Photo credit wonderferret

The electricity grid may not need “baseload” generation sources like coal and nuclear to backup the variability of supply from renewables.

Jon Wellinghof is the Chairman of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC is an independent agency that amongst other things, regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil – for more on FERC’s responsibilities see their About page. Chairman Wellinghoff has been involved in the energy industry for 30 years and appointed to the FERC as a commissioner by then president Bush in 2006.

Last year, shortly after being appointed as Chairman of the FERC, Mr Wellinghoff announced that:

No new nuclear or coal plants may ever be needed in the United States….

Wellinghoff said renewables like wind, solar and biomass will provide enough energy to meet baseload capacity and future energy demands. Nuclear and coal plants are too expensive, he added.

“I think baseload capacity is going to become an anachronism,” he said. “Baseload capacity really used to only mean in an economic dispatch, which you dispatch first, what would be the cheapest thing to do. Well, ultimately wind’s going to be the cheapest thing to do, so you’ll dispatch that first.”…

“What you have to do, is you have to be able to shape it,” he added. “And if you can shape wind and you can effectively get capacity available for you for all your loads.

“So if you can shape your renewables, you don’t need fossil fuel or nuclear plants to run all the time. And, in fact, most plants running all the time in your system are an impediment because they’re very inflexible. You can’t ramp up and ramp down a nuclear plant. And if you have instead the ability to ramp up and ramp down loads in ways that can shape the entire system, then the old concept of baseload becomes an anachronism.”

This was quite an unusual contention at the time (and still is) and despite the Chairman’s many years working in the sector it was, by and large, ignored – even by the administration who had appointed him to the Chairmanship. In fact, the Obama administration has since announced financial backing for new nuclear power plants.

However, a study published last week by the Maryland-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research backs Chairman Wellinghoff’s assertion. In a study of North Carolina’s electricity needs it concluded backup generation requirements would be modest for a system based largely on solar and wind power, combined with efficiency, hydroelectric power, and other renewable sources like landfill gas:

“Even though the wind does not blow nor the sun shine all the time, careful management, readily available storage and other renewable sources, can produce nearly all the electricity North Carolinians consume,” explained Dr. John Blackburn, the study’s author. Dr. Blackburn is Professor Emeritus of Economics and former Chancellor at Duke University.

“Critics of renewable power point out that solar and wind sources are intermittent,” Dr. Blackburn continued. “The truth is that solar and wind are complementary in North Carolina. Wind speeds are usually higher at night than in the daytime. They also blow faster in winter than summer. Solar generation, on the other hand, takes place in the daytime. Sunlight is only half as strong in winter as in summertime. Drawing wind power from different areas — the coast, mountains, the sounds or the ocean — reduces variations in generation. Using wind and solar in tandem is even more reliable. Together, they can generate three-fourths of the state’s electricity. When hydroelectric and other renewable sources are added, the gap to be filled is surprisingly small. Only six percent of North Carolina’s electricity would have to come from conventional power plants or from other systems.”

With larger and more inter-connected electricity grids, the requirement for baseload falls even further because the greater the geographical spread of your grid, the greater the chances that the wind will be blowing or the sun shining in some parts of it.

So, is there really any need for baseload power any more, or is this now just a myth perpetuated by those with vested interests?

We had a couple of snafu’s on the show today. At the beginning of the show we had some calendaring confusion and a couple of people watching last week’s show thinking it was the live one!

Then I had a close call at the end of the show when I thought I had stopped broadcasting but left the camera and mic on inadvertently! While it is true I uttered an expletive, at least I didn’t do a Nellgate on it!!!

Here is the chatstream from the show:

Tom Raftery :
Hi everyone

 16 : 33
monkchips :
have i been watching last week’s show?
nice

 16 : 34
yellowpark :
hahaha

 16 : 34
monkchips :
well change the recurring calendar entry then …
 
16 : 34
Tom Raftery :
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313715,11-siberian-tigers-starve-to-death-at-chinese-zoo.html
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/chile-earthquake-moved-entire-city-10-feet-to-the-west
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2010/03/the_challenges.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62E14Z20100315
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/10/spain-barcelona-snow
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/11/juanita-goggins-dead-once_n_495498.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/nokia-moving-into-kinetically-charged-cell-phones-files-new-patent.php
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20000430-54.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=GreenTech
 
16 : 43
Joe :
some sense from the auto industry at last…
 
16 : 43
MikeTheBee :
Hi Tom, oh, no date display today?
 
