Samso, move over – hello Bornholm!

A few years ago, as a 10-year experiment aided by tax breaks and government incentives, the Danish island of Samso changed all of its energy sources until its carbon footprint not only shrank to zero, but went into the negative numbers. Eventually, through wind, solar, and even straw-burning methods, the island produced so much of its own energy in a green and sustainable way that it had an excess supply, and began exporting it to the grid on the mainland.

The one thing the Samso residents couldn’t seem to do, though, was find an economic way to operate vehicles that didn’t guzzle gas. So they added extra green elements to their energy production, to offset the footprint of that one emission problem they couldn’t seem to solve.

However, another Danish island, Bornholm, may be about to show Samso how it’s done. With Denmark set to build an extensive electric car battery charging and swapping infrastructure all along its major roadways, Bornholm will participate in that project but add an extra twist: using electric car batteries to store excess wind energy.

At the moment, the island gets 20% of its power from wind turbines, yet there are enough turbines there to provide as much as 40%. The main reason Bornholm isn’t using its turbines to capacity is simply a matter of storage: there’s nowhere to put the excess energy when the wind is really blowing. All the turbines can operate on a normal day when there’s nothing but breezes and short gusts. But build up to the wind speed of a big storm, and all that extra power has nowhere to go. So right when the wind turbines should be operating in all their glory, the island has to turn many of them off, to avoid blowing the whole system.

For quite some time, proponents of green energy have talked about the idea of using parked electric cars as storage facilities when excess energy is created that fills the grid system to capacity and threatens to overload it. With this system, known as “vehicle-to-grid” or V2G, the extra power could be siphoned into the car batteries, and when the wind dies down, could then be fed back into the grid as needed. Most of this power would not even be energy used to make the vehicles travel, but would be destined for the larger power system.

The process has never been tried before, but now Bornholm will be the pilot project, in the same way Samso was a decade ago. IBM’s Zurich Research Laboratory has been developing software that will be used to control the system. It will operate much like other software that monitors and manages supply and demand for power grids, but with the extra factors involving the turbines and car batteries. If the V2G method works well, Bornholm may be able to add enough new turbines to its infrastructure to provide up to 50% of its total energy needs, rather than the current 20%.

By making Bornholm a microcosm of the mainland’s battery charging project, Denmark will not only be getting a good idea how well that infrastructure itself will work. It will also be testing ways to gather more power from wind turbines, and make more efficient use of all that energy just flying around out there.

People talk a lot about trying to find a solution to the global economy’s addiction to the automobile. But not many have come up with a viable alternative to gas-guzzling vehicles that won’t be just as destructive to the world economic system as global warming will be. This seems to be an either/or proposition, with each side of the equation promising something bordering on total collapse.

However, some people think there’s a way between the dual horns of this dilemma, and they’re putting their money where their theories are. A company called Better Place is one of these innovators.

Shia Agassi, the founder and CEO of Better Place, in response to the question, “How do you make the world a better place by 2020?” posed at the World Economic Forum in 2005, launched his company in 2007 as his answer. The goal of Agassi and the company, simply put, is to move the world from oil-based vehicles to zero-emission vehicles powered by electricity from renewable sources.

Not only does the company promote the production of electric vehicles (called EVs), but it recognizes that you still can’t drive them very far unless you’ve got something resembling the current filling stations that put gasoline in petroleum-based vehicles. So Better Place is working on creating not just the EVs, but the global infrastructure to support their operation and maintenance.

Better Place received considerable initial publicity in 2008 from its partnerships with the governments of Israel and Denmark. These were the first two countries to sign on to a plan to create EV battery charging and swapping stations along all major roadways. As more electric cars are produced and move onto the roads in those countries, the refueling stations will be there to keep them running. And to demonstrate that this type of system isn’t just for small countries, but will work in larger ones as well, Better Place has launched a project to develop a similar infrastructure for Australia.

To top that off, Agassi has told the Disruptive by Design conference in June of 2009 that China is now on the verge of giving the go-ahead to a similar project.

The Better Place website points out that this upcoming switch to EVs – which the company believes is inevitable all over the world – could in fact be the savior of the automobile industry, as demand increases. Already the Renault-Nissan Alliance has come on board, to be almost the first to introduce EVs in a major way. And many other auto manufacturers are looking into the plan.

