FutureGen Already Past? (Clean Coal - The Sequel)
Friday, March 7th, 2008 Back in December, we posted a report about what was billed to be the world’s first zero-emissions coal-burning power plant - FutureGen - slated for operation by 2012 in Mattoon, Illinois (Click here to read the original post). FutureGen was intended to be the first large-scale energy production facility to utilize a new technology known as Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), a process by which carbon dioxide and the other impurities that result from the burning of coal are pumped and stored underground in porous rock strata and saline aquifers, thereby keeping harmful emissions from accumulating in the atmosphere.
Despite the apparently noble intent of this project, our initial report voiced some reservations. First, that CCS had not been adequately tested, with regard to both its large-scale feasibility and its lack of environmental impact (especially on groundwater and subterranean rock/mineral formations). Second, that massive cost overruns and delays were becoming an increasing burden to the project before ground had even been broken.
It now seems that those reservations may have been more than idle speculation. The Economist reported last month that FutureGen is, according to DOE parlance, being “restructured”. In their typically blunt fashion, the eminent policy journal translates this to mean “starting from scratch” (See “Up In Smoke”; Jan. 31, 2008). The DOE is now requesting more information on CCS from the private sector with an eye towards building several smaller plants based on the technology in place of Mattoon’s grand enterprise. This reconsideration was based partly on a March 2007 report issued by MIT suggesting the need for more extensive investigations into CCS and the adoption of less cumbersome federal legislation. The new plan pushes back the completion of the first wave of CCS power plants to 2015 and promises to “at least double the amount” of impurities sequestered. No one yet knows if Mattoon or a reincarnated FutureGen Alliance will be involved.
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Legislation, Politics, Pollution, Technology | Permalink
Green Renter: Infrastructure and Environmental Health Risks in the South Bronx: A Review of the South Bronx Health and Policy Study With Dr. Carlos Restrepo, New York University
Sunday, February 10th, 2008| February 18, 2008 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
Posted in New York City, Pollution, Solar One Events, Sustainability, Waste | Permalink
Heading For Cleaner Waters
Friday, February 1st, 2008 Though the vote on the electronics recycling bill was pushed back by another week or two, the City Council did manage to pass another important piece of environmental legislation this week. Intro 630 calls for “developing and implementing a sustainable stormwater management plan.” Here’s one relevant part:Source control strategies that decrease the amount of stormwater entering the wastewater treatment system are valuable tools to reduce the occurrence and volume of CSOs and other stormwater discharges. Effective source control strategies also provide other benefits, such as decreased energy consumption and economic benefits associated with supporting local markets for source control strategies. The Council finds that the development and implementation of a sustainable stormwater management plan is vital to improve water quality in the City and thereby better protect the public health through the restoration and protection of the ecological health of the City’s waterbodies and to the enhanced use and enjoyment of the City’s waterbodies for recreational activities.
Among the strategies to be considered in drawing up the plans are green roofs, permeable pavement, cisterns and rain barrels, and tree/vegetative cover. This is all great news for the city and its waterways, which currently absorb up to 27 billion gallons of untreated waste water each year via CSOs. It’s also great news for beaches and other water-based recreational opportunities as part of the plan will include a more comprehensive system of warnings to protect public health when CSOs do happen.
Of course, legislation like this doesn’t happen without the hard work of a lot of dedicated people, in this case the folks at the S.W.I.M. coalition. Congratulations to them for everything they did to get this legislation passed.
For more information on water resources, check out our East River resource page. And if you haven’t already, take a look at our plans for Solar 2, which will include many water-saving and recycling techniques.
Posted in East River, Legislation, Pollution, Water | Permalink
Where Are Your Old Cellphones?
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
Our friends over at INFORM have started a new series called The Secret Life. First on the agenda: cellphones. These devices that have totally transformed communication over the past 20 years have also become too-synonymous with “disposable” leading to their being sent by the millions to landfills and incinerators. And yet, many, if not all, of the materials used to make them are reclaimable and/or recyclable.
INFORM has put together a great 5 minute video about the need for more cellphone recycling, while also showing in some detail what happens to these phones during the recycling process. We encourage you to check out their website, watch the video, and then take those old phones out of your junk drawer and find a way to recycle them (they provide the info on how to do just that, of course).
In addition, this seems like a great time to remind everyone about the Greener Gadgets Conference coming up this Friday, February 1st. Our recent Green Renter with conference co-chairs Marc Alt and Jill Fehrenbacher was a great overview of the need to re-think the design process for digital technology, complete with some great examples like the BOGOlight that the audience got to pass around and test out. We’ll have a video version of their presentation on our site soon, but you can register for the conference right now.
Cellphone image by Chris Jordan, taken from inhabitat.com
Posted in Pollution, Products, Recycling, Sustainability, Technology, Waste | Permalink
Europe’s Automakers Grapple With New Emissions Standards, While Gas Guzzlers In Cali Can Rest Easy
Friday, January 4th, 2008
While EPA honcho Stephen L. Johnson spent last week thwarting the attempts of California and 16 other states to adopt measures limiting automobile emissions, the European Union is taking unprecedented steps of its own to limit the carbon footprint of cars sold within its countries’ borders.
According to an article published in last week’s Economist (“Collision Course”; Dec. 22, 2007), the EU is about to adopt “the world’s strictest CO2-emission standards”. By 2012, new cars sold in the EU must meet an emissions threshold of 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer; at present, European-made cars average about 160 g/km. The European Commission will also recommend the imposition of a fine of $137 per car per gram over the 130g/km limit. While this standard will undoubtably present a problem for all of Europe’s car manufacturers, the most vociferous protests are emanating from German luxury car giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Vehicles produced by these two companies average in the range of 184 g/km and 188 g/km respectively, about $7,000 in fines per car above the proposed threshold. In contrast, French and Italian automakers Citroen, Renault and Fiat — all whose fleets are “heavily biased towards fuel-efficient small cars” — average 142-147 g/km per car.