16 : 43
Tom Raftery :
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/new-charging-method-could-mean-exponentially-faster-battery-recharge-times.php
http://www.nytimes.com//2010/03/12/opinion/12chase.html
http://www.grist.org/article/death-of-a-thousand-cuts

 16 : 47
monkchips :
Smith Electric Vehicles Eyes Road to an IPO http://bit.ly/b76p5F #logistics #WAYmoreinterestingthantesla
never mind Tesla, a logistics EV IPO!
 
16 : 48
Tom Raftery :
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/cisco-saves-over-24-million-with-packaging-diet.php
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/dell-launches-most-efficient-desktop-computer-to-date.php
http://www.viridity.com/blog/bid/36035/Top-7-Reasons-to-Remove-Orphan-Servers-from-the-Data-Center-Floor
http://www.ceres.org/ceresroadmap
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn10_042/pn10_042.aspx
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/15/rbs-blinded-by-spin

 16 : 52
Ian B :
UK still has lead in wave and tide development – but for how long?

 16 : 53
MikeTheBee :
Ireland are working hard to take the lead.
 
16 : 53
Tom Raftery :

http://blogs.msdn.com/mspowerutilities/archive/2010/03/11/let-s-call-the-smart-grid-what-it-is-disruptive.aspx

 
16 : 54
Ian B :
Yeah should have said UK and Ireland
 
16 : 55
Tom Raftery :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/15/bp-shell-tar-sands-green-energy

 
16 : 56
monkchips :
this is the same company claims 70% of its employees are workin on cloud…?
 
16 : 57
Tom Raftery :
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/trash-wifi-afghanistan.html
 
16 : 57
monkchips :
superb!
 
16 : 58
Tom Raftery :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hereford/worcs/8562434.stm

 16 : 58
Ian B :
Too right
 
16 : 58
Tom Raftery :
http://www.fastcompany.com/1575650/cleveland-mall-gets-a-new-life-as-a-giant-greenhouse
 
16 : 58
MikeTheBee :
But all his family keep the money
 
16 : 59
Tom Raftery :
http://www.avaaz.org/en/protect_the_elephants/
 
17 : 00
MikeTheBee :
No date stamp today?, Tom
np
He made 45mill
Thx Tom.
 
17 : 02
Tom Raftery :
Thanks everyone for your comments and interest
 
17 : 03
Ian B :
Thanks Tom
 
17 : 03
monkchips :
nice close! “oh fuck!”#
 
17 : 03
MikeTheBee :
I still find it strange that when I am *not* logged into Zoho chat the links are clickable, but after I log in they are not. Wierd or what.
 
17 : 04
monkchips :
dont have a hand shandy there tom, you’re still broadcasting…
 
17 : 04
MikeTheBee :
You are still *LIVE* Tom
 
17 : 05
monkchips :
how long are you over for? which show is it?
 
17 : 06
MikeTheBee :
THE END!
 
17 : 06
Tom Raftery :
LOL!!!
Thanks guys

Photo credit Unhindered by Talent

Here is this Friday’s Green Numbers round-up:

• 11 Siberian tigers starve to death at Chinese zoo

  Eleven Siberian tigers died of starvation in north-eastern China’s Liaoning province after a cash-strapped zoo fed them only chicken bones, state media said Friday. The 11 tigers died over the past three months at the privately run Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo, the China Daily newspaper quoted Liu Xiaoqiang, a local wildlife protection official, as saying.

  tags: tiger, siberian tiger, greennumbers, starvation, china, private zoo

• EU on target to meet 2020 renewable energy targets, Brussels says

  The European Union is set to achieve its self-imposed target of deriving at least 20 per cent of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020, the bloc’s executive said on Thursday. The target is part of the EU’s so-called 20-20-20 strategy, which also foresees a 20 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels and a 20 per cent increase in energy efficiency, all by 2020.

  tags: 2020, eu, energy, greennumbers, 20-20-20, renewable energy, greenhouse gas emissions

• What If Everybody in Canada Flushed At Once?

  The water utility in Edmonton, EPCOR, published the most incredible graph of water consumption last week. By now you’ve probably heard that up to 80% of Canadians were watching last Sunday’s gold medal Olympic hockey game. So I guess it stands to reason that they’d all go pee between periods.