But it isn’t just electric cars and infrastructure that preoccupy Better Place’s attention. The company is working on creating worldwide standardization of things like battery modules and plug connectors, as well as in-car software and smart navigation systems. Better Place is working with manufacturers to create advanced lithium-ion batteries that are environmentally safe, and which store more energy and generate twice the power per unit volume than current hybrid batteries. And it’s even helping to develop software and charging systems that will use electricity outside of peak periods, so the wider energy grid is never overloaded.

Better Place and its projects are growing by leaps and bounds. With so much innovation and so many companies and countries keen to be partners, it won’t be surprising if that goal – a gas-guzzler-free world – really is achieved by 2020.

Recycling a milk carton is easy. The item comprises entirely of paper. We do not need to separate plastic from paper, or glass from metal. However, recycling a car is more complicated. A car comprises of many intricately linked parts, and many materials: plastics, rubber, metals, and glass. How does car recycling work?

The first step of recycling, be it a water bottle or a car, is to collect the alike, and separate the unlike. For instance, frozen orange juice concentrate is sold in contains made of paper and metal. We separate the paper and metal, and place them into different boxes.

We must perform the same step with a car. Must workers meticulously disassemble the car by hand? The car recycling process, as it is currently implemented, is a combination of manual and automated labour.

A car is fairly big. Workers, with the aid of power tools, take the car apart, breaking it down into more manageable components. Then, the car is sent to a machine to be crushed. This is mostly to reduce volume, so more cars can be processed by the recycling centre.

Traditionally, car crushers have been big and clumsy. They took up lots of space, and could not be transported. However, most car crushers today are mobile, and can be transported from lot to lot. The machines’ mobility reduces the cost of rent, and thus the cost of car recycling.

The crushed car components are then sent to a shredder. The shredder whips around hammers and pieces of wire, at 175mph. The thrashing shreds the cars into fist-sized pieces of material. In one minute, about six cars can be shredded.

A shredder is a terrifyingly powerful machine. The hammers and wires receive so much damage, that the workers replace them everyday. The vibrations it produces are so powerful, that it could start an earthquake! For this reason, the shredder is placed on special, shock-absorbent material.

After this preliminary shredding, the fist-sized pieces of material may be fed to another shredder. This shredder will make the pieces even smaller. By making the pieces smaller, we decrease the probability that two different materials will be found together.

The shredded materials are dumped onto a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt carries the shreds below a powerful magnet, which attracts ferrous metals, such as iron. What about plastics, glass and non-ferrous metals? Currently, workers must sort out these materials by hand, rendering car recycling costly and time-consuming.

However, there are exciting new developments. In the parallel field of computer and electronics recycling, researchers have been scratching their heads at the same problem. Computers comprise of a plethora of different plastics and metals. How can we separate them?

Although the materials themselves may not be magnetic, we can place them in a magnetic environment. A thick ferromagnetic fluid is poured over the conveyor belt, underneath which lies an electromagnetic field. Non-ferrous shreds are poured over the ferrofluid. Plastics rise to the top. Metals such as gold fall to the bottom.

This exciting new technique is only in its developmental stages, but so far, it looks promising. In the future, car recycling will become even more automated, and even more efficient.

We all know that driving harms the environment. When petroleum is burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, causing global warming. In addition to carbon dioxide, driving releases other noxious gases, which cause breathing problems such as asthma in our children.

On the other hand, we recognize driving as a necessary evil. Public transportation is not well-established in many cities, and some distances are simply too long to bike. However, this does not mean that we should simply drive just any car.

Cars are not all the same. Some cars are more fuel-efficient than others. For instance, on a gallon of oil, an SUV can travel about 17 miles. In contrast, a fuel-efficient vehicle, such as the Honda Fit, can travel 27 miles. The figure is even higher for a hybrid: 50 miles.

In recent years, we have seen a trend toward more and more fuel-efficient cars. Nowadays, even SUVs and Hummers come in hybrid form. The Toyota Prius and Honda Insight, two amazing hybrids, are all the rage. Older models, with their shameful fuel-guzzling record, languish in garages.

