CitiesGoGreen -September 2008 - (Page 6) In Motion Renewable Energy Investment Skyrockets The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that investments in renewable energy in 2007, at $148 billion, were 60 percent above 2006, with 2008 growth continuing. Achim Steiner, head of UNEP, said: The clean energy industry is maturing and its backers remain bullish. These findings should empower governments both North and South to reach a deep and meaningful new agreement by the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009. It is increasingly obvious to the public and investors alike that the transition to a low-carbon society is both a global imperative and an inevitability. This is attracting an enormous inflow of capital, talent and technology. But it is only inevitable if creative market mechanisms and public policy continue to evolve to liberate rather than frustrate this clean energy dawn. What is unfolding is nothing less than a fundamental transformation of the world’s energy infrastructure. NYC: Green Roofs Get alook good, absorb tons of storm water Tax Break Green roofs © Cook+Fox Architects and carbon dioxide, reduce noise, air pollution and stress, add a layer of insulation, and can extend the life of the roof by protecting it from ultraviolet rays. They can reduce home air conditioning costs by 10-20 percent while lowering peak demand. Each 10,000 square feet of green roof traps 6,000-12,000 gallons of water, diverting it from the sewer system, and noticeably cooling 10 acres of city as the water evaporates. Now, in New York City, green roofs can get you a tax break, too. The state passed a bill giving building owners who plant on 50 percent or more of the roof surface a one-year property tax credit of up to $100,000, or approximately $4.50 per square foot of planted area. That’s about a quarter of the installed cost, and backers hope it will tip more people into deciding they’ll do it. Projected benefits also include green jobs as local businesses respond to increased demand, which could bring down the cost eventually as well. Storm Water Infrastructure Matters (SWIM) Coalition championed the bill. Such government support is seen by some as essential to making green roofs as popular as in Germany, where 10 percent of the flat roofs are reported to be green and green roofs are a $77 million a year business. Watts in a Day How much energy use would be reasonable, worldwide, on a watts per person basis? Scientists from the Swiss Council of the Federal Institute of Technology came up with 2,000 watts per day, or 17,520 watts per year. This, the average global usage, is about 10,000 watts less than the average person in the U.S and Canada uses daily. The 2000 Watt Society has a vision of every individual reaching this mark without lowering their standard of living. In the envisioned 2000-watt society, quality of life will not suffer at all. On the contrary, aspects such as safety and health, comfort and the development of the individual will in fact improve, and income is expected to rise by around 60 percent over the next fifty years. While some countries would have to become much more efficient, it provides room for others to use more. Roland Sultz, director of the project, is quoted in The New Yorker saying, “What is important, I think, to know is that the 2,000-Watt Society is not a program of hard life. It is not what we call ‘Gürtel enger schnallen’—belt tightening—it’s not starving, it’s not having less comfort or fun. It’s a creative approach to the future.” 6 .com The world’s first fully integrated smart electrical grid will be completed in Boulder, Colorado, by mid-2009, according to XCEL Energy, a utility serving eight states. In this trial, costing up to $100 million, XCEL and its partners plan a grid able to predict and prevent many outages, route power around outages, communicate with smart appliances and thermostats to avoid overloads and peak costs, give customers realtime pricing so they can move off-peak if they choose, optimize power sources to a customer’s preferences (least cost, cleanest, or a mix) and integrate plug-in electric hybrids as potential backup generators or battery storage available to the grid. That’s a partial list. The ultimate goal is integrating everything from source to delivery to customer interaction through a communications web smart enough to make many of its own decisions. The system will also provide a clearer view than ever before into usage patterns, allowing increasing optimization. The result is expected to be much greater energy efficiency, a greatly reduced carbon footprint, more customer control, lower operating and investment costs for the utility, and more options for products it can offer the customer. The second half of 2009 is an evaluation period, and the results will be eagerly awaited. World’s First Smart Grid September 2008 http://www.xcelenergy.com/XLWEB/CDA/0%2c3080%2c1-1-1_15531_9777_49182-39884-0_0_0-0%2c00.html http://sefi.unep.org/english/globaltrends.html http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/06/30/2008-06-30_state_legislature_approves_tax_breaks_fo.html http://swimmablenyc.info/?p=54 http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/06/26/green.roofs/index.html http://www.novatlantis.ch/index.php?id=27&L=1 http://CitiesGoGreen.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.