  But still—the degree to which the water consumption matches with the key breaks in the hockey game is stunning.

  tags: greennumbers, canada, edmonton, epcor, pee, water, data, water consumption

• Cisco Saving $24 Million With Packaging Diet

  Cisco has taken up a pilot program for a packaging diet, and will see a savings of about $24 million just by getting smart and rethinking the materials and size of packaging, and the transportation of products

  tags: cisco, packaging, greennumbers, materials, transportation

• Businessman receives 3 yrs in jail, fined £3m for organic and free-range egg scam

  A businessman has been jailed for three years for masterminding a scam which saw tens of millions of battery hen eggs sold as free-range or organic

  tags: battery hen eggs, greennumbers, free-range eggs, organic, battery hen, jail

• Chile Earthquake Moved Entire City 10 Feet to the West

  The magnitude 8.8 quake that struck near Maule, Chile, Feb. 27 moved the entire city of Concepcion 10 feet to the west.

  tags: greennumbers, concepcion, chile, earthquake

• Spanish snow leaves 250,000 without power

  A metre of snow fell in the Pyrenees leaving 6,000 travellers stranded and blocking up to 40 roads

  tags: climate change, snow, barcelona, pyrenees, greennumbers

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

In this, the fifth of my Smart Grid Heavy Hitters’ interviews, I talk to the CEO of Tropos Networks, Tom Ayers. Tropos develop wireless broadband networks for Smart Grid applications and offer complete network management, as well as enhanced security features. Tropos is the only wireless broadband network provider with FIPS 140-2 certification.

Tom and I had a great chat, we talked about:

• Tom and Tropos’ definition and the benefits of a Smart Grid
• Why we need Smart Grids and the efficiency gains we will achieve from them
• The security issues round wireless Smart Grids
• Tropos IP, Smart Grid standards and open protocols
• Best practice Smart Grid rollouts

Photo credit Neubie

A perfect storm consisting of the EPA, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and investors is pressuring companies to come clean on their environmental risks and performance.

I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about FaceBook’s decision to use a primarily coal-burning utility to power its new data center where I asked should FaceBook’s investors be worried about the decision.

Now the SEC has started taking an interest in this area as well and recently clarified that companies’ have responsibilities [PDF] to report on:

1. the direct effects of existing and pending environmental regulation, legislation, and international treaties on the company’s business, its operations, risk factors, and in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
2. the indirect effects of such legislation and regulation on a company’s business, such as changes in demand for products that create or reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
3. the effect on a company’s business and operations related to the physical changes to our planet caused by climate change — such as rising seas, stronger storms, and increased drought. These changes to the environment could have a number of material effects on corporations, such as impairing the distribution and production of goods and damaging property, plant, and equipment

In announcing the clarification SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar stated that the SEC will begin to be far more proactive on environmental reporting:

The Commission’s action today is a first step in an area where the Commission will begin to play a more proactive role, consistent with our mandate under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, to consider the environment in our regulatory action. The National Environmental Policy Act charged the Federal Government “to use all practicable means” to, among other things, “fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as trustee of the environment for succeeding generations.”

Noting the interest of the SEC and their clarification around companies’ environmental risk reporting requirements, investors are now becoming more vocal and are increasingly asking companies to report more information about their environmental risks and responsibilities. These investors need to look after the long term interests of their funds and the last thing they want is to have their monies disappear in some environment-related mishap like the Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill or a class action litigation.

Ceres, the non-profit network, reported recently that investors filed a record 95 climate change resolutions, a 40% increase over the 2009 proxy season! And these are serious investors. Jack Ehnes, CEO of CalSTRS for example, manages $131 billion dollars in assets. That’s billion, with a b!

As Ceres notes:

Many of the investors are part of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), an alliance of more than 80 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $8 trillion.

$8 trillion! Investors with a war chest of $8 trillion wield a lot of clout.

Combine this with the fact that on Dec 29th 2009 the EPA’s Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule came into effect and it states:

suppliers of fossil fuels or industrial greenhouse gases, manufacturers of vehicles and engines, and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year of GHG emissions are required to submit annual reports to EPA. The gases covered by the proposed rule are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and other fluorinated gases including nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and hydrofluorinated ethers (HFE).

So, the EPA is requiring the reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the top 10,000 emitters in the US, the SEC now has environmental risk reporting and transparency in its sights and investors with considerable resources are looking for more details on possible environmental risks from companies they invest in. You have to think that this is not a good time to be in the pollution business!