So what do you do with an old car? Do you drive it to a dump? You’re simply contributing to our rising landfill. Do you sell it? Firstly, if you sell it, it will continue to be driven, and to pollute the environment. Secondly, who would want to buy a battered, five-year-old van? The meagre income will not be worth your time.

Why not recycle it? We throw empty milk cartons and plastic bottles into the recycling bin, without giving it a second thought. Recycling has become the obvious solution to used materials. Why not do the same for cars?

Can your recycle cars? Absolutely. Several environmental charities in Ontario accept used cars, and recycle its materials for new industrial use. Check out Car Heaven, a recycling program from the Clean Air Association. The Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association will also direct you to appropriate recycling services.

Recycling cars has several advantages. Firstly, and most evidently, it removes a fuel-guzzling vehicle from the road. Secondly, it forces you to buy a new, and hopefully more fuel-efficient vehicle. This purchase stimulates the ailing economy, and signals to car manufacturers that fuel-efficient vehicles are in demand. Finally, your new vehicle emits fewer noxious gases.

But the most fundamental aspect of recycling lies in the word itself. Recycle: to place something back into the cycle. When the car has been taken apart, its plastic, metal, glass and rubber become reusable again. Instead of mining for new iron, and destroying an ecosystem, companies can use the iron from your recycled car.

If you recycled your car, you become part of a major movement to better our health and our environment. You, personally, have reduced carbon emissions, starting us on a road to slow down global warming. You, personally, have improved our air quality, and have saved children and seniors from asthma and bronchitis.

However small your contribution may be, it is valued, and it is significant. After all, it takes many small steps to walk a mile.

If you think you can’t make much difference in the global warming crisis, think again. There are many different steps you can take, and combining those with the contributions of other individuals can make a surprisingly big difference to the final outcome. In fact, “taking steps” is almost literally one of the things you can start with, in your effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Transportation is one of the big areas of concern when it comes to global warming. After all, it was society’s love of gas-guzzling, carbon-emitting vehicles that really got the greenhouse gas thing going in the first place. So this is where people can start making a big difference. And the first thing you can do here is to start walking. Don’t hop in a car to go down the block for milk. In fact, don’t even hop in the car to go two blocks.

Start walking as much as you can, if the place you need to go is just a few blocks away. You’ll get to know your neighborhood much better than you do now, and you’ll get more regular healthy exercise. It’s sort of a win-win thing, isn’t it? Even if you need to go a few blocks to shop, and you worry that the load will be too heavy for you to carry back, you can buy one of those long-handled carts that can hold a few shopping bags. If you have several errands to do, plan a circuit to follow, to walk between them all but not overtax yourself by criss-crossing back and forth.

The next useful step, if the distance is just a bit too far to walk, might be to get a bicycle. A good wicker basket on the handlebars can probably contain most of what you’d be buying during a “quick run to the store,” or this emission-free vehicle can get you to appointments or perhaps to a friend’s place. Once again, you’ll get to know the neighborhood and you’ll be getting exercise while you cut down carbon emissions. Most of the time, even if you aren’t sure the main roads are safe for bikers, you can find quieter routes to get where you’re going.

But of course, some distances are just too long for either walking or biking. Don’t assume that you absolutely have to use a car even now, though, especially if you’ve got a good transit system in your area. A great many of these systems have begun to switch to environmentally friendly vehicles, and of course in many larger cities there are subways that use electrical power. Some cities that have train systems have started using windmill power to run them. So you may have some options for lowering your carbon footprint even if you have to travel for longer distances through your city or town.

However, it does seem that sometimes you just can’t avoid using a car. This will be where your commitment is really tested. Do you have a ZipCar, AutoShare, or some other kind of car sharing setup anywhere near you? These companies and others have arrangements where people can use a car just for the time period they need it, and then return it. In a larger city especially, where the air gets clogged with engine exhaust and you’d have to worry about idling and then high parking charges, a rental system like this is frequently an excellent answer.

But of course the ultimate answer, if you have to own a car, is to get as environmentally friendly a vehicle as you possibly can. The Toyota Prius has been on the roads for a few years now, and many other companies have begun bringing out their own hybrid electric-gas cars. Electric, battery-operated cars are also becoming more widely available. As they get more common, the price will go down, but even before that happens, this might be considered a long-term investment in the future of the planet.

