Whiskey Producers Using Factory Refuse As Clean Energy

Brown liquor and renewable energy, these are a few of my favorite things...

The Scottish island of Islay is home to some of the world's most prestigious whisky brands. But power cuts disrupt production so often that one of the distilleries is now transforming distillery waste into green energy.

The Green Guide to Obama's State of the Union Address

President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address on Wednesday covered a lot of ground, but a significant portion of the speech was dedicated to the all-important topic of energy security. Below, some choice quotes from the speech.

* "From the first railroads to the Interstate Highway System, our nation has always been built to compete. There's no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains or the new factories that manufacture clean-energy products. Tomorrow, I'll visit Tampa, Florida, where workers will soon break ground on a new high-speed railroad funded by the Recovery Act." As we suspected, Florida will be the first to reap the benefits of Obama's $8 billion in spending on high-speed rail. Clearly, Obama believes that we will lag behind as a nation without a high-speed rail infrastructure.

* "These nations, they're not standing still. These nations aren't playing for second place. They're putting more emphasis on math and science. They're rebuilding their infrastructure. They're making serious investments in clean energy, because they want those jobs. Well, I do not accept second place for the United States of America." And that, we presume, is why the White House recently invested millions in math and science funding.

* "Next, we need to encourage American innovation. Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history, an investment that could lead to the world's cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched. And no area is more ripe for such innovation than energy." Innovation is important, but the most important kind of innovation right now is in the energy sector. And that means we can expect to see a lot more of it under this administration--with the ARPA-E program, for example.

* "But to create more of these clean-energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives, and that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development." This part is a little contentious. Many green energy advocates think nuclear power is far too unsafe to be able in the long term. And what does opening up offshore areas for oil and gas have to do with clean energy? We're guessing Obama is advocating it as a means to secure American-made energy, albeit in a not-so-sustainable way.

* "I know there have been questions about whether we can afford such changes in a tough economy. I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change. But--but here's the thing. Even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future, because the nation that leads the clean-energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy, and America must be that nation." Bingo. It doesn't matter what side of the climate change debate you fall on. The fact is, clean energy is only going to become more important as oil supplies dwindle and coal continues to be vilified. Again, Obama equates dominance in clean energy as the key to our economic future--sounds reasonable.

Ocean Currents On Board To Create Renewable Energy

The answer to easing the energy crunch in one of the nation's most populous states could lie underwater.

Imagine if your utility company could harness the ocean's current to power your house, cool your office, even charge your car.

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University are in the early stages of turning that idea into reality in the powerful Gulf Stream off the state's eastern shore.

"If you can take an engine and put it on the back of a boat or propel a ship through water, why not take a look at the strength of the Gulf Stream and determine if that can actually turn a device and create energy?" asked Sue Skemp, executive director at Florida Atlantic University's Center for Ocean Energy Technology.

The demand for energy in Florida -- the fourth most populous state, with an estimated 19 million residents -- is quickly outpacing the capacity to create it, according to experts.

"Right now in Florida, we are at the cusp of an energy crisis. Our energy demand keeps growing," said Frederick Driscoll, director of Florida Atlantic University's Center of Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology.

Beginning in the Caribbean and ending in the upper-North Atlantic, the Gulf Stream lies on the eastern shore of Florida.

Its powerful currents have been used by many fishermen, sailors and explorers to expedite their passage in the Atlantic north and east to Europe, but scientists say the energy within its currents could propel Florida out of its potential energy crisis, powering 3 million to 7 million Florida homes -- or supplying the state with one-third of its electricity.

"The predictions at this point estimate that the strength of the Gulf Stream could generate anywhere between four to 10 gigawatts of power, the equivalent of four to 10 nuclear power plants," said Skemp.

"The Gulf Stream is the strongest current in the world, so we want to harness our greatest resource. It's renewable, emission free and reliable," said Jeremy Susac, executive director of the Florida Energy and Climate Commission.

At the university's Center for Ocean Energy Technology in Boca Raton, Florida, ocean engineers are working with marine, environmental and material scientists to develop cost-competitive technologies to commercialize the energy within the Gulf Stream.

Though it has been considered for more than a century, harnessing the energy of the Gulf Stream is no easy task, and no sustainable system has been implemented.

"First we have to do a resource assessment and understand how much energy is in the Gulf Stream current on a minute-to-minute, day-to-day, hour-to-hour and yearly basis," said Driscoll.