We had a great Energy and Sustainability show yesterday. In case you missed it, here is the recording and the chatstream is below:

Tom Raftery :
Ok, kicking off the show this Mon 8th March in 1 minute
And we’re live – hope you can all see and hear me

Mon, 8 Mar, 16:32
paul savage :
good afternoon Tom[sound is good]

Mon, 8 Mar, 16:33
Tom Raftery :
http://blogs.msdn.com/see/archive/2010/03/02/microsoft-s-position-on-the-u-s-chamber-of-commerce-climate-related-activities.aspx
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8550504.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/07/edf-nuclear-reactor-chernobyl-risk
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100304142240.htm
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/03/arctic-methane-on-the-move/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/04/states-sue-epa-global-warming-ruling/
http://www.ceres.org/Page.aspx?pid=1221
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2010/03/04/tesco-nestle-uk-packaging-cuts
http://greenopolis.com/goblog/joe-laur/team-shambhala-nike-s-journey-wasted-reputation-corporate-responsibility-icon
http://solveclimate.com/blog/20100304/veterans-launch-powerful-clean-energy-ad-tying-foreign-oil-troop-deaths
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/setting-wind-power-records-in-texas/
http://greenmonk.net/spain-gets-53-of-its-energy-from-wind/

Mon, 8 Mar, 16:52
Ian B :
Perhaps TX should expend less suing EPA?

Mon, 8 Mar, 16:53
Tom Raftery :
http://cleantech.com/news/5661/paper-battery-co-hints-about-tech
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/december7/nanotubes-ink-paper-120709.html
http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/mit-researchers-produce-electricity-from-carbon-nanotubes/
http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/03/07/australian-police-search-sea-shepherd-vessels/
http://environment.change.org/blog/view/head_of_the_epa_speaks_to_changeorg_lets_change_the_face_of_environmentalism
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/2880779/Oscars-week-The-real-life-story-like-that-in-Avatar.html
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2010/100302a.html?mtxs=rss-corp-gcnews
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/29595.wss
http://greatindiansale.blogspot.com/2010/03/google-guerillas.html

Mon, 8 Mar, 17:00
paul savage :
don’t forget your call…

Mon, 8 Mar, 17:01
mikethebee :
Thx Tom, good one as usual.

Mon, 8 Mar, 17:02
Ian B :
Thanks Tom

Mon, 8 Mar, 17:02
paul savage :
All the best Tom.

Mon, 8 Mar, 17:02
Tom Raftery :
Thanks everyone

Mon, 8 Mar, 17:04
Ian B :
BTW – couldn’t get chat working in IE8 – must have objected to your MS story!

Photo credit Unhindered by Talent

Here is this Friday’s Green Numbers round-up:

• HP Named No. 1 on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens List

  HP today was ranked No. 1 on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s (formerly known as CRO Magazine) 11th annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List.

  Climbing from fifth place in last year’s rankings, HP gained the No. 1 spot, as a result of its scores in seven criteria categories: environment, climate change, human rights, philanthropy, employee relations, financial and corporate governance.

  tags: hp, greennumbers, Corporate Responsibility Magazine, Best Corporate Citizens

• Just 16 Ships Pollute More Than All Cars in the World – GreenITers

  As ships get bigger, the pollution is getting worse. The most staggering statistic of all is that just 16 of the world’s largest ships can produce as much lung-clogging sulphur pollution as all the world’s cars.

  tags: greennumbers, ships, shipping, pollution, sulfur, sulphur

• Porsche Unveils Plug-in Hybrid That Gets 78 MPG | Greenopolis

  At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Porsche unveiled a hybrid supercar that gets 78 MPG and does 0 to 60 in just 3.2 seconds. In fact, it’s faster than Porsche’s latest supercar, the Carrera GT. Meet the Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid concept and begin drooling!

  tags: porsche, hybrid, supercar, hybrid supercar, spyder, phev, plug in hybrid, greennumbers

• 21 workers die in fire at H&M factory

  At least 21 workers died and 50 were hurt when a fire swept through a Bangladeshi factory making clothes for budget retailer H&M and other firms as they worked at night to fulfil orders.

