The Environmental Protection Agency wants holiday shoppers buying electronic gear to look for the Energy Star label. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
The Environmental Protection Agency wants holiday shoppers buying electronic gear to look for
the Energy Star label. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
The U.S. EPA predicts that if all home electronics sold in the U.S. this year were ENERGY
STAR qualified, the air pollution rate would be reduced by 27 billion pounds of pollutants over
the life of the products. The EPA’s ENERGY STAR program was started in 1992 as a voluntary
program. Manufacturers can get an ENERGY STAR label for their consumer electronics by
meeting certain energy efficiency goals. The EPA indicates that 75-percent of all energy used to
power home electronics is used when the products are turned off or in a stand-by mode. When
turned off, ENERGY STAR qualified equipment uses up to 50-percent less energy than
conventional equipment. The EPA says last year that six of the top seven most popular home
electronics products sold during the holidays were available in ENERGY STAR qualified
models.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.
A European semiconductor firm is developing a new kind of solar cell. They hope it could make renewable energy competitive with coal and natural gas. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Richie Duchon reports:
Transcript
A European semiconductor firm is developing a new kind of solar cell. They
hope it could make renewable energy competitive with coal and natural gas. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Richie Duchon reports:
Most solar panels use silicon semiconductors to convert the sun’s energy into
electricity. They’re the most efficient, but they’re also the most expensive. Right
now, solar energy costs about ten times more over a 20 year period than oil or
natural gas.
STMicroelectronics is developing a semiconductor made primarily of plastic. It
will be less efficient, but the company hopes that a significantly lower cost will
make it a competitive source of energy.
Salvo Coffa is the head of STM’s research and development.
“What we would like to see is to eliminate the first reason for not using the solar
cell, which is the high costs.”
Coffa and his team are still in the research phase, but he hopes that his company
will have plastic solar cells out by 2005.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Richie Duchon.
A group that promotes green energy says the electricity crisis across North America is going to get worse. And the group says refurbishing old nuclear plants is not the answer. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Transcript
A group that promotes green energy says the electricity crisis across
North America is
going to get worse. And the group says refurbishing old nuclear plants
is not the answer.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Ralph Torrie is one of the authors of a new report by the environmental
group, The
Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout. He wants to reduce reliance on nuclear
power. Torrie
says more than half of the working reactors will need serious repairs
in the next decade.
And new sources of energy will have to be found to bridge the gap until
the repairs are
completed.
“Premature aging and poor performance of the reactors is making the
problem that we’re
facing much more urgent than if the plants were operating the way they
were supposed to
be.”
Torrie says the reconstruction money would be better spent in
developing more efficient
energy programs and finding more renewable sources of energy.
Officials for the nuclear industry say reactors are like cars… and
need to be refurbished to
keep them running smoothly.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
A new report shows Ethanol is worse for the environment than gasoline that doesn’t contain the corn-based fuel. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports:
Transcript
A new report shows Ethanol is worse for the environment
than gasoline that doesn’t contain the corn-based fuel.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports:
The study from the University of California at Berkley
concludes ethanol does more harm than good for the
environment when all factors are taken into account. The
report considers the amount of energy it takes to produce
the fuel, and the environmental cost of the soil and
water use needed to grow the corn to make the fuel.
The study also says ethanol does not produce less
pollution. The researchers say ethanol spills can
contaminate groundwater, and fertilizers and pesticides
used to grow the corn create additional strain on the
environment. The report’s author says when all factors
are included, ethanol is 65 percent less efficient to
produce and use than regular gasoline.
Ethanol advocates say the fuel reduces emissions and
is a safer additive than any other currently available.
They also say the production of ethanol is constantly
improving. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m
Jonathan Ahl.
The Canadian government is under attack by environmentalists after it exempted car manufacturers from its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:
Transcript
The Canadian government is under attack by environmentalists after it exempted car
manufacturers from its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:
Opponents say the government granted the exemption because the car assembly plants are located
in Ontario.
The province is a stronghold of support for the leading Liberal party.
But federal officials say the auto plants were exempted because their emissions are already low.
Many industries are required to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions under the newly signed
Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
John Bennett of the Sierra Club agrees that the auto plants are relatively small polluters.
But he’s concerned that the feds lost some leverage as they try to convince automakers to create
more fuel efficient cars.
“It was a short term political tactic, but in the long term, it might mean we won’t get the kinds of
fuel efficiency improvements in cars that are absolutely essential if we’re going to meet the Kyoto
target and go beyond it.”
Thus far, the auto industry is resistant to building more efficient vehicles.
For The Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.
This month U.S. electric utilities have been setting records for electricity output. So far, the grid has held up. But the electric industry says more has to be done to keep up with growing demand. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
This month, U.S. electric utilities have been setting records for electricity
output. So far, the grid has held up. But the electric industry says more
has to be done to keep up with growing demand. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
With drought and high heat, demand for electricity in many parts of the
nation has hit record highs and the power companies have been able to meet
that demand with few problems. Jim Owen is with the Edison Electric
Institute, an electric industry association. Owen says places where there
have been black-outs in the past are keeping up this summer.
“Take Chicago, for example. Here a couple of weeks ago they set
all-time record demand for elecricity pretty well without any reported
problems. So, we are meeting demand pretty well all across the country.”
Owen says new peaker plants that come on only during high demand periods and
a few new big traditional electric generating plants have helped avoid
problems. But while the capacity has increased in the past few years, demand
has grown faster. Owen says that gap needs to close.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.