Changing your mode of transport is not the only thing you can do to live green and help in the fight against global warming. You can change eating and buying habits, and of course you can recycle. But starting to walk more, or cycle, or even switch to a more responsible vehicle, will not only be healthy for the planet, but will increase your own health as well.

Today, much of the world’s electricity is still produced through coal plants and water turbines. Coal is a non-renewable source of energy; its combustion releases greenhouse gases and soot. Water turbines require the building of large dams, severely disrupting surrounding ecosystems.

A top priority should be reducing the amount of electricity we use. However, a modern home has many electrical appliances and technologies. It would be unrealistic for your family to stop using the fridge, or to prohibit research for homework on the computer. On the other hand, some fridges and some computers use far less energy than others.

The next time you purchase an appliance or an electronic device, must you look up the energy specifications of potential buys? Quick, grab a notebook and write down the energy stats for all 20 cubic feet fridges. But thanks to Energy Star, we can be lazy.

Energy Star is a designation given to appliances and other electronic products that utilize less energy. Emerging first in 1992 as a government program in the United States, the Energy Star Standard has since then been adopted in Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and the European Union. It is now considered an international standard.

What appliances are eligible to receive the Energy Star? They must use significantly less energy than their standard counterparts. An Energy Star dishwasher, for instance, must use at least 41% less energy than a regular dishwasher. A refrigerator, on the other hand, needs a 20% reduction to qualify for Energy Star. An Energy Star air conditioner uses 10% less electricity.

Electronics are also subject to Energy Star standards. An Energy Star television, for instance, uses 30% less electricity. Battery chargers, VCRs, and cordless phones must use 90% less energy than average to qualify for Energy Star.

The Energy Star qualifications around computers are more stringent. The new Energy Star standard requires that the computer’s power supply unit follows the 80 PLUS program. What does that mean? The power supply unit must be at least 80% efficient at 20%, 50% and 100% power loads. So if the unit receives 1000 watts of power, it should be using at least 800 watts of it.

When purchasing appliances and electronics, look for the Energy Star logo. Most department, home improvement and furniture stores should have a few Energy Star options in each category. The Energy Star tag attached to the item will clearly lay out how much electricity and money you would save by using this appliance in one year.

Nothing is perfect, and the Energy Star system is no exception. For instance, in December 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency of the Inspector General published a report on the Energy Star program. The report found that Energy Star’s claims of energy reduction were inaccurate, or unverified.

The testing of energy efficiency flouts the basic methods of research. The manufacturers tested their own products, and submitted their own results—a blatant conflict of interest. The data submitted by manufacturers was rarely verified by Energy Star. Outdated tests were used, when new methods were available. Although Energy Star may be unreliable, it remains the best system for determining energy savings. However, to ascertain your choice, do additional research.

Global warming and the combustion of petroleum fuels are two huge concerns for environmentalists. To combat these two problems, we are frequently encouraged to drive less, and to drive more efficiently. Since the early 2000s, the auto industry has seen a trend toward more fuel-efficient cars—and a dramatic increase in hybrid vehicle sales.

What is a hybrid vehicle? A hybrid automobile uses more than one type of energy to move itself. Most commonly, hybrid vehicle refers to a hybrid electric vehicle, such as the Toyota Prius, and the Honda Insight. These vehicles contain both an internal combustion engine, as well as an electric motor.

The reasons for choosing a hybrid vehicle are not immediately obvious. However, let’s compare fuel efficiencies. A minivan, such as the Ford Freestar, gets about 16 miles per gallon in the city, and around 22 miles per gallon on the freeway. A fuel-efficient subcompact, such as the Honda Fit, gets about 27 miles per gallon in the city, and 34 miles per gallon on the freeway.

The Honda Fit sounds pretty good. However, let’s take fuel efficiency to another level with a hybrid. The Toyota Prius, the most popular hybrid vehicle in today’s market, gets 48 miles in the city, and 45 miles on highways. With the same volume of fuel, the hybrid can go almost triple the distance of a minivan.

You may have noticed something unusual about the Toyota Prius’s stats: it runs more efficiently in the city than on the freeway. All hybrid vehicles share this characteristic. While traditional cars burn gasoline uselessly at red lights, modern hybrids share what is called the start-stop system.

