Pollution Engineering - November 2008 - (Page 21)

GREENFILES B y R o y B ig h a m a n d S e th Fisher Being green is here to stay and it can make real sense as well as cents. Herein are stories describing how companies today are taking advantage of the awesome power of green. Seeing the Light I DEC Corp., Osaka, Japan, has constructed the ﬁrst building to be completely equipped with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting. All lighting tasks at the facility use these lights. a normal light source. They also reduce the amount of waste the building produces, as the mercury-free lighting units have a lifespan five to six times longer than fluorescent lamps. Of course, the cost of installing LED lighting fixtures is higher than with traditional fixtures. However, the company believes its investment should be recouped over 15 years, while helping the environment in the process. Visit www.idec.com/usen for more information. East River Lights New York Verdant Power Inc. has successfully installed two tidal turbines in the East River in New York to supply electricity to the local establishments. This is a fifth-generation rotor design and appears to be functioning well. Each turbine is delivering 35 kW of clean, renewable energy as a result of the tidal movement in the river. No damming of the water was required to operate the system. The installation was part of Phase 2 of the company’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project. Through RITE, the company installed what stands as the world’s first gridconnected array of tidal turbines. In 2007, the fourthgeneration rotors RITE Project Phase 2: Verdant Power freeinstalled on these flow turbine being installed into the east turbines experi- river in December, 2006. Photo by: Kris enced structural Unger; Source: Verdant Power Inc. failures. All other system components operated beyond expectations, with water-to-wire efficiencies of 30 to 40 percent, and the delivery of over 45 MWh of energy. The design demonstrated that maintenance should be quickly accomplished. The rotors were replaced in less than a day by local contractors. Visit www.verdantpower.com. The company built the structure to not only demonstrate the feasibility of using LED lighting but to cement its reputation as a socially conscientious company. The company manufactures many types of LED devices, including lighting fixtures. The lights have many advantages over conventional lighting but the most important is energy consumption. LED lights consume a fraction of the energy required to illuminate any other type of LED lights were used to light the entire building inside and out. Such lights provide plenty of illumination while requiring a fraction of the energy normal lights need. light source including incandescent, CFL or fluorescent. The new building is equipped with 11,000 LED devices and 250,000 LED chips, all manufactured by IDEC, which light up the entire building interior, the parking lot and the garden. These LED lighting units are not only bright, but they improve the environment through a 41-percent reduction in CO2 gases that would power NOVEMBER2008 www.pollutionengineering.com 21 http://www.idec.com/usen http://www.verdantpower.com http://www.pollutionengineering.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pollution Engineering - November 2008

Pollution Engineering - November 2008 Contents The Editor's Desk EnviroNews PE Events Legal Lookout Casebook Canada Environment Management The Green Files Waste Island Phase I ESAs and Vapor Intrusion Meeting the Mercury Target Wet ESPs - The Sky's the Limit Most Successful IFAT China Ever Thermoplastic to the Rescue Install a Trench Without Open Excavations Remediate Impacted Soils Without Accumulation of Metabolites Apply an Alternative to Wet ESP Solve These Common Pump Problems Minimize Risks Handling Ammonia Monitor International Regulatory Developments for Audits Skim Oil and Save Prevent Chemical Vapor Intrusion Spill Control and Containment Products Pumps and Systems Equipment PE Products Classified Marketplace Advertisers Index State Rules

Pollution Engineering - November 2008

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