MORE NEWS, 11-19: BUILDING EMISSIONS IS BIG BIZ; GEOTHERMAL BREAKS NEW GROUND; BIG TEST FOR TIDAL TECH; ECONOMY SLOWS BUT NOT EMISSIONS

BUILDING EMISSIONS IS BIG BIZ
Energy Management Systems for Commercial Buildings; Energy Efficiency, Commercial Demand Response, and Advanced Building Management Systems
Alan Webber and Clint Wheelock, 4Q 2009 (Pike Research)

"…Commercial buildings – the places where we work, live, sleep, and play – are some of largest (if not the largest) single consumers of energy in the United States. We live in a 24/7 environment…[B]uildings and their related equipment are running non-stop… heating up the office…lights in offices, parking lots, hallways, and other locations… datacenters where racks and racks of servers run constantly…[A]ccording to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), commercial buildings are responsible for 18% of the energy used annually in the UnitedStates.

"…57% of the energy consumed in a commercial building is used for heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting… 25% [of that] is for lighting. Cooling uses approximately 13%, heating 12%, and ventilation 7%. Other large energy uses in a commercial building include electronics (7%) and computers (4%)…"

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"[T]here have been three significant changes…[1] a shift in thinking…from energy as an expense of the production of goods and services to energy as an asset to be managed…[2] IT systems and software…to building and energy management is becoming more prevalent…to: [a] Embed intelligence at the controller…[b] Connect a multitude of devices…[c] Monitor, track, and manage equipment and energy…[d] Monitor and control equipment and systems remotely…[3] [S]hifts in government policies…[to]mandate the adoption of…energy efficiency for buildings and equipment…[and] government investment in the research and development of technologies.

"…[A] “new” energy management systems market…[and] the growth and influence of IT systems and technologies against a social and economic push for a more sustainable business model…[allow] businesses and commercial building owners and managers to better understand and manage the energy usage of a building…The result has been a burgeoning market for advanced building management systems, improved energy efficiency technologies, and a growing demand response market segment. With an increasing number of buildings 20 years old and older that need to become more energy efficient, this is a market that will continue to grow…"

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"…[T]he largest growth over the next 10 years exists in the institutional building usage category – those buildings used for healthcare, public service, education, and public safety. That category should grow by over $2 billion dollars between 2010 and 2020…Pike Research expects the total potential market to grow by $7.92 billion between 2010 and 2020…Government and private sector initiatives…are pushing to make new commercial buildings more energy efficient…[and] stricter building codes…will result in fewer buildings requiring upgrades…Eventually we will reach the point where all buildings will be net-zero energy buildings when they are built.

"A second area that will see a continued pattern of growth is the commercial demand
response market segment. Demand response essentially allows a utility to better manage energy usage on the grid during times of peak usage while providing the end user an incentive to participate in the program…[T]he total potential demand response market in the U.S. will grow to between 57.5 GWh and almost 81 GWh by 2020…"


GEOTHERMAL BREAKS NEW GROUND
AltaRock Geothermal Gets New Boost
John Lorinc, November 16, 2009 (NY Times)

"As part of a newly announced $338 million boost for 123 geothermal energy projects nationwide, the Department of Energy will sink $25 million into what is called an “enhanced” or “engineered” geothermal demonstration project in Oregon being developed in part by AltaRock Energy, which recently halted work on a similar venture in California due to drilling problems.

"The grant — by far the largest on the list — is for the development [by AltaRock and Davenport Power] of the Newberry Project, which is near an Oregon volcano…[It] will begin as a 30-megawatt test facility that can develop into a 120 megawatt plant within the next two years…"

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"An enhanced geothermal system seeks to tap the essentially bottomless storehouse of energy in the earth’s core. It involves drilling to depths of well over 10,000 feet and then injecting cold water to create networks of small fractures in the hot rock…to pump water down into these fissures, capture the heat and bring it back to the surface to drive a turbine. Unlike conventional geothermal, which relies on subterranean pockets of hot water, proponents of enhanced geothermal systems [EGS] say the technology is essentially location-neutral, meaning these wells could be sunk almost anywhere in the world.

"…AltaRock, in its regulatory filings, had failed to disclose that a previous [EGS] experiment in Switzerland had triggered a small earthquake…[T]he company defended its Geysers project, in Northern California, and stressed that it had sought to avoid drilling near fault lines…[but] suspended work on Geysers in September, citing drilling difficulties and a call for further review by California regulators."