The hybrid’s internal combustion engine automatically shuts off when the vehicle is not moving, to conserve gas. When the car needs to start moving again, the engine restarts. The start-stop system can save 5-10% fuel.

Also integral to the hybrid’s success is its use of regenerative braking. When the brakes are applied in a traditional car, the kinetic energy of the car is bled off as heat. In a hybrid, however, such energy is too precious to waste. The braking system uses the kinetic energy to charge the car’s battery.

Often, the gasoline pumped into the hybrid is not directly used to propel the car. Instead, the internal combustion engine, by burning the gasoline, charges the car battery, which then runs the car’s electric motor. This results in much greater efficiency.

Because the internal combustion engine is not frequently used to propel the car, it is smaller than that of a pure gasoline vehicle. Consequently, a hybrid vehicle’s internal combustion engine releases fewer emissions. Another consequence of the electric motor is the silence. Hybrids are known as very quiet vehicles. However, to achieve high speeds, the internal combustion engine must supplement the electric motor, resulting in slightly more noise.

Hybrids are inexpensive, usually selling for $18000 to $28 000. Easy to maintain, they are not only fun to drive, but cheap to drive! In fact, the Toyota Prius has monopolized the Vancouver taxi industry. Please consider purchasing a hybrid. Let’s cut emissions!

With ecosystem conservation, you have to know the definition of an ecosystem before any conservation can be done. An ecosystem is a group of plants, animals and micro organisms that work together in an environment with non-living factors. This creates a delicate balance of life that when altered, can mess up the whole system. Therefore, it is very hard for conservationists to know how to aid the ecosystem.

The main function of ecosystem conservation is protecting or restoring the structure, function and species compilation within the system. This can get hard quickly, because everything in an ecosystem affects everything else. The best way to conserve an ecosystem is to approach it from a large scale view. Large scale approaches avoid the pitfalls of species-by-species methods that can drain finances and resources fast. These methods also become one giant headache because the conservationists become stuck in an environmental loop, always trying to come up with something new to fix the problem they just introduced. One of the major problems that conservationists face in the natural ecosystem environments is the issue that humans also have to use the space. It is important for the conservationists to work with the local people and governments so that there can be conservation goals that work well within the ecological unit and with the needs of the people.

There are many different types of ecosystems. In fact, practically any environment is a type of ecosystem. There are coral reef ecosystems, ocean ecosystems, desert ecosystems, natural ecosystems and forest ecosystems. There are even human ecosystems for different environments in which humans interact. Most ecosystems are very delicate, and so when other factors that did not originate with the original environment are introduced into the ecosystem, the system collapses. There are some ecological units, however, that can resist these external factors when they are introduced. Usually, whether an ecosystem can survive a new element or not depends on the toxicity of the new element, and the resiliency of the ecosystem. Because these systems are largely governed by chance events, such as a forest fire or an oil spill, ecosystem conservation becomes an arduous task. Conservationists want to keep these bio-networks as pure as possible.

For ecosystem conservation, it is important to note that they function best when left alone. Results of too much human intervention can be disastrous. The best approach to conservation is through goals that work with the ecosystem and the human sides of things. This ensures the preservation of wild ecosystems, as well as allowing people to live freely within them.

China has been dogged by accusations of pumping carbon emissions and other pollutants out into the air and water supply by the billions of tons. Their enormous energy need is propped up by an unhealthy dependence on dirty coal plants, and local leaders know it. As part of the solution to keep China as a global power and reduce its coal plants, they will spend 580 billion yuan expanding its energy sector, which includes solar designs and alternative wind energy initiatives. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, wind power China will add more capacity this year than any other country, including the US. With 10 gigawatts of additional capacity planned for this year (compared to America’s 8.5 gigawatts), China’s new resources renewable energy projects will power more than 100,000 households.

Thanks to European government support, the wind power China equipment market has been heavily dominated by European companies, particularly Danish companies, which hold 52.37% of in-grid wind power projects in China. Germany is another big contender, since they hold many desirable manufacturing licenses and send equipment to 20% of the projects in China. To a lesser degree, Spain, the United States and the Netherlands occupy small market shares. Chinese policies and programs are focused on reducing the need for imported components to become more self-sufficient. Domestically, there are more than 30 companies building wind farms. Their top wind farms are run by Long Yuan Electric Power Group Corp (China Guodian Corporation), Huaneng New Energy Industrial Co. Ltd., China Datang Corporation, China Power Investment Corporation and China Huadian Corporation. Most of the wind purchase turbines are located in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Liaoning, Ningxia, Jilin and Hebei.