  The blaze at the Garib & Garib Newaj company – which makes cardigans and jumpers for the Swedish fashion chain – follows repeated concerns by a British charity about fire safety at factories making garments for Western shops.

  tags: greennumbers, Garib & Garib Newaj, fire safety, bangladesh, H&M

• ARPA-E Third Round: $100M for Grid Storage, Power Converters, Building Cooling

  Energy Secretary Steven Chu — the rockstar geek Nobel Prize winner — announced at the first ARPA-E summit on Tuesday that the Department of Energy will hand out $100 million in a third round of grants to early stage greentech startups through the ARPA-E program. Specifically this round of grants will focus on energy efficiency technologies including grid storage, power converter technology, and building cooling technology

  tags: Department of Energy, doe, steven Chu, arpa-e, greennumbers, energy efficiency, grid storage

• M&S Aims For Most Sustainable By 2015

  Marks & Spencer is to step up its plans to go “green” by opting for more sustainable ingredients and agreeing a living wage for suppliers in its bid to become the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015.

  tags: greennumbers, plan a, marks & Spencer, sustainable ingredients, living wage

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

This is the fourth of my Smart Grid Heavy Hitters’ interviews, and in it I talked to the President and COO of Landis+Gyr, Andreas Umbach. Landis+Gyr have been in the meter business for decades now so I was very interested to hear what Andreas had to say.

It was a great chat, we talked about:

• Andreas’ and Landis+Gyr’s definition and the benefits of a Smart Grid
• The differences in smart grid rollouts around the world and
• Demand response programs which are consumer friendly

We had a great Energy and Sustainability show today – in case you were unable to make it, I recorded the video (above) and the chatstream (below):

16 : 27 MikeTheBee :
Hello Tom, It would be handy to have a date in the video to distinguish the ep being replayed. Leo Laporte on Twit.tv just has a Calender/Clock on a shelf behind him, it works well.
 
16 : 27 MikeTheBee :
Maybe up on the filing cabinet?
 
16 : 28 Tom Raftery :
Cool idea
 
16 : 28 MikeTheBee :
Just a though
Hello Video/Audio oK
Good stuff
less than 30 slides now?
 
16 : 33 Tom Raftery :
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-02-25-attack-on-climate-change-science-is-oj-simpson-moment/
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/02/pat-michaels-climate-skeptic?utm_source=twitterfeed
 
16 : 36 MikeTheBee :
It is the Climate fundamentalists on the other side. Aimed at confusing the middle-ground
 
16 : 36 Tom Raftery :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gHO-eYtWhElo-tDutOelFgr8KnGQ
 
16 : 37 MikeTheBee :
The article requested is not available.
AFP seem to have taken that one down
 
16 : 38 Tom Raftery :
It has been the economic heartbeat of the world’s fourth most populous country for almost 500 years, but Jakarta’s days as Indonesia’s capital could be numbered
Indonesia mulls new capital as Jakarta sinks
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/33164
 
16 : 39 MikeTheBee :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gHO-eYtWhElo-tDutOelFgr8KnGQ
 
16 : 40 Tom Raftery :
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/02/12/peak_tuna
http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/japan-says-it-will-ignore-a-ban-on-bluefin-tuna/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8534052.stm
http://www.physorg.com/news186418664.html
 
16 : 44 MikeTheBee :
Tells us a lot about sea currents
 
16 : 46 Tom Raftery :
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100301/hl_hsn/globalwarmingkicksupallergystorm
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=8041&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/apple-admits-using-child-labour-20100301-pbzz.html
 
16 : 51 MikeTheBee :
The fanboys said it was not Apples problem.
 
16 : 52 Tom Raftery :
http://stardustglobalventures.com/2010/02/27/twitter-as-powerful-as-an-earthquake/

16 : 52 marilynpratt :
Apple having a bad week as its shareholders say no to environmental measures: http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/news/blogpost/7118816/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
 
16 : 53 MikeTheBee :
Tom, most of these links are not coming though in a clickable format. The Apple one did though.
 
16 : 54 Tom Raftery :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbxrYAU6l_0
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/25/mitsubishi-wind-turbine-factory
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100225140908.htm
 
16 : 56 marilynpratt :
@MikeTheBee maybe if you repost them with a copy and paste they will be clickable. I’ll try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbxrYAU6l_0
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/25/mitsubishi-wind-turbine-factory
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100225140908.htm
 
16 : 57 MikeTheBee :
We could do with that info in a more visual form.
 
16 : 57 Tom Raftery :
waterfootprint.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoKYStFy4GY
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/sf-green-festival-09-silo-ink-reduces-printer-waste-saves-80-on-ink-expenses.php
 
16 : 59 MikeTheBee :
@marilynpratt : I can see those, strange, is it me or Zoho chat?
 