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"…[T]he new federal grant, plus private financing, will underwrite the cost of building three enhanced-geothermal-system wells in Oregon — one for injecting water into the rock and the other two as “production” wells that will draw up heat to generate power. The companies want to be in a position to start production from the first phase by next summer…[T]he company drilled at the Oregon volcano [which has erupted 25 times in the last 10,000 years] last year and found a lot of heat, but not enough water to run a conventional geothermal plant, so it decided to partner with AltaRock to investigate an enhanced geothermal system…

"In 2006, the Massachusett Institute of Technology released a massive study describing what it would take to develop enhanced geothermal system into a major source of baseload power by 2050…The study was guided by an 18-member panel, which included Susan Petty, a geothermal expert and a co-founder of AltaRock."


BIG TEST FOR TIDAL TECH
In-stream tidal turbine deployed in the Bay of Fundy
Administrator, 18November 2009 (Wave & Tidal Energy News)

"The first commercial scale in-stream tidal turbine in the Bay of Fundy was deployed…by Nova Scotia Power and its tidal technology partner OpenHydro. The one-megawatt commercial scale turbine was deployed from the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE), in the Minas Passage…"

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"The turbine's journey from Halifax to the deployment site, located approximately three kilometres off the shore of Black Rock, took 7 days. Once on site, the 400-tonne device was lowered in less than six hours to its intended location on the ocean floor by the purpose-built barge called the OpenHydro Installer. The barge and the deployment method were both designed and developed by OpenHydro…"

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"The turbine now rests on the seabed held in place by a subsea gravity base designed by OpenHydro and fabricated by Cherubini Metal Works…Nova Scotia Power's involvement with this tidal energy test facility is supported by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), an arm's-length, not-for-profit corporation created by the Government of Canada."


ECONOMY SLOWS BUT NOT EMISSIONS
Led by China, carbon pollution up despite economy
Seth Borenstein, November 17, 2009 (AP)

"Pollution typically declines during a recession. Not this time. Despite a global economic slump, worldwide carbon dioxide pollution jumped 2 percent last year, most of the increase coming from China, according to a study…[by] Corinne Le Quere of the University of East Anglia…Worldwide emissions rose 671 million more tons from 2007 to 2008. Nearly three-quarters of that increase came from China.

"The numbers are from the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and published in the journal Nature Geoscience…According to the study, the 2008 emissions increase was smaller than normal for this decade. Annual global pollution growth has averaged 3.6 percent. This year, scientists are forecasting a nearly 3 percent reduction, despite China because of the massive economic slowdown in most of the world and in the United States."

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"The U.S. is still the biggest per capita major producer of man-made greenhouse gases, spewing about 20 tons of carbon dioxide per person per year. The world average is 5.3 tons and China is at 5.8 tons…Last year, the U.S. emissions fell by 3 percent…Overall European Union emissions dropped by 1 percent. The U.S. is still the No. 2 biggest carbon polluter overall, emitting more than the next four largest polluting countries combined: India, Russia, Japan and Germany. China has been No. 1, since pushing past the United States in 2006…

"The world remains on a dangerous path, despite the recession, scientists said…The world has spewed 715.3 trillion tons of industrial carbon dioxide since 1982, which is the same amount civilization produced in all the previous years…Outside scientists said the study was thorough and the results sobering…The report comes as countries from around the world prepare for a December U.N. conference on reducing carbon emissions…[President] Obama, who was in China, said after a meeting with President Hu Jintao…he wanted an all-encompassing agreement in Copenhagen, even if it falls short of a legal treaty…"

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"Le Quere said the numbers point specifically to developing world as the cause for the most recent growth…China is opening up new coal-fired power plants at a breakneck pace and carbon dioxide emissions in that country have doubled since 2001…Not all the emission increases in China and other developing countries come from new power plants. About one-quarter of the emissions growth is because western countries, like the United States, buy more manufactured products from those countries…

"Other countries besides China to increase their carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5 million tons in 2008 were India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Indonesia, Iran, Poland, Mexico, Canada and the Netherlands…The paper also raised concerns because it shows that the percentage of carbon dioxide emissions that hang in the air — compared to those sucked into the oceans and forests — [has grown in the last 50 years from 40% to 45%]…[T]he more carbon dioxide in the air, the warmer it gets, and the warmer it gets, the higher percentage of carbon dioxide stays in the air…It's a feedback loop that is not good news for global warming…"