posts the World Resources Institute needs to read and understand. The economic impacts of S. 2191, summarized from IER
| Picture | | Source: OECD The outlook for the world’s developed economies is the bleakest since the oil shock of the early 1970s, an indicator of future activity released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Friday.
Adding to the gloom, the OECD’s leading indicator data suggest that the large developing economies are increasingly being dragged down by the recession in richer nations. The OECD’s leading indicator for its 30 developed-country members fell again in December, as did the individual indicators for each of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations. The leading indicators for non-members China, India, Russia and Brazil also fell sharply. “Leading indicators…continue to point to a weakening outlook for all the major seven economies,” The OECD said. “The outlook has significantly deteriorated in the major non-OECD member economies who are now also facing strong slowdowns.” Important parts of some G-7 economies are already experiencing slowdowns on a scale last seen in the early to mid 1970s, when a surge in oil prices and a shortage of energy led to severe cutbacks in industrial production.
'probabilistic computer chip': The chip, which thrives on random errors, ran seven times faster than today's best technology while using just 1⁄30th the electricity.  Just think: One need never again worry about draining an iPhone battery in a day or even a week. "The results were far greater than we expected," said Palem, a Rice University professor who envisions his chips migrating to mobile devices in less than a decade. "At first, I almost couldn't believe them," he said. "I spent several sleepless nights verifying the results." Probabilistic computer chips have already caught the attention of industry, especially with the end of Moore's Law looming for conventional chips. "This logic will prove extremely important, because basic physics dictates that future transistor-based logic will need probabilistic methods," said Shekhar Borkar, director of Intel's Microprocessor Technology Lab.
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