In April, researchers at the center deployed four acoustic Doppler current profilers in the Atlantic off the east coast of Florida.

Using high frequency, low-power sonar, these large orange ball-shaped objects measure the speed of the ocean currents.

"We are looking at how much energy we can safely extract -- what is the sensitivity of extraction versus the environmental effects?" said Driscoll.

The vision for the pilot program is to develop and test a 20-kilowatt underwater turbine by spring 2010.

Sound familiar?

The concept behind underwater turbines is similar to that of wind turbines on land.

As water flows by the turbine, it turns a rotor blade. As the rotor blade turns, energy is generated.

That energy can be transmitted from a generator inside the turbine to electrical conducting cables, where it's captured, harnessed and distributed for future use.

Researchers also are looking at ways to use the electricity that is generated underwater to generate and store hydrogen in the ocean. The hydrogen could be used to fuel clean-running cars and trucks.

"Because it's such a new endeavor, there's a lot of knowledge gaps not only in terms of the technology side but also on the ecological side of things," said Driscoll.

Completely reliant

Florida is completely reliant on out-of-state fuel sources (coal and natural gas), but generates more than 90 percent of its own electricity, according to the Florida Energy and Climate Commission. It ranks third nationally in total energy consumption.

So how much will this endeavor cost? And what kind of impacts will it have on the local marine environment?

"Those are the questions we don't have answers to," said Skemp.

There are some hurdles that need to be cleared before the technology can get approval and become commercially available.

"This area is so new, we're still finding out what needs to be done," said Skemp.

"It's not like an established industry, like the aerospace industry or the automotive industry or others, where you have models which you could base cost on," added Skemp.

So far, the state of Florida has allocated $13.75 million in grants toward research and development of the pilot project, but the cost to implement the project on a large scale could be much higher.

Before a project like this can go forward, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have to look at a whole range of factors, from the effects it will have on wild and marine life to recreation activities and shipping, said an environmental specialist with the commission.

If the pilot program is successful, it could take another five to 10 years before the technology can be implemented.

The Gulf Stream is something that has been taken for granted, said Skemp.

"The Gulf Stream is on 24/7. It's flowing 365 days a year, so it's a continuous source of energy." E-mail to a friend | Mixx it | Share

By Azadeh Ansari
CNN

San Francisco Is The Least Wasteful City!

I love calling this place home....

Do you spend your days traipsing around San Francisco? Then congratulations, you live in America's least wasteful city according to a study conducted by Nalgene. The water bottle company questioned 3,750 people in America's 25 largest cities about their transportation use, waste, sustainability efforts, shopping habits, and reuse of items. Nalgene weighted the results to give preference to behaviors with an immediate and significant impact like driving less, recycling more, and reducing trash. The survey's index is based on a scoring system with a potential individual high score of 1930 and a low individual score of 193.

San Franciscans topped Nalgene's list thanks to widespread habits of recycling, turning off the water while brushing teeth, and only using cars for short trips. 86% of San Franciscans also reported that they live an "extremely" or "somewhat" eco-friendly lifestyle, though the definition of an eco-friendly lifestyle is not made clear in the study.

Atlanta came in at the other end of the spectrum, with residents ranking the worst at recycling, throwing out less than two bags of trash a week, using reusable containers, participating in sustainability programs, using energy-efficient lightbulbs, and borrowing books from the library.

Nalgene, of course, had its own motivation for conducting the study. The company recently came under fire for using Bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like chemical, in its water bottles. Nalgene did eventually pull BPA-filled water bottles from the shelves, but the wastefulness study could be the company's attempt to get back in the good graces of eco-minded consumers.

The full list of America's least wasteful cities is below:
Rank City Weighted Score
1 San Francisco, CA 1025.45
2 New York City, NY 1004.01
3 Portland, OR 1001.66
4 Seattle, WA 985.03
5 Los Angeles, CA 960.46
6 Denver, CO 943.77
7 Minneapolis, MN 943.17
8 Washington, D.C. 941.81
9 Boston, MA 941.29
10 Philadelphia, PA 932.59
11 Chicago, IL 931.03
12 Baltimore, MD 927.26
13 Detroit, MI 911.59
14 Pittsburgh, PA 909.42
15 Orlando, FL 901.71
16 Cleveland, OH 900.77
17 Sacramento, CA 899.78
18 Miami, FL 898.49
19 Tampa, FL 896.01
20 Phoenix, AZ 887.48
21 St. Louis, MO 883.38
22 Houston, TX 879.16
23 Indianapolis, IN 872.75
24 Dallas, TX 860.60
25 Atlanta, GA 857.51

courtesy FastCompany

Google's Role In Renewable Energy

Google CEO Eric Schmidt sits down with The Wall Street Journal's Alan Murray to discuss how Google will be off carbon fuels by 2030, among other things. Schmidt also explains their potential uses and non- uses for nuclear power, wind generation, and the misuse of "clean coal."