17 : 00 marilynpratt :
@mikethebee
waterfootprint.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoKYStFy4GY
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/sf-green-festival-09-silo-ink-reduces-printer-waste-saves-80-on-ink-expenses.php
http:waterfootprint.org same problem
need to run thanks
 
17 : 01 Tom Raftery :

http://greenenergyreporter.com/2010/02/india-to-tax-coal-to-fund-national-renewable-energy-fund/

 
17 : 02 MikeTheBee :
HP argue that they must be ‘remade’ for quality
 
17 : 03 Tom Raftery :
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/29520.wss
http://blogs.msdn.com/see/archive/2010/02/25/johnson-controls-uses-microsoft-surface-to-improve-visibility-into-energy-efficiency-in-buildings.aspx
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/29482.wss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm7MeZlS5fo
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2f1a836e-24d3-11df-8be0-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2258673/google-touts-solar-thermal
http://www.flickr.com/photos/traftery/4340528718/
http://davidcoethica.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/3bl-tv-new-csr-sustainability-video-channel/
 
17 : 09 MikeTheBee :
I built a heilostat in the garden using old cd’s
The real issue on inkjet carts is the price, if we could return them and buy new ones they would be like milkbottles.
UK councils to stop collection of recycling to save budget
Coffee bean production starts in the UK and Ireland, joining the vineyards established in 2009. (newsflash from 2013)
Well done Tom gr8 show.
@marilynpratt Thx for reposting, it is not a problem for me to cut&paste, but I wondered why Tom’s links didn’t work like your this week.
 
17 : 11 Tom Raftery :
Thanks Mike and everyone for all your comments, interest and enthusiasm

Photo credit Unhindered by Talent

Here is this Friday’s Green Numbers round-up:

• Mitsubishi to build £100m UK wind turbine factory | Environment | guardian.co.uk

  Government aim of making Britain a centre of green manufacturing win a major boost from plans that will create hundreds of jobs

  tags: greennumbers, uk, wind, mitsubishi, wind turbine

• Hydrogen taxi cabs to serve London by 2012 Olympics | Environment | The Guardian

  A taxi cab that runs on the latest hydrogen fuel cell technology is being developed with the aim of being ready for full road trials in time for the 2012 Olympics.

  tags: taxi, hydrogen, london, olympics, 2012, greennumbers

• Dpt. of Good Ideas: Wisconsin May Shut Down Five Coal Plants

  In 2007, the Sierra Club brought the state of Wisconsin to court over emissions from some state-run coal plants used to provide heat and power to some university buildings and a hospital (UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-River Falls and Mendota Mental Health Institute). The Department of Natural Resources sided with the Sierra Club, and the state now has a choice between installing pollution-control equipment to greatly reduce emissions, reducing the use of coal by displacing part of it with other fuels, or simply eliminating the use of coal completely

  tags: greennumbers, Department of Natural Resources, Sierra Club, wisconsin, coal, emissions

• Near-threshold computing could enable up to 100x reduction in power consumption

  “While electronic devices have greatly improved in many regards, such as in storage capacity, graphics, and overall performance, etc., they still have a weight hanging around their neck: they’re huge energy hogs. When it comes to energy efficiency, today’s computers, cell phones, and other gadgets are little better off than those from a decade ago, or more. The problem of power goes beyond being green and saving money. For electrical engineers, power has become the primary design constraint for future electronic devices. Without lowering power consumption, improvements made in other areas of electronic devices could be useless, simply because there isn’t enough power to support them.”

  tags: Near-threshold computing, energy efficiency, greennumbers, computing, cpu, moore’s law

• Asia sustainable investments could jump from $20bn to $4 trillion by 2015: Vontobel report

  “Sustainable investments in Asia (ex Japan) could make a huge jump from approximately $20bn today to $4 trillion by 2015 according to research by Vontobel, the Swiss fund manager. Vontobel says it believes sustainability themes are being ‘seriously undervalued’ in a region undergoing a tremendous pace of change in environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. “

  tags: vontobel, greennumbers, sustainable investments, sustainability

• India computer waste to grow 500% by 2020

  Waste from discarded electronics will rise dramatically in the developing world within a decade, with computer waste in India alone to grow by 500 percent from 2007 levels by 2020, a U.N. study released on Monday said.

  tags: waste, ewaste, e-waste, electronic waste, india, greennumbers

• Uranium levels near Australian mine ‘5400 times normal level’

  Rio Tinto says Ranger is “one of the most environmentally regulated mines in the world.”

  Yet it’s been leaking billons of litres of uranium-contaminated water for years.

  tags: greennumbers, rio tinto, uranium, uranium mining, australia, Energy Resources of Australia

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.