However, the ultimate form that this legislation will take is not yet settled. German auto lobbyists have pushed for a special “weight dispensation” that will provide relative emissions allowances for heavier cars; much to the dismay of environmental activists, the European Commission has agreed in principle. Ultimately, though, by focusing this emissions cap on cars sold in Europe rather than on cars manufactured, this mandate may do little to curb global greenhouse gases, as the main markets for both BMW and Mercedes lie abroad — mainly in the US, Russia and China, all countries whose clean-air standards still leave much to be desired.
Meanwhile, the attempts of California and other states to adopt their own clean-air initiatives are being stonewalled. Despite the recent deservedly-lauded legislation set to increase fuel efficiency in US-manufactured vehicles by as much as 40% by 2020, the California ruling unfortunately demonstrates the current administration’s continued reticence to recognize the global environmental crisis. It’s probably no coincidence that Johnson rendered his decision only after the latest round of Vice-President Cheney’s confabs with auto lobbyists, where Cheney purportedly promised to kill the California bill in exchange for industry support on the federal bill. Though EU officials seem willing to take an albeit limited lead on emissions reduction, the Bush administration continues to send mixed signals to the global community, slapping itself on the back with one hand for passing legislation it never wanted in the first place, while surreptitiously removing the bill’s teeth with the other.
Posted in Global Warming, Legislation, Pollution | Permalink
King Coal Getting…Coal for Christmas
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
Despite the disappointments of the 2007 Energy Bill, the coal industry is getting some disappointments of its own this year. According to Bangkok-based NGO Palang Thai (via Grist), 12 US states have abandoned major coal expansion projects since September 2006, and in several cases have replaced them with wind projects. Apparently communities in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, North Dakota, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, Idaho, Washington and Colorado were willing to defy coal industry rhetoric and reject or alter their plans. Quite a turnaround from 2005, when the revitalization of the coal industry was being widely touted as the solution to the national energy crisis.
Posted in Energy, Politics, Pollution | Permalink
NYC Taxis Go Hybrid
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
Say goodbye to the Ford Crown Victoria. The TLC announced today that it will definitely be increasing fuel efficiency standards for NYC taxicabs purchased after October 1, 2008 to 25 mpg, and then to 30 mpg for new cabs in fall 2009. To meet these standards, fleets will probably be buying hybrids, making NYC’s taxi fleet “the cleanest, greenest large city taxicab fleet in the world”, according to Matthew Daus, the TLC chairman. The NYT reported last May that replacing the 13,000 yellow cabs currently on the streets will have the same air-quality effect as eliminating 32,000 private vehicles from the road. Not bad.
Posted in New York City, Pollution, Transportation | Permalink
Closing the loop on wastewater
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 Though recent rains may have provided some drought relief in the Southeast, parched conditions still exist in Southern California and the conditions there may get worse as the combination of weather and growing populations put the squeeze on already tight water supplies. For those reasons, and others, Orange County is about the embark on a quest to purify sewer water to the tune of 70 million gallons per day in an attempt to replenish aquifers and “form a barrier against seawater intruding on groundwater sources.”Though state law prevents the treated waste water from flowing directly into the taps of Southern California homes, the hope is that the replenished groundwater will be able to accommodate current needs and the needs of the projected 500,000 additional people who will live in the county by 2020. And while the treatment process leaves the resulting liquid “as pure as distilled water,” there are those who question how clean the processes can really make the water. Never mind that testing it seems like it would be a very simple way to find out just how clean it is, or that the same people skeptical of the science involved might never bother to question other contaminants that they come into contact with every day like the pesticides used to grow the food that we eat.
Part of the water filtration process used in the system
At any rate, it’s nice to see communities taking actions like these, even if dire circumstances are the main instigation for doing so. If this venture succeeds, we hope it will lead to more proactive efforts to manage wastewater in other areas like, say, New York City.
For more details, check out the Groundwater Replenishment System website.
Posted in Pollution, Water | Permalink
California sues Feds
Friday, November 9th, 2007
The EPA’s inaction on California’s waiver request to regulate greenhouse gases (as is their right because the CA EPA predates the Fed EPA) has prompted them to file suit against the EPA in federal court. They expect fourteen other states, including New York, to join them.
“California has a long and proud history of leadership in reducing pollution and fighting for clean air for our residents. And we are upholding that tradition today by filing a lawsuit against the federal government that takes a big step forward in the battle against global warming,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “California is ready to implement the nation’s cleanest standards for vehicle emissions, but we cannot do that until the federal government grants a waiver allowing us to enforce those standards.
The EPA has yet to deny California a waiver, granting 40, in the past 30 years under the Federal Clean Air Act.
Posted in Global Warming, Legislation, Pollution | Permalink
Are Holiday Catalogs Weighing You Down?
Friday, November 9th, 2007
It’s the time of year once again when the trees turn red, the breeze turns chilly, it’s dark before you get home from work and your back starts to ache from lugging huge recycling bags full of holiday catalogs. Save a trip to the chiropractor and sign up for Catalog Choice, a free web service sponsored by Berkeley’s Ecology Center that lets you opt out of receiving catalogs in the mail. You go through a list of catalogs and click on the ones you can live without. It’s good for your back, and good for the environment- they’ve helped over 120,000 people opt out of over 1,000,000 catalogs!
Posted in Pollution, Sustainability, Waste | Permalink