The biggest wind power China turbine manufacturer is Goldwind Co. in Xinjiang, which has captured 20% of the market share. Their main products are more than 400 units of 600 and 750 kilowatt turbines, but they also are testing a 1.2 megawatt turbine, which may revolutionize the sources wind energy China produces. Another large company is Yunda Co in Zhejiang, which has more than 45 units of 200, 250 and 750 kilowatt wind turbines in operation. Shenxin Co of the Shenyang Industry University is developing 75 kilowatt and 200 kilowatt turbines but is also working on a 1 megawatt offering. Dalian Heavy Machinery is developing and manufacturing 1.5 megawatt wind turbines. Wanadian Co has six 600 kilowatt wind turbines in operation and the Shanghai Bluesky Co has two 300 kilowatt wind turbines operating.

Initially, leaders promised wind power China offerings of 30 gigawatts by 2020 but the target has jumped to an astounding 100 gigawatts of installed wind power capacity, thanks to the development of larger, more efficient wind turbines that can churn out 1.2 megawatts of power, rather than 300 to 750 kilowatts. The new focus on alternative wind energy is all part of a plan to break the dependency on coal, says Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council. He adds that China’s capacity may even reach 200 gigawatts, since the Chinese have a history of being conservative in their estimates. In fact, the 2009 GWEC report reveals that China has doubled its wind power capacity each year for the past four years in a row.

So you’ve made a bunch of changes in your attempt to live a greener lifestyle. You walk or bike more than you drive, you’re saving all the energy you can in your home, and you’re dutifully recycling as much as possible. You even make your own compost for your garden, and try not to use chemicals there. What else is left?

Rather a lot, actually. You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase “money is power,” but when it comes to going green, your buying power can really make a difference. You can initiate a considerable change in your lifestyle, and benefit the planet in the meantime, by reconsidering how you buy things, and what you buy in the first place.

Start with your own clothes. Natural fibers, especially those that have been produced with organic methods, are not just healthier for you, they have been produced in ways that aren’t hard on the ecosystem or the planet. Synthetic fibers are made from oil. Products you buy that are made of these materials contribute a huge carbon footprint to the already overburdened atmosphere, first by the process of being pumped as crude oil from the ground, and then through the process of refining that oil to make your clothes. These are non-green clothes by definition, but oil products almost always have the additional issue of “outgassing” of chemicals into the air, so you’d be breathing in these chemicals as you wear the clothes.

Natural is always best, when you can get it, and if you can get natural clothing from closer to home, that’s even better. Things that are brought across the ocean in container ships automatically contribute to carbon emissions, even if the items themselves are of completely natural fibers. If you can support more local industries when you buy clothes, you will be dressing in a healthier way, and you can keep those industries healthy as well. Even throw rugs with synthetic rubber backing will suffer the same “outgassing” problems as the clothes. Can you buy cotton throw rugs instead?

And what about other products? Do you buy green cleaning products? Many companies are trying to exploit a “green” designation, but when you examine the labels on the bottles, they’ve got just as many harmful chemicals as any other cleaning liquid. You need to research which cleaning products really are green and environmentally friendly. Can you do away with plastic containers, which are all produced from oil, as much as possible? Switch to glass jars for storing food and other items wherever you can.

Even furniture can be more green in some cases than others. The material that covers mattresses, or the upholstery on couches and chairs, is usually synthetic and will be doing the same “outgassing” as all the other products derived from oil. Many companies are now providing mattresses and other furniture coverings made of natural materials instead. You can even buy furniture made of wood that has been certified as sustainable wood, harvested in a responsible way. Or you can buy furniture made from reclaimed wood.

You may think you’ve already done all you can to make a switch to green living. But take a few moments and stand in the center of the rooms in your house or apartment, and just look around for a while. It’s likely you’ll begin to see a great many other ways of changing to a greener lifestyle, just by using your purchasing power.