The GREEN MARKET ORACLE

Monday, August 13, 2012

Revolutionary Liquid Energy Storage Technology

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new inexpensive battery technology that could revolutionize energy storage. This new battery technology could prove to be the holy grail of renewable energy storage, particularly at night when there is no light to power solar cells or when there is no wind to turn turbines. The new storage technology could overcome the obstacle of intermittent supply which is the greatest obstacle facing the widespread adoption of clean energy.

The Green Market Oracle is proud to once again be an outreach sponsor for Green Schools and Community College Summits and Expo which will take place from September 27-28, 2012. The Green California Schools Summit and the Green California Community Colleges Summit, will take place concurrently at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California.

California’s community colleges are the largest system of higher education in the nation. Not only are they essential to California’s push to develop green jobs and green businesses, many are working to ensure that their facilities reflect best practices in green building, energy management and resource conservation. These programs offer students the possibility of hands-on exposure to new technologies and provide local communities with models of sustainability in practice.

The Energy Event 12

Energy Event 12 will take place on the 11th and 12th of September 2012, in Birmingham UK. The Energy Event is the UK's definitive exhibition and conference aimed at professionals who are looking to get a grip on their company's energy use, comply with legislation and put in place sustainable energy efficiency and procurement solutions.

Energy management is of prime concern to all UK businesses, at all levels, as environmental targets get tighter and energy prices continue to rise. Reducing energy use in line with climate change targets benefits your bottom line as does purchasing such a volatile commodity.

The Green Gala will take place on Friday, Sept. 14th 2012 at 7:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, 1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 (East Ninth Street at Lake Erie). EcoWatch in partnership with Waterkeeper Alliance services nearly 1,000 grassroots environmental organizations worldwide through its online news service EcoWatch.org. Through the Green Gala music event and other initiatives, EcoWatch is uniting the voices of the grassroots environmental movement and mobilizing millions of people to engage in democracy to protect human health and the environment.

The World Water Week in Stockholm is hosted and organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). The Professional Conference Organizer (PCO) is Congrex Sweden AB. Registration is required for all participants in the World Water Week. The online registration will be available here soon. Please note that registration for the various field visits and social events will be confirmed upon payment on a "first come - first served" basis.

Renewable Energy Storage by Donald Sadoway (Video)

University of Washington Sustainable Transportation Programs (Video)

Sustainable Transportation Ideas of the Future (Video)

Sustainable Transportation Brought to you by Better Place

Sustainable Transportation Initiatives in Three Cities

As reviewed in an August 7 Press Release Michael Replogle and Colin Hughes of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) authored the fourth chapter, "Moving Toward Sustainable Transport, in Worldwatch's book State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity, published in April 2012. In their State of the World chapter, Replogle and Hughes highlight three examples of this approach, revealing how it improves transport in urban areas:

Bogota, Colombia

Rapid bus transit in Bogota, Colombia: In 2000, Bogota opened TransMilenio, a BRT system with nine routes extending 54 miles (about 87 kilometers) throughout the city. By 2011, TransMilenio's ridership was up to 1.7 million passengers daily and the fare for a single trip was 1,600 Colombian pesos (about US$0.85).

Many voluntary commitments were made at the June 2012 Rio+20 conference, some of the most notable concerned promises about emissions reduction in transportation. According to an August 7 Press Release from the Worldwatch Institute, transportation emissions are the fastest growing source of global greenhouse gas emissions, with emissions expected to increase 300 percent by 2050. Today, emissions from transportation contribute to approximately 80 percent of the harmful air pollutants that result in 1.3 million premature deaths annually, according to Michael Replogle and Colin Hughes of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP). The two authored the fourth chapter, "Moving Toward Sustainable Transport, in Worldwatch's book State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity, published in April 2012.

Education was a key issue at the Rio+20 conference last June. Education is referenced six different times in the Rio+20 draft text known as "The Future We Want." Here is a summary of those references:

11. We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening international cooperation to address the persistent challenges related to sustainable development for all, in particular in developing countries. In this regard, we reaffirm the need to achieve economic stability and sustained economic growth, promotion of social equity, and protection of the environment, while enhancing gender equality and women's empowerment, and equal opportunities for all, and the protection, survival and development of children to their full potential, including through education.

RIO + 20 Supported Education for Sustainable Development

Education was an important part of the Rio+20 conference in June 2012. Although many felt that the outcome did not go far enough, education was frequently mentioned as an important area of sustainable development. Despite tepid results, participants at the conference did manage to agree that education has a crucial role to play, in particular Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

The Rio+20 conference prompted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to say, “We resolve to promote education for sustainable development and to integrate sustainable development more actively into education beyond the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.”

UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) promotes the widespread access of all people everywhere to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future. ESD incorporates key sustainable development issues into teaching and learning; for example, climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption. It also requires participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behavior and take action for sustainable development. ESD consequently promotes competencies like critical thinking, imagining future scenarios and making decisions in a collaborative way.

With its heatwaves and drought, the summer of 2012 has been hot. In fact, the Northeast has experienced the hottest period from January to July ever recorded and July 2012 was the hottest month ever in the contiguous US. Although the weather has been balmy this year, extreme heat and drought are not anything new.

According to an EPA report, seven of the top ten warmest years on record for the continental U.S. have occurred since 1990. The frequency of heat waves have also steadily risen since the 1960’s and the percentage of the US population experiencing heat waves has also increased. Perhaps most convincing is the fact that seventeen of the warmest years in recorded history have occurred over the last twenty years and the warmest years on record occurred in the most recent decade.

Heat in the US Northeast and Drought Around the World

Against a backdrop of wildfires and droughts, heat records are being broken across the US but nowhere more than in the Northeast. After a winter with very little snow, people in the Northeast have been subjected to record breaking heat for the first seven months of 2012. The period between July 2011 to July 2012 was also the warmest 12-months in the Northeast ever recorded. The weather is making headlines across the nation with more than half of the country suffering from high temperatures and little rain. The drought is driving up the cost of agricultural commodities and contributing to price volatility, they may even lead to a food crisis. Although it is abnormally dry in the Northeast, they have escaped drought conditions, what they cannot escape is heat.

The International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) offers courses and programs. Their flexible structure allows you to shape your learning experience to suit your needs. Live webinars and workshops can be taken individually and credited towards the ISSP Sustainability Professionals Certificate. Self-study options are also available (although not for credit). These study options are ideal for those with multiple areas of expertise and are doing sustainability auditing and/or planning. The courses are designed to provide a broad spectrum approach that enables participants to put together disparate skill sets.

The book Financing Sustainability on Campus, provides higher education leaders with a comprehensive handbook to financing sustainability with real world examples, creative strategies, and clear explanations of a wide variety of financial tools and programs. This book offers a first-of-its-kind look at how colleges and universities are responding to the challenges of financing sustainability efforts. How can institutions blend financing options? How can a campus utilize a tax-exempt lease purchase contract? What tax incentives are available? When is bond financing your best option? What new liabilities will institutions need to recognize on their balance sheets? Geared to both newcomers and experienced practitioners, this guide walks you through the process—from identifying and analyzing the economics of proposed projects to execution—with examples from numerous individual campuses.

Scientists Want Carbon Taxes to Address Climate Change

NASA scientist Jim Hansen calls for a carbon tax as he describes climate change inaction as the moral equivalent of supporting slavery. Hansen argues that current generations are morally responsible to protect the Earth for their children and grandchildren. He is calling for a global carbon tax and sees inaction on climate change as an "injustice of one generation to others". Preceding generations may have been able to plead ignorance but we no longer have that luxury.

As reviewed in a Guardian article, Hansen's latest scientific paper, which he co-authored with 17 other experts, urgently calls for an immediate 6% annual cut in CO2 emissions, and substantial growth in global forest cover. Hansen and his colleagues warn that failing to cut CO2 emissions by 6% now will mean that by 2022, the annual cuts would need to reach a more drastic level of 15% a year.

Second Nature is advancing green building in higher education, by focusing on some of the challenges faced by under-resourced colleges and universities to ‘build green’ on their campuses. With a $1,242,000 three-year grant from the Kresge Foundation, Second Nature is helping under-resourced schools learn about and use the financial and technical resources available to construct and renovate campus buildings in ways that save money, reduce environmental and health impacts, serve as educational tools, and increase student enrollment.

The "Education for Sustainability" (EFS) innovation program works with minority-serving institutions to advance the goal of creating a sustainable society. The program was launched by Second Nature in 2011 with the generous support of The Kresge Foundation. This multi-year program promotes innovation and leadership among financially strained and minority-serving colleges and universities.

Early History of Sustainability at Queens College

Queens College began many of their sustainability initiatives during the three years between 2004 through 2007. They began participation in the peak load management program with Con Ed. They decreased their power use on certain summer days of peak demand of electricity and reduced energy load on our buildings. They have purchased only Energy Star rated air conditioners. They began replacing inefficient window units with split air conditioning systems. In the 1990s, they had installed light sensors in all of our offices and classrooms. We continued to maintain those sensors and they are operational. Beginning in 2005, we purchased electric utility vehicles for use on campus. By 2007, they had purchased 10 electric vehicles.

Queens College Sustainability Plan sets goals in each of the seven pillars of sustainability and the steps to be taken to achieve those goals. These seven pillars are comprised of Energy, Water, Transportation, Recycling/Source Reduction, Procurement, Sustainable Nutrition, Education and Outreach.

1. Energy: A sustainable student residence and an addition to Remsen that incorporated energy efficiency measures. They are currently engaged in several studies of their buildings that will provide recommendations for energy efficient retrofits for building upgrades. They are working towards to have a solar project and a green roof. They are also working on a menu of energy savings projects in their energy audit of their facilities and they plan to implement any that are financially feasible. New equipment is evaluated in terms of its energy-efficiency. With adequate funding, their goal is to replace all of their outdoor lighting with either LED or induction lighting.

According to recent research climate change may damage the protective ozone layer, which protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation that causes skin cancer, cataracts, suppresses the human immune system, and damages crops and ecosystems.

The new research published by Harvard University found that extreme weather like climate-driven summer thunderstorms might introduce more water into the stratosphere, which can erode the protective ozone layer over the US and elsewhere.

2012 World Green Roof Congress

The 2012 World Green Roof Congress (WGRC) will take place in Hangzhou China from October 22nd to October 26th. The 2012 WGRC will be co-sponsored by World Green Roof Infrastructure Network, International Rooftop Landscaping Association and Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government.

The 2012 Mid-Atlantic Green Roof Science & Technology Symposium (MGRST) will be held on August 16-17, at the University of Maryland College Park, Maryland. The event is subtitled "Redefining Green Roof Science." This is the first annual MGRST event. Due to the fact that standards for green roof performance have not been established the MGRST symposium will be dedicated to disseminating results of scientific research that will lead to the establishment of green roof performance standards for the Mid-Atlantic region.

The World Green Roof Congress (WGRC) 2012 is an event with sustainability at its core. It will take place in Copenhagen on 18-21 September 2012. The event will bring together the leading practitioners – policy makers, architects, designers, urban planners, manufacturers, engineering, environmental and ecological consultants – from around the world to highlight the need to transform urban grey to urban green.

Green Roofs Sail Around the World

Queens College Sustainability Mission

As reviewed in Queens College Mission statement, the school is serious about being green. Their campus is steeped in the culture of sustainability making them a model for the community. The school follows the well accepted approach outlined in the 1987 Brundtland Report (“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.) They have a Sustainability Council that oversees the execution their Strategic Plan to be carbon neutral.

Queens College is committed to energy reduction through efficiency. Their construction and renovation projects are environmentally sound and they make extensive use of recycled materials. They are reducing the overall waste and they have a robust recycling program. Further, they are becoming a “paperless” campus which uses only “green” products.

Late in 2011, Consultant Community Environmental Center (CEC) announced that Queens College’s Summit Residence Hall received a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold rating, which is the second highest level of LEED certification.

The Summit, Queens College’s first residence hall, opened in August 2009. The building accommodates 506 beds for students and also includes a conference room, a fitness center and a lounge. Queens College, as part of the CUNY system, agreed to purchase renewable energy for 100 percent of the building’s electricity usage for the first two years of the building’s operation.

Green Roofs on College Campuses Around the World

Green roofs are growing on campuses all around the world. Educational establishments from community colleges to ivy league universities are seeing the value of green roofs. By covering a tar roof with greenery, the rooms beneath are about 5 or 6 degrees cooler. Green roofs also offer cost reductions alongside a vista that is as soothing as it is aesthetically appealing. Right now there are thousands of schools around the world that have embraced green roofs and this number is growing every year.

Learn how your enterprise can improve its efficiency and reduce costs, through strategic business planning within its supply chain and asset management. Can a company "go green" within its enterprise and supply chain, and get a payoff that keeps the black ink flowing? As companies get serious about reducing greenhouse gases, their biggest hurdle is the uncertainty over which approach to cutting carbon emissions makes the best financial sense. This white paper shows you a hands-on, practical perspective on how technology solutions can highlight the cost drivers behind these growing "green" issues, and offer your company reduced costs, increased efficiency, and more earth-friendly operations. It discusses key green initiatives and the emerging solutions associated with energy consumption and carbon emissions management. To request your free White Paper click here.

The Green Roof Industry is Growing Fast

A rapidly growing initiative is seeing homeowners and businesses planting vegetation on rooftops around the world. Green roofs are growing in popularity because they offer both economic and environmental benefits. These roofs reflect far more light than black tar roofs in summer and thus act as heat shields. In winter they offer excellent insulation and throughout the year they absorb precipitation rather than letting it flow down a storm drain. They also support biodiversity, improve air quality and act as a carbon sink.

Green roofs contribute to urban sustainability planning by reducing heating and cooling costs for buildings but they also help to reduce the amount of untreated water that flows into local waterways. They reduce runoff by approximately 90 percent. In addition to a host of other financial benefits green roofs offers a storm water mitigation benefit of $4.26 per square foot.”

As reviewed in a 2011 Triple Pundit article, a study on green roof conducted by ConEdison in partnership with the Columbia University Center for Climate Systems Research, reveals that green roofs help cities find cost effective ways to deal with excess storm water.

Benefits of Green Roofs

Green roofs provide a wide range of benefits, perhaps the most widely known is the fact that they significantly reduce energy demand and the cost of interior cooling. However, green roofs offer a wide range of benefits that extend beyond sustainability and cost savings. In addition to contributing to the comfort of those who reside inside such buildings, green roofs provide immense quality of life benefits outdoors.

A green roof allows vegetation to grow in a growing medium and usually includes the following elements: waterproof membrane, a root repellent system, a drainage system, a filtering layer, a growing medium and of course plants. Here are three main types of green roof systems as explained by the city of Toronto: These roof types can be divided into seven categories: intensive, extensive, new, retrofit, complete, modular, or pre-cultivated.

Intensive

Intensive or active green roofs have a deep growing medium that supports a variety of landscape design and growth. They are accessible and used as recreational space. Intensive green roofs are essentially parks in the sky. They provide a peaceful retreat, full of trees, walkways, and seating areas. In dense urban environments, intensive green roofs can create a garden and yard for an entire apartment building.

2012 CitiesAlive Green Roof and Wall Conference (Event)

The 10th annual green roof and wall conference will take place in Chicago on October 17th to 20th at the historic Congress Plaza hotel. Chicago was the site of the first CitiesAlive conference in 2003 and has been North America’s green roof leader for the past decade. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) invites you to the place where it all began, to celebrate our shared legacy and to continue build a higher quality of life in the built environment. Join GRHC and the City of Chicago as they celebrate a decade of living architecture at the 10th Anniversary of CitiesAlive. A living example of legacy urban planning.

On Thursday August 9th an event will be held on green roofs in Toronto Ontario. The event will be held by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC). This event will be held at the site of one of Toronto's most exciting green roof projects - the Carrot Common. It is a great chance for you to network with professionals in the green roof and wall industry, and those looking to get involved.

On August 7 - 8, a geothermal summit will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento, California. This event brings together companies and individuals in the geothermal industry with experts, government officials and other key decision makers. This is the second annual National Geothermal Summit, the event brings together companies and individuals in the geothermal industry with experts, government officials and other key decision makers.

On Augtust 4th in London UK, Green Power Academy is offering a one day introductory course on the economic rationale for large-scale energy storage and the technology solutions. The highly accessible, informal and extremely interactive course will address future energy strategies, particularly as it concerns renewable power like solar and wind. The course will specifically deal with the critical importance of large scale energy storage. It will also deal with the financial balances affecting market growth and technological solutions.

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