Find the interview here.

Providing Energy From Wind, A Story From Malawi

Thanks to The Pocket for finding such a valuable story and cause for us all to get behind.

William Kamkwamba is a 22 year old from Malawi. During his freshman year in high school, a nasty drought brought hard times to his family's farm in Masitala Village two and a half hours outside of Malawi's capital. They could no longer afford his education, and he was forced to drop out. William began educating himself on the mechanics of renewable energy by borrowing books from a local library. With astounding do-it-yourself ingenuity, he started experimenting with building a windmill in the backyard of his family farm. With great success. And so William's remarkable story begins.

Visit William's blog to follow his story and donate money to his cause, if you are so inclined.

This Is Cool - Solar Powered Messenger Bag

All the wanna be hipsters carry messenger bags and it’s easy to spot the geek wannabe hipster cause he’s touting a solar charging bag. Eclipse is helping out that demo with another bag that claims to charge cell phones, MP3 player and rechargeable batteries while strolling outdoors thanks to solar cells. These bags come in either leather or canvas and are start at $129 for the non-cow skin edition.

The front flap features a light-weight, flexible, integrated solar charging module which can be utilized by using a common 12V automotive charging adapter made specifically for the brand and type of personal electronics you own. Using a cell phone as an example, you can trickle charge the cell phone battery during casual commutes to work or on campus.

Nike's Latest Environmental Effort: Air Jordan XX3

Nike is releasing the Air Jordan XX3 with a different spin than the other iterations of the classic basketball sneaker. The potentially last Jordan model to be released is being constructed using almost no adhesives at all, and is being constructed like a jigsaw puzzle. Being sewn together and not glued is part of the "Nike Considered approach," that uses environmentally-preferable materials, reduces toxic chemicals and curbs waste.

Hannah Jones, Nike's vice president of corporate responsibility, told Fortune that the Air Jordan XX3 demonstrates that environmental considerations need not require compromises in design or performance. Her hope, she said, is that the new sneakers will influence not only other Nike shoes, but the rest of the footwear industry, too. She said the Air Jordan XX3 is the equivalent of "a Tesla, not a Prius," referring to the $98,000, all-electric, luxury sports car being made by Tesla Motors.

"Too often 'green' means less of a consumer experience," Jones said. "If you sacrifice performance or style, you're doing a disservice to the consumer and to the sustainability movement."

Click here for the full article about the Jordans.

Head over to this article to find an interesting graphic describing the different recycled materials used to make different parts of the Nike Pegasus, a running shoe at the forefront of the "Nike Considered" movement.

Clicking on the top image will take you to CNN's video player to watch Hannah Jones discuss the making of the new Jordan.  (Thanks to CNN for removing their video embed option)

Plug-in Mini Cooper ready to charge

(via CNN)

Starting next year drivers in the Los Angeles and New York areas will be able to lease a fleet of 500 all-electric Coopers from BMW's Mini division. The Mini E, as it's called, will be able to travel 150 miles on a single charge with a top speed of 95 miles per hour. For this test fleet of vehicles, BMW will reimburse customers for the cost of charging. But at a monthly cost of $850, driving the Mini E will not be cheap. Besides the car and electricity, however, the monthly payment will cover all required technical service and maintenance. The cars will be leased on yearly contracts with an option for additional time. At the end of the lease, the cars will be returned to BMW.

Only customers with lockable garages or some other secure space in which to charge the car will be eligible to lease the Mini E. The car can be plugged into any standard wall outlet. But drivers will be able to charge the car in just 2.5 hours using a special wallbox that will be installed in customers' garages. The car will be officially unveiled to the public at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. BMW will accept lease applications after that. Leases will begin early next year.
BMW said it will select specific customers based on a variety of demographic and location requirements.