Two years ago, Oberlin College opened a new building that’s a radical departure from typical classroom architecture. Designed as a living laboratory of energy-efficiency and sustainable building techniques, the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies has been turning heads ever since. The building has won two national awards for its innovative design, which features a rooftop solar array and a biological wastewater treatment system. But one man – himself an Oberlin College professor – says the Lewis Center’s design is seriously flawed. He says the building can’t deliver on its promise of high performance. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Schaefer reports:
Transcript
Two years ago, Oberlin College opened a new building that’s a radical departure from typical classroom architecture. Designed as a living laboratory of energy-efficiency and sustainable building techniques, the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies has been turning heads ever since. The building has won two national awards for its innovative design, which features a rooftop solar array and a biological wastewater
treatment system. But one man – himself an Oberlin College professor – says
the Lewis Center’s design is seriously flawed. He says the building can’t deliver on its promise of high performance. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Schaefer reports:
The Lewis Environmental Studies Center at Oberlin College is not your average college building. The curved roof of the building – designed by architect William McDonough – holds a massive array of solar panels that soak up the sun’s energy and convert it to electricity for heat and light. Instead of sending wastewater to the local sewage plant, the building has its own on-site treatment facility that uses biological components – called
a “living machine” – for final cleansing. Outside, a small wetland recreates the natural ecosystem on which Oberlin was built. Even the building’s materials were made from sustainable resources designed to have little or no impact on the environment or human health. None of it is cutting-edge technology. But the Lewis Center does integrate multiple ecological-design concepts that work together to make it environmentally-friendly. It’s one of just a handful of so-called high-performance buildings now beginning to dot the American landscape. In addition, it’s a building that was designed to evolve as new technologies came along. It’s no wonder Professor David Orr, the building’s originator, claimed bragging rights even before the Center opened.
“This is a building that purifies its own wastewater, powers itself by
sunlight, has eliminated toxic chemicals and compounds.”
But one man takes issue with the high-performance claims the building’s
creators have made. John Scofield is also an Oberlin professor. He teaches
in the physics department and focuses his research on solar energy.
Scofield says even before the Center was built, it was clear the building’s
basic design was flawed.
“The architect has said on several occasions that the building is designed to generate more energy than it uses and I don’t believe that’s correct.”
Scofield’s primary critique is of the building’s energy systems, particularly those devoted to heating and cooling. He says there’s a real disconnect between what the designers claim the building can accomplish and the way it’s actually performing.
“Well, I think first of all, that the building springs out of some wonderful ideas and I very much support the design intent for the building. No, my concern has been, I think, false hopes. The promises for the building and the way that it was sold were I think not really in line with the reality of the building for a long time.”
(Peterson) “I think one thing you have to consider is the difference between a long-term goal and short-term performance.”
John Peterson is a professor in the environmental studies program. He
oversees the Center’s day-to-day functions.
“I mean, I think where we are right now is in a good spot right now. I think we can take a lot of pride in how the building is performing right now. This last year, for instance, we exported a fair amount of energy onto the grid. We also imported a lot of energy onto the grid, but on balance, we produced 53-percent of the energy that was consumed in the
building.”
Peterson admits there were some design flaws in the Lewis Center’s heating system when it was first put on line. The college has just replaced a high-energy consumption electric boiler with a more energy-efficient heat pump, which is the building’s primary source of heat. Last year, slightly more than half the building’s energy consumption went to heating during what proved to be a relatively mild winter. Even though the net energy use was 37-percent better than other Oberlin campus buildings, the college has
called on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for help in improving the
system. Paul Torsellini is a senior engineer with the Lab’s High-Performance Building Group in Golden, Colorado. He says, considering it’s a building designed to push the outside of the envelope, the Lewis Center is performing well.
“There are certainly issues with that building, as well as any other building that we build today. You know, one of the things with building engineering, which is, you know, a little different than, say, building a car. You build a car and you build lots of them. As opposed to buildings where, every time you build a building, it’s basically a custom
application.”
And so each building comes with unique problems. The High-Performance Group team is expert in innovative building design. Torsellini says over the next few months, he’ll be evaluating exactly how well the energy components of the Lewis Center perform, monitoring both the energy that’s being created and the energy that’s being used by the building’s different systems. Along with Torsellini, critic John Scofield believes the building can eventually make good on its promise to produce more energy than it uses.
“There’s a great case now for net energy exporters called the space station. So if cost is no object, it’s not a problem making a net energy exporter.”
Torsellini says it all comes down to how you measure success.
“You know, somewhere on the order of 40, 50-percent of the energy comes off the roof of that building. What other building in Oberlin or in the state of Ohio even comes close to thinking about that?”
More hard data will be needed to calculate the Lewis Center’s overall performance. Everyone is looking forward to a scientific peer review process that should help clarify the building’s performance achievements. But even if it’s not exactly perfect, both supporters and critics of the Lewis Environmental Studies Center hope the building will prove to be a good investment in scientific and educational research.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Schaefer in Oberlin.
For the first time, demand is high for an environmentally friendly
car. Honda’s new Insight now has a two-month waiting list. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Halpert has the story:
If you shopped on the Internet this holiday season, you not only beat
the crowds at the mall, you also may have helped to conserve natural
resources. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Edelson-Halpert has
more:
The federal budget is a bit brighter for some energy savings programs…
but dimmer for